You’re a good person for doing this. I am a firm believer that the breed gets a bad rap–my uncle had a pitt bull for 13 years, and he didn’t have a violent bone in his body because he was raised well. At one point someone broke into my uncle’s house and the dog didn’t do a damn thing.
Damn, he is the cutest thing! Given his name, is he farting yet? 
Man, those got a lot of “awwww” out of me, then I saw the visla. I had one for 14 years, 7-21, great dog. Hope they’re good buddies.
OMG, the tongue sticking out, and the simul-branch chewing w/ the other dog…
:faints from cuteness overdose:
Looks like you got a winner there! Give him a big kiss right between the eyes from me!
CUUUUUUUUUTE!
::: goes into shock from cuteness overload:::
That is going to be a great dog.
Terrific dog photos - looks like a great addition to the household, regards of what the cats may be thinking.
I am most definitely a cat person but damn, that’s one cute little puppy!
Here’s to a long and happy relationship between you and Walter. 
He’s adorable…may you enjoy many happy years together.
I do hope the scumbag breeder got hauled in by the testicles?
You know, funny you should say that.
He is a little gasbag. Who would guess such a little critter could make such a big toxic cloud?
I think it mostly has to do with the food change and his OCD desire to clean the litter box (we have to figure out a better place to put that thing).
They are working on it. This isn’t the first batch of pups taken from them. For some reason they’re having a hard time getting the older dogs taken away as well. As long as they have the older ones they keep making puppies.
I don’t know all the details at this point. I do know a few people keep a close eye on them - which is how Walter and his sister were nabbed away so quickly.
Makes me wonder if there is an order to allow them to keep their “pets” but no breeding.
That’s the foster family dog. It was a pretty nice dog.
This is Walter with our dogs. Gracie is the Shepard looking one, Joe is the black pit/lab mix.
Yeah. Maybe. But I’ll note, just anecdotally, that my friend’s pit has a stable, high-quality diet and is still the gassiest dog I’ve ever met. Has been since day one. May you be luckier ;).
Sure is a cute little guy, regardless :).
Pitbulls are outstanding.
He is adorable. [squee] - I am a dog lover.
But an honest question here:
Can a dog that has been bred for fighting overcome that instinct with a proper raising? I suppose that it is possible. My beagle Boomer and I have been together for almost 17 years. The breed was developed for rabbit hunting, but since Boomer has never been exposed to it, he has never had much interest in them.
Photo 2 was a great shot… as well as the one when he’s on the steps.
You a photog? Much potential with your eye!
Much happiness to you and Walter!
Minor nitpick: pit bulls never get docked tails (like, say, Dobermans). People do crop their ears, both for fighting and for “looks.” Mine have such sillky ears it would never occur to me to get rid of them…they’re so much fun to play with!
As much as I love pit bulls in general, I do want to stress that you should work on his manners and behavior, for his own safety. I swear by positive training methods, staying away from punishment and even “NO!” as much as possible.
And don’t be surprised if he does turn out to be a chewer – my Simone is a little scissortooth, sawing through her toys with a look of blissful concentration.
Oh, hell yeah. I know a reasonable few amounts of pitbulls, and they’re big sloppy loving dogs that lick and mouth you to death.
On the other hand, I also live about… well, it’s about half a mile as the bird flies, and two miles by road, from the ASPCA, and I was hanging out in the bowling alley next door the time one of those pits got out, and it bit through two tires on the cop car. Steel belts and all. It was a previous-but two-littermate to one of the ones I know, but someone had raised it wrong. Same dogs can be incredibly loving. Or feral. All in how you take care of them.
But they do fart a lot.
Sure. I think any healthy domesticated dog can be a well behaved dog. I don’t know how much is instinct though. Fighting dogs are trained to fight. I mean, a year from now if we were to put Walter in a ring surrounded by cheering, mouth-breathing, low IQ, butt-nuggets, and then toss another pitbull in with him, I think he’d just play with him. He wouldn’t know what else to do.
He might have a strong prey drive, like going after ducks and stuff, but my old lab was the same way and well as my current, my pitt/lab mix Joe. We used to run him in an area with lots of moles. He loved trying to get them. I trained him to go after ground critter on command. I can point at the ground and say “get it” and he will start digging. It doesn’t matter where we are. Digging without the command is not allowed and he rarely does it (our backyard does not look like a minefield).
This behavior and training is taking advantage of his prey drive - just like what dog fighters do. I very well could have trained him to go after cats, dogs or perhaps people on command. I didn’t and he has no interest doing those things.
Like any dog, I think the best thing to do is socialize them with other dogs as early as possible. After he gets fixed he will attend a doggy day-care at least once a week for a few months. Spending the day in the middle of a pack of strange dogs does wonders.
Our dog Joe came to us from a home which thought dog ownership meant keeping him locked in a small outside dog run. We did the doggy day-care thing with him and now they use him to “break in” the new dogs. He’s very submissive in play.
That said, I’ve seen Joe defend himself at a dog park when a semi-aggressive dog went after him. Joe corrected this other dog a few times, the other dog took this as a threat and went after Joe. Joe, for not being a fighter and always the first one on his back in play, was getting the better of this dog. We broke the two up but if we hadn’t I think the other dog would have been in trouble.
Walter might be the same way - which is something we have to watch out for. I can totally see the same events taking place with worse end results. Walter at a dog park, another dog is aggressive and goes after him, he defends himself and ends up kicking the other dogs butt, owner of other dog freaks out because “they shouldn’t let those damn pit bulls in here”, a few phone calls are made and next thing you know pits are banned from city dog parks.
I mean, that’s how breed specific legislation starts right? Someone starts making calls because a “pitbull” ate their cat or attacked their dog. Of course the pitbull in question was a boxer, but the complainer can’t be expected to be a dog breed expert.
I digress…
They were bred to fight on command. That last bit is massively important, and something a lot of people really don’t seem to understand. Historically they were never bred to go after anything, any time; a dog that will attack other dogs unbidden is a liability to a breeding program, because it’s likely to tear up the dog you’re trying to breed it with or other breeding stock in your kennel, or to go through a human to get at another dog.
If you don’t socialize a pit bull, it can become aggressive toward strange animals or people. That’s true for any dog. We have a large number of canine patients who absolutely freak the hell out and go on the attack when another dog enters the lobby. None of them are pit bulls. Mostly they’re little yappers who haven’t been out of their own living room since they were brought home at six weeks old. They’re also the ones who freak out when we try to touch them, or Og forbid have to board or hospitalize them. (Personally, I consider subjecting an animal to such completely unnecessary stress to be animal abuse, but I’ll try and stay off my soapbox. Otherwise we’ll be here all night.)
In more general news, Walter is adorable. I love pits, they’re some of my very favorite patients. And yes, they fart. A LOT. All the bully breeds (pits, boxers, mastiffs, etc.) tend to be gassy for some reason. At least he’s not an English bulldog. They produce more methane per pound of body weight than cows.
My rottie/pit mix is a licker, too. And a lap dog. But she definitely is not a Chihuahua. She is dominant, and every once in a while needs reminding who’s boss. If someone broke into the house, they better be able to run fast.
When I look after my friends’ dogs, I take them walking where other people and dogs don’t generally go; I got really tired of the same set of questions…:rolleyes: one day I will make a T-Shirt to answer them:
yes, they are ‘pit bulls’
yes, they are friendly*
they are both girls
no, I have no interest in fighting them
no, I am not** interested in breeding them, they are both fixed
why neither fight nor breed? both are CRUEL!
*they are friendlier than I am by now…
** and I don’t CARE how good/fierce/strong your dog is!