anything i should know?

[prototype]

im interested in getting a pure bred pitbull. less than 1 year old....i was talking to a friend of mine and he said that i have to be carefull with them b/c they get sick if the temp is too cold or too hot. true or false? and is there any medical history with this type of dog i should be concrened about?

[lou3]

No medical history that i know of but do bear in mind that only EXCEPTIONALLY experienced dog owners should ever even CONSIDER a pitbull as they have such a natural tendancy to be dangerously aggressive that they are banned in many countries and severely restricted in others. They were bred to kill and thats exactly what they do best.

[Dawn]

That is a very common misconception. They are not mean by nature, they're mean by training. They're bred to have the physicallity to fight, but not the mentality.

[Paul]

I agree with the message that the dogs are aggressive, they were bred to fight, hence the term 'Pit'. In England Pit Bull terriers are illegal to own (except under strict conditons), it is also illegal to buy, sell have them in public advertise for sale, breed, breed from etc. They are one of only four dogs banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act the other are Japanise Tosa, Dogo Argentino, anf the Fila Brazziliero all of which were bred for fighting. Whilst i can agree that owners can be somewhat responsible for their dogs attitude with training etc, i cannot see that even a good owner can remove a pre-disposition that has been a breed characteristic by trainig. Try training a pointer not to raise its leg, it's virually impossible, and where does it learn this from it doesn't it is in bred, and comes naturally . There are other similar bull terriers such as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or the English Bull Terrier that have great reputations, especially with children ! I would say change your mind, Quickly !!

[lou3]

thanks Paul, glad to find someone that agrees with me and doesnt have a "softly softly" attitude towards the breed "oh they're not that bad really you just gotta give them love" cos thats just a dangerous attitude and leads to people getting attacked and bitten.

Dawn - Pitbulls WERE bred to have the mentality to fight physicality was a secondary requirement, they were bred for Pit fights so all that mattered was determination and the instinct to bite down hard and not let go no matter what. This wasnt a dog trained to do a job it was a dog put in a ring with another dog and let loose to do what comes naturally.
Lou

[Dawn]

I'm really sorry that you have that thought towards them. My only point is that do you really know? Since you're from England, you've never actually been around them. I have been around pets and fighting dogs. The pets are not aggresive in the least.

[katiescat]

Just my 2 cents but I have had pits before and just like with rotts, pits have gotten a bad rap.

I have seen some very horrid rotts and some very horrid pits (trained to fight). But I have also seen some of the best behaved in both breeds. I truly believe that it is all in who raises them and how.

I had a pit for 14 years in that time he never bit anybody and I actually had to teach him to smile just to make him look somewhat mean. Only problem with that is nobody believed it and they just kept saying how good a dog he was. People kept asking about him after he had to be put down due to stroke cause they missed seeing him as they went by.

My pit name Jaws even became scared of the garbage man. Jaws would go out and bark at the garbage man until one day when the garbage man got tired of it and threw Jaws in the back of the truck. Jaws never went near the truck again but would stand by the safety of our house to do his barking. I have also seen another pit that would have given her life to protect her baby (6 year old girl). These dogs can be very loyal and gentle if treated and raised properly. My kids rode my pit like a horse without a problem.

I used to have him on a choke chain until the chain got stuck and cut his throat (not completely just mostly swelling) he stood perfectly still while I pried the chain out of the wound the next morning. It was dried in there and had it been any other dog I don't know if I could have done that.

As I said this is just my opinion don't mean to offend anybody. [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

[mojo]

i have owned a few pits and so have my close relatives and they weren't as vicious as people say they are. they are however very loyal dogs and when the feel as if their owner is being threatend they will show aggression but people often cofnuse this to be pure viciousness. i do believe that they are more sensitive to the way that they are treated when being raised and are easier to be trained to be agressive than other dogs, even if you are unconsious of it. so i agree with whoever stated that you should have some experience with raising dogs befor you get a pit bull.

[Lou]

There are so many variables in dogs (my goodness, look at us humans!!!!). Our Freckles is such a people freak that she almost wiggles out of her skin if someone..anyone.. pays attention to her!!! I have seen her playing roughhouse with older kids and a toddler come close and she goes down and is as still as an angel. HOWEVER, one time we were eating breakfast in a cafe and Freckles was in the car(as always if weather permits) with all four windows down about 4 inches. A lady came into the restaurant asking who's white/red dog that was out in the car. My husband responded and she said she wondered if she had all her shots? Of course she had, but asked why she wanted to know. She said she was a "dog person" and had reached in the window to pet her and she had snapped at her and broke the skin. (My question to myself was..."a dog person" would have better sense than to put their hand in the window of a car with a strange dog in it!!!) She was friendly about it. But, my point being....here is a dog that you would never think about being aggressive...but, she was protecting her territory and we were no where in sight. She would never have done this had I or my husband been there. (I'm sure that I would have felt threatened myself if I was sitting there and some stranger stuck their hand in the window!!!) Common sense has to be the key whenever you are dealing with dogs, cats, people!!!!

[fullhouse9873]

I currently have a pit mix - and just recently had to put down my pit/boxer mix. Pit bulls can be excellent dogs. They were trained to fight other dogs - and dog aggression is very common in this breed. That's not to say however that all dogs are dog aggressive. A lot depends on how your dog is socialized and trained. Our pit mixes are (and were) the sweetest dogs ever. Loved my kids - would lay down their life for my family. Pit bulls are extremely protective of their owners - they treat them like family. This is one reason that pit bulls are not a good dog if you can't spend time with them. They NEED human companionship.

If this is your first dog - I would strongly suggest that you choose another breed. There are so many good points - that if I were to list them all - I'd be typing all through the night. But they do have their down sides. We had to put our pit/boxer mix down due to dog aggression. He attacked 3 dogs - and bit 3 people. And when I say attacked - I don't mean a little bite. When pit bulls attack - they WILL NOT let go. I learned to have a breakstick handy just in case I need to pry his jaws off some dog.

If you do go ahead with getting a pit - I recommend getting one from a very reputable breeder - and then finding a good trainer (one who specializes in pits would be good).

I adopted my little angel Wilson (the pit/boxer mix we put down) from a humane society when he was 3 years old. Unfortunately - I don't know what he had been through for the first 3 years of his life. He loved everyone in my house - and had an extreeme devotion to me - but with all the training we put him through - he continued to have extreme dog aggression. In the end - we had to put him to sleep. I couldn't bear the thought of him huring a child (we live within a block of 2 elementary schools). Think long and hard about your decision. Getting a pit is hard decision - but putting them to sleep is even harder. Trust me - I've been there.

(Don't get me wrong - I love pits - and my next dog will probably be a pit - there are just too many people out there that have them and don't know what they're in for)