I met a Pit Bull Terrier today.....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I stopped off at a local sub shop this afternoon, and saw that someone had temporarilly tied their pitbull’s leash to the bike rack while they went in to get food, the pit was a pure white male, with almost albino-esque pink eyes, nose, and mouth, a rather striking and handsome dog, as I was getting out of the car, the owner came over to him and untied the leash, one of his freinds came outside and they started chatting

The pit happily jumped up on her, with a freindly “I Can Has More Scritchies Plz” expression, clearly a happy, well adjusted dog

As I walked by, the pit turned to me, and I had never seen such a big doggie grin, I could almost hear him thinking “Oh Boy, MORE FRIENDS!!”, as he jumped up and put his paws on me, clearly wanting attention and to make friends, so, naturally, I obliged, gave him some scritchies, and a good pat, I could almost hear him thinking, “I like him, he’s friendly and gives me scritchies, I have so many friends”

the pit was clearly well adjusted and well socialized, and arguably one of the friendliest dogs I have ever met, if this is normal behavior for a properly socialized pit, I wouldn’t mind owning one myself, as this one was a excellent example of his type, incredibly friendly, happy, and an absolute bundle of energy…

2

Some of my favorite dogs are pit bulls or pit bull mixes. They are so loveable and friendly!! What a shame that the breed has such a bad rap.

3

That seems like a completely typical Pit to me. Biiiiig ol smile and all.

4

Our next-door neighbors have a dog which is clearly part pit bull. Winter is incredibly friendly and loving…to people.

We used to have a dog (we had to put her to sleep last month)…she was a little black mutt, less than half Winter’s size. For the entire time that Winter “knew” our Shadow, Shad was blind, mostly deaf, old, and feeble. I’m not entirely convinced that Shadow was even aware of Winter.

But, whenever Winter and Shadow were both outside, the moment that Winter caught sight of Shadow, she’d start freaking out – she’d get right against the fence, barking and snarling, very aggressively. I don’t know what Winter’s past is (I believe the neighbors got her from a shelter), but she clearly reacts very differently to dogs than she does to humans.

5

Well, here’s some info.

Pit Bull Rescue Central

PBRC’s info packet – WARNING: .PDF

BADRAP’s Pit Bull Info Page

Diane Jessup’s Working Pit Bull “About Pit Bulls” Page

My take – yes, pit bulls are predisposed to be friendly to humans. Not to glorify their rough past, but they were selected with extraordinary ruthlessness for (among other things) complete submissiveness to humans and an unwillingness to bite people…no dogfighter wanted to be maimed reaching into the pit for his dog. They make terrible guard dogs generally, because they’re too trusting of strangers.

The ones that I’ve known have been friendly, head-butting goofballs who long to play. They’re also intensely physical dogs – touching, leaning, banging into you, snuggling in blankets, running for the sheer joy.

Of course they’re also, first and foremost, dogs. As with all claims about dog breeds, the above are generalizations and individuals differ.

6

I have pit crosses. They’re lovely dogs.

7

The neighbors’ dog has a funny habit: after she poops, she sprints away from that spot, bounding joyfully around the yard. “I POOPED!!! WHEEE!!!”

8

I knew Molly and Hobbs and Trixie and Bullet, all pits. Pits are wonderful with adults and children usually. Usually. Did I say usually? Trixie (40 pounds of muscle) shook my friends girlfriends poodle to death by the head. Right out of the blue. Hobbs (80 lbs of muscle) snapped dog chains and cornered my friends wife for 2 hours because he was guarding his food bowl… I read about pits mauling people (in the NY Daily News etc.) often enough over the years. Not Rottweilers or Shepherds or Great Danes but pitbulls. Pitbulls are GREAT dogs though. Usually. With so many other breeds to choose from I respectfully pass on pitbulls. Its not their fault that they are the way they are but I’d never trust one around a child. The dog shelters are full of them though for those of you that have the resources to safely care for one.

9

I can’t edit cause 5 minutes went by but I had to add Vinnie…

I forget the one that bit my friend Vinnies face and scarred him for life - Vinnie was OK with it though. He won a 37 grand in the lawsuit and spent it on a Jeep and motorcycles and skiing in Colorado…

10

Of course, the majorty of pits/pit mixes are WONDERFUL dogs (tho the way folk spaz at my goofy goldens, I don’t think I would want to put up with the hassles I would meet if I owned a pit).

What always amazes me about them is how solid they are. Like little friggin bricks! There is just something so satisfying about giving one of these goofy dogs a nice solid thumping to the side as they nearly wag their tail off their rockhard butt!

11

One of my dogs has a square head. Therefore, to everyone in the world who isn’t a pit owner, he’s a pit. “Oh my gosh, is he a pit bull?!?” “Wow - you have a pit with another dog in the house! Aren’t you scared?”

Any attempt to suggest that he’s not a pit is met with a look of “you’re either stupid or full of shit - probably both”. No wonder they get so much bad press - every dog that isn’t a poodle is identified as a pit these days!

12

Captain has a square head and looks nothing like any sort of fighting dog. The mailman is filled with pants-wetting terror, even though he’s only seen the dog behind a fence or through a window. The pizza guy once caught a glimpse of him and ruined my pizza leaping backwards.

13

Ha. I was at obedience class this week at the pet store. We were doing some socialization, and I turned the corner into an aisle. The guy shopping for dog collars jumped back, terrified.

Me: “Uh - he’s friendly. REALLY friendly.”
Him: <wets pants>

Seriously? You’re shopping for dog items. In a pet store. The sight of a dog frightens you? The little 60 lb, 11 year old girl down the street squeals with joy every time she sees Toby. You’re a grown man.

14

There’s an adorable one at the doggie day care I take my pooch to. His name is Spencer and he’s a giant red goofball. I would love to get one but I relocate every three years and a lot of airlines won’t fly them.

15

Over halloween, our 2 goldens had been so well behaved we got a little careless. Just about all the kids would say something about the “cute dogs.” As the evening wore on a group of teenaged boys rang, and as we opened the door Clover ambled out onto the stoop with a big old grin on her face. You should have heard 2 of the boys screaming bloody murder as they literally ran away! :rolleyes:

I can’t imagine what you guys with “pit-resembling” dogs must go through.

Bull terriers are one of my favorite breeds. I have NEVER met one of those guys who wasn’t a loveable, attention-whoring clown!

16

Yeah, someone gave our neighbor hell for bringing his “dangerous pits” to PetSmart a few weeks ago.

Tank’s a bulldog and Jack’s a pug.

17

First, most dogs that you’d think were pits, aren’t.

Second, Pits are awesome dogs. They’re sweet and adorable and the most physically affectionate dogs you’ll ever meet. They’re absolutely predisposed to niceness and it’s completely against their general personality to be violent.

You read about “pits attacking” because any dog who attacks and doesn’t look like a golden lab or poodle gets the label.

18

Yeah, 'cause those pugs will give you a snot shower. Dangerous to your cleanliness, at least.
I must concur with most of what has been said above, and our Gracie has more skull than brain, all of which is focused on “PET ME! I’M PATHETIC, SEE!” However, do not be a male and come to our door with a loud voice, or bang on our door rudely. You will get to see the other side of her, and be able to count all of her very large teeth as she rumbles at you. She means it. That is why I feel safe with my teenaged daughters going for walks with Grace.

19

I can get someone mistaking an American Bulldog for a pit, but a frigging PUG? Jebus.

I’ve met some exceedingly nice pits, but I wouldn’t have one. First because I wouldn’t want to deal with the hassle (heck, sometimes my Australian Shepherd scares people, and she’s as friendly as can be) and because I’ve met more than one that was dog aggressive, which I don’t really want to risk.

20

My mechanic’s son has a pit bull. She’s a sweet, shy dog; once she gets to know you, though, she expects lots of petting.

I grew up with a golden retriever; I remember taking her out for walks and seeing people run across the street to avoid us.