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Dog attacks–why do they continue to undermine the breed?

Welcome to Pitbulls.org Forums Pit Bull Talk General Discussion Dog attacks–why do they continue to undermine the breed?

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 38 total)
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  • #14356
    rebeccajoshuaoshea
    Participant

    My mother called me today to warn me about an attack that happened Thursday, killing a 2 year old. I read this on the CNN website…she then told me to get a life-like baby that cries, to bring around my dog, before my husband and I decide to have kids.

    I am having a really difficult time being kind/courteous toward people who are “just warning me.” I want to tell them all to “mind their own business.” And then when I took O’Shea with me to a Humane Society sponsored event, so he could meet more dogs…someone there (an older couple) asked me what kind of dog he was, and when I replied pit bull, they both took huge steps backward and brushed their hands in a “oh, no” motion.

    GOSH! Ok, I just needed to post something here…and wanted to kind of know what others have experienced–thanks for your time. I love this site…and I love my PIT BULL O’Shea. 🙂

    #15641
    tere0471
    Participant

    ahhh sounds familiar!! same thing happens to me. my parents are constantly warning me about my dog. i have four kids and the youngest is 3. i mean if i had the chance to adopt another dog.. it would be a pit bull again… as a matter of fact i just adopted another pit.
    i have never seen sweeter dogs than these!!
    i strongly believe it is not the breed, it is the owner and if you are responsible, this breed is like no other with small kids. my kids do with my dogs whatever they wish!! incredible, they ride him as a horse, chase them, throw them on the floor… you name it, they’ve done it!! i’m always around because even if they are good dogs, they are still animals, but believe me when i say they are the best.

    something else, get yourself some web pages (including this one) and every time someone talks to you bad about pits, just email them the page. I’m sure your mom is afraid because she hears many things, just like mine, but share with her more information about these dogs and i’m sure she’ll understand there is a reason why they are called NANNY DOGS!!

    #15642
    rebeccajoshuaoshea
    Participant

    My husband’s uncle commented on a photo album we had made up on another web page, and basically told us to not have a child during the duration of our dog’s life–that “losing a child will hollow a person out; you’ll never be able to forgive yourself.” After that, my husband and I searched for various websites concerning the pit bull breed–and sent them all to him. And the only reply we received was “hmm, so you used a website (www.pitbullregistry.com, or something like that; had the word ‘pitbull’ in it) that has the word ‘pitbull’ in it; think they’re a little biased.” It was ridiculous–and then he added “if I wanted to info about music, I’d go to http://www.choralsociety (or something similar), DUH.” Ah, I love ignorant people! GOSH

    But thank you for your comment. I believe my husband and I are doing all the right things in bringing our pit up. He is being socialized, exercised, has gone through basic obedience classes, and as soon as another opportunity arises, we will enroll him in advanced classes. 🙂

    #15643
    Smart0811
    Participant

    Trust me, I’ve had similar problems. My favorite is when people cross the street when we are walking by or snatch up their children and put the death grip on them as is my boys will eat them! My boys love people but are generally uninterested in the random passerby. They only seem to be interested in people that are willing to scratch them behind the ears for extended periods of time. I love the almost dissappointed look on people’s faces when they freak out over my dogs and my dogs don’t even notice them. Everybody’s an expert on dog attacks it seems but no one wants to hear that labs, golden retrievers, poodles, chows, etc. bite more people every year then Pits do. Just not fair.

    #15644
    tere0471
    Participant

    Since I don’t have a fenced yard, my pits are inside the house, but every time i’m going to sweep and mop (which takes me around 30 minutes) I chain my dog in the back yard with a 15ft chain. i do this only for the time i have to sweep and mop!!

    my back home neighbor told me last week that if he sees my dog again, he will shoot him.

    he even called animal services on me because he says he gets scared every time he sees my dog (AS I MENTIONED, TIED TO THE CHAIN IN “MY BACKYARD” AND ONLY 30 OR LESS MINUTES). and the officer from animal services told me that all it takes for a person to report you is to say they got scared.

    my dog has never attacked him and as Smart0811, has never paid attention or looked at that man.

    #15645
    rebeccajoshuaoshea
    Participant

    That’s ridiculous! Our dog is usually never interested in anybody who isn’t interested in him. If people walk the other way or go to the other side of the street, he just keeps prancing along, smiling all the way.

    And why don’t people realize that, if you allow a dog to approach you and he/she is wagging their tail, that means they are HAPPY?? Since when did a wagging tail mean hate? Some humans…I know we’ve all made mistakes, but if you’re going to have these opinions, be able to back it up some way. I have not met a single person who has these views who has been able to express to me reasons based on personal experiences; it’s usually “oh, I read on the news” or “I heard it through the grapevine.”

    I’m just grateful we have sites, such as these, where we can lift each other up, share stories, and spread good word about this breed. Honestly, this dog is the best animal I’ve ever had; other dogs never allow me to grab things out of their mouth, but I open his jaws and grab things he shouldn’t have in there–brush his teeth–he’s just the sweetest thing, and will continue to be so when we have children.

    #15650
    BinghamBMX
    Participant

    I am so tired of the media hyping up all the Pit Bull stories. There are 100’s of dog attacts that occur everyday, but for some reason the media only likes to show the ones involving pit bulls. Why not cover ALL breads, and leave these dogs alone. The puplic would not fear these dogs soo much, if the dogs werent shown to be such “killers”. Its almost like they are tryin to brain wash everyone into thinking these dogs are completely mean! in my opinion its just a bunch of garbage. Any dog can be mean and aggressive, but you dont see people jumping out of the way when a golden retriever or black lab walk down the street. when i walk my 2 dogs, people grab ahold of their kids, pick them up, and get completely off the sidewalk. its terrible, because my dogs love to play with kids, so of course when they see one, they want to walk up to it and play! they dont understand why people are running away from them. Its Terrible!!! i really hope one day, things will change and these dogs can be allowed back into society, and stop being feared!

    #15674
    ceycourt
    Participant

    My fiance and I are waiting on our baby pit bull puppy to arrive. We will be getting him/her in a few weeks. Ive told a few people about this and the look on their faces makes me want to slap them. Its funny that the people who have the strongest opinions about pits have had NO experiece or personal contact with them. When I told my bosses about getting the pup, they went into this huge lecture about how we shouldnt have kids because the pit will kill the child. Then the next day, they had clipped out a newspaper clipping that said “Pit bull kills child!” and put it on my desk. I took the article, crumpled it up and literaly threw it in their face. The bad rep that pits get is so pathetic!!

    #15675
    rebeccajoshuaoshea
    Participant

    I wish we were able to get our pit when he was a puppy…but actually, we were pretty lucky to have a stray that was treated so well. Obedience classes definitely help, and when your pit bull is out on walks, people see how well behaved they are, and seem surprised. Often times, we’ve witnessed, too…people don’t even know he’s a pit bull, but because his ears are cropped, that gives it away. I agree it’s so pathetic, but what we as responsible owners can do is spread the good word about this breed. Our pit bull has been the only dog we’ve been able to a) give a bath easily, b) open his jaw (yes, so called “locking jaws” we can open) and get junk out of his mouth, and c) STAND and stay while waiting for a treat and or his food.

    #16401
    casey the pitbull.
    Participant

    yeah when be my brothere and my cousin were out side with are pit a guy came up into are yard and yelled at us for not haveing him on a leash and he was guy must be blind and then are dog started licking me and h e said be carefull he is going to eat you and your family

    #16484
    KaylasMom
    Participant

    EEEK! I know what all of you are talking about! As long as we have pit bulls, we will continue to get this. As hard as it is, you have to just brush it off and go about your business. You can’t act the fool in front of strangers who shy away from your dog, as that will just feed into their stereotype of pit bull owners. It is up to us on how we care for our dogs, how our children behave around dogs, and so many other things. Learning dog communication and body language is SO important when owning a dog. If more people knew that, a lot of attacks could be thwarted.

    The media is all about sensationalism. That is their job. They pick something and run with it. Pit bulls are the dog of choice right now. Year ago is was the Rotties, Dobermans, and the German Shephers. Great Danes were even on the list. You will never see a news story about small dogs and how they have hurt and killed babies. Nope. No one wants to tarnish the image of the family dog. So, let’s pick on other dogs. Join KC Dog Blog for real news stories and updates on BSL, other dog bites, and so much more. It is a valuable resource for us.

    People have a generalization of pit bull owners. They are thugs, they are this, they are that. Nope. I am a college-educated, married woman in her 30s. I live in a nice neighborhood, own my house, drive nice SUVs, and play tennis. Am I a yuppie? I guess I am if you want to call me that, and darn straight that I own a pit bull mix. I doubt that many of us on here fit the media stereotype. It is up to us to keep it that way. I admit, it does hurt when people shy away from my dog, but I just chalk it up to ignorance and too much attachment to the media, and move on.

    One thing I do to help portray a better image is to make my dog look more approachable. When we go places, she wears a bandana (we have MANY of different colors, shapes, etc. ). She even has one that is embroidered and says “My name is Kayla”. If it is cold out, she wears a cute coat and a scarf. She has pleasant collars (NO spikes or studs), and fun leashes. My brother-in-law even bought her Doggles sunglasses. But I will tell you what, people are MUCH more willing to stop, pet her, and talk to me if she looks approachable. When they ask what breed she is, I tell them that she is a pit mix, and they remark about how cute she looks. You want to portray a softer image for your dog.

    Kayla also has a dog back pack that she wears that has patches that say “Ask to pet me. I’m Friendly” and “In Training”. She is a therapy dog in training. I have noticed that it catches peoples attention and I get more smiles than anything.

    It is all about how you present yourself and how you present your dog.

    OMG. I just continue to ramble on. SO SORRY!

    #16495
    pitlover82
    Participant

    As sad as it is pitbulls are generally outlawed by the community, for the simple fact that people are uneducated…I am sorry for your heart wrenching situation you were placed in all based on the breed of your dog…seems like it would be right as a free country to have laws protecting these loving animals and protecting them from being discriminated against. Through out my whole life Ive been a dog lover and through out the years it was always”aww what a cute dog”..now I own my first pitbull and it seems like everyones first words are”is it gonna bite or dont let it by me”…WOW…My 8 year old son wanted to bring Marley into his 3rd grade class for show and tell…teacher didnt mind;but dut to the schools code pitbulls are one of the 3 breeds not allowed on the premises at all. I transport my children back & forth to school and its a shame that I cant choose to bring my dog with me in my car that I paid for and wait in it for my son to get outta school….Sorry such a long response but I totally feel ya and sadly i feel it happens to probably every pit owner. No pit is BAD if it acts out its because it was taught or provoked to do so just as any other animal…research shows golden retrievers are more aggressive than pitbulls so what does that say!!! Kuddos to my fellow pit supporters and to all you who abuse and mistreat these blessings from God i feel sorry for you and your ignorance.

    #16496
    InvalidCharactr
    Participant

    When my puppy gets older, he’s going to get a studded collar- A pink studded collar 🙂 I saw one at the pet supply store and it was the perfect shade to go with his gray (okay, blue) fur.

    I also can’t wait until he’s big enough that I can buy him a cowboy hat.

    #16497
    InvalidCharactr
    Participant

    I used to have a Golden Retriever and a big pit mutt growing up. The Golden would try to eat/snap at our cats, and the pit would move to get between them. Not aggressing, just being very conspicuously in the way.

    She was also the one to “mother” every stray litter of kittens that came through. And she’d let the ferrets clamp on her jowls with their teeth and hang from her. She’d just sit and whine and look at us until we noticed that she was being picked on and we’d have to rescue the 100-odd pound (fatty) from two ferrets who weighed in under a pound each.

    #16498
    rebeccajoshuaoshea
    Participant

    There are a select few in our community who take notice of how sweet and cuddly our pup really is. When we walk him outside in this nasty winter weather (yeah, he hates it sometimes, but he has to potty somewhere, lol), he wears a coat and booties, and at school I always hear teachers ask me, “hey, is that your dog wearing that coat and booties?” And after I reply “yes,” they say, “Oh, he is the most handsome thing ever!” He still gets real excited around kids–trying to work on the not jumping up on people thing, but other than that..he just wants to lick your face until you can’t take it anymore, haha.

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