Pit Bull

I'm so glad I logged on today and saw this updated post from you, Bunky. I laughed out loud when when I responded to your post and then I realized we were replying to a question that had been asked four years prior.

Glad the dog found a good home, and I agree with you on rehoming him. Better to be safe than sorry. I'm glad you didn't shoot him too.

DonnaK wrote:YOU control how your dog reacts when it's being fed. From little on let it know that you can take it's food if you want to.

Very true. Our first dog was an aggressive shepherd cross who growled and threatened when you came near her food, even very young. So I made a point of poking around in her dish while she ate, moving the dish around, taking it away and giving it back, pushing her away, and so on, until she was very relaxed about it. When she was a little older my brother's family came to visit, no one was paying much attention to kids and dogs, then we found my 3-year old niece playing in the food dish while the dog ate, no problems.

I just came across this while reading something else, really sad.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... -to-death/
A neighbor of mine had one that would play with my youngest dog & offered it to me before he moved, I didn't take it just because of the breed, like a lot of others I have known some that were as sweet as could be but I just wouldn't take the chance.

Freddy wrote:Every party has a pooper, and I am it at this party.....This was about a year and a half ago. A local family had a pit bull. Owned it since it was a pup. Never was aggressive to anyone. It was about 3 years old when who knows what happened. The owners kids were playing in the front yard, the dog with them as always. The next thing anyone knew the youngest child was mauled and later died.
I'm sorry, this was a loving dog in a loving home. You can't tell me it had anything to do other than the breed. I would not own one, I would never, ever, leave kids with one.

im joining the poopers on this one, I do agree that how you raise a dog plays a critical roll but the simple fact is certain traits come with your evolution no matter what kind of animal you are, you cant stop greyhounds from wanting to run, you cant stop corgys from wanting to heard, etc. Its just a risk i personally would not wish to take when it comes to my young children, a pitbull was bread for the soul purpose of being a fighting machine, why not go with a dog breed that was bread for swimming or retrieving (it would be alot more fun for your kids and alot less stress on your mind).

Well now that I'm tired of reading about all the canine do gooders & sympathisers, I'll add my 2 cents. When my oldest girl was real young, one of my dogs--gentle, loveable, friendly, what a cute, amazing dog he was-- snapped seriously at her & knocked her down for some unknown reason--breed makes no difference--I took it for a walk in the woods & put a 30/06 between his eyes. I would not have given MY problem to someone else no matter what. Thanx for listening--I feel better.

rberq wrote:Our first dog was an aggressive shepherd cross who growled and threatened when you came near her food, even very young. So I made a point of poking around in her dish while she ate, moving the dish around, taking it away and giving it back, pushing her away, and so on, until she was very relaxed about it.

Our dog now was never aggressive about food, if she has a bone or something and you take it from her she thinks you're playing a game. Really friendly dog, I've never seen her bare her teeth to anyone or anything.

DonnaK wrote:I'm so glad I logged on today and saw this updated post from you, Bunky. I laughed out loud when when I responded to your post and then I realized we were replying to a question that had been asked four years prior.

Glad the dog found a good home, and I agree with you on rehoming him. Better to be safe than sorry. I'm glad you didn't shoot him too.

freetown fred wrote:Well now that I'm tired of reading about all the canine do gooders & sympathisers, I'll add my 2 cents. When my oldest girl was real young, one of my dogs--gentle, loveable, friendly, what a cute, amazing dog he was-- snapped seriously at her & knocked her down for some unknown reason--breed makes no difference--I took it for a walk in the woods & put a 30/06 between his eyes. I would not have given MY problem to someone else no matter what. Thanx for listening--I feel better.

Im glad we didn't shoot him too but if we'd been freetown fred we would have...on to happier topics?

You're right Bunky, it was definitly not a happy time. Just something that needed to be done.

I grew up around dogs. One of the things my father did to make money on the Farm was to breed and raise Dobermans. He bred for good temperment and obediance. Dobermans are extremely smart and high energy. They need lots of outdoor time. Our Dobermans loved us as children and never were aggressive toward us. In fact Pepper the female dog would deliberately try and stop Daddy or Momma from giving us a whipping. We had another one named Taffy. Taffy was a spoiled brat who wanted to be in the center of attention. When we were at my Grandmother's watching TV (We didn't have one at my house) the dog would go and pull the TV cord out the wall socket to get attention. As good as those dogs were my Parents NEVER allowed the dogs around us when they weren't there.
However, I have some real bad memories of other dogs. The neighbors down the road had a Saint Bernard. It was huge. Normally it was very friendly,but; one day it was in our yard and I went up to it to pet it. It attacked me and knocked me to the ground. I rolled over on my stomach and covered my head as best I could with my arms. Every time I would move the dog would snarl at me and bite me in the back of the head so laid very still. I called to my Mother who heard me. Luckily for me. She came out with a pistol and a base ball bat and drove the dog away. I was terrified beyond description. I was only 7 years old and I remember it like it was yesterday.

The other incident happened after I was an adult. My Uncle Orville got a white German Shepard puppy named Stormy. Stormy was afraid of everything when he was a puppy. After he grew up the fear turned into vicious aggression. He would catch rabbits and eat them raw. He was fed very well. If you were near him and moved suddenly he would growl at you. He had no hestitation when it came to trying to bite you. I told Dad to take him out and shoot him before something bad happened. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone was seriously attacked. My 80 year old plus Grand parents lived on the farm with us. My Grandfather tried to scratch him behind the ears one day and Stormy suddenly turned on him and bit the end off of his finger. I was away at College. When I heard about it, I was livid. I told my Mother the dog needed to be gotten rid of. Well one day my dad came in from bush hogging the front pasture and he stepped on the porch he didn't see Stormy was hiding under the porch glider. He accidentally stepped on the dog's tail. Stormy flew out from under the glider and attacked my Dad. He went for Dad's throat. He was going to kill him. Dad put his arm in front of him to try and fend off the dog. Stormy tore my Dad's arm to shreds, down to the bone. He didn't stop until my Mom hit him with something, I don't remember what it was. It was lucky Mom was home from Work that day or it would have been the end of my Dad. Stormy took off toward the woods. My Mom got Dad in the car and drove to the Hospital. The Hospital was 20 miles away down narrow dirt roads. He passed out due to loss of blood before they got to the Hospital. Stormy ended up getting shot with a slug from a 12 gauge and his head removed so his brain could be examined for rabies. Good riddance. I was so relieved when I found out that dog had been properly dealt with.
The point is. Dogs are not Humans even though we tend to extend human traits to them. If you want a big dog and have children, fine, but count the risk first.