Any Pitbull owners here?

[BeerAdvocate]

My wife and I considering "adopting" a pitbull. She had one all her life and it now stays with her parents. Its the greatest dog. We currently have a german shepard. I know this bread is very misunderstood, so I would like to hear from some current owners with some advice on picking out the perfect one for my family. Thanks

[awsmith4]

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

My wife and I considering "adopting" a pitbull. She had one all her life and it now stays with her parents. Its the greatest dog. We currently have a german shepard. I know this bread is very misunderstood, so I would like to hear from some current owners with some advice on picking out the perfect one for my family. Thanks

I have a rottweiler/pit bull mix. He is eleven now and has never been a problem. He may be the sweetest dog on the planet. He lives with my mom now due to a year when I had an apartment I couldn't have dogs and once I bought my house she wouldn't let me have him back because he was too sweet and how do you say no to your mom.

Its pretty easy to pick. And this can really go with any dog. Pick the one that is friendly and loving when you walk in. If they are scared and timid or aggressive then that may not be the right temperament. However almost any trait can be trained into/ out of a dog but why start at a disadvantage.

Training and socializing the dog is the most important part. Dogs do not learn on their own, but if you already have a Shepard you know this.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

My wife and I considering "adopting" a pitbull. She had one all her life and it now stays with her parents. Its the greatest dog. We currently have a german shepard. I know this bread is very misunderstood, so I would like to hear from some current owners with some advice on picking out the perfect one for my family. Thanks

As far as picking one out..depends on the age group. I will never get one younger than 7 months old. AWSMITH ^ made a good point about their attitudes. Be mindful if they are head shy. If you get a blue pit, pay VERY close attention to it's skin. Watch out for bumps. That can become a very costly issue. (PM me if that ever occurs). Oh, and be mindful about putting two male dogs together. I did, thank God it worked out.

I have an approx. 10 month old (blue) Staffordshire, and a 2 year old (Blue) Cane Corso.
My ex girlfriend had a pitbull that we got at 6 weeks old. That was a nightmare.

Best thing I can say, always have something for him to chew on. Don't give him to many rawhides, because it "can" make them have serious gas and throw up. Exercise is KEY. A tired dog is a good dog in my opinion.

As far as the pitbull breed, I will never own anything other than. Very protective dogs,and just great dogs all around, at least mine are.

[Taki]

I have a Pit-Mix that I rescued and I would do it again!!!! I absolutely love the breed, they are incredible dogs and I would recomend adopting one. I know plenty of owners that have several and never had any problems . Let's be honest, they get bad reps cause @ssholes use them for bad things and it down right pisses me off!! I LOVE my Pit and would totally recomend it! Oh and when I rescued, I already had a 5 yr old black lab and both dogs get along great!

[Islayphile]

Another rescued Pit mix here...mine is with Boston terrier so he's a bit smaller than usual.

Great dog...obedient & very friendly

Originally Posted by Islayphile

Another rescued Pit mix here...mine is with Boston terrier so he's a bit smaller than usual.

Great dog...obedient & very friendly

I had a full Boston Terrier once...that's a very sore subject. I must have gotten the a**hole out of the bunch.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by us_soldier1989

Exercise is KEY. A tired dog is a good dog in my opinion.

Good advice.

If buying from a breeder, buy from one who raises family pets, not fighting dogs. Definetely don't want a dog who's head shy or nervous. If adpoting, spend some time with the dog, introduce your dog to them and see how they get along before committing. Have the dogs meet outside first before bringing the new dog inside.

[Islayphile]

Originally Posted by us_soldier1989

I had a full Boston Terrier once...that's a very sore subject. I must have gotten the a**hole out of the bunch.

I guess the pit side in mine calmed him down

Originally Posted by Islayphile

I guess the pit side in mine calmed him down

Mine wouldn't listen at all. I spent months, MONTHS! Trying to get her housebroken. I gave her away for free.










With a smile on my face.

[Islayphile]

Originally Posted by us_soldier1989

Mine wouldn't listen at all. I spent months, MONTHS! Trying to get her housebroken. I gave her away for free.


With a smile on my face.

That's a shame.


That situation sounds just like every boat owner I've ever known

[chippewastud79]

I have two American Staffordshire Terriers, the showdog version of a pitbull. The sweetest most people friendly dogs I have ever been around. They love affection, show it to everyone, lick the crap out of you, bounce all around and follow me anytime I move around the house. They definitely aim to please their owners and kids

They are high energy, need room to move, think they can chase down any moving small animals. Rabbits, squirrels and raccoons drive them insane, and they have been known to follow the deer in the backyard if I don't see them before I let them out. Sometimes I think they even chase ghosts.

Keep in mind, the pitbull breeds were bred originally for taking down large game and can be animal aggressive by nature. Mine get along great with each other, and most other dogs, but it depends on their original meeting with other dogs. When introducing them to other animals you need to be sure to keep a close eye on them and they shouldn't show any signs of aggression.

Here is a couple pictures of Maui (8 year old blue brindle female) and Macho (4 year old black and white male). They are actually aunt and nephew, Macho is Maui's sister's puppy.
They come from Shonuff Am Staffs, they are show dog breeders. Maui is retired and Mach never showed because of allergies.

[Islayphile]

Beautiful pups ya got there Larry

[jluck]

There's a bunch of them through out my the family. One will be decent the next will try to eat people, other dogs, cars,cats,trees Etc...I don't personally get the whole owning a liability thing. Friends of mine have had a few too, They seem to think its funny that people are terrified of there dogs and they "have only bitten a few people".
I simply had to quit going around some of there homes when my boys became threatened.

[Ogre]

Here is a Pic of our Harley Dogg. One point I would recommend, dont buy from a guy on the corner. There are issues with crossbreeding. If you go through a rescue have the dog checked out by a vet. Other then that, they are awesome dogs.

[celtic250]

My gf has a pit mix she rescued and it gets along great with my american bulldog male and my american bulldog x bullmastiff female. Its obvious he knows his place in the pecking order. They are great dogs and I have a lot of friends who have them as well! No complaints from me!!!

[chippewastud79]

Originally Posted by Islayphile

Beautiful pups ya got there Larry

Thank you.

Unfortunately, there are too many people out there who misuse and mistreat their dogs and the breed gets a bad rap. There are many dogs out there that can be called a 'pit bull', my two are just one breed.

These two have never done anything agressive towards any human being, they have to be provoked to even wrestle and a swift tap on the nose turns them into a little puppy if they get a little too rough playing. And if my son is anywhere near them they are overly cautious, but they make sure his face is nice and clean.

They will give some nice barks and growling at someone who rings the doorbell or walks past the backyard, but as soon as you enter the house the closest aggressive move they make is trying to get you to come down and pet them so they can lick your face.

[croatan]

I'm not anti-pit by any means, but the pit-boxer mix we rescued a few years ago led to nothing but trouble and heartbreak for us.

We got him at not more than about six weeks old and he'd been separated from his mother for a while at that point. As a puppy he was extremely rambunctious and playful, but loving toward my wife, me, and our other dog.

As he grew in size and strength, though, there was no containing him. He could easily leap our 6-foot fence and would regularly do so to go forage around the neighborhood for cats. Once he leaped it and went after a mailman, with my wife and I running behind. The mailman sprayed him with the pepper spray or whatever it was he was carrying and the dog just licked his lips like it was a tasty snack. He was impervious to pain and had the the highest prey drive I've ever seen in a dog.

We spent a couple grand building new fencing and another three grand on a dog trainer over a period of at least a year. Finally, the trainer said that he believed the dog was bread to fight and that, due to its prey drive, it was only a matter of time before it killed our other dog or a child--the dog showed such aggression toward every dog at the trainer's facility that he had to be separated from the rest and the trainer wouldn't let his family close to it. He actually went so far as to refuse to give the dog back to my wife and found a a couple just outside of town with a few acres and no other animals or small children who would take him.

He really was a very sweet dog to my family and my wife cried for weeks after we agreed to give him up, but I have no doubt it was the right decision. I literally did everything I could think of to avoid that result, both in terms of time and money spent, but the payoff never changed: we were basically held hostage in our house by a dog that might snap at any time and go after anyone or anything.

That being said, nothing about the experience would cause me to write off pit bulls as a breed--like humans, sometimes dogs just aren't right in the head--but before I'd have another in my home, I'd want to know more about the dog and its origins.

[chippewastud79]

Originally Posted by croatan

That being said, nothing about the experience would cause me to write off pit bulls as a breed--like humans, sometimes dogs just aren't right in the head--but before I'd have another in my home, I'd want to know more about the dog and its origins.

This.



Unfortunately the above case has become all too common, and more well known about the breed, because of the punks who breed these dogs to be aggressive for sport. It is their nature to be animal aggressive because of their original purpose, the problem is when people breed/train them for such a purpose. People aggression is entirely another issue that is often stemmed from dislike of all people because of the isolated and beaten life they live being bred for fighting.

In general they make lousy guard dogs because they are not people agressive by nature. They underlying reason for their aggressiveness is usually their stubborn nature and want to please their owner because they know the consequences of not performing their duties of fighting.

Its really a shame that there are dogs out there being bred for that reason, because the properly bred and trained dogs are as sweet as any retriever or bulldog.

[Islayphile]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Its really a shame that there are dogs out there being bred for that reason, because the properly bred and trained dogs are as sweet as any retriever or bulldog.

Too true