i've heard that pitbulls have a natural aggressive behavior and not too safe for the kids, based on my friend's experience..they had the dog since he was 12 weeks old,when my friend had a baby and she started walking,the baby accidentally stepped on the dogs tail,bit the baby on her face..pitbull had a locked-jaw and pulled-out a chunk of the baby's face...
so good-luck to pitbull owners..i just never liked this breed of dog.

No, please tell me who is Vick?

Any breed can be taught to be aggressive and dangerous. Pits are incredibly strong and in particular they have wide jaws that by design are prone to doing more damage than the narrower muzzles of some other breeds. Also, they are terriers and all of the terriers have a high prey drive and therefore have a predisposition towards aggression.

None of this means a pit cannot be a big sweet baby who would never hurt a child or other critter. Many people believe that dogs are made aggressive by being mistreated, which is true, but it is not the only cause. Often it is the human tendency to cater to the dog's whim and fail in their responsibility to teach the dog that some actions are simply not allowed, that creates a dog that cannot be trusted. Allowing a dog to take a dominate role in the family can lead to disaster. Children are viewed by the dominate dog as submissive and therefore the dog will consider it his responsibility to keep the child in its place. Obviously this can lead to a severely injured, or worse, child.

Excessive pampering is just another form of mistreating a dog. This does not mean a dog must be yelled at or scolded all the time, nor would I ever endorse striking a dog. My pitX is totally spoiled; he has toys everywhere, gets treats all the time, and has plenty of exercise. But he understands that aggressive behavior is not allowed. I decide if we will play tug and I decide when the game is over and he will 'drop it'. He has been taught since day one, that if I want to take food away from him, he will allow it, because I am Alpha in our pack. If the cat wanders up to his bowl, he can look at me with pitiful eyes, but he had better not threaten the cat. I will remove the cat that is my job, not his. Out of fairness, I never would allow the cat to push the limits. Allowing the dog to suffer frustration is also abusive; it is a form of teasing that will lead to aggressive behavior. When dogs have no limits, when they can do anything and behave in any way, trouble is just around the corner. It does not matter what breed the dog is, any dog can be taught that nasty behavior gets him what he wants. Just as any dog can be taught that good behavior is the only way he will get what he wants.

Pitbulls are by nature a very shy and gentle dog.. they are loving,and if left to their own devices,,afraid of their own shadow.They make great family dogs.People are what make a dog mean,a dog by birth is not mean.Anything can turn vicious if treated wrong and with cruelty.Domermans and pits..have a terrible reputation as well as rotts,,I have never met a rott that wasn't just an overgrown puppy,if the dog was treated right and not made into a killing machine.I had a male doberman.He was unneutered.My year old son would grab his eye sockets,,his ears his lips,,whatever he could grab to pull himself up to try and walk..my dog let him and never flinched or batted an eye,the same dog that did his job as nature intended him to do and tear ya up if one threatened his family.People make dogs mean and vicious by their treatment towards the dog.

I have had a pitt bull for eleven years. Until about a year ago was the sweetest most protective loving dog I've ever had. But some button got pushed at about ten I have to keep a muzzle on her with other animals or kids around she nips growls and has attacked a beagle I think its from the age issue she has bad hips and has always been the alpha, now that shes older doesnt lead the pack, I dont know but shes one mean b*tch when she goes off that I do know.

Intelligent group, good to see.

I don't have dogs currently because of my living situation, but I was raised around dogs, including pit bulls. They are awesome dogs and dogs are perfectly safe around kids, if supervised.

Yes, inbreeding is a problem in many purebreds of any breed. It's unfortunate and it's part of why I prefer mutts. However, pits are great animals with great hearts and tons of love.

Like many others have said, including Caesar Milan, "There are no bad dogs, only bad dog owners."

Daniel

I have mixed emotions on this subject. I used to think it was how they are trained and I still am not sure that I don't still feel that way. Here is a story behind my feelings.

I had lived in an apartment and was buying a house. I worked on an apartment community when a pit bull came to the office doors. It was our policy to not allow pit bulls on the property. I told the maintenance to put the dog on a patio of a vacant till I could take it to the shelter. About ten minutes later the dog came right back to the door. I decided to go ahead and keep the dog since I was closing on my house in 3 days which was in June. I moved into my house along with my other dog I had (fox terrier mix named Sasha). I had named the pit bull Crystal which she was about 6-9 months old when I found her. I took her to the vet had her mange treated and spayed and all shots. I later adopted a staffordshire terrier from the shelter which I named Ruby. Every weekend I would put my cats in a room and leave the back door open to let the dogs run in and out and play. On December 4th 3 years ago I had done what I always done. I was standing in the living room and Sasha was leaning against the couch and out of nowhere Crystal attacked Sasha and dragged her around by her throat. I tried everything I could think of to get Crystals mouth open from Sasha but I was bitten in the process, my fault of course because I put my hand in her mouth trying to pry her mouth open and she bit down. It took me a while to get Ruby off of her since she joined in because the pack instinct came out in her. Then I went for Crystal again and finally she let go and I got her outside. I ended up having to put down my Sasha cause her spirit had been broken and she was suffering so bad. I couldn't let her live like that. Crystal was taken to the animal control and put down as I couldn't trust her anymore. Ruby was taken back to the shelter I adopted her from. She now has a new home where she is the only pet and no children. It was a very devistating experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone. I basically lost all 3 of my dogs in one day.

I have no idea what Crystal went through or was being trained to do before I found her. So this may have had something to do with that. I really don't know. All I know is this experience left me so confused about pit bulls. I had owned pit bulls in the past and never had any problems like this. I had always thought it was how the owners trained their dogs but after this I just don't know.

Sorry for the long post but I couldn't find a way to shorten it to where it was understandable.