Thinking about getting a pitbull...
 

I went over to my friend's house last week and fell in love with her Pitbull, Sacha. She is the sweetest, most inquisitive dog and she gets along great with my friend's s**tzu. I also have a different friend who has a pitbull and a Chihuaua and they get along famously as well. Do any of you have experience with yorkies and pits in the same house? How do they get along? What kind of training was involved with the pit? Do you have cats?? Thanks!

I don't have any other dogs but my Yorkie. However, I do have three very adult male cats. All three of my cats were immediately in love with Kalina from the moment I brought her into the house. They will occasionally very gently bat at her with their paws if they think she is running too fast or misbehaving. The rest of the time they just play with her and kiss her.

Yes, my yorkie gets along great with my cat. They are best buds! I'm just worried about introducing a pit into the house... I'm hoping if I get a young one and socialize him early on it will be ok, but I'd like to hear some opinions from pit/yorkie owners before I decide. :)

I have a cat and my dad has a pitbull and a shih tzu. There has never been any problems with any of them and my yorkie. The pitbull has no problems with any dog that is smaller than him. I think if the dog were his size (130 lbs) or bigger then he might get antsy.

I have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and up until may of this year he lived with a 6lb Yorkie girl (Heidi) and they got along fine...Heidi was 14 when she died and Bruce is 7. When we brought Bruce into our home at 8 weeks of age Heidi was 7 years old and she was the boss..if he got a little too rough as a puppy she would snap at him and he would back off. I think that is why he has a such a wonderful gentle character..he was brought up with a little Yorkie and knew he had to be gentle with her. I wouldn't say they were ever very close and affectionate with each other but they lived together quite happily. I'm 100% sure he will be fine with my new baby when i get her next month too, he is great with my MIL's collie bitch..she bosses him around terribly and he just lets her do it! and recently i had a friends male Golden Retriever to stay overnight..they had never met before so i was unsure of how they would get on and they were fine..My Bruce let him eat out of his bowl and steal his favourite camel toy! I couldn't ask for a more loving and gentle dog.

I dont have any experience with a pitbull but I do have a bigger dog who is very gentle with my yorkies...its all about the training..with a dog like a pitbull professional training right from a puppy would probably be your best bet. I LOVE pits and would like to have one someday too!!!

Dawn

I just rehomed my newfie for this reason.
I would never tell anyone else what to or not to do, but I will however suggest really considering all possibilities. A pit bull is a lot bigger than a yorkie and a pit puppy playing could break a yorkies back with one swipe of a paw. (not even meaning to, just playing) pits are going to need lots of training. They are very very very strong and willful. I would just really think about it long and hard. seriously. Are you going to be there 24/7 if not do you have a way to seperate them?

My son and daughter in law have a pitbull named Cletus, he is huge. My Sawyer weighs 4 pounds sopping wet. They are great friends. Cletus lays down so sawyer can reach him to play. When sawyer gets too rambuctious, Cletus will hold him down with his massive paw, and lick his face. However, they also have a 7 month, 65 pound lab named Cash. When we were there this weekend, Cash chased Sawyer, and caught him and tossed him like a ball before we even knew someone had let cash in. He was just playing, but he could have killed my baby! My daughter in law is a vet tech, and Cletus went to work with her everyday of his first year, and met every kind of dog and kitty you can think of. He is so socialized ! I stillk watch him closely, and would seperate them if he even seemed aggravateed by sawyer; however, Cash the lab which is thought to be the more calm and gentle of the two breeds, can never be in the house when we are there. he is not mean, just unaware of his strength. If you get a pit, please let him meet a lot of other dogs, and people. This breed gets a bad name because people don't let them develop into a regular dog. Never brag your dog could rip anything or anyone in two, or he just might show you he can:rolleyes:

I think it depends on the temperment of the dog. Any breed can be nice or vicous it just depend on how it was raised.

My brother has a pit mix who is about 90lbs and I have 2 yorkies. I have dog sitted his dog for weeks at a time in my little condo. She was GREAT with my dogs. I had no problems at all. However when I was not home they were not left together alone. She was put in the finished basement for the day and my dogs were gated into the kitchen for the day... JUSSTTT in case! :)

One time they 'broke' out when I was out... i came home to trash all over my house. His dog broke out of the basement, pushed my dogs gates aside and all 3 had run of the house, they went through the trash and made a mess. But noone was hurt or sick when I got home so I guess shed be ok with them alone.

not a pitbull, but a golden lab.

my bf has a 98 lb golden lab and mocha is only about 5 lbs. being the princess she is, she bosses his lab around the house. mickey (golden lab) is 5 years old and mocha is almost 1, but he's more of a father/grandpa to her. she likes to nip (she's teething) at him and he doesn't mind except growl at her when she's out of line.

other than that, they get along very well. a couple of pictures of them together.:)

1. outside, enjoying the weather.
2. mickey showing mocha where to pee/poop. :)
3. i think this was when he barked at her and she figured out how to hide under the chair, because she thinks he can't reach her from there.
4. playing soccer with a tennis ball.

I don't know why, with all the knowledge that we have now, anyone would go out and get a Pitt Bull.

I have known several Pitt Bulls, and they have all been very sweet, affectionate, and well behaved dogs.

But if you listen to the owners of the dogs that have attacked other dogs and fchildren, they all say that their dog as so sweet and affectionate, and they don't understand what happened.

I believe that for the most part, they are very sweedt affectionate, intelligent well behaved dogs. But for some reason that o one seems to be able to explain, they are totally unpredictable. They can be sweet as can be for years, and all of a sudden they snap.

I would never want to take that risk. JMO

My husband has a pit outside. If you decide to get one it would probably be best not to keep it in the house. One wrong step and your yorkie could be seriously hurt. My husbands pit is 110 pounds, he would not hurt a fly...but if he was to step on one of my babies it could hurt them. They do not play around him for that reason. Just weight all your options before you get one. They are great dogs they train very easily.

one of my friends has a pit and morgan would play with her all the time. The pit lays down on the floor so morgan can play with her. She also lifts her paws up really high and carefully places them when morgan is running under foot. Its really quite sweet. Pit bulls are just like any other dog. If raised in a good home they are no more dangerous then our yorkies. At work, we have more nasty little dogs under 10lbs that i muzzle then pit bulls. In fact, i also muzzle more labs and goldens then pit bulls because THEY are more unpredictable then pit bulls. So it all depends on who you ask. I love Pits and would gladly bring one into my home if i could.

this pic is when morgan was 4-5 months old and less then 3lbs.

sorry of the subject
 

would you letme know where you got the cute bed
sassytooyou

that really cute
 

Thet seem to get on just fine...have they always/

personally i would never take the chance, if you have any doubts whatsover then don't get one, yes you can get snappy yorkies or other small breed dogs but they could never do the damage a 'snappy' pitbull could do to a child or another dog.
Thankfully they are now a banned breed over here.
Anyway why would anyone want anything other than a YORKIE!! :p

they do. it surprised me. they do bark at each other-when she steals his food, when he steals her hidden treats, etc. but that's pretty much it. mocha outbarks him all the time. :D

It is all about the way a dog is raised. If you get a puppy make sure you meet the parents and see their temperment. Socialize the puppy A LOT with all kinds of animals and people. I see a lot of pits come into my shelter and I have loved almost all of them. I would never leave a big dog alone unattented with a smaller dog though. No matter what the breeds. I have seen a lot of labs that have attacked or killed other dogs and bite children in my county. I have not had a call about a pit attacking a dog or person yet. If you are a good owner and train your dog you will be fine. It is the people who tie a dog outside and don't socialize it that have problems.

I do not believe in banning a breed, just ban bad owners from having animals period!

I'm sure there are some pits that would be and are completely fine with our little ones. I think I would be too nervous to try it. It only takes one time of too rough play. I had an experience with a neighbors husky/shepherd mix. He was around my 3.5 pound yorkie all the time and was never aggressive. Once on a walk. The husky got away from neighbors daughter who had the leash. He came at my little Shorty from about 60 yards away. He was on attack. In the time it took me to pick Shorty up he had saliva on his back, thats how fast and quick that dog came at him, after a year of being very gentle with him. Just wanted to share my experience, like I said, I know there are some that never experience, but I would be too scared to take that chance. Good Luck with your decision!!!!

I wasn't going to respond...I have seen MANY posts on Pits get ugly...but, here goes...

I love all animals but, personally, I am absolutely terrified of this breed. Yes, I know people say it's all in how they are raised...in most cases I agree with this. However, our darling little furbabies were once used to kill rats...I know they are not used for this any longer but, how many of you have had your sweet little furgirl/boy catch a glimpse of a chipmunk, squirrel or a bird?? I don't know about your babies but, my girls stand straight up with their ears perked and would take after them in a heartbeat...I also believe this is (sad but,) true with Pits. If I was going to have a dog turn on me I certainly wouldn't want it to be one that could tear me apart.
Not that long ago and young woman had to call 911 because HER own dog was digging at her bathroom door trying to get at her..She was on the phone with the police and they asked her what she wanted them to do...she told them to shoot her dog. Everybody knows somebody who owns, the sweetest, most affectionate pit you could ever find....until it turns.....
I would be very leary about owning ANY big, strong dog around a 5lber.

I did NOT post this to "stir the pot" this is just my opinion....

i think any large dog should go threw special training not just petsmart any large breed can do alot of damage if not trained

I Wouldn't Chance It Myself, Furbabies Can Get Hurt So Easily. Why
Not Just Another Small Breed To Your Household??

I have read everything you can get on pits. I even have a close friend who breeds them. As long as you are calm with them and gentle then they will be. If you are mean to them they will respond the same way. I have 2 very small Yorkies (3 1/2lbs and 1.6lbs) and her Pits do great with them. In fact when I go out of town I leave my Yorkies with her till I get back. Same when she is gone, I go over and take care of all her pits. It all depends on how they are raised. Notice you never hear about the big dogs, unless it is for something bad. Seems a little unfair to me. Just my own opinion Good Luck on your decision.

So cute
 

These are the cutest pictures:) :)

I, personally, wouldnt own a pit, but strongly feel that a BIG dog, ANY BIG dog should be carefully watched around the little ones. I have a 90 lb. lab and she is very careful around Hope but when she gets something focused in, she doesnt see anything around her... I watch them VERY carefully and never leave them alone... Laci is the sweetest thing ever but she is 20 times bigger than my baby and anything could happen!

oh thank you!

tootiesmom-i totally hear ya. esp with mickey. at the beginning i was so afraid that he would unintentially step on her or his wagging tail would smack her in the face if she jumped at the right moment. but mickey is way more cautious than i ever could be (totally proud grandpa). i've stepped on her feet more than a couple of times and she lets me know it. even if mickey wasn't careful, she would totally make him aware of her presence. tiny body, but huge ego my little one has. ;)

Before my husband and I had children we had a PitBull his name was speed ( cause when he was little he would run around like he was on it, lol) and he was so beautiful such a loving little boy. WE took him everywhere with us and he got on so well with other dogs, as long as they were smaller than him. If they were bigger he would bark and get a bit aggresive towards them.
My husband has a daughter to a previous relationship and she adored Speed.
One day we had friends over, having a bbq and they had their children with them. Just to be safe we locked Speed away.

Well hubbys daughter let him out without us knowing and she and a friend were shaking their long blonde hair at him and running around, so Speed latched onto Hubbys daughters friends hair and started shaking her around like she was some kind of rag doll. We heard the screaming and ran down and that is what we saw. Luckly Speed wasn't trying to be aggressive and when we called at him he came running over ever so excited. He wasn't trying to hurt the girl he was just playing with her, but he ripped out so much hair, she had blood on her scalp from the hair being pulled out.

My point is, you never know what to expect with them. They are so big and so strong and just unaware of their power. At the time of this incident I had just had our first child and thought OH MY GOSH that could have been him. We ended up giving Speed to a friend who had no children and worked on building sites so Speed would get to go to work with him and be around people.

I will also add, alot of dogs end up in shelters because people see a friend and they have this beautiful obedent dog and they think "wow, thats what I want, we should get a dog like that". So without all the research and knowledge they go out and buy this dog. 6mths -12mths down the track they think " this dog is nothing like our friends", it just isn't working out so off to the shelter the dog goes.
I am not saying that is you, but that is what happens in alot of cases.

Please do your research before you jump into anything.

I guess I look at things a lot differently than most. I see any big dog as a risk, not just a pit bull. Any bigger dog doesn't know its strength and could easily hurt a yorkie without intending to. It is all in how you raise them. You raise them right you won't have any problems. I have had big dogs and small dogs my entire life. And I have taught each and every dog to be gentle and kind to the smaller dogs.

Right now we have a border collie mix, Daisy. She is 75 pounds and is very strong. We taught her from being a puppy who to handle smaller dogs. She now loves small dogs and is very very gentle with them. She has never hurt them, she will even watch where she steps so as to not step on them accidentally. She will have 6 of the smaller dogs all over her at once playing and biting at her and she loves every minute of it.
But she also knows how to play with big dogs in a different manner. My brother has a lab puppy who is big and strong. Now she is super nice and loving but doesn't know her strength at all. When her and Daisy play, they play really rough and I can never let the smaller dogs around Lexi because she is too clumsy and would hurt them.

So in my opinion a pit bull wouldn't be any differenet than getting a husky or a lab. They are all big dogs and they all need to be trained and raised right. I would also like to point out that while Daisy is gentle with them and has never hurt them, I will never leave her all alone with them, accidents do happen.

As for the nonsense about pit pulls turning on you or instinctively being mean, that is all it is, nonsense. If you find a well bred pit bull (temperament of course is vital) then I don't see where you would have any problems. But you have to be willing and dedicated to training, it is very important.

I love pitbulls, I wouldn't mind having one one day. But for now I will have my doberman next year.

Sorry for the long post. I am just tired of all these ridiculous misconceptions about these breeds.

I agree to some point, but alot does have to do with instinct and these poor babies have been breed to fight in the pits for generations after generations. It's like a Tiger born in captivity and hand raised, loved and nurtured and yet there have been many cases when the tiger has acted on instinct and attacked ( a case just recently here in Aussie).
I think you adding a GREATER risk owning a pitbull as apposed to other larger breeds