I had one of my yorkies killed by a pitbull mix about 2 months ago! the owners would not comply with animal controls attemts to tell them to keep him in his on yard, my little 5 lb female was in her on fence in my back yard , I let her out to potty and my best friend watched as this pitbull broke her neck and took a chuck out of her! my Husband tried to stop the dog but it was too late!! my baby lad there dead because of someone else just had to have a pitbull, this breed will never be akc either because they are bred to fight! I warn these people over and over I would sue them if they didnot keep thier pitbull up as weel he was not fixed!!! I sued them and won 3000.00 plus 105 cost, and my liitle celcie was pregant as well, that are a bad breed!! Bred for strickly fighting , if anyone chooses to own one they should be made to keep them in a dog lot or tall fenced in back yard, I think chaining a dog of anykind is just cruel. Be very careful with your little yorkies and if you have a erisponalbe pet ower call animal control on them as I did, I hope nothing like this happens to the op little baby, Blessings Majesticyorkies

I am so sorry to hear about Cecie!!! No amount of money could ever replace her. If you have read the previous posts, you know that I also have an irresponsible pit bull owner in my subdivision. Yes, I do call animal control/police every time I see that dog without a leash. It seems that a lot, not all, but a lot of pit bull owners are very defensive about their potentionally vicious dogs. All we (owners of non-killer dogs) want is to live without fear of getting ripped apart or having our loved ones hurt, or killed, and to enjoy our space. Why can't they see that!!!!!!!

If it was a lab that moved in next door, would it have been that big of a deal or was it just because of the breed the dog is? Seriously, pits are one of the stronger, more powerful breeds out there, but that doesn't mean that they are going to use their power. Our next door neighbors have a pit bull and my boys play with her all the time! In fact, she gets scared of my boys and will lay down in the grass and whine. They also play with this big, furry black dog down the street. Chip's played with a 110 lb dobie. Chip made a pit bull in petsmart submit to him and was walking all over him. Just because they are big, doesn't mean that they are going to hurt another dog. I used to have a golden retriever and he would have never hurt a flea! I've found that some of the more aggressive dogs are the smaller ones. I was almost attacked by a chihuahua when I was little, and I was bitten by a pomeranian. I was also chased by a lab that was growling and snapping at my heals, and a neighbor got her eye bitten out by a dalmation. Every pit bull, except for one (that was being trained to fight :rolleyes:), I've encountered were big babies.

You have every right to worry, these breeds are very unperditable! so I would be affaid as well, call your animal control and see if they have a visuss dog law in play in your county. And watch out for your childern as wel as any pets you may have I lost my 5 lb female yorkie march of this yr to a pitbull attack, and my yorkie was in her fenced in yard! so I would be concerned too if I were you, I will pray for you . I wish noone to go though the loss and hurt I have over the last month, Blessings:)

i'm pretty sure it's a pitbull or pitbull mix that attacked my toy poodle and caused her to die 4 days later! i've been seeing one running around and it had to be kinda big dog, cuz she had a huge open gash and the vet said she had broken ribs. Our poodle had free roam to go out and pee for 4 years and i nevered dreamed of this! my new baby isn't going out at all unless on a leash!!! she seems to like to use bathroom on pads instead of when were outside so because of what happend to my baby poodle i'm not complaining she wants to use the pads

I feel for you so badly, my poor celice did not have a chance! She is gone now and I sued them and won! I watched a national geoghic show on how dogs are hard wired to do what they were bred to do pitbull's or even mixes hard hard wired in thier genes to fight and they showed a pitbull fighting! pitbull's are not akc reg because of this, we put up surviellance camra;s also if you can find out who the home owners insurance carrier is for the person who owns the pitbull/mix report it to them and they will have to take measures to restran the and or they will canel the insurance or make them get rid of the dog! also call animal control and report the dog as a viscious dog and many states have an ordiance in place for this, good luck with this, I would take your baby out on a leash to be safe, as I have found even a fence won't stop a dog attack, however we are putting up a 8 foot high fence as well with boob wire around it to insure no more of my babies will be killed, blessings I hope I helped you out some, my heart goes out to you as I know your loss!!

I'm so sorry this must have been a horrible pill to swallow

It's horrible those bad things have happened and I hope the OP never has to go thru it. IMO it's not only pitbulls you have to worry about although they scare the you know what out of me being so unpredictable. Any dog that is encouraged to hunt small prey such as rabbits, ducks, coons or birds are also a threat in my mind. They have no limits. They see a small dog and might just go after it. My brother has an English Setter and my other brother and I both have small dogs. We get so upset because the setter is so aggressive towards the little dogs. The owners don't think anything will happen because with them she's just a big baby but in our minds she sees our dogs as prey. I don't think it's bad for them to have these breeds but they should keep in mind they are bred for a purpose which is to hunt. Which makes them unpredictable around small dogs. We just keep them seperate but I know it irritates my one brother and sister in law that we think she might show aggression which she has. Just wanted to make that point and hopefully this isn't long winded!

i doubt they have animal insurance, i know i never had it. I didn't even know about pet insurance till a couple days ago and i read about it on these forums! LOL were just small town people i guess HEHE but i have seriously thought about calling to have the dogs picked up by the pound or something, so then maybe when they go to get their dogs they'll relize they need to be kept in their yard

I would also be concern about the welfare of the local people. Please read the below article, very sad.

Pit Bulls Kill Man, Woman In Michigan

I have never owned a pit myself and don't know too much about them other than what I've read or heard on the tv. None of which has been good. However, I do believe that as long as it hasn't been irresponsibly bred (inbred) and the way that it is raised and trained makes all the difference in the world. That being said, unfortunately many of them have been inbred, improperly raised and trained which has led to all of the problems with this breed.
My only personal contact with a pit is with my neighbor's. She keeps him in the house other than for a few minutes to potty several times a day. He is a gentle oversized baby.
My daughter's one girlfriend owned a rottie, who although huge, was also the dumbest thing I ever met. He too was sweet.
Both these dogs were housedogs and were AKC which I'm sure helped make a difference too.
But, although these big guys were sweet, I would still not let my little one unattended near them as they can sometimes instigate defensive behaviors from the big guys through their barking and nipping. That is simply a dog thing, not that the dog itself is necessarily bad. So, that's being responsible on both sides.
BUT, unfortunately not all of these big dogs are like this. So yes, until I knew otherwise, I too would be concerned and nervous about a pit or a rottie next door to me.
People should not be allowed to own one of these dogs if they can't properly raise, train and control them. :animal36

tsk...tsk...
 

Okay, so I am not striking out at any person in particular, but I do have some problems with some things that have been said in the first few pages of comments that I have read. So, what people need to remember is that the pit bull (actually known as the American Staffordshire or Staffordshire Terrier) is in fact a terrier and as such was bred to please its master as well as be a relentless hunter and insatiably dedicated to its work. My second point is that Pit Bulls do get a bad rap... They are not the number one most dangerous dog on the books... The thing is that they have more reportings to authorities as they do tend to be worse due to the nature of the breed, not violent but protective and pleasing. As such the news picks up on this and suddenly they are the worst dogs out there. What people need to remeber most importantly is that all animals regardless of the amount of time that they have been domesticated has the potential to turn or "snap" as it may be and revert. On the same note even we ourselves are not completely content and happy go lucky all the time. We, as humans, loose our tempers, are prone to fits of anger and rage when faced with a desperate situation that could affect the stability of our lives and threaten those we love. All that said I would just like to add as a side note that yes I know people that have been attacked by a pit but I have also known people that have been attacked by a cocker spaniel and the one which was assaulted by the cocker is the one worse for wear. Please do not judge the temperment of the breed in a negative light. Just as every other breed is what it is today because of the way that we have shaped it so is the Staffordshire Terrier.

--Trevor

awesome info! Things will happen, part of life and 99% of the time a bad dog no matter the breed is cuz of how it's been raised. Either beaten, mistreated, not loved, bad experiences,etc... tons of ways. Some times it's cuz of the dogs defensiveness for it's owner/territory. I know my toy poodle got along with the dogs she's known her whole life here, but the new one's she was always trying to pick a fight with them even if they was 100 time's her size. I kinda figured that she prob ran up to the dog in an aggressive way that attacked her and things went from their. can i blame my dog or the other dog for it? In a way i blame the big dog for killing my baby, but in my heart i know it was mainly mine and my wife fault for not keeping her on a leash when outside. Even though she snuck out this time when she wasn't in heat she always had free roam outside. But now i know better threw a very very hard lesson. It hurts me very badly that my baby is dead, but it hurts me even worse when i know it was my fault really for always letting her out with out a leash. She didn't know any better, but i should have :(

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