Pit bulls??

[IRescue452]

The breed I've been bitten by the most in my lifetime is the labrador (and lab mixes). I do not trust labradors at all and I absolutely hate taking them out at work. I wish more people were ready to restrict the breeding and owning of labradors instead of pitties. Labs are overbred and owned by every Joe Schmo that shouldn't have a dog and they need to be restricted.

[K9soul]

I wish more people were ready to restrict the breeding and owning of labradors instead of pitties.

Wow, All I can say is I completely agree with Jordan in that I am against ANY BSL or blanket breed-based statements (bad or good). Turning something that is just wrong to another more "popular" breed doesn't make it right. Again, it has nothing to do with labs as a breed. It has to do with so many owning labs, and often people who run out and get a puppy mill dog and then don't train it right, raise it right, or exercise it enough until it becomes a problem. Start restricting labs, and they will turn to the next breed, and pretty soon you can replace your statement with "they should restrict _________ breed." I don't want to see ANY breed filling in that blank. People need to become educated, better dog owners, and some people don't have any business owning a dog period. Don't move from one form of breedism to another.. it will just perpetuate the problem . Ugh, I just tend to get really emotional on these topics. I should have the sense to stay away from them .

[luvofallhorses]

well said, Jess. I would never ever say I want this certain dog breed banned, ever! regardless if I had a bad expierience..or not. I blame the owner, not the dog. I go by the saying "punish the deed NOT the breed".. I, fortunately haven't had one dog attack me or any other animal for that matter. I just wish this BSL s*** would end, seriously! I am with you, Jess I do tend to get emotional on these topics, too..

[CagneyDog]

You know, it seems that a large chunk of people are against BSL when it's in regards to Pit Bulls, but they are more supportive, or more understanding of it when it comes to Labs, Goldens, and other breeds. This really, really bugs me. First of all, the statistics are never accurate, they're more Labs in the world therefore, naturally statistics would show that there is more dog attacks coming from them. Of course they're overbred and such, but you do need to keep the population stuff in mind.

[K9soul]

You know, it seems that a large chunk of people are against BSL when it's in regards to Pit Bulls, but they are more supportive, or more understanding of it when it comes to Labs, Goldens, and other breeds. This really, really bugs me. First of all, the statistics are never accurate, they're more Labs in the world therefore, naturally statistics would show that there is more dog attacks coming from them. Of course they're overbred and such, but you do need to keep the population stuff in mind.

Exactly Lindsey. Labs are currently the #1 most popular breed in the U.S. (at least last time I checked, with goldens close behind). This means:

* A huge market for puppymills and BYBs.
* LOTS of uneducated people in regards to a dog's needs, much less doing breed-specific research, because labs are so popular and supposed to be "perfect."

Those two things combined are recipes for disaster. So yes of course labs will be high on the bite list, high on the surrender list to shelters, high on the list of dogs with behavioral problems, health problems, and so on.

I strongly believe no breed is predisposed towards behavioral problems simply because of its breed alone. The more popular a breed is, the more that breed is likely to be subjected to abuse and poor conditions.

Breeds like rotties and pits are often more abused breeds because of the types of people that are attracted to them. Labs and goldens on the other hand attract a lot of people getting a dog "for the kids" which can be just as bad in some ways.

Anyway.. enough rambling by me for now!

[DrKym]

Well as on old woman I can name off several other breeds ruined for the same reson Popularity
St Bernards (early 70s and again Beethoven)
Cocker Spaniels
Dobermans (Magnum PI)
Toy Poodles (too cute for their own good)
Chihuaha (see above)
GSD ( hearth home and kid dog )
Jack Russells (Frasier)
Staffies (drug trade)
Greyhounds (yes racing is an issue but the huge outcry produced huge amounts BYB)
Maltese (see poodle)
Shiz-zu (see poodle)
The dogs aren't to blame, We are. I wont even go into the husky phenomenon due to the movie 8 below, People don't think they assume (yes I forgot collies thanks poor Lassie) that all dogs of that breed will be THAT dog. Sad but true.

[Suki Wingy]

I felt the most of it with my rescued unilateral fear biter DalmatiAn who happened to have the worst separation anxiety ever. I think she came from the 102 DamatiAns craze. I had people just come up to me at the park and state in a knowledgable voice, "These dogs get nippy around childern, they're really unstable." and then walk away! Maybe because I was at a park with her but for god's sake don't touch her without asking after you told me about my own dog!
Dals are now not even in the top 50, no one wants them anymore, thank GOD (even though that's just a saying to me you don't know how happy I am about that)

[DrKym]

THE STATISTICS - FATAL DOG ATTACKS IN THE U.S. FROM 1965 - 2001 *

The study covers 431 documented human fatalities from a dog attack.

Location of Attack
25% of all fatal attacks were inflicted by chained dogs
25% resulted from dogs loose in their yard
23% occurred inside the home
17% resulted from attacks by dogs roaming off their property
10% involved leashed dogs or miscellaneous circumstances

Number of Dogs
68% of all fatal attacks were inflicted by a single dog
32% was the result of a multiple dog attack

Victim Profile
79% of all fatal attacks were on children under the age of 12
12% of the victims were the elderly, aged 65 - 94
9% of the victims were 13 - 64 years old

The age group with the highest number of fatalities were children under the age of 1 year old; accounting for 19% of the deaths due to dog attack. Over 95% of these fatalities occurred when an infant was left unsupervised with a dog(s).

The age group with the second-highest number of fatalities were 2-year-olds; accounting for 11% of the fatalities due to dog attack. Over 87% of these fatalities occurred when the 2-year-old child was left unsupervised with a dog(s) or the child wandered off to the location of the dog(s).

Boys aged 1 - 12 years old were 2.5 times more likely to be the victim of a fatal dog attack than girls of the same age.

Breeds Involved
Pit Bull and Pit-bull-type dogs (21%), Mixed breed dogs (16%),
Rottweilers (13%), German Shepherd Dogs (9%), Wolf Dogs (5%),
Siberian Huskies (5%), Malamutes (4%), Great Danes (3%),
St. Bernards (3%), Chow Chows (3%), Doberman Pinschers (3%),
other breeds & non-specified breeds (15%).

Reproductive Status of Dogs
Overwhelmingly, the dogs involved in fatal dog attacks were unaltered males.
From 2000-2001 there were 41 fatal dog attacks. Of these, 28 were attacks by a single dog and 13 fatalities were caused by multiple dogs.

Of the 28 single dogs responsible for a fatal attack between 2000-2001;
26 were males and 2 were females. Of the 26 males, 21 were found to be intact (the reproductive status of the remaining 5 males dogs could not be determined).

States with the Most Fatalities - 1965-2001
California, 47; Texas, 32; Alaska, 26; Florida, 22; New York, 19; Michigan, 18; Illinois, 18; North Carolina, 17; Georgia, 16.

While at times informative, statistics on fatal dog attacks can also be misleading. For example, a number of cases were a Pit Bull, Rottweiler or GSD were counted as causing a human fatality were in reality the direct result of gross human negligence or criminal intent (i.e. discarding a newborn in the yard where the dogs were kept, or cases of extremely emaciated animals, or cases were the dog was ordered or encouraged to attack the victim).

This study was conducted not to determine which breeds of dogs caused fatalities, but rather to examine the circumstances and events that precipitated an attack. Knowing how many Pit Bulls or Rottweilers caused a human fatality has little applicable value, only when examining each case individually can we hope to gain insight into the HUMAN and CANINE behaviors that contributed to these tragic events.

The preceding information and statistics are excerpts from the book:

* "FATAL DOG ATTACKS: The Stories Behind the Statistics", by Karen Delise


The last paragraph is rather important.

[Love That Collie]

Wolfsoul you are right.....fighting is not bred. I SHOULD have typed aggression-tendencies. Mea Culpa on the typo. But I don't want to get into envirornment vs. genetics we could go on forever on that one in both humans and animal world.

The bottom line is this (which I don't think anyone responded to, ehe?),
they have a very bad rep; laws have been enacted around the world on them, China and Europe and the U.S.. Once again, I guess it's all unwarranted just "picking" on the poor little Pit??? I really think not.
And again, once again..........anyone can cite that this or that breed bit (of course every breed has bitten) "I was bitten by this breed" or "I was bitten by that breed," yes dogs bite. But the laws came down from on "high" not because this breed bites, it is the damage that it inflicts when it does bite and how and why or why not it does bite..........the breed doesn't just bite, it clamps down and it, in most cases mauls. And if the people who love the breed don't start cleaning it up and quit making excuses for it the end result could be a total ban in the future.
Then all of the enthuiasts would be saying "woulda, shoulda, coulda."

Folks, we are not talking about "nipping" and "snapping" and a nick on your hand and intolerance we are talking about actual bodily harm of which its intentions lead to.

And Dr. Goodnow....you forgot to add that the most UNPROVOKED ATTACKS are Pits or mixes thereof. They have earned this reputation by actions and will continue to do so as long as the enthusiasts at large continue to make excuses and boohoo to the media and Animal Planet.

And K9 I do not dislike Pit Bulls, I hate what has been done to them but I can guarantee you if someone were to let out a few Pit Bulls in a city park anywhere, people would be jumping out of the way, grabbing up and sheltering their children and not getting out of their vehicles. But I doubt that if someone let out a Shitzu, a Maltese and a couple of Cocker Spaniels you would see the same reaction.

And just so I can join in..............Well, I have been bitten (actually torn) by a big ol' English Sheepdog.........am I afraid of them....noooooo.

And there are FAR more than 431 documented cases between 1965 and 2001
that's just the cases they "eenie, meenie, minie, mode" out of there. There were far more than that in the last 3-4 years.

And I'm not "bashing" anything, but call it what you want. A lot of people need to wake up before their beloved breed goes any farther down the tubes and do something for them IF they love the breed so much. The first step to solving problems is to admit that there is a problem and there is, except I see so many who hold themselves out as lovers of the breed do nothing and do not even admit that there IS a problem.
They do not have the reputation for nothing.

[animal_rescue]

Most "pit bull" attacks were not actually pit bulls or even pit bull mixes, Love That Collie! You need to look at the first and foremost and from what i've learned a dog NEVER attacks unprovoked there is always a reason!!

[Love That Collie]

Animal rescue in a nutshell, you are incorrect.
There isn't ALWAYS a reason that a dog bites or attacks.
There ARE unprovoked attacks, I'm sorry but you need to do
some more research. Or if you are citing a "reason" to be that a person simply walked by a house or business is a "reason" then well, that's called an
"excuse". That's ludicrous.

[DrKym]

Love that Collie,
Please understand I am not taking sides you were the only one that caught the point of my post. ALL dogs can and will bite. I agree totally that the amount of damage done by Pit is signifigantly greater than that of collie (used for demo purposes only). I do not hate nor love Pitties, they just aren't "my" breed. My daughter has 2 both well adjusted dogs both wonderful. I do believe they are the rule,not the exception, however that being said if either one decided to "turn" , my grandson and granddaughter wouldn't stand a chance in hell. However they are only here because 18 yrs ago a Pit at a dog show saved my daughter from another dog attacking. So for me I think they are in general ,and in the case of well bred dogs ,an amazing breed in the RIGHT hands and home. I also know that the breed is being destroyed and not only do the dogs suffer but the people on the wrong end of their attack.
I don't think they are alone in their destruction as money comes before all to some breeders of many breeds. BTW my only bad bite ever given that required stiches was from a pair of dogs that chased me after school 25 years ago .......................a Shepherd and a Cocker. We own both breeds,along with a Dobe. As I said all dogs can and will bite it is their defense. It is the dogs that are bred badly that become dangerous.

[wolfsoul]

I'm glad that not many people want Belgians. The people that own Belgians are alo usually fully admittant of the breed's faults too, so that not every Joe Blow is going to go out and buy one. Belgians don't need BYBs, they are messed up coming from reputable breeders lol, and they certainly don't need to be popular. It's what I want to improve, and at the same time, I'm not just going to be giving these dogs to people who I don't trust to know what they are doing, because I don't want them to end up being in the media like pitties. If there were more of them, they would be. I think that of all the breeds with BSLs, the Belgian is the one that "deserves" it most. And it doesn't kill me to say it either, I know my breed is screwed up. Visa's breeder is considering switching from Belgians back to goldens.