Bad Dog!!

[Sarah]

So, exactly how do you do that? 

The same way we teach people to be responsible with their firearms and we hold those that abuse it accountable.  We don't outlaw guns.  We teach people.  We do our best to keep them out of the hands of those that are irresponsible and we keep people that do own them informed on how to be responsible owners.  Same thing goes for dogs.

I've owned over 8 Pit Bulls in my 20 years that I've been working with this breed.  I've yet to ever have one of my dogs attack a person or ever kill someone else's pet or bite someone.  I do it through training.  I train my dogs.  I socialize my dogs.  They're used to a lot of different dogs and lots of different people and children and I'm not irresponsible with them letting them run wild.  I train them to be "dog tolerant" and I teach them to obey me and all of my dogs are submissive to me, to my husband and to my kids.  We do not keep them on chains or keep them separated and yet they get along.  The neighbour kids come down all the time and we never have any problems.  In fact, our Pyrenees we had was far more unpredictable than our Pits have been. 

There are many breeders of Pits out there that are doing their best to breed the dog as far away from their dog aggressive days as possible.  They're working hard to put the breed in a different light.  They're working to get their Canine Good Citizen certificates, they're getting them certified as therapy dogs, using them as tracking dogs and working with police as drug dogs.  They're smart and they're willing to work hard and are an asset in many areas. 

[Diane Amberg]

If the street toughs in Wilmington were like you there would be no problem.Those hooligans have trained their dogs to attack and when they get out they do, no matter who is around. They also sic the dogs on the police, the neighbors, the local kids, whoever they are mad at at the moment and they always seem to be mad at somebody. I know its not the dog's fault, but the dog pays the price, death, not to mention whomever got attacked.

[Sarah]

If the street toughs in Wilmington were like you there would be no problem.Those hooligans have trained their dogs to attack and when they get out they do, no matter who is around. They also sic the dogs on the police, the neighbors, the local kids, whoever they are mad at at the moment and they always seem to be mad at somebody. I know its not the dog's fault, but the dog pays the price, death, not to mention whomever got attacked.

I know and it's sad to say the least, but the problem with those wide sweeping bans are they really don't punish the wrong doers since they really had no attachment to the dogs anyway and what ends up happening is they just get another breed of dog that's just as dangerous and train it to be mean.  The ones that pay the price are the ones that work so hard with their dogs, love their dogs dearly and yet are caught up in these laws when they did nothing to deserve it.   

Shoot, I know I get sooo weary of fighting people's ideas on what they think the breed is like when I have 20 years experience behind me that tells me different.  I don't doubt at all that there are horrible dogs out there just like I don't doubt there are horrible people out there, but it seems that just because someone knew of one or two or three, they think they're all that way. 

[Diane Amberg]

Wilmington heard all the good stories too, and came to a registration compromise The dogs have to be licensed as all dogs are, but the bulls have to be registered so the address can be known to police. There have been some bites since that time and police have had to shoot several, mostly for attacking leashed or secured dogs, but overall it is better. We have license and leash laws here in Newark and bites are very rare.

[Sarah]

Wilmington heard all the good stories too,nd came to a registration compromise The dogs have to be licensed as all dogs are, but the bulls have to be registered so the address can be known to police. There have been some bites since that time and police have had to shoot several, mostly for attacking leashed or secured dogs, but overall it is better. We have license and leash laws here in Newark and bites are very rare.

Just plain leash laws are just as effective if people would obey them.  The problem with Pit Bulls.....no offense to those that own them......but a lot of times that breed attracts irresponsible kinds of people.  People that have no interest in bettering the breed or creating for them a positive image.  All they care about is that they're a cool, tough breed to own and take no time to properly train or socialize their dog. 

It doesn't surprise me that a Pit Bull would attack other dogs.  That's what they've been bred to do for 100's of years.  Some Pit Bulls are more dog aggressive than others.  It takes a responsible kind of person to own one and make sure they're under control.  I remember when we lived else where, there was a kid that was a boyfriend of the girl that lived next to us.  At any rate, he bought himself a Pit Bull.  An ex fighting dog no less.  This kid had no idea what he was getting himself into nor did he have any clue as to what he was doing.  Another neighbour had a St. Bernard cross that was chained outside and this kid was walking that Pit.  The Pit broke the leash and went after that dog and latched onto the side of that dogs face and wouldn't let go.  The kid just stood there with this dumbfounded look on his face and the owner was standing out there screaming at the top of her lungs.  I still to this day just have to shake my head.  I walked out there and not having anything else, I just used my hand to break his grip and got my thumb bit right smartly in the process, but got the apart.  Handed the dog back to the kid and told him if he couldn't control his dog, then get rid of it.  It's those kind of people that just irritate the tar out of me.  Socialize, socialize, socialize and even then, keep the dog on a leash, for crying out loud, don't let them run loose and don't take them to dog parks.  They're a responsibility and I don't know why I love them so much but I always have.  I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment.  I have a male that is my conformation show hopeful.  His dad and grand dad and a bunch of others in his pedigree are all UKC champions and grand champions and I am HOPING he does just as well.  Two of my females are out of a certified therapy dog and I'm hoping they go that way also.  They definitely have the temperament for it. 

[sixdogsmom]

I do have a question for you Sarah, if in the event that one of your dogs does bite, are you able to say that you can and will be financially responsible?

[Sarah]

I do have a question for you Sarah, if in the event that one of your dogs does bite, are you able to say that you can and will be financially responsible?

If one of my dogs bit someone?  You know, you could ask that of anyone that owns a dog.  If the person wanders on to my property, no I won't be as that's trespassing.  If one of my dogs goes off my property, then anyone whose dog bites someone is responsible. 

[Sarah]

Honestly though, I will not tolerate a dog that shows any type of human aggression and if they do show it, they get put down.  It's not a typical Pit Bull trait and I won't tolerate it in my dogs.  Only poorly bred Pits are human aggressive.

[Varmit]

So far Sarah I agreed with most of what you had to say, except for this...

Honestly though, I will not tolerate a dog that shows any type of human aggression and if they do show it, they get put down.  It's not a typical Pit Bull trait and I won't tolerate it in my dogs.  Only poorly bred Pits are human aggressive.

If I am not home and my home gets broken into or someone tries to harm my family, frankly, I want my dog to shred the offender.  And am rather confident that she would.  As it is, she is leary of strangers and will keep other dogs off my property. 

[Sarah]

So far Sarah I agreed with most of what you had to say, except for this...

If I am not home and my home gets broken into or someone tries to harm my family, frankly, I want my dog to shred the offender.  And am rather confident that she would.  As it is, she is leary of strangers and will keep other dogs off my property. 

Maybe I should re-word this.  My male, I am confident that if someone went to break into our house, he would defend the house, but when the neighbour kids come calling or someone comes to visit, they are as sweet as they can possibly be.  But I would not tolerate a dog that showed any aggression towards my kids or towards visitors or aggression toward people when they're on leash or when I'm walking them.  When they're guarding their own yard, I don't have a problem with that, though honestly, we only have one dog that would guard the yard.