Has anyone raised a pit bull terrier?

Parent Cafe
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<p>I’ve known a few pit bulls and they were all very sweet and neurotic. They were also rescue dogs.</p>

<p>Your son should be aware that other people view the breed warily and this may cause all sorts of problems for him if he wants to take the dog out. I’ve seen a few altercations in the local dog run involving pit bulls—between humans.</p>

<p>It’s important to know if the dog (of any breed) has a dominant personality. They can be harder to train. Also, your son has to be willing to be the alpha dog if he ends up with a dominant dog. Otherwise, there will be hell to pay.</p>

<p>Poodles are great dogs, but not everyone likes them. Golden doodles (Golden lab/poodle mix, I think) are pretty nice dogs, and good looking too.</p>

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<p>I appreciate all the posts. I forwarded the link to him. However, during the time the link sat in his inbox, he actually got the puppy – a female. (He did tell me he would read the thread.) His girlfriend has apparently raised terriers and is going to help him train the dog, etc. My husband and I were initially very upset tonight. Mostly what we are upset about is that he didn’t tell us what he was planning until today and we can’t understand why he chose this breed. I think he made a decision he might regret down the road. However, as has been pointed out to me by my sister-in-law (who used to have Dobermans), it is probably not the worst mistake in life he could make. And, as his younger siblings pointed out to us tonight, he doesn’t need our permission to get a dog because he’s an adult. All of which is true, but we will have to hash out some issues about whether or not the dog can be in our yard when he comes over – my husband is afraid of pit bulls. And my sister-in-law said she won’t let her kids near it, although she advised us to make friends with it while it’s a puppy. I really wish he’d chosen another breed. At the same time, I recognize he’s an adult and that he has, in general, always possessed a good amount of plain common sense, which I hope he will exercise in terms of managing this dog. I’m more concerned about the long-term ramifications – issues of renting an apartment, that a future girlfriend might not care for this dog, and that assuming he keeps the dog and that the dog lives a long time, he will have children during this dog’s lifetime. And that bothers me quite a bit. I don’t actually have that much information about the dog’s background, etc. I was too stunned when I talked to him (I called to tell him about the thread only to find he’s gotten the dog) to ask too many questions.</p>

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<p>I work with pit bulls at my local humane society. They are good dogs but not the right dog for him (staffordshires and pit bulls are ESSENTIALLY the same breed, for the purpose of this conversation you can assume I am speaking of both at the same time.) They are not for first time dog owners, your lab does not count. Equating the experience of owning a labrador with the experience of owning a pit bull is like comparing a doll to an infant. The girlfriend with the terriers also does not count unless those terriers are pit bull terriers. Pit bulls are hard headed, fiercely intelligent, and very dominant. They require experience handlers who know how to assert themselves without breaking the animal (which is an extremely dangerous thing to do to ANY dog), and they require much exercise and stimulation to keep them from becoming destructive. They are by far my favorite breed, but they are only appropriate for not only experienced dog owners but dog owners who have experience with bully breed dogs. People who do not understand pit bulls who choose to adopt them anyway are the reason why pit bulls have such a horrendous reputation.</p>

<p>Pit bulls are BY FAR my favorite breed. I pretty much only work with them now as they are my favorite out of all the breeds we come in. But they are DEFINITELY not for the inexperienced. He is making a huge mistake.</p>

<p>P.S. Is he certain this apartment even allows pit bulls? Most will not. In many places it’s hard to own a pit bull even if you own your own house, because it is then difficult to obtain insurance. Which is something he will be dealing with for the entire life of this dog.</p>

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<p>He says he talked to his landlord and got it okayed. But she may change her tune if other tenants complain.</p>

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<p>Several breeds are described this way. When you are 25 you read this as meaning they will tear up a newspaper. When you are 45, you realize it means they will destroy your furniture and possibly mutilate the interior trim of your home.</p>

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<p>He should check his renter’s insurance; he may need to add liability to it specifically because he now owns this dog. </p>

<p>(I like pit bulls; they are banned in my county, and though I like the dogs, I fully support the ban.)</p>

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<p>Some years back my wife and I got a pair of puppies from the SPCA for our daughter. The SPCA does not knowingly release Rotties or Pit Bulls to families with children, but these dogs did not look like Rotties and the donor thought they were Doberman-mix, albeit really tough-looking dobermans.</p>

<p>Anyway, we set them up in the garage to train them to potty on paper, but the puppies soon figured out how to force open the door to their crate, then started to chew their way through the drywall into the house. We ended up having to take them back to the SPCA once we realized how aggressive they were. </p>

<p>From this experience I can tell you that these breeds can be very loving, but they express themselves in destructive and aggressive ways, like nipping you to keep you from leaving them, or chewing anything that they think is keeping them from you. Also, I once worked a summer job in a pet store - it is not an exaggeration to warn you that pits and rotties can and will chew through metal bars up to a half-inch thick, unless you’re using anodized steel or a similar metal.</p>

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<p>Maybe you can suggest that if he and the girlfriend ever break up, she gets the dog.</p>

<p>When I was 22 I got a mutty sweet dog and just dealt with all the disappointments finding rentals; just had to work harder at it. Also I trained the dog and would demonstrate the moves to a landlord, plus gave over security deposits that I got back because I housebroke her properly from the beginning when I wasn’t working one summer. </p>

<p>The GF’s commitment to training the dog shows she’s quite
involved with this decision, so she and he must now follow through. </p>

<p>In the meantime, can you encourage them to get professional help training the dog so it is really dependable? They have the most reason to want this to work out well for all concerned: the dog, themselves and all the people the dog will meet in his lifetime.</p>

<p>I took my Akita-mix l00 pounder (rescued from a shelter at l l months) to several rounds of obedience school. The shelter would only let us adopt him after serious interviews that demonstrated we had, between my H and me, 40 years of experience raisng large, powerful dogs (German Shepherds and Rhodesian Ridgebacks). We had no young children or frail elderly in the house. Honestly, they asked us more questions than if we’d been trying to adopt a child. They also told us at the shelter that if anything didn’t go well with the dog, who was on its last day before being killed, that we could and should bring it right back. They said they wouldn’t release this dog to anyone but our profile of experience and childlessness indicated it was possible to succeed.</p>

<p>Given that sense of solemnity, I made sure to do the Obedience school work. We had immediate housebreaking problems with a teenaged dog (not talkiing piddles here) and it was discouraging, so we lost a newly laid carpet, but oh well. Crate housebreaking was what really worked. You can’t be silly and sentimental with a powerful alpha dog. Leave him in the crate unless he’s outside on a leash until he gets it. These images didn’t mesh with what it’s like to take home a sweetiepie puppy, but in the end, it worked because we were firm and consistent. </p>

<p>My H has a very alpha personality, and I’m no wimp myself. The end of this story is surprising. This dog has turned out to be great, but we devoted tremendous amounts of time to training in that first year. People are initially afraid of the look, but we calm them down and demonstrate his obedience, by having him sit/stay as they enter the house. When they see the dog is under control, they do relax since some people can’t even get their sweet dogs to do that stuff.</p>

<p>I can’t emphasize enough the importance of training this dog, now that the decision has been made; and with that, it is possible it might work out okay. They must work very hard at it. And go to school–I’m not so sure about a GF who says she knows how to train a dog. It is
best done in context with other dogs under control, so they can be taught what to do as they are leash-walked past another dog on a leash, all under the teacher’s supervision for how to disengage if they start to go at each other. </p>

<p>I don’t know pitbulls at all, I just know that owning a dog that looks scary to others means you need to take it seriously to train them superbly, to be very dominant. Watch “The Dog Whisperer” for that calm/assertive mantra. Remember how intelligent they are, so if you do something once off-training, they never forget and always expect it. </p>

<p>As far as young children, we’ve had no problems inside the house but when I have unfamiliar nieces or nephews over I would never, ever let them play outside around this dog, even though he has never, ever tried to harm anyone. Inside the house, all the training kicks in and we have had numerous raucous or shy kids sleep over with no problem. Their parents are the problem, but I’ve come to expect that understandable anxiety and address it, not by making claims about how “good” the dog is but by showing them he’s under our control. </p>

<p>A very important thing is training the dog on how to react when guests come to the door, which will involve leash training and a different friend than the girlfriend to come ring the doorbell. They have to learn to handle all this stuff now, and I trust they will. </p>

<p>I found “family obedience” training, rather than “show dog obedience training” as it was more relevant to our needs.</p>

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<p>Jeez. The only thing we have to train our greyhound to do is to stay awake. By and large all he does is stand around and look handsome except when he’s sleeping, which, come to think of it, is most of the time. Can’t guard, he loves everyone, but he’s great as a watchdog–he looks at everything. He will on occasions show a hunter’s interest in some small little furry things running around the dog park.</p>

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<p>Wanna trade? (j/k)</p>

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<p>Thank you, Paying 3. I will pass it along. I received a couple of mature e-mails from son this morning that reassure me that he is well aware of the responsibilities on him and that he is taking appropriate steps. By the way, when we adopted our lab, I did feel that we were interviewed almost as much as if we were adopting a child. Re a trainer – we used a woman for a while with our lab who was truly outstanding. I’d have to see if she does pit bulls but her level of knowledge and her command of dogs was extremely impressive. The fact that our dog later had a problem jumping for food, had much more to do with our laziness than the lack of skills she gave us. She helped us teach the dog to heel, stay, sit and more.</p>

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<p>3:</p>

<p>Get your own greyhound. There are more than enough to go around. “Mr. Excitement” is ours. Very suited for us old folks.</p>

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<p>I agree with much of what has been said. One issue is insurance. Some insurance companies in some states will not insure homes in which a pit bull lives.There are lots of states with pit bull specific legislation. Some cities ban them. Some require liability insurance, special registration, etc. That has hopefully been researched. I assume he is willing to not move to a particular city that doesn’t allow his dog? </p>

<p>I have seen so many dogs that had to be turned over to rescues because they weren’t allowed to move to a new apartment. This is a huge consideration. We have a pit bull in our neighborhood. Guess what - he belonged to the son of a neighbor, who never could train the dog to even walk quietly on leash. Finally, the son moved to an apartment that wouldn’t allow the dog so his parents “rescued” the dog from the son. Some in the neighborhood tried to force them to get rid of the dog, but breed specific legislation is not allowed in our county. </p>

<p>Not only does this dog need to go to obedience class, but the instructor needs to have experience with the breed because others in the class may have a problem with the breed. He should learn about crate training right away - a must if the puppy will be left unattended for any time at all. I hope this turns out well. Hopefully your son really realizes the level of commitment and responsibility. His first duty right now is to that puppy so there will be lifestyle changes right away.</p>

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<p>He has no plans to leave this city. He has a crate and is starting with crate training already.</p>

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<p>Not much new I can add, just to say that BIL started with a pitbull and has had a couple AmStaffs and they were the best trained, sweetest dogs ever - due to BIL training and carefully choosing a breeder. There ARE insurance issues and some areas have banned ownership because of misuse of the breeds by ‘tough boys’. </p>

<p>What’s done is done, but I did read in the last week that our local animal shelter’s population is 1/3 pit bull mix. The wrong people get the puppies and then don’t know what to do with them. I suspect many are (macho) first time dog owners who are clueless as to what’s involved. If it doesn’t work out for your son, he has the shelter option. It’s sad, but not uncommon. We forget that all dogs are capable of biting, and I once read that more people are bitten by Goldens than by pit bulls - simply because there were more Goldens in the population. That might be changing. There definitely is an increase in interest in pit bull and similar breeds, and I wonder if anyone has studied the correlation with gun ownership (no, I’m not joking) and recession. Gun sales are up in some states.</p>

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<p>Our shelters here have about half pit bull mixes for dogs. Don’t know why if there are just more pitbull mixes around or what the story is. </p>

<p>One of my close friends whose son is best friends with my youngest has a very sweet pit bull mix that they got from a shelter. It’s not that all pitbulls are bad. It’s just that there is a higher risk of issues with a pitbull.</p>

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<p>mimk6: Are you familiar with Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer? He has books, training DVDs and an excellent show on the National Geographic channel. You could get his books and raising a puppy DVD for your son. (Google for his web site.) His favorite dog, one that is often on the show, is a rescue pit bull. Cesar thinks the breed is OK if the owner knows what he/she is doing. It requires a very strong and dominant owner. Cesar’s main training points are “exercise, discipline, affection” (in that order) and “rules, boundaries, limitations.” </p>

<p>I also think this breed is a mistake for a first-time dog owner in an apartment, but too late for that. It’s just about a full-time job to raise an active puppy properly. I’ve raised two German shepherds after raising two miniature Schnauzers, and the shepherds were much more work. It’s kind of like having an active two-year-old child for the first two years with a puppy that needs a lot of stimulation and exercise. </p>

<p>I was recently attacked by a pit bull while walking my shepherd and Schnauzer (who were on leash). It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. My shepherd defended us, but if not for her, I think my Schnauzer would be gone. That pit bull has been raised by this family since it was a puppy. It has charged us three times, twice as a puppy and this most recent attack, much worse, as an adult. I filed a complaint with animal control, who visited the home, but now I am afraid to walk my dogs past that house unless my H is with me. </p>

<p>If I were in your place, I would buy the Cesar Milan books and DVDs for your son.</p>

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<p>Our neighbor raises Rotties and uses this collar from puppy hood:</p>

<p>[Citronella</a> Remote Dog Training Collar](<a href=“http://www.discountpetmedicines.com/buy/citronella-remote-training-collar.htm]Citronella”>http://www.discountpetmedicines.com/buy/citronella-remote-training-collar.htm)</p>

<p>Essentially it has a little remote control that allows the owner control a little box on the collar. When the dog starts to do something that you don’t want it to do, you hit one button which causes the collar to beep. If the dog continues, you hit the other button and it squirts citronella up on the dog’s snout. After a few squirts, the dog learns that the beep is a warning and stops right away. </p>

<p>Might be worth trying on a pit bull.</p>

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<p>I used that kind of collar on one of my dogs in an effort to curb excessive barking. It gave her asthma attacks.</p>

<p>It did work for one of my friends whose dog was chasing her chickens.</p>

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<p>Can we not go straight to punishment-based dog training when there are so many other methods of dog training? Dominance theory has been discredited: [Forget</a> About Being Alpha in Your Pack: Kathy Sdao - Bright Spot Dog Training](<a href=“http://www.kathysdao.com/articles/Forget_About_Being_Alpha_in_Your_Pack.html]Forget”>http://www.kathysdao.com/articles/Forget_About_Being_Alpha_in_Your_Pack.html)</p>

<p>Yes, punishment works. But there are better ways. Ian Dunbar, Karen Pryor, and Jean Donaldson all have books describing their positive reward methods of dog training. I know these methods work because I see hundreds of dogs trained that way to do dog agility. Yes, even pit bulls and other terriers. There’s even a book about training a bull terrier using positive methods (which is not a pit bull terrier but is another hard-headed dog with an attitude): [When</a> Pigs Fly](<a href=“http://www.madcapbullterriers.com/index_files/Page956.htm]When”>http://www.madcapbullterriers.com/index_files/Page956.htm))</p>

<p>And the catch to punishment–and yes, Cesar Milan’s methods are punishment-based–is that you end up with a dog that is scared of you. Who wants that? Scared animals are unpredictable animals.</p>