Uh, back on topic, pit bulls rule!
Newfoundlands rule! Pit’s are ok, But I still think they are ugly and smelly.
Carooniverse, I am very sorry you were bitten by a dog. But I must share with you that my youngest daughter was mauled by my ex-husband’s Golden Retriever. That ‘puffmuffiny’ Golden took my daughter’s head into his mouth and shook her like a ragdoll. My daughter is now 21 and still has scars from the attack. It ain’t the breed, it’s the dog and circumstances. That very same Golden had bit me, my ex and all three of my children before that attack. My ex-husband refused to deal with the dog’s aggression problems. He wouldn’t train the dog, and didn’t want the responsibility for training it; or putting it down. Even after that damn dog sent our two-year old daughter to the emergency room, he wouldn’t have the damn dog put down.
I left him shortly after the attack…so my children would be safe.
I forgot to address this as well. It’s another one of those idiotic myths that perservere with these breeds, along with the “locking jaw” thing. There is no way to effectively determine the psi bite pressure of any breed or for any dog at any given time. Even bite-trained personal protection or sport dogs will exert varying bite pressures according to the type of drive (defense/prey/civil agitation, etc) being worked, the excitement level of the dog, the drive for the bite, the handler/decoy position, etc. There’s no device that can effectively measure a dog’s bite in any given situation that would simulate an actual attack–at least none that I’m aware of, and I know a lot of people that would be very interested in such statistics. I’d love to see a cite for those numbers.
From this site:
I’m also a bit curious as to whether you were calling that a “highly informative site” referring to the Endangered Dog Breeds Assoc website, or the article in particular–because if you were referring to the article, there’s a couple of completely idiotic “facts” listed, aside from the bite pressure myth. The most glaring is the “fact” that pit bulls are bred from Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Bull Mastiffs… Huh? And the statement that they have “furrows to drain the victim’s blood away from their eyes.” I… can’t even come up with a reasonable response to that.
~mixie
Okay, one more comment then I’ll shut the hell up. From theAmerican Temperament Test Society statistics, 83.2% of APBTs passed the temperament test–this is slightly better than golden retrievers, dalmations, all but one dachshund variety, better than such breeds as the miniature pinscher, miniature poodle, miniature schnauzer, hell it’s fifteen percent better than the silky terrier. Yay pit bulls!
~mixie
Umm…
Pitbulls (using the common term) have been bred to be aggressive and dominance seeking, which is why they may continue to fight until blood loss renders them unconcious.
The thing I’ve not really seen acknowledged here is that different dogs have been bred for different things, and their brains work differently because of it. They have different psychologies, if you will. Pits can be fine, wonderful pets or they can stand a decent chance of killing you if you’re not armed and it attacks.
Psychologically, the thing with Pits and Rotties is that they require a lot of attention and they will challenge you for alpha status. It’s a by-product of their breeding. This can be something as simple as headbutting you in the back of the legs, or insisting on having their head under your hand to be petted. It’s dominance play, and if it starts to occur you need to get the dog into a submissive posture quickly and efficiently. The more unchecked behaviour occurs, the worse it will get. It doesn’t make the dog “bad”. It’s simply part of their mental wiring. Understand this before bringing a Pitbull or Rottie into your home.
If you want to own a Pit or Rottie that’s certainly your right, but I would urge you to talk to a professional trainer as these breeds require different care and handling as opposed to, say, a black lab. Thus the problem. A lot of people DO buy these breeds for image or protection and do not understand what it is they’re buying into. The dogs have a record (particularly Pits) of attacks.
By far the largest number (21%) of all dog fatal attacks on humans in the US involved pitbulls. That number is 8% higer than the nearest next identified breed (Rotties at 13%) and between these two breeds account for over 1/3 of all fatal attacks. Children are the most likely victim with almost 80% of the fatalities being victims under 12 years of age.
It is not reccommended that Pitbulls or Rottweilers be kept around small children (well duh). This may be because the dog believes it is playing with a pup, and not understand the consequences of it’s actions. In any case, the point is you are getting a dog that was bred to be a strong attack animal and is bred to be used to “rough” play and dominance activities.
Keep that in mind when purchasing. You are buying an animal that, when adult, may be a 80-100+ lbs thick muscled dominance seeker with crushing jaw power. That is what you’re buying.
I take no position on whether they should be banned or not. Ohio does require 50000 dollars in canine liability insurance for all Pitbull owners.
cites:
http://www.fataldogattacks.com/statistics.html
*Note, this source uses a larger database of years (1965-2001) however PitBulls were not recognized as a breed until 1974 or so.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/fact_book/14_Dog_Bite_Injuries.htm
- Note, the CDC puts the number of fatalities attributed to Pits and Rotties at over 50%, but doesn’t include mixed breed dogs in their accounting and only covers data from 1979-1998.
Regards,
-Bouncer-
I would like to hijack this thread to agree that newfoundlands do rule! Our newfie was my first pony.