<p>Well, speaking of eating through things. My late, wonderful lab came to me from a owner who was getting rid of him because he ate through the dry-wall from one room to another when he was shut in the laundry room. </p>
<p>My neighbor’s daughter was mauled by their chow mix.</p>
<p>My gas meter reader said that he has been bitten numerous times–never by a large dog—it’s always been one of those small breeds.</p>
<p>And remember a few years back all the news articles about St. Bernard’s mauling children.</p>
<p>When my daughter was living in an apartment where she had been robbed 3 times in 2 weeks, she borrowed a pit bull from a friend. This dog lived with her until she could find a new place to live. The dog was very protective, ie barking and growling at strange noises, but she also got along with d’s cat and slept in the bed with d. and the cat.</p>
<p>The worst breed we have ever owned as far as biting was a scottish terrier, and we have had labs, german shep., and presently a pit-bull/boxer mix who was a rescue.</p>
<p>I cannot even begin to understand why someone would want to own a potentially deadly pet. My fluffy ball of fur has quite a bark - that’s all the protection I need from him.</p>
<p>I am not lumping German Shepherds in with pitbulls EXCEPT in terms of the statistics that I have seen. The lists that show the number of dog bites by breed does have the GS listed high up on the top 10, along with Rotweilers, Chows, Akitas, Huskeys and , of course, Pitbulls. I believe there are ordinances and insurances that exclude pitbulls and rottweilers, but I have never heard of one banning GSs. So there is a difference. But the stats are the stats.</p>
<p>It’s the 21st Century. Why does anybody need any dog in any city unless he/she is blind? People who use dogs as substitutes for human companionship are pathetic. And they all shocked and want you to feel their pain when they outlive their dog which has a 14-year lifespan. Duh.</p>
<p>Tourguide: I have dogs precisely because they make excellent companions. They are always ready to play with me. They make me laugh. They’ll go anywhere with me, anytime. They like my cooking and never complain about how boring I am. When my old dog died, I didn’t cry; I eased her pain with euthanasia. Then I mourned; then I got a new dog.</p>
<p>Here’s the difference–when a small dog bites you kick him off and are fine. When a pit bull gets you he has you and attacks you until he or you is dead.</p>
<p>We can bring up dog attacks from any breed in this instance. For example, where I live some elderly man was killed by a boxer. I knew a guy that was bitten in the face by a golden retriever and needed stitches to fix the chunk that was taken out of his face. I once had a cocker spaniel that loved to use me as a chew toy. Little dogs are the worst offenders in my experiences though. Jack russells, chihuahuas, miniature schnuasers, wiener dogs, etc. </p>
<p>As a child I grew up around both boxers and pit bulls and I have to say that they were the sweetest dogs I have ever met. The only time they would growl was to protect each other and their families and they never bit anyone. But one day that got loose from the back yard (there was a big hole in the fence) and were picked up by animal control. My friend’s family nor I ever saw them again because they were euthanized in order to “protect” people. The family asked if the dogs had attacked or growled at anyone. Animal controlled answered that they didn’t do anything to anyone but it was their policy to trap and euthanize the animals instead of bringing them back to the home. I don’t see how this is fair. </p>
<p>If I sound rude than I do apologize but I expected a lot more from the people of this site than generalizations, especially since many of you have provided great information and support when I was seeking advice for a personal problem. As an animal lover, I guess I’m just a little disappointed.</p>
<p>Here are links with facts about pit bulls (the good and the bad), with no media hype.</p>
<p>zep, thanks for the links. I did like the identification game. There are so many dogs misidentified as pit bulls.</p>
<p>It is only common sense that a large breed dog will inflict more damage than a small breed dog. Should people only be “allowed” to have small breeds?</p>
<p>I agree that small breeds most probably have the most “bites”. I wonder if it is in their “temperament” or if it is because many people don’t raise the small breeds with as much discipline as the larger ones? I know that I am guilty of this–the beagle and fox terrier are easy to just pick up and remove from some situation, while the 90lb boxer mix and the 85 lb lab needed to learn to respond to commands in order to have a controllable dog.</p>
<p>mkm56:
I think there’s a lot to this. People can power their way through controlling a smaller dog that they can’t do with a larger dog. My 75 lb boxer is all muscle and it’s important that he responds to commands and leash guidance or he’d be a handful. </p>
<p>It’s also one thing to come home and have a toy poodle jump up on you versus a great dane or my boxer. One of the first things we taught him (as a 3 y/o rescue dog) was to not jump on people so instead he does twists in the air and a tap dance when he gets excited about someone coming over (he loves everyone). Fortunately he’s a quick learner and quite obedient.</p>
<p>A problem is that many novice dog owners who bring home that adorable, clumsy fluffball do not understand that before they can blink their eye, the fluffball will grow into a 100-lb wolf with a set of very sharp teeth, and therefore, training has to start the minute the puppy enters the house. Another thing that escapes many novice dog owners is the fact that the fluffball does not speak “human-ese”, it speaks “wolf-ese”, so a “no” followed by a gentle wack on the nose with a rolled up newspaper speaks much more to him than a simple “no” followed by no action. Humans have to establish hierachy in the house, and the dog has to accept the omega place in it. Unfortunately, some dog owners equate proper training techniques with dog abuse.
When I was in Europe this summer, I noticed that the dogs there were generally way more well-behaved than American dogs. I have not seen dogs tugging on their leashes trying to sniff the passerbys’ crotches, the doggie behavior I observe on the streets of Seattle every day :)</p>
<p>I agree that there are differences between dogs tbat are called “pitbulls” by breeders who want to capitalize on their reputation and dogs that meet the characteristics of APBT by the AKC.</p>
<p>When I lived in Paris many years ago, dogs were everywhere accompanying their owners to the shops, cafes and restaurants. I don’t know whether this tolerant attitude still holds in European cities, but it produces a well-socialized dog that is far less likely to bite or engage in inappropriate behavoir because the dog becomes conditioned to noises, weird smells and crowds. This might explain why European dogs are better behaved. I tried my hardest to socialize my dog, but he was not allowed in any stores except Petsmart. I was reduced to standing outside of stores and asking people to give him a treat. I drove him into D.C. and walked him on sidewalks filled with pedestrians. Despite this, he is still a little skittish. And socialising him was so difficult in the U.S. because he was not allowed anywhere. Because U.S. communities are intolerant of dogs, dog owners are forced to leave their dogs alone at home or in the yard. The dogs become more territorial and less well conditioned to different environments. A territorial frightened dog is one that is a potential biter.</p>
<p>I do believe what you say yorky. My rescue boxer is not socialized well. Like you, the only place I can take him is Petsmart. And I rarely do that as I will have other errands to do and wouldn’t leave him in the car. We also live somewhat in the country with no close neighbors. The kids are grown and there is not much in the way of people traffic in and out of the house.</p>
<p>When you see the CDC report or the top ten list of breeds that have bitten…the person that was bitten or their parent is stating what breed it was…not a Federal Dog Identifier. A black dog is reported to be a Lab, a dog with erect ears and dark muzzle a shepherd, etc., rotts are missidentified as Dobes and vice versa.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the dog next door (a pit breed) nearly gave me a heart attack, this morning. I was taking kitchen scraps to compost bin and didn’t realize he was out. The owner came out, another chance to urge dog training. She says she’ll make the fence higher. “That’s not the problem, train the dog!” We’re on good terms. She says she can’t afford training…I tell her she can’t afford not to, she’ll lose the house.</p>
<p>People don’t like to report that they were bitten by a peke-a-poo. So little dog bites are under reported. I don’t think of pitbulls as big dogs. They are just capable of big bites. They consistently make the top 10 of dog bites, and even worse of fatal dog bites, very serious dog bites. It reflects greatly on the type of people who get pitbulls, I’m afraid, because many of them get the breed or breed mix just for the purpose of getting a mean dog, and make the creature mean.</p>
<p>This will probably be an unpopular post, but I DO agree with breed-specific legislation in some areas, town-by-town or city-by-city. Special licensing or insurance requirements (tough to enforce) and even banning pit breeds in some high-crime areas, I think is warranted.</p>
<p>Of course there are MANY wonderful pit bulls out there, but they were (and unfortuntately still are) bred for dog-aggression and fighting tendencies (what some of their breeders cover by the term “gameness” - ugh). Even responsible SHOW breeders of American staffordshire terriers will tell you they need careful training and handling. They are extremely powerful dogs, and they ARE more apt to be dog-aggressive. Unfortunately, many of these dogs filling the shelters come from the worst possible conditions-- poor breeding, fighting backgrounds, irresponsible or cruel owners. It’s amazing that so many turn out as nice as they do, but there are many more who are unpredictable or just plain unwanted who end up destroyed. NO one is saying it’s the dog’s fault, but the reality is that there are thousands and thousands of these dogs out there, and many of them lead absolutely miserable lives. If I lived in a city that had problems with dog-figthing, I’d want pitbulls banned, or at least kept with severe restrictions.</p>
<p>I know a local woman who spends most of her spare time in pitbull rescue. The adoptable ones are re-trained and fostered with love and care before going to new homes, yet there are still many cases where the dogs have been returned, usually for attacking other dogs (and these were NOT fighting pitbulls to begin with). It’s not just the pits that suffer – it’s the neighbors, their dogs and other pets who are at risk as well. A couple years ago my sister in rural MD had told me of dogs being stolen in her area. This went on for several months until police finally caught the men. It turns out they were dog fighters who were on constant lookout for “bait” dogs, and when they couldn’t find strays, they’d take peoples’ pets right out of their yards. To me, there’s nothing you could do to those people that would be bad enough…</p>
<p>10-15 years ago you never saw a single pit in the shelters. Now they are flooded with them, and shelters in many parts of the country are overflowing. Places that previously could have kept adoptable dogs for weeks or months to find them homes often now just give it a week or so, sometimes less for older and “less adoptable” dogs, of all kinds. The whole situation is very sad.</p>
<p>Speaking of shelters… Our local news just reported that 125 dogs were taken from a property by the sheriff’s dept. They are rat terriers and Great Danes. Evidently this man was reported by a neighbor for having a puppy mill with run-down conditions and starving animals. My heart goes out to these dogs and I am sooooo tempted. Can anyone talk some sense into me?</p>