Oprah Winfrey show

[sammy101]

well of course she's having a little kid who got attacked by a dog on her show tomorrow.But what really gets me is that when they showed the re-inactment,of course,they showed a Pitbull chasing the little guy:mad: I dont know if he got attacked by a Pitbull but just make sme so mad that they show a pitbull chasing him.:eek: :mad:
That sure doesnt make them look better to the public who dont know much about them,to the people who hate them.
Sometimes i wonder what Oprah thinks about this breed??
i dont know how someone couldnt love them,theyre a beautiful dog,and i hope to get one someday

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I hate when people do that:mad::( I love pitbulls, it's so sad the way the public treats them and other bully breeds:(

[Tiah]

Yes, the little boy was actually attacked by a pitbull.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Originally posted by Tiah
Yes, the little boy was actually attacked by a pitbull.

even so, I don't think they have to say which breed:( They could just say he was attacked by a dog.

[sammy101]

Originally posted by Orangutango
even so, I don't think they have to say which breed:( They could just say he was attacked by a dog.

Yes i agree with you,usually they wont say if its like a Lab or something,but they make a big deal out of it when a Rottweiler or Pitbull..the bad rap breeds attack some one.:(
i hate it so much..i wish stuff like this didnt happen,but it does

[Mandy1]

Originally posted by Orangutango
even so, I don't think they have to say which breed:( They could just say he was attacked by a dog.

Considering it's going to be on the Oprah Show I would think that they woud need to tell what kind of dog it is, you need to tell the crowd all of the facts. If the boy is attacked by a Pit Bul, why have a totally different breed of dog chasing the kid in the re-inactment??

[dukedogsmom]

I'm sick to death of Oprah.

[Tonya]

I love pit bulls but I don't see anything wrong with her telling the truth. Yes, people do seem to capitalize on it more when it's a pit, but in this case, she wasn't lying. I'd be pissed if it was a golden retriever next time and she didn't mention that breed though. The fact that a pitbull attacked someone is sad and disappointing to us pitbull lovers, but it's the truth. That's like hiding the identity of a killer that is a black man on the show just because she doesn't want people to think that all black people are killers. Life can't always be sugar coated.

[Tiah]

I agree with Tonya. They need to tell the truth, you may not like it, but it's just the way it is.

And, by the way, I love Oprah ;)

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Yeah, I guess they do need to tell the truth but I am so sick of hearing all these pitbull stories all the time:(

[ParNone]

I saw the show today and it was very inspirational. The story was focused on heroism, not dog attacks. It was pit bulls that attacked the lil' boy, so I don't think it would have been fair to use another breed. The breed that attacked him wasn't the point of the story though.

It was about a woman risking her life to save a lil' boy. She threw herself on top of the boy and took all the bites meant for him. Totally unselfish act. I started crying when the lil' boy was thanking her for saving his life and he had lil' tears rolling down his cheeks. I wasn't alone, the audience and Oprah were pretty teary-eyed too.

Par...

[sammy101]

yes i watched it today and i got teary eyed.I just wasnt sure if it was about pitbulls or being a hero,i posted this yesterday when i only saw the commercial.I know that its fair to tell what breed attacked,,but im getting sick of hearing about Pitbull attacks all the time:(

Tonya i agree with you.I like Oprah also.

[GraciesMommy]

I love Oprah! She is an awesome lady and has done a lot for the less fortunate..I didnt watch the show today..but glad to hear it was about heroism and not just tearing down the pit

[carole]

I agree with Tonya , they should tell the truth, sadly the pit bull does seem to be getting a bad name, as the only bad dog attacks reported here have also been pit bulls.

P.S I love Oprah too,she is a wonderful, kind hearted woman.

[leslie]

I saw the show today too and was moved to teary-eyed-ness! I was thinking to myself that Oprah would do a ps. like, "We are not condemning pit bull dogs here on my show.." but she never did. I was hoping they would say that it is bad owners that make bad dogs.. but no, they didn't.
I know the show was focused on heroism... it just would have been nice if she'd put that plug in for the dogs... It is the fault of the owners and I wish they would have at least mentioned that (she did ask where did the dogs come from- answer was, "from the street"- to me a perfect opportunity to say, the dogs should have been better tended to"). If not to at least pass the message to everyone...Maybe next time!!!

[sweet_stormy]

my grandfather's wife (not my grandmother) watches Oprah all the time... ive never really seen the show....

~*Becky*~

[leslie]

And gosh wouldn't you know it! Tonight's news- a pit bull attacks his owners and then a policeman trying to help. News showed the dog being put into the Animal Control van- gee, I wonder where the poor dog is off to? Why do people train them to maim? It's beyond me.

[Amber]

I watched this show when I was was sick, it was so heart breaking. It was on heros. I was basically in tears (ecspecially last letters home from the soliders)

But when I watched it, I have to agree with Tonya's words.

[LIzzzzy]

Pit Bulls can be mean, just like every other breed however people that are trying to protect them are acting like there saints! Lets face it! There are mean Pit Bulls, and It's not always in the training. Why would someone lie, when shes supposed to be giving out the true facts. If a pitbull attacted a kid, it would be appalling if a lab, or another dog was in the preview!

[clara4457]

I am posting an article I wrote in our newsletter about the myth about pitbulls. I firmly believe that the problem is not with the dogs themselves, but with the people who treat them so poorly. Any dog can be provoked enough to bite. There is a new study out that is linking dog bites to chaining dogs outside. There seems to be a much bigger correlation between that than the breed.

Permission to post by author (which was me!!!):

You hear about it everywhere. Headlines abound in the media about fatal pit bull attacks on children. Cities and townships are either banning the breed altogether or placing a “dangerous dog” label on them. So, to take a line from Joe Friday on the old Dragnet series, “Just the facts ma’am.”

MYTH: American Pit Bull Terriers (APBT) bite more people than any other breed.

FACT: Accurate APBT dog bite statistics are difficult to obtain. A lack of good record keeping by animal control facilities and the tendency of people to mistake any breed with a square jaw as a “Pit Bull” hamper efforts to determine the true scope of the problem. Nonetheless, the records of one municipality suggest that numerous bites may be a myth. Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, has kept accurate records since 1980. For the years 1980 through 1987, this is what is recorded. Total bites: 1,593. Pit bulls, 30 bites, or 1.89% of the total.

MYTH: American Pit Bull Terriers are born mean.

FACT: In a letter to James Huffman of Columbus, Ohio, Alfons Estelt of the American Temperament Test Society, Inc., an international dog temperament test organization, wrote the following: "The American Pit Bull Terriers participating in our temperament evaluation have thus far shown a passing rate of 95%. The other 121 breeds of dogs in our tests showed the average passing rate of 77%. While the heredity factor is of measurable importance, these results show that a dog, even if used for dogfighting, is not pre-disposed as such, but is brought by his environment."

FACT: The APBT is, contrary to popular belief, very human-friendly and will not naturally be aggressive towards humans. The APBT is, however, very loyal and eager to please, so that if an owner wants a dog to be aggressive toward humans and reinforces this behavior from an early age, the dog will most likely be aggressive towards humans as an adult. Although American Pit Bull Terriers were initially bred to be animal aggressive, proper socialization and proper breeding will lessen that trait.

FACT: American Pit Bull Terriers are people friendly, loyal, and highly social dogs with great temperaments who have been the real victims in our society.

[Tonya]

I do believe that the majority of aggressive dogs are a result of poor treatment. But I do not believe that is always the case.

Look at Heinz57's Arthur or my RB Rosco. They were both dogs raised in loving homes from puppy age and they still turned out aggressive.

I hope I don't offend you, I'm not trying to argue...I do agree that most of the attackers came from cruel backgrounds. But I just don't think all of them do.

[clara4457]

Originally posted by Tonya
I do believe that the majority of aggressive dogs are a result of poor treatment. But I do not believe that is always the case.

Look at Heinz57's Arthur or my RB Rosco. They were both dogs raised in loving homes from puppy age and they still turned out aggressive.

I hope I don't offend you, I'm not trying to argue...I do agree that most of the attackers came from cruel backgrounds. But I just don't think all of them do.

You are absolutely correct. Just like there are people who are "wired wrong", the same can be said for some dogs. My point was that there is a bigger correlation between treatment and biting, than breeds and biting. In the 30's and 40's Pitbulls were considered the perfect family pet. JMHO

[cookieluver7]

:( how sad!

[leslie]

A local rescuer and friend of mine likes to tell the story of a family she knows with a pit bull terrier. Apperently, the house was on fire but not badly yet while the family was asleep. Thier pet pit bull saved the family by barking non stop and by dragging the young girl (their one child), down the stairs to safety. My understanding is that pits are extremely smart and that is why they are the dog of choice for training. They are easily trained. But like any animal, things can go wrong- once the training is in- it's up to the dog to be able to differentiate when attacking is ok and when it isn't. They can train them to commands but there is no telling what other triggers in the envirnment will set off the trained behavior. (So that does this mean they are not so smart dogs?) It is interesting to learn about and I love the post from Clara!!

[sammy101]

i loved that story Leslie,thanks for sharing!
I agree with you Tonya.My RB dal Sheena,she was raised in a loving home,and was raised around other dogs.but around 1 year old she started to turn very aggressive towards other dogs.She' has attacked dogs,one dog even had to get stitches b/c of her. But we kept her,we loved her very much.She wasnt people aggressive,loved kids and new people,wouldnt even try to hurt someone
I know that dogs are raised in loving homes and turn out aggressive,just like Arthur.but also lots of dogs are raised poorly and turn out aggressive.
btw-tonya you didnt offend me,i understand what your saying:)