Owning a Dog

purpleTJchick

purpleTJchick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Location
Durham
I really get angry at all these dog attacks when at least 80 percent come from lack of proper ownership. Pitbulls can be bad just like every dog out there, but MOST (not all) of the people who own them do not treat them right. IF every body that owned a pitbull/rock/large breed would have to take 1 dog training class once in thier lifetime then half the "would be neglecting" owners would not get or dog, or face a fine.

Yes I own a pitbull
Yes my pitbull is mean as hell towards strangers in "her land" but she is on my land, in a secure fenced in property. Once introduced she eaither likes you are not. if not... then she is not welcomed in the same room as company. If you are on my land without someone there to settle the dog... I hope you are not walking...

Outside our land she is a complete sweetie, she will let kids hang over her and has only showed aggression towards 2 other dogs (both of whom were threating her... or her owner) but she has never bit anyone or anything

Due to her old age and hard of hearing we know not to startle her awake, although she has never shown aggression when she was awoken we know every ANIMAL has it in them when they start to lose their senses.

proper training growing up
proper guidelines owner/dogs follows

Its not that hard....

RANT OFF


BTW, the cute white pup is a sweetie EVERYWHERE, only aggression comes if you are smaller then her, and not a dog
 
Amen.

Our pup is about 2 years old. As well-adjusted as can be. Wasn't so true when we rescued him when he was abandoned in August...obviously no training, and not much human interaction. He's a lab mix, and learned fast. Mostly due to spending a LOT of time with him, mostly 15-20 minute walks five or more times a day.

We have three not-so well behaved dogs near our house...owners never spend time with them. One takes his for a walk -- on Sundays. The two others, the only time they have human contact is when they get fed.
 
I agree that owners play a big part in dog attacks, but if you look at statistics in dog attacks, the pitbull has the #1 spot. If you add all the attacks of #10 through #2 most dangerous species they still dont equal pit bull attacks alone.
Again, I think the owner's role is huge, but I have yet to hear about any other species of dog eat horses alive.
Pit bulls do so much damage when they do attack, because they bite and shake until they rip flesh. They are a powerful dog that can do a TON of damage when they do attack. In my opinion, its not worth the risk of owning one.
Obviously, you dont agree with me because you own one PurpleTJchick, but if you read quotes from pit bull owners after their dogs attack and kill, a LOT of the time they say "she was such a sweet dog, I never saw anything like this coming."

<EDIT> Just to throw another thing in there, a lot of pit bull attacks come from owners that dont beat, starve, or neglect their dogs.
 
I agree with nissan11, You don't have to be the worst owner ever, the dogs are just too strong for some to with stand an attack. There is far too much risk from having an animal like that to justify owning one. For what a guard dog? My pug barks when a mouse shits at night.

you say your dog is only mean when someone comes onto your land, a dogs land is anywhere it pisses. If you have it in a fence and it gets out, guess what that's now its land. Most dogs I see that are "tame" for a lack of better words seem to act out when they get away from there owners.

Do I believe we should all grab our pitchforks and kill all the pit bulls no... But you better be ready to take full responsibility for your pets actions if it were to kill a young child or anyone. And god help you if its my child.

Can I ask, why the rant? is it because some young girl was just killed by some?
 
everyone has the right to own any dog they want. if you live in a subdivision or have a house on a acre of land with other houses right next to you then you might want to take that into consideration when you choose your dog (consideration to other people that live around you) but with that right also comes the responsibility to spend the rest of your life in prison if your dog kills a 4 year old little girl........even if your dog has "never done anything like this before". sorry for the rant but i'm tired of seeing this shit on the news every other week.
 
I found out when I got my home owners insurance it would raise the cost if I had a Rottie ,Pit ,German Shepard ,or Dobie .They also informed me the most attack dog cause difficulties in getting insurance .But don't get me wrong I would own any of those dogs .
 
I think a lot of these dog attacking children stories probably don't tell the whole story. I remember as a kid, we had a dog that was not mean at all until some of the neighborhood kids (7-9 years old) started tormenting the hell out of my dog.

I wonder how many of these kids getting tore up by dogs were actually throwing rocks, pulling it's tail, fucking with it's food, popping it's nose, shooting BB's at it, etc. before getting attacked.

I'm just saying...I've seen very few, if any, dogs that would attack unprovoked. Most cases are examples of natural selection (the kid). Tragic; but natural selection.
 
I'm a dog lover. I Wish no harm to any dog unless they have done something as terrible as hurt someone. Dogs don't look at hurting someone like we do. It usually is instinct. Which brings me to my point. I recently did a bunch of research on the herding and working class breeds like pitts, heelers, rotties german shepherds, chows and many others that have been known to attack people unexpectedly. This came about because I get in a lot of heated conversations about them with people that say the typical "If you raise and socialize them right they arent a problem". So I tried to educate myself so I could back up how I felt.
Its a common fact that these dogs over hundreds of years have been bred to serve a purpose wheather it be to fight, nip at sheep ankles, snap hog necks and so on. It's in their genetics to attack or protect just like it's in their heads to love red meat. IMO no matter how sweet these breeds are and how well taken care of. They have that instinct to snap and go ballistic at any time. Owning a pittbull is like owning a pet tiger yea its been raised great but its a killing machine any way you look at it.
What happened to the day when you owned a dog for a reason. If you like to fox hunt yo uowned a beagle or a walker and if you like to fish or duck hunt and spend time at the lake you own a labrador, If you want a family dog you get a small breed or a golden retriever. And not get a pitt rottie because you have two small children, where's the logic in that.
 
John B. said:
I think a lot of these dog attacking children stories probably don't tell the whole story. I remember as a kid, we had a dog that was not mean at all until some of the neighborhood kids (7-9 years old) started tormenting the hell out of my dog.
I wonder how many of these kids getting tore up by dogs were actually throwing rocks, pulling it's tail, fucking with it's food, popping it's nose, shooting BB's at it, etc. before getting attacked.
I'm just saying...I've seen very few, if any, dogs that would attack unprovoked. Most cases are examples of natural selection (the kid). Tragic; but natural selection.
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This proves my point. Why would people have a dog like that if you live in a neighborhood around children. Its too much liability IMO. Get a friendly breed and not have to worry about it.
 
I give you the pits have the most "attacks" but before i blame the breed look at the breeders/buyers. I agree we might not always be getting the whole story but here in this location i see most pit owners wanting a tough dog. This is not satistics but i work in a hardware store for downtown durham and alot of young guys or "tough thugs wanna be" wanting over size collars, way over size chains and such to"train thier dog". All ready the dog is aty a dissadvatage

Any way off the pit thing. Large dogs in general can do massive damage. I would like a refrence to the pit attacking a horse. Im sure if a akita or other breed animal that was made to take down large pray was in a postion to attack a horse it could do massive damage also. I dont want to see he video but it would be intresting to hear the back story of how it all started.

Btw. Small dogs dont get much cover press. I wish there was satistics vs number of small dog bites to big dogs. Big dogs do more damage i know. But if the numbers are closly the same that would be worth reading into

My sister has a small dog my neice torments (again lack of parent teaching kids) and that little fawkerwill bite quick. But because of superfical wounds theowners just thier heads. Luckly it has not bit me yet. I try hard to avoid it.
 
It is tough. My parents have a dog that is part pit. She is sweet as can be to the family, but mean as fire to anyone else. We keep her upstairs when we bring the kids over just in case. She has gotten a few people, and tore up a few dogs too. Luckily no one has sued or done anything yet. I raised her the same as I did my lab, and my lab is the sweetest dog and wouldn't hurt a flea. I'm actually worried that if someone broke in the house that they would hurt her because she'd run up to be petted.
 
MarsFab said:
This proves my point. Why would people have a dog like that if you live in a neighborhood around children. Its too much liability IMO. Get a friendly breed and not have to worry about it.
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You may have missed my point.

Point was that if you don't teach your kids from a young age to not f-with dogs ("friendly breed" or not) or any animal, they may get hurt or killed and it will not be the animals fault.
 
Nissan11 said:
No, it specifically states the #1 dog for attacks on humans is the AKC certified purebred pit bull.
Those stats don't even include the pits that come from backyard breeders.
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Even the purebreeds can be backyard breeders. We get them comming into the store. Akc registered... 5 minutes later confesses they are inbred and removed from there mother as eArly as 6 weeks. The social learning is learned around 7-8 weeks. At which point a good mother/pack will teach the dog nipping and hard bitting is a nono aong with other things.
 
purpleTJchick said:
I give you the pits have the most "attacks" but before i blame the breed look at the breeders/buyers. I agree we might not always be getting the whole story but here in this location i see most pit owners wanting a tough dog. This is not satistics but i work in a hardware store for downtown durham and alot of young guys or "tough thugs wanna be" wanting over size collars, way over size chains and such to"train thier dog". All ready the dog is aty a dissadvatage

Any way off the pit thing. Large dogs in general can do massive damage. I would like a refrence to the pit attacking a horse. Im sure if a akita or other breed animal that was made to take down large pray was in a postion to attack a horse it could do massive damage also. I dont want to see he video but it would be intresting to hear the back story of how it all started.

Btw. Small dogs dont get much cover press. I wish there was satistics vs number of small dog bites to big dogs. Big dogs do more damage i know. But if the numbers are closly the same that would be worth reading into

My sister has a small dog my neice torments (again lack of parent teaching kids) and that little fawkerwill bite quick. But because of superfical wounds theowners just thier heads. Luckly it has not bit me yet. I try hard to avoid it.
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I agree with you 100% Owners do have a ton to do with it. And there is nothing I hate seeing more than a young punk walking his dog down the sidewalk with a 100lb chain for a leash. He has that dog all for his image. Which to me makes him look like an idiot but apparently now days girls love guys who wear boots with no shoe laces and have roided up dogs.

I also know what you mean about the small breeds they are usually even more pissy than the big breeds they just don't do as much damage. My in-laws have a teacup poodle that if she still had all her teeth would bite you if you sat near her. Small dogs a territorial and protective over their owner to no end. but hardly break the skin so its just ignored.
Keep in mind that if you look into what these dogs were bred for over time you'll usually find that the way they act often relates to it.
 
John B. said:
You may have missed my point.
Point was that if you don't teach your kids from a young age to not f-with dogs ("friendly breed" or not) or any animal, they may get hurt or killed and it will not be the animals fault.
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I get your point and I do agree to some extent that lots of dogs if provoked will retaliate. But how often do you hear of a golden retriever attacking a kid because it pulled its ears or hit it, and how often do you hear of pitts doing it. Thats not theory thats fact.
 
I have six dogs that own me.
Any breed can be aggresive.
:beer:
 
There are a lot of breeds that can be aggressive.

This is like comparing a wolf spider to a brown recluse. Both species are are aggressive and give a painful bite. However, the brown recluse might kill you when it bites, so why would anyone want to keep one in a cage at their house?
I'm not questioning that other dogs don't attack people, but it's been documented by many sources that pit bulls attack FAR more than other dog species.

You say that a lot of those might be from back yard breeders or not pure bred specimens...
Pit bulls aren't the only dogs that are bred with other species. All other species of dogs are cross bred too. There are just as many lab mixes, rot mixes, mastiff mixes, etc. out there, so why dont they attack as much as mixed bred pits?
My point is that lots of different kinds of dogs are from backyard breeders, are neglected, beat or just plain not raised correctly. Yet, pits and pit mixes still attack people way more than all the others.
 
MarsFab said:
there is nothing I hate seeing more than a young punk walking his dog down the sidewalk with a 100lb chain for a leash. He has that dog all for his image.
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To compensate for what he lacks in himself.
 
I've yet to see a pit attack one of them midgets on TV and they don't even know most of them dogs.
 
Based on my research and personal experience, here are my thoughts on Pits:

Pits have an unusually high desire to please their masters (most Terriers do). This is what makes them so good at almost everything they do (and what was bred into them because the people that bred/used them for fighting didn't want to get bit and wanted them to do their best every time out). This is also what causes them to be (potentially) unstable. If an owner disciplines a Pit by hitting them (especially at a very young age like when housebreaking) or is not going to spend the necessary time with them, it hurts a Pit emotionally as well.

This emotional stress will cause a Pit to not trust their master, which makes for a very unstable dog. With this being said, I would suspect that a lot of the owners of Pits that attack are ones that hit their dogs or neglect them by having little interaction with them (other than at feeding time). While this is true for just about any breed, it is especially true for Pits because they absolutely desire to be around their pack.

Two of the best dogs I ever met were two Pits that were rescued from a life of fighting. The new owners never hit or even raised their voices at the dogs and spent every available minute with them. These "dangerous" dogs would let kids lay on them, pull their ears/tail/whatever without one complaint and would obey commands from other people. They have never even bared their teeth as a warning in the 6 years that I have known them. On the other hand, one of the dogs that I distrusted the most was a Lab that we owned when I was 11. My dad got him as a puppy three months before he and my mom separated and my mother hated large dogs. Unfortunately, this meant that PJ (the Lab) spent most of his time tied to a tree or in the garage, with little interaction from his pack. He would bite my brother and I when we went to feed him, break his chain and go looking for fights with other dogs (even jumping a fence to take on two Dobermans), chase/bite kids on bikes or playing in the street, and generally be nothing but trouble. This wasn't his fault, it was his owner's fault.

If any dog owner (especially an owner of a "dangerous" breed) isn't willing or able to put the necessary time into training their dog correctly, they shouldn't own that type of dog. I feel that potential dog owners should have to take a compatability test to figure out which dogs are right for them and only be allowed to own those breeds. Some people can own any dog due to their experience or skillset, while others should only own low-maintenance dogs.

This is just my observation from having owned 2 different Pits in the past, being around several others over the years and owning several different breeds over the last 30 years. YMMV.
 
MarsFab said:
I'm a dog lover. I Wish no harm to any dog unless they have done something as terrible as hurt someone. Dogs don't look at hurting someone like we do. It usually is instinct. Which brings me to my point. I recently did a bunch of research on the herding and working class breeds like pitts, heelers, rotties german shepherds, chows and many others that have been known to attack people unexpectedly. This came about because I get in a lot of heated conversations about them with people that say the typical "If you raise and socialize them right they arent a problem". So I tried to educate myself so I could back up how I felt.
Its a common fact that these dogs over hundreds of years have been bred to serve a purpose wheather it be to fight, nip at sheep ankles, snap hog necks and so on. It's in their genetics to attack or protect just like it's in their heads to love red meat. IMO no matter how sweet these breeds are and how well taken care of. They have that instinct to snap and go ballistic at any time. Owning a pittbull is like owning a pet tiger yea its been raised great but its a killing machine any way you look at it.
What happened to the day when you owned a dog for a reason. If you like to fox hunt yo uowned a beagle or a walker and if you like to fish or duck hunt and spend time at the lake you own a labrador, If you want a family dog you get a small breed or a golden retriever. And not get a pitt rottie because you have two small children, where's the logic in that.
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I couldn't agree more, you're not going to change the dogs' predisposition to innate behavior. My mother trains dogs as a hobby and we have all sorts of breeds around all the time, and have 4 dogs at our house as personal pets (blue heeler/aussie shepherd mix, Newfoundland/Golden Retriever mix, chihuahua/yorkie mix and a Great Dane/English Mastiff mix)...so I do try and see the good in every dog, but the numbers don't lie, and having the thought in the back of my head that a particular dog or breed can snap at any moment is unsettling to me. Especially with the amount of kids that are constantly at our house. I feel the majority of folks should have a lot more personal responsibility when getting a dog, and personally, I choose not to have to worry about the liabilties certain breeds carry with them, regardless of how good of an owner/trainer I may or may not be.
 
MarsFab said:
I get your point and I do agree to some extent that lots of dogs if provoked will retaliate. But how often do you hear of a golden retriever attacking a kid because it pulled its ears or hit it, and how often do you hear of pitts doing it. Thats not theory thats fact.
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This is the truth here.

I'll again reference my parents' dog and my dog. My kids crawl all over her and she doesn't do jack. Maybe lick them occasionally, but I've never once in 9 years seen her nip or bite at anything. My parents dog, I wouldn't dare let my kids climb on her. I mean, if she gets excited about something she'll just bite you in the leg for no damn reason.

It is in their nature, I don't care what anyone says. My aunt used to raise pit bulls when we were kids, but once she had kids of her own she started raising Italian Greyhounds instead. She didn't trust any pits around her kids.
 
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