You make some very important points. Should we take a closer look at your stats? I just know from experience that studies can often be skewed by any number of factors that go into the study sample, the questions, where and how the information is gathered. Hey, you could definitely be right, and maybe as responsible dog owners we should all take a closer look at the data out there. I just think there may be information to the contrary, and bottom line...it will still be up to the potential owner to make the most informed decision possible.
That’s so awful. Thankfully your little dog was ok. I have a doxie food bowl nudger too. Luckily he does it to a golden retriever so there is no issue. The Golden just leaves & lets the doxie eat his food! I was so scared your story wasn’t going to end well!! In all my experience working in vet med, I think Akitas were the absolute worst. They terrified me.I used to think as some have pointed out that bad owner=bad dog, until we had an incident with our dog. I know this thread is about pit bulls, but our experience highlights how some breeds really can be more dangerous than others.
We got an Akita puppy when he was 12 weeks old. We knew they could be aggressive, but we figured if we raised him correctly it would be fine. We took him to training, loved him, and he slept most nights at the foot of our daughters bed. We also had an older dachshund. The two adored each other. About 2 years later, the dachshund went to eat out of the Akita's bowl, like she's done probably 100 times before. Normally the Akita would playfully nudge the dachshund from her bowl. This time, the Akita went absolutely nuts on the other dog. Threw her around like a rag doll. Wife quickly scooped up the kids and got out of the house when the Akita would not respond or stop. When she finally let go I went to pick up the little dog and she growled at me. That's when we learned that nature>nurture. We still shudder at the thought of what might of happened had our children gone towards his bowl. We gave him to a rescue and they fully understood. The little dog was fine after some stitches and recovery.
We now have a golden retriever.
I don’t have one & would never trust one in my home. Might be an unfair stereotype, but the anecdotal evidence has me convinced enough.
...to me, it’s like owning a tiger. If you raise it from a cub & treat it right, you would probably never have a problem with it. BUT, if something went wrong & the tiger decided to attack, it would be so powerful it could easily kill someone...
Not for me. Too much responsibility. I think many breeds are unpredictable. But when they are unpredictable, they're deadly. Not that they're the only ones...
Such a wonderful positive story. And you saved him from his death. Thank you for sharing.We rescued a lab/pit mix from our local shelter. She has been such an amazing dog that we decided to rescue a senior pit from a rescue group in town that got him the morning he was scheduled to be put to sleep. He is amazing. My DD8 (now 10) picked him out and they immediately bonded. He is her best friend and will do anything she wants. He has worn butterfly wings, “danced”, and listened to countless stories. He’s actually a big baby who has to have a stuffed animal to lay with him at all times. He loves everyone who visits. Every morning the dogs go with me to drop my daughter off and they get tons of pets from everyone. Never had an issue.
My daughter was, however, bit in the face by a small dog. Thankfully, she closed her eye and it tore the meat around the eye.
My parents were very worried when we got our pit, just based on what they had seen on the news and read in the papers. He is now their big grand dog that they adore.
You know I think your right about small dogs biting more people but Pit's doing more damage. I never really thought about it before but when I see any dog, I always ask if it's okay to approach and to pet.My answer is "It depends"
It depends on the owner. It depends if the owner has taken the responsibility to properly train the dog. For every dangerous dog there is an irresponsible owner.
I am a dog training class right now. It's clear the Pit needs this training, it's also clear that none of us in the class fully trust the dog. He's massive and strong, we are working our way up to off leash training and at this point I will not let my dog off leash around him.
Pit's are not the only "dangerous" dog out there and Campgrounds, HOA's, Cities and Insurance Companies have rules for a reason. While a Chihuahua probably bites a whole lot more, a Pit can do a lot more damage.
Someone else in here posted a similar story. Very scary. It's hard to understand how this kind of thing can just happen. Usually past behavior, best predicts future behavior. This does make me have second thoughts about my opinion.In the late 60s/early 70s, we had a pit bull, but few people knew of their bad reputation then. We had it from the time it was a little puppy and it was our pet. It was indeed loyal and seemed loving, for the years we had it. We also had cows and the dog was brought up around them.
One day, a cow was just munching on some grass and the dog snapped. No provocation. It attacked the cow and would not let go. My father tried everything, but finally had to beat it to get it off. The cow died.
My father was terribly shaken because this dog he loved had shown a previously unseen side and now he feared for the safety of the children. The dog was gone at some point. No idea what happened to it, but we couldn’t keep it. My father couldn’t even talk about it.
There used to be a member here who went nuts on me when I posted this story and made up every excuse in the world as to why the attack wasn’t the dog’s fault. But it was. Period. And it’s a story I’ve heard all too many times since. A pit bull, raised with affection and love, snaps and viciously attacks. Until then, the owner would’ve sworn it was a sweetheart.
Well, they are. Until they aren’t. And that’s the problem. I will never be around one again.
From the responses in here, many folks would disagree with this perspective. I've always been of similar mind set but a couple of the stories in here has made me think on it a bit more.How dangerous a dog is is dependent upon far far more things than just breeding. How is it treated? How is it trained? Various other factors. Those things will go far in determining how dangerous a particular dog is. You can turn even the nicest breeds into a danger. There isn't any evidence that Pit Bulls on the whole are a bigger danger than other breeds. But yeah, a lot of them are used in illegal fights and a lot of them are used by drug dealers who have made a lot of pit bulls very dangerous.
Ah...thank you for posting this on statistics. It does make us think more on how data is gathered. And such random attacks by any breed is certainly perplexing.https://www.avma.org/news/javmanews/pages/171115a.aspx
In this article from the American Veternairy Association, it says that the CDC stopped keeping dog breed data for dog bites because of the difficulty in determining breed. Much of what people call a pit bull is not actually a pit bull. And so most data should be questioned for that reason.
The worst dog attack that I have personally seen the results of was ex-h’s niece. She was 3 at the time. Playing outside at her grandparent’s home with other kids. A mixed breed hound that they owned for a long time suddenly attacked her. Luckily she had on a thick coat with a hood or the dog would have killed her. No bull dog whatsoever in that dog.
Foe. Shelters are full of pit bulls. There must be a reason why.
I'm in favor of shelters euthanizing all pit bulls immediately upon arrival.
Yeah..."they say" SIDE SMILES are often a sign of aggression, no matter what the breed!Definitely foe...I mean, just look at him.