<p>So my son who is 25, and who has been supporting himself since college, told me today he is planning to get a puppy. He wants a puppy so he can train it from early on to be well behaved and friendly, etc. The only dog we ever had was an older black lab that we got after he went to college - so he’s never had a puppy. Then he reveals that he wants either a pit bull terrier or a Staffordshire terrier. While he is fully aware of the image most people have of pit bulls, he insists, having clearly done some homework, that if you raise them from infancy, they are as friendly and nice as any other dog. While I realize it makes no difference what I think and that he is a full-fledged grown up, I’m kind of concerned. He will be living (he’s moving right now), in an apartment with a large, fully enclosed patio. But I’ve heard that having a puppy (which I’ve never had) is as much work as having a baby. He says he’s thought long and hard about it (but of course never mentioned it until AFTER he made a decision which is typical of him), and isn’t acting rashly. Okay – so has anyone actually raised a pit bull terrier or a Staffordshire? Is what he’s saying true? I’m not really a dog person and don’t know very much. He works full-time but his girlfriend works different shifts and is willing to help as are other friends.</p>
<p>Terriers are difficult dogs for kindness to others. They have an innate personality to kill. My manchester terrier, sole purpose in life was to kill every rodent (birds, squirrels, mice, gophers, moles) that she could get. If she couldn’t get them right away, she would either dig them out or wait them out. She would attack my feet when I moved in my sleep. Her growl was a definite warning and her bite did honor to her breed. </p>
<p>Get a pembroke welsh corki. Wonderful personality. Smart. Pleasant. Loved affection. Glutton.</p>
<p>First off its American Pit Bull Terrier. And the other is he wanting an Staffordshire Bull Terrier [Staffordshire</a> Bull Terrier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffordshire_Bull_Terrier]Staffordshire”>Staffordshire Bull Terrier - Wikipedia) or an American Staffordshire Terrier [American</a> Staffordshire Terrier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Staffordshire_Terrier]American”>American Staffordshire Terrier - Wikipedia).</p>
<p>Yes I have raised them and I spent a lot of my youth around there. There is more to it then just how you raise them. You have to look several generations back to see how they acted. Even if you get one that 7 gens were calm, you can still get a throw back that is dog aggressive.</p>
<p>Does he plan to spay or neuter the pup? What about obedience training?</p>
<p>If you does not really have time to totally commit to this breed it is not for him. If he has never owned a powerful breed this is not for him. If he has never owned any dog this is not a breed for him. APBT need strong owners who are very committed to them. They don’t need a passive owner. They do not need one that is not there to train it properly.</p>
<p>I love the breed more than anything and I would to see one in the hands of someone that is inexperienced and has no real idea what they are doing.</p>
<p>Two of my Ds who no longer live at home have dogs. They were raised with dogs, as were their significant others, so they knew as much as it is possible for kids to know, what it’s like to have the responsibility of a dog. One got a puppy, the other an adult rescue dog. Both were still ‘enlightened’ to learn the reality of day to day ownership, and about how much of a commitment it is. 
</p>
<p>I don’t know anyone who has raised a pit bull. Where we live, they are banned. When the legislation was passed a few years ago, people were permitted to keep their existing dogs but no one was able to get a new pit bull, either pup or adult, and there were restrictions on current pets which included them being leashed and muzzled whenever in public, and they all had to be sterilized.</p>
<p>I’m a dog lover. I grew up with dogs, have always had dogs, including four at the moment! but I would never recommend that anyone get a pitbull.</p>
<p>I would echo the advice to take a careful look at the breeding lines. This will tell you a great deal. Also make sure that the puppy is purchased from a reputable breeder – visit, if possible, and look around. Are the facilities clean, fresh food and water provided, are the puppies socialized, etc. Remember that all breeds of terriers were originally bred to be killers of vermin on farms, etc. They do tend to be aggressive with other animals and with some dogs it can be hard, if not impossible, to teach them to forgo their instincts. That being said, however, I know several people who have raised pit bulls (including my niece) and they can be lovely, gentle, sweet dogs. You can turn any dog into a monster – all it takes is a bad owner. So I don’t think that your son is making a mistake so long as he does his homework. But for my money, there’s ONLY one breed: the Old English Sheepdog. Sweetest dogs in the world, gentle, great with kids, boisterous but not aggressive, and their puppyhood phase lasts for years. I’ve had two and never heard so much as a growl from either one.</p>
<p>Many pitbulls/mixes are rescue dogs. I think it is a wonderful thing for someone to take in such animals in need of a home. The problem is that sometimes these dogs that are either rescued or in a shelter have been abused, have issues, and need a lot of care. You rarely can research their lineage and their personalities are not at norm in the shelters. The problem with getting certain breeds when you get such dogs is that there are certain difficult traits prominent in those breeds. Yes, it is possible to get a vicious lab. But it just isn’t as prevalent as getting a mean rottweiler. The “bite and attack” records are pretty clear on which breeds have been the most problem in that area.</p>
<p>When you get a mean dog, you are often attached before you realize that the severity of the problem. It can mean a heart wrenching decision. We nearly had to go through this ordeal when a sweet puppy we adopted decided he wanted to be the alpha dog and started attacking our other dog. It was not an experience I would want to repeat. </p>
<p>Tell your son, if he has an unreliable dog, he may have to have the dog’s teeth removed. I just hope that if any such thing happens that no one gets attacked.</p>
<p>A co-worker raises pit bulls. She has a nine yr. old D and has no prob. with the dogs being around her D.</p>
<p>Personally, I wouldn’t have a pitbull. We’ve always had dogs and have found our best dogs to be the “mutts” we got fr. the county animal shelter.</p>
<p>Puppies are cute but they need a lot of attention. </p>
<p>What’ll he do with the dog while he’s gone all day? Will there be someone home to take care of it? What’ll he do with the dog when he goes on vacation? is he prepared to spend thousands of $$ on the dog if it has an accident or illness? Most single people that age are gone all day working and usually lots of other times for recreation. If he plans to leave the dog alone all day he should plan on it barking the majority of the time and annoying the neighbors to death. He could crate the poor thing all day but that won’t stop the barking. If he doesn’t crate the dog (or whenever he lets it out) he should also plan on it chewing whatever it can sink its teeth into. He should also plan on it considering the carpet as the facilities. </p>
<p>In whatever he decides, he needs to take a serious look at his lifestyle and consider if he’s truly being fair to the dog or if there’s a good chance he’ll end up doing what many do - get a cute puppy, realize it’s not all cuteness and fun but rather, some work mixed in with destructiveness, and then get rid of it either to family, a friend, or a shelter (where, if it’s a pit bull, there’s a good chance it’ll be put down since the shelters are full of them). </p>
<p>If after all that he still wants a dog then he should consider getting a rescue dog of at least 3 years of age. By then they’re past the chewing stage and have calmed down just a bit. Not all rescue dogs were victims of abuse. There are all kinds of circumstances for people to give up their dogs including the one I just mentioned above. He can ‘interview’ the rescue dogs (as I did with my Boxer) and find one that seems well adjusted. It’s not that hard to tell if a dog was a victim of abuse.</p>
<p>Raising a puppy is a lot of work. I have done it several times, and sometimes you get a dog that just is difficult to housebreak, chews up things, misbehaves,…sigh, and you still love the little one. I wish him well.</p>
<p>If he has a full-time job and can’t bring the dog with him, he doesn’t have the time to raise a puppy properly. Ignoring the whole pit bull issue–which is a substantial issue, check out this website for details (<a href=“http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/breedinfo.html)–any%5B/url%5D”>http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/breedinfo.html)–any</a> breed of puppy, no matter how smart or easy is a lot of work.</p>
<p>Why does he want a dog? Does he want one to run with? Protection? Is he dealing drugs and wants a dog that will intimidate thieves (which is why they’re so popular with gang members)? Companionship?</p>
<p>You might want to point out to him that, while girls love dogs, most of them do NOT love pitbulls. He’d be better off with a nice golden retriever.</p>
<p>You know the difference between and pit bull and Am. Staff? About $2,000.00! This is not a breed for the novice dog owner. You son should find some local dog shows, infodog lists them all over the country, and then talk with the Am. Staff. breeders about different breeding lines and what it really takes to own one of these incredibly driven dogs.</p>
<p>I echo what RebelCats wrote. Pit Bulls can be great dogs, and like most terriers, loving towards their owners. My family raised Bull Terriers, and were very careful about where they were sold because they are such a powerful breed. You mistreat a poodle and they might nip you, mistreat a Bull breed and they can kill. Their jaws are very strong.</p>
<p>I would recommend a less powerful breed for a first time owner, especially one who may not have the time to devote to a puppy.</p>
<p>When we last moved, my wife had an inclination to get a dog, and was taken by the white bull terrier in the “Patton” classic movie.</p>
<p>I did a lot of research. My conclusion was that if you owned one of these types of dogs, it would kill every small and medium sized living thing within a couple of hundred yards of your house. Seriously, no thinking adult over the age of 25 would have one of these dogs. Frankly, after reading through all of the different breeds, it became abundantly clear why everyone has Labrador and Golden retrievers. </p>
<p>[In doing the research, there was one passage that noted that Akita’s were not as good a watchdog as their appearance might suggest. It said that and Akita would sleep soundly while a burglar took all your possessions, but would bite a large chunk out of your leg if you accidently stepped on his foot.]</p>
<p>Actually, Bullies are pretty good with kids (they have a high pain tolerance so they aren’t as bothered by ear or tail pulling), not so much with other dogs. We even had cats around and they never bothered them. Bull Terriers actually make lousy watchdogs as they like people too much, they are a very people friendly breed, but are best being only dogs. However, if you raise them from puppyhood with cats they can be okay with them.</p>
<p>He wants a puppy so he can train it to behave properly. When we got our older rescue Lab there were some entrenched problems and so he thinks a younger dog is more teachable. He doesn’t want it to help in dealing drugs or for protection – I think he has always wanted a dog for most of his life for the usual reasons – companionship, etc. I’m going to send him the link to this thread and hope he reads through it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would respectfully suggest that the author doesn’t have much experience with Akitas. I am far more wary with this breed than I am with pit bulls. I have a friend who is a dog groomer and an Akita owner who describes Akitas as “German Shepards with an attitude.” They are very large, very powerful, very territorial dogs (her female tips the scales at 120 pounds) and they are very good at stealthy approaches. In other words, you’ll never know that they are there until you find one attached to you.</p>
<p>He should also check with his landlord. Many do not allow pets. Others do not allow certain breeds.</p>
<p>Re getting a rescue dog of three years of age – that’s what we did. Except that he was not three years of age, it turned out. He was considerably older which it took time to figure out – even the vet had some trouble telling. During the time we owned him, he had numerous health issues including chronic ear infections, two cancers and benign tumors, arthritis, and he became incontinent shortly after we got him. He died after four years – and we deliberately tried to get a dog around three so he would last until our son left for college. It was a reputable organization that was specific to this breed. So I’m not convinced you can control for age at a rescue facility. Kind of a debacle. I would encourage my son to get pet insurance which we did – it helped a lot with our dogs major medical expenses.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about where he is, but where I am I had a really hard time finding an apartment that would take a dog.</p>
<p>Don’t know what I would have done if I had a pitt, all of them immediately said no to pittbulls/rotts.</p>
<p>You need to do research on the breeder. I’ve met some very nice pittbulls, but you never know what you’ll get from the petstore. Bad breeding is very rampant, most are looking to just making a quick buck. </p>
<p>Also, I would imagine that if he wants to assure a dog is going to be kind and gentle, the shelter is a better idea. They usually do a significant amount of testing with the dogs to shee how they are with people and other dogs. Pounds are also full of pitts, so I imagine it wouldn’t be hard to find them. Some are very young also. I used to volunteer at the shelter and some of the sweetest dogs there (with me and other dogs) were pitts</p>
<p>Pit bulls are great dogs and most are actually very friendly towards people and great with kids. (Pete the Pup in “The Little Rascals” was a pit bull.) </p>
<p>That being said, they ARE more likely than other dogs to become dog aggressive and, no, you cannot “socialize it out of them” and it does not depend much on how you raise them. Dog aggression usually shows up by 2/2.5 years old. Some pit bulls are not dog aggressive at all, some will tolerate other dogs in most situations, and some will growl/snap/attack other dogs if they can. Can your son handle it if he gets a puppy who grows up to be extremely dog aggressive? If not, he should adopt an adult, whose temperament is already observable, rather than a puppy. Also, can he handle the fact that he will encounter a lot of prejudice towards his dog (people fearfully whisking their children away, random strangers shouting that your dog should be killed, etc)? Can he handle the fact that a lot of apartment owners will not allow pit bulls on their properties? </p>
<p>And some general thoughts that apply to all breeds of dog . . . Is he ready to make a commitment to an animal that may be in his life for the next 15 years? That he will have to work hard to train? That may chew/destroy/pee on stuff/jump on people until it IS trained? Is he willing to walk it and play with it–even when he is grumpy and tired and is not in the mood to walk or play?</p>
<p>If he does decide to get a dog, please encourage him to get a rescue dog. There are many, many pit bulls (both adults and puppies) dying in shelters. Save a life!</p>
<p>PS If your son does decide to go to a breeder, he should be very selective. There are a lot of bad breeders who play up the “GANSTA” and “OMG SCARY” reputation of the breed. Their dogs are also usually horrible examples of the breed. Pit bulls should not be huge dogs–they are supposed to weigh 40, 50, maaaybe 60 lbs, but never 100. If you see a breeder with HUGE pit bulls, red flags should go up.</p>