Pit Bull PSA

[TTChamp]

Inspired by this thread: dog help

Pit Bulls have a terrible reputation. Mostly this is due to their poor treatment by people.


A couple of things about pit bulls (and bully breeds in general): By nature they are very aggressive towards dogs but not toward people. In the linked thread it sounds to me like the dog was terrified. Most people who have pit bulls and care for them/train them properly know that they are very loving toward family and friends and quickly warm up to strangers. In the posted thread the dog was friendly once it was no longer scared.

Pit Bulls have a bad reputation and CAN be extremely dangerous for the following reasons:

1. If they are abused by people, not cared for properly, or trained to attack then their natural aggresion will be projected toward people.

2. Insecure A-holes that need a dog to feel powerful tend to get pit bulls and care for them improperly==>see #1.

3. Because Pit Bulls were originally trained to fight other dogs they are incredibly strong and are completely impervious to pain. My Bully got a 6 inch piece of metal stuck through her leg and didn't even notice until it got stuck in the dog door.

4. Pit Bulls that are improperly socialized will be aggressive toward unfamiliar animals its size (read children). Note: properly socialized and trained pit bulls will not do this.

Tips:
-You should NEVER get a Pit Bull unless you know a lot about dogs and intend to spend a lot of time training and socializing it.

-You CAN'T let a Pit Bull play with unfamiliar dogs alone. If it gets scared it might turn on the other dog and the other dog will have nearly zero chance of surviving. Fights can also start over excitement: for example if they see a rabbit the aggression toward the rabit might me transferred to the other dog if they bump into each other.

-Once a Pit Bull bites once it is more likely to bite again. When your dog is young you have to supervise it very closely. Once your Pit gets older and has been properly socialized it is not nearly as likely to turn on another dog.

The bottom line is that you should not get a Pit Bull unless you have experience with dogs and are going to spend the time to train and care for them properly. You also have to have a strong enough presence with the dog that it wants to listen to you. I would estimate that fewer than 1 in 10000 homes meet this criteria.