my grandfather's wife (not my grandmother) watches Oprah all the time... ive never really seen the show....
~*Becky*~
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my grandfather's wife (not my grandmother) watches Oprah all the time... ive never really seen the show....
~*Becky*~
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.
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.
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!
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.
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. JMHOQuote:
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.
:( how sad!
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!!
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:)