Gory, Gory, Gory

I agree on getting rid of the entire pit breed. I have seen many sweet pits. And dont the owners always say "well it was the sweetest thing and never hurt anything before it ripped this kids face off". It give me a chill down my spine when I see little kids running around in their yard with pitbulls.

And as for the gun comparison, thats just nuts. Ive never seen a gun attack someone all by itself.

Of course a dog is nothing like a gun. What I was (rather poorly) trying to convey is that the owner is responsible for keeping either under their control at all times. You wouldn't leave a gun where a child could reach it; likewise, you shouldn't let a child run unsupervised with a large powerful dog known for violence. Even if I trusted such a dog with my own child, what if a neighbor kid comes over and starts rough-housing with my kid, and the dog misinterprets it?

By keeping a gun properly secured, you are keeping it under control. Same goes for the dog.

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"What one generation tolerates, the next generation embraces." -John Wesley

Had a neighbor babysit a couple pits and they were very good with the kids. Then they got after some cows and a mule so they were put in their garage. They chewed through the garage door panel and escaped and got a hold of another neighbors cat briefly. The cat managed to get away with minor injuries and the owner came later that day and took them home.
You can call me one of those fear mungers because I'd rather see them all dead.

My sister has two pitbulls and can not understand why I won't let my kids be around them with out me or hubby close by. She tells me over and over, they are friendlier than most dogs but I can not take the chance. We don't stay with her overnight and I will not let her watch my kids without me. I don't trust that my fear and concern is heard or that my requests will be followed.
I grew up with dogs and will probably always have a dog. I have also been bit by a small dog that caused nine stitches on the mouth.

One shows up on my property, it's SSS.

The worst mauling I ever got was from a tiny fuzzball lapdog. He was tearing into my steel toed boot while I was talking to his old lady owner. He was in full attack mode, growling and frothing. Trouble was, he did no damage at all, didn't even get the boot untied. The old lady was hard of hearing and was so embarrassed when she saw what he was doing. I wouldn't have been so lucky with a pitbull.

DS has a friend who has a pitbull. The little boy told DS, stay away from dad's dog, he's mean. We did one better, DS stays away from their house.

Not a pit attack, but sad just the same.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/ma...d-dog-mauling/

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" It's better to ride even if you get thrown, than to wind up just wishin' ya had."

Chris Ledoux

I'll save myself a lot of typing ( and you a lot of reading) and just say this.

Pit bulls are great dogs, until they decide they don't want to great dogs anymore.

Then things turn very ugly, very qucikly.

But yeah, it all about whether they are "purebreds" or not and how well they are trained.

Tick, tick, tick, tick....

Two years ago a pitbull attacked and killed a mini pincher that we had tied outside, I had just gotten out of the shower so i didn't have my carry carry gun on me so all I could do was punch it but by the time it let go our dog was already dead. Went to court and that dog was ruled a dangerouse dog and was not allowed to be outside unless it was muzzled. A couple weeks ago I saw the dog loose a few houses down and befor I could do anything I heard the screaming. It was attacking another small dog that was on a leash, this time I had my carry gun (glock 40 with crimson trace laser grips). It is sad that even when an owner knows their dog is dangerous they still allow it to get loose, people like that should not be allowed to own dogs

Pit's and crosses, about 40%. Add in Rotts and Presa Canarios and crosses, and we are up to 72%.

http://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/dog-atta...ifton-2007.pdf

I hate when I see that people want to exterminate my dogs because they know someone who knows someone who got mauled by a dog that looked like or may have been a pit bull...

We lost a pit bull when a pack of labs attacked him through our fence... plain ol' black labs that someone let roam because 'lab are friendly' started fighting through the fence and before my fiancee could call our dogs back in the house, our adult male lost his face and our young male suffered a severe mauling to the rear end.

I was severely mauled by a GSD, as an adult! I was attacked by a chow as a child... everyone knows some one who got bit by something. If you dig a little deeper you'll find there is no number one biting breed.

Dogs are dogs, they do all sorts of wonderful and terrible things. With all the soft hearts and politically correct rescues, we have way too many dogs running around that we ought to just shoot... that's not exclusive to any breed or group or area, it's a general rule.

I see this in a rather simple way. The dog owner is 100% responsible. Do I want a Pit Bull? Absolutely not and I have been around some really sweet ones. I don't consider them predictable. Unfortunately, this breed is often lethal when it attacks. Once that jaw is set... It takes INCREDIBLE FORCE to spread apart their jaws, hence often termed "lock-jaw."

For those bent on having Pit Bulls for protection? A criminal won't mess around.... Bullets are fatal to all dogs.

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Their jaws don't lock... no breed locks its jaws. Anatomically they are the same as a dalmatian or weimeraner or any similarly shaped dog. They are stubborn as can be, and they will hang on to something for a very long time, which is pretty much what they were bred to do.

Edited.

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Thank you for editing your post to be more accurate. I disagree about the fatality statistic, but that's a difficult one as no one really records those, (bites versus deaths by breed and year).

People who know pit bulls would know that they aren't really good for protection. There are much better choices out there for that.

What are they good for? I can't think of a single reason why I would want one. Everyone I know who has Pit Bulls has told me they are great "guard dogs," so that infers they want them for protection. Others told me they thought it was cool that people were scared of their dogs. I recently met yet another young man with a Pit Bull, who confirmed he was getting 2 more, to deter would be criminals from trespassing on his property (higher crime area). There are other breeds I find far more appealing.

We adopted a Lab/Chesapeake mix, who was abused, and 6 years young. That dog was transformed with love, patience, and training. He was raised with children, but not with cats or other animals. We worked with him a year, then got chickens, trained him to be around them, got rabbits, trained him to be around them, and then we adopted two female spayed adult cats (5 yrs and 3 yrs young, also). I call them all young due to their incredible high activity & energy levels. Sam, our dog, still thinks he is a puppy! The cats totally think they are kittens. Sam plays with the cats, when they are game, but has an understanding with them. They can go in his dogloo during the day, but they can't sleep with him or eat his dog food. We can put Sam in the chicken pasture and he will guard them, never harm them (2nd year in). He will help me corner my rabbits when they get out, but won't harm them (this has happened a number of times). He is smart enough to know the difference between my domestic rabbits and the wild ones (which he is encouraged to run off). Sam is now 70#s, 8 yrs old, but was 60#s when we got him (too thin). I have seen him flip a 105# dog flat on its back, force it to submit, then run it off our property. We can take our Sam in public, on a leash of course, and no one is frightened of him. Now, harm his "critters" or harm his "people?" That sweet looking affectionate dog turns absolutely vicious. As well as he gets along with kids, I would never leave him unsupervised with them. The reason? If one of them struck him, he would react. I know this, as it already happened. A boy hit him on the nose, so he grabbed the boys arm in his jaw, and held it firmly, growled, and then let go, without sinking his teeth in. This was a warning. So, we are taking responsibility for our dog by supervising him around children.

Now this is a dog we can take out in public, everyone in our neighborhood loves him (complimenting us on him), we can take him hiking, fishing, and camping with us. At campsites, it is common for other campers to feel comfortable enough to come over and speak with us. Often people will walk right up to Sam and pet him. He has NEVER growled or acted aggressively when petted, but he has a "wary" look in his eyes. Sam is highly intelligent.

I cannot imagine having a dog who scared people, one I couldn't take out in public without being embarrassed (the way people react to them), and having everyone scared of him. I already wrote I do NOT trust this breed, either. The potential for an attack to be serious, potentially lethal, when a Pit Bull attacks, is high. They are incredibly muscular powerful dogs!

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Lock jaw....mmmmm ever been bit by one? Let's see....... I THINK I SHOULD CLARIFY SOMETHING...I WAS! But he was just a pup....which is why I have all my fingers! It was not my friend's pit bull, he was gone years before this happened.... My daughter brought home a brindled purebred perfect Pit Bull specimen pup. She was overjoyed by his amazing coat and personality. She asked me to watch her pup as her landlord would not let her have him. She promised she could come get him once she moved and could. He was a little young, 6 weeks old. Very sweet and I was so very nice to him. I had already been told about my friend's dog, seen his precious daughter's face permanently scarred and I knew the risks. I tried to discuss this with my daughter, she was a renter, who would rent to a pit owner? Most of them won't in our state, they are not insured for that type of dog. Our homeowner's policy specifically asked us about dogs, what type we had and told me why. If you have a pit it would go up in price and they mentioned other types of dogs. Now I was trying to be the good Mom and help her out but I was apprehensive. He was small enough and I am good with animals so I took care of him for a month while I tried to convince her to rehome him.... One day he began tearing at the edge of my pants to play...they were tearing so I put my hand down to shoo him away. I had done this before earlier and he moved back as this was playful. This time he caught two of my fingers in his mouth by accident. He bit down and then he began shaking, his entire body was and he was scared, total panic shown in his eyes...he didn't seem to be able to let go...I could not get my fingers out of his mouth at first...I felt my heart beating faster, hubby was not home to help. Yes, it hurt but I picked him up with my other hand, sat down in pain and it took both of my hands to pry open that unbelievably strong jaw! That was really hard since my fingers were in there and I used that hand to leverage the pull of the other...yes I cried too. Ok I understand and so did my fingers that their jaws snap down as they bite, I thanked God that he was small. I think that is what is being referred to as lock jaw. This puppy was only playing with a pant leg...he shook so hard while I was getting my fingers out of his mouth. He cowered afterward, licking my hand in total submission and apology. This was an accidental bite. Can you imagine an intentional bite from any adult dog? I don't even want to! From my friend's story and my own lucky experience..I already know! I found a dog trainer who owns pits, had safety fencing with electrical back up on five acres out of town. He was happy to get this sweet puppy and I know he got the best home. My daughter, when she saw my hand and knew what happened..didn't mind at all! So when someone says lock jaw..they are referring to the strength of the bite and due to the great strength most of us don't have to open the jaws of a dog who has that strength in their jaws of this breed once they are snapped close...it is really hard to open them....! I think if you work at a Vet's office as the person who posted appears to...you would know the difference in the type of injuries different breeds cause when they attack as they have said...key here is that the dogs were loose and in a pack! Owners need to be more responsible with every breed than that!

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Thank you kindly,

Romy "Island Girl"
[URL="http://www.romysrealm.blogspot.com"]

Interesting that they chose to add Presa Canarios(bull mastiff) and crosses in with the Rotts and Pits, considering that there were twice as many bites from shepheard and their cosses as Presa Canarios.

It would also be interesting to look up the number of dogs for each breed, to put the number of bites in perspective.

German Shepherd Dogs are fear biters. Meaning they bite out of reaction of being afraid. You'll get more bites out of that kind of dog when people who don't understand dogs (like kids) approach them in the wrong way. Dog becomes afraid, dog bites. Other kinds of biters, like the Pit Bull type of personality, bite not because they are afraid, but because biting seems like the correct behavior to them in that situation. It's just two ways of looking at the world from a dog's perspective. Doesn't make either one better or worse than the other.

Jennifer

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-Northern NYS

This was an interesting read.