I wonder if he is on a pit bull forum talking about these two cute babes walking their yorkies, but wouldn't let his dog play with theirs...lol :D I would have done the same thing, big dogs always make me nervous...maybe they see the Yorkies as little teddy bears that wiggle and bark too.

We weren't attacking you, just making statements. Maybe he was looking back to make sure that you guys weren't that close. It sounds, in my opinion, that he was trying to do everything he could to please you.

He could have just stood there and let his Pittie salivate over Peanut and Todd. But, he didn't. He moved ahead and got some distance between the four of you and himself and his dog. When he was sitting on the bench, he could have seen you four and decided to wait a while and let you pass before he continued on his way.

I wasn't there and none of us are this man, so we can't say what he was thinking.

I'm sorry that it ruined your walk and you felt he was being rude. I'm also sorry that you felt attacked by our comments. We're simply saying that it IS possible that he was doing everything he could to make you four feel comfortable and trying to give you some distance.

I hope you, your friend, Peanut and Todd have better walks in the future. :)

One of my high school boyfriends had two English pit bull terriers who were litter mates and raised together. One day, he went to feed them and didn't put the food down at exactly the same time. The dogs started fighting and one of them killed the other. The vet told him that the pit bulls are bred to fight, and that even though they are gentle and friendly 99% of the time, if that fighting instinct is triggered, they will fight to the death. I'm sorry, I don't believe that can be bred out of the pit bull anymore than rat killing can be bred out of a Yorkshire terrier. That possibility is always there.

I often watch the Court TV shows, and often when it is a pit bull attack, the owner always says that the dog has never been vicious before, and sometimes they have pictures of the dog with a small child to show how gentle the dog is. Then at least Judge Joe Brown always gets the chart showing the number of pit bull attacks.

It is inbred into them. like you say the rat killing is inbred into the Yorkie. Lil Bit came in from the backyard one day with two dead field mice in her mouth. She was so proud of herself. She dropped them at Bruce's feet like she was giving him a present. Of course I went ballistic LOL - I hate mice.
Also one of the rescue dachsies I had, caught and killed a squirrel and, naturally, brought it into the house (UGH) where she and another dachsie decided to squabble over it. Dachsies were bred for badger hunting.

These traits are bred into them.

Agree! I didn't want to attack you personally. Was just putting the other side out there. I don't disagree with you protecting your Peanut because you do never know. I wasn't aruging that. Simply saying that it didn't *sound* like the guy was trying to be a prick or anything.

Oh yes, I agree. Pit Bull's are known for dog aggression. Sometimes you get a good one, and other times, you don't. I do think a big problem is simply BAD breeding. Too many people in the inner city breeding Pit's with no knowledge of the breed, or health testing, or temperament taken into consideration. They are a wonderful breed when correctly bred.

Another problem with "Pit Bull bite attacks" is that FAR too many people are too quick to say a dog is a Pit Bull... when it's not. Case in point, a few weeks ago there was a story about a Pit Bull attack on a child. The news was quick to print the name PIT BULL in big letters, attack, etc. It grabs peoples attention. Well, come to find out it was some kind of Husky mix or something, and they made a small tiny little refraction section in the paper for a few weeks later when nobody cares anymore. So now there is one more "Pit attack" to add to the stats, when it wasn't even a Pit. It's not really fair to be able to make statisitics on Pit Bull attacks when everyone is quick to think a dog is a Pitty, when they're more than likely not. There is no actual breed as a "Pit Bull"... there are about 10 separate breeds classified under Pit's, so to me that doesn't seem like it'd be a fair statistic.

Check out all these breeds: Bulldog Breeds - Bull Dog - English Bulldog, American Bulldog, Pit Bull Terrier, Pitbull and more

I wrote this on another thread a little back;
With that said, Pit Bulls, as a breed, are known family dogs. They are one of THE top dogs to have as a family statistically. Pit's were bred to be DOG aggressive, not human, and any dog that was born with human aggression was killed in order for that trait to be bred out of them. Many Pit's are not dog aggressive nowadays but many do still have that trait. A Pit will go for another dog/animal before going for a human. Also, Golden's and Labs, I believe, are above the Pit on the bite list. What does this all boil down to? BAD breeding.

Also, "lock jaw" is NOT true. That IS a myth. Honestly, the reason pits are so popular with irresponsible sorts it's because they're so stable in temperament. One guy told me that he'd rather have a pit than a Dobe or a Rott because if he beat a Dobe or Rott it would take his arm off, but a pit won't bite you no matter what. Ever seen people who sickeningly FIGHT these dogs... they can beat 'em, do whatever, yet the Pit will still gladly come over and give them a kiss on the face. That's how loyal they are.

In the 70's it was Dobies. In the 80's it was German Shepherds. In the 90's it was Rotties. Pits are the "it" name of today. Why don't ya ever hear about Goldens attacking family members? It wouldn't be as interesting on the news. The name Pit Bull attracts people. People LIKE hearing bad things. Ever notice how the news never, or rarely, has positive stories? They would much rather play a story about a Pit killing someone, over a Pit who is a certified therapy dog. It's more appealing to the masses. That's why ban restriction doesn't work... who are they to say which breeds get put down or removed from cities and which ones don't... so let's say Goldens suddenly become bigger attackers, now Golden's are banned from cities and states?

They aren't 'harmful', they don't attack randomly. It's all about training and being in the right/wrong hands. They ARE a powerful dog who needs a lot of mental and physical stimulation. They are not always dog friendly, but should never show any aggression towards people. Good breeders know this. Problem is too many people are breeding them out of the wazoo, and not paying ANY attention to temperament or genetics. Which is NO fault of the dog. Humans created Pit Bulls and now we are destroying them.

Education is key. Not killing these dogs or getting rid of a whole wonderful breed. People really need to be better informed about them and information needs to be put out there more. Which is why I think it's so wonderful Animal Planet is airing "Pit Boss" etc and showing how amazing they can be.