Pitbulls and kids? - Page 2

[LeahBoo]

I love pits too, but won't have one. Here's why.

Breed legislation. I don't want to be attached to a dog to have someone suddenly pass a law that regulates how I keep my dog. Next town over just did this with pits and pit mixes. You have to have a HUGE homeowners or rental insurance policy, plus keep the dog on a 6 foot leash AND muzzled when in public. My sister was thinking about moving there, now she can't, because her dog is half pit. Another town 30 miles away or so banned them outright. No pits or anything that looks mixed with pit. You're not even allowed to drive through town with one in your car.

No one is ever going to ban dachshunds and border collies, so I'm safe.

[Arduinna]

no way would I bring one into my family.

[ktmeyer]

Breed legislation does suck. Also, many homeowners associations and insurance policies have breed bans. The clinic I work at makes a great effort not to list "pit bull" or anything similar on the pet's record. My pit/shepherd mix is listed as a rhodesian ridgeback mix for that reason....it would be hard to prove she isn't that mix, and its on her official medical records. We have many "catahoula mixes", boxer mixes, etc listed on records at the office.

[LeahBoo]

Yeah, my mom has a "springer spaniel/beagle mix"

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture478.jpg

And my sister has a "Lab/Sharpei"

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture150.jpg

[KalamazooMom]

If anyone is interested we did decide not to get this particular dog. A friend went out to see him and said he's beautiful and a sweet boy, but is very energetic. She said he's a real jumper and very strong and practically knocked her over, so would most likely be able to knock the kids over. So I think that's a little more than we can deal with at the moment. We're considering a few other dogs.

[shllywlly]

I am on the board of a rescue and I will say that if someone comes in and is in the slightest bit unsure of any dog regardless of the breed, I will not adopt that dog to them. That tells me they are not confident enough to keep that dog stable. I've seen it too many times. Someone adopts a dog because "I can give them lots of love and attention and they will be the best dog ever!" and it is simply NOT TRUE!!! You have to be confident and sure that this dog is absolutely the dog for your family and you will have no problem training them and teaching them the rules and keeping them stable. This has no regards to breed.

With that being said, I have a 3 and 4 year old and I wouldn't think twice about having a pit in my home. I'd take one in a second.

[*Eva*]

Unfortunately for the most part I do not trust Pits as far as I can throw them. I have 4 friends that all owned Pitts, they were super sweet dogs for the first few years they had them and all but one of them has had to be put down for aggression issues towards people. None of these dogs were ever abused and were taken fantastic care of their whole lives. And I do love "aggressive" breeds of dogs too so its not that. I've owned two Akitas in the past and currently own a Rottie so I'm no stranger to pig headed dogs.

[ShadowMoon]

As far as pits and kiddos go, it really does depend on the dog. I have a 5 year old APBT/Staffordhire mix and she has been an amazing companion to my 3 year old DS. (I've had the dog since she was 8 months old and knew the parents and previous owner). She loves people and other animals as well. Good luck on your dog search!

[TulsiLeaf]

I've grown up with pitts and I currently own a boxer/pitt/german pointer mix. Stingy is a gorgeous dog and she is wonderful with my daughter. She is almost a year, so she has energy and doesn't know her own strength right now, but she isn't violent or aggressive with my daughter. We have to watch out for puppy nipping, but that is with any dog.

But frankly, I would rather take a pitt/shepherd/rottie mix than a yorkie anyday. You want to see aggressive little you know whats? Go to the small dog park around my area. You walk up to the fence and about 15 of them suckers LUNGE at you and one nearly took my finger off. In the big dog park where there are about 10 pitties that come regularly? They will jump, wag their tails and when you come in, roll on their backs and beg for belly rubs.

[rere]

My mom had a pit,a boston terrier and a chihuahua.All rescue dogs.When we went to her house it was the terrier and the chihuahua that couldn't be around my daughter.The pit has since died,the terrier is fine now because my daughter is big enough that he can't knock her down but the chihuahua I won't allow near her.

[lonegirl]

Originally Posted by ktmeyer

I'm a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Certified Veterinary Technician. I've worked in the Veterinary field for 15 years. And Pits are probably my favorite breed to work with. LOVE them!!!! They CAN be dog aggressive, but are almost never human aggressive. And if they are, they let you know it. They aren't hard to read. As for how they do with kids, they are generally GREAT with kids. Remember Petey from the Little Rascals? He was a Pit! In England they were called "the nursemaid dog" because they are so good with kids. They were good in the ring because they have a high pain tolerance, this means they put up with little pokes and prods from kids (and veterinarians) better than most other breeds. Go meet the dog, if you like him then don't hold his breed against him! Oh, and I have a pit/shepherd mix, and all her issues are very much shephered issues, NOT pit issues. We see WAY more problems with shepherds than pits.

I've been in the field 13yr as a tech....and I too love pitties.....they are banned in Ontario....and it is so sad to have a ban on some of the sweetest animals I have seen

[my2girlz]

We have a 1 year old pit/boxer mix and she is great with kids. She's very much a people pleaser. It made her very easy to train. She also gets along great with our 2 cats. She's been around numerous dogs too and we haven't had any issues. We keep her well socialized.

[chevy974]

I must say I dont like pits. Last yr i was out looking at houses to buy and went down a gravel road. As I pasted a certain house I noticed a samll black lad and a pit in the yard. They didnt pay much mind to me I went passed the house I was to look at and turned around in the drive way. As I preceded back past the house with the dogs they began running toward my car and I thought great they are gonna chase me down the road. Well turns out they chased me alright the pit attacked my car for close to half mile me dragging it at times would run in front of my car and I even hit it a few times. A lady had pulled out of her drive after me and followed me down the road and witnessed this from behind I could not get this dog off my car. Well turns out this dog did 2500 dollars in damage tomy new honda mini van. When I finally was able to stop and look at what the dog did there was blood and teeth in my van. I called sherriff and they went to house and talked to neighbors. Everyone said dog was friendly. Now let me tell you after chasing my car when he was done with me he ran into the lady behind me. I will tell you that after seeing what this dog could do to my car I would NOT own one. The lady said that was behind me that there was times I drug him and the faster i went the faster he ran. I also realize all dogs can be dangerous but I cant see my golden retriever doing this. I think there are alot of dogs more FAMILY friendly that i wouldnt consider a pitt with my family


Many Blessings

[greenmagick]

My aunts pom attacks cars....I know of other breeds who have done it as well, cars, bikes, skateboards....its the movement.

Again, a pit does no more damage then an equally sized dog of another breed. Chasing and biting a car has nothing to do with attacking humans.

[Lula's Mom]

Originally Posted by chevy974

..I cant see my golden retriever doing this...

I think there are alot of dogs more FAMILY friendly that i wouldnt consider a pitt with my family

Um. That is a bizarre story about a bizarre dog (it left its teeth in your car, and was hit several times before giving up??) I've owned many pits and pit mixes, and I can't see any of my dogs doing this either! That just isn't normal.

FWIW I think pit bulls are typically wonderful with children. I have 3 kids, and as I said I've had several purebred and mixed pits. My experience has been that the dogs not always great with each other, but they have been nothing but extremely tolerant and affectionate with the kids at every age and stage.

[Smithie]

OP, I have a pit/lab mix I got from a shelter. He is a great family dog, and what I think of as "pit" traits - high pain tolerance, placid ly-around-the-house-temperament, loyalty to his humans - have made him a very successful kid dog. I don't trust any dog 100% with a child, but if there was one I did trust, it would be this one.

HOWEVER, with the cut ears you do have to consider the possibility that you will not be able to pass this dog off as a Rhodesian Ridgeback or whatever. We have had this question come up a couple of time for homeowner's insurance. So for us, it has been important that our pit/lab mix is able to pass as something else.

Of course, there is actually no such thing as a pit bull. I agree with a PP on that one. I'm speaking strictly in terms of popular perception. Our dog is pretty clearly something that happened when a bully breed dog got together with a labrador. He looked very "pitty" as a pup, and more "labby" as he got his full body length.

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by womenswisdom

I have no issue with a pit, have met some wonderful ones. However, I just got a new homeowner's policy and they asked about what breed my dogs are. Apparently a dog on the "list" would cause either your policy to be more expensive or you to be denied coverage. You might want to check into that just to have all your bases covered.

or for example, my HOA bans them.


I would not have gone for the dog in particular in this thread b/c of the ear docking.