Time for America to ban pit bulls?

[lexbur]

I guess I'm a bad parent who should have his taken away from him.

This is our dog, Maxine with my daughter. I found Maxine on the streets when she was just a puppy and took her in. We've had Maxine for 9 years now and she's a great dog. I don't know exactly what she is but I'm fairly confident that she has some Pit Bull in her. She is the most loving dog I've ever had.

That's awesome, what a cutie!!!! (The dog and the girl, ha!)

Here's a pic of me and my retired racing greyhound Casey at the Tribe game a couple months ago. (Yeah, I'm too cheap to buy the photo from the website, ha!). Casey raced on a track in Wisconsin until he was five. He's 12 now, enjoying his retirement...

[ScoopBrady]

Well Scoop...it's not that you're a "BAD" parent...it's just that you may be increasing your chances of something happening by owning a pit bull. That's not to say that there aren't nice pit bulls that never would ever do anything to a kid or another human, but isn't the slight risk that seems to be inherent with these dogs something that may worry you? It's a serious question...wouldn't even a slight risk be something that you'd want to mitigate?

Honestly db, isn't there a slight risk no matter what type of dog you have? I have the utmost faith in mine and my wives parenting skills combined with the fact that Maxine is a very sweet dog that I don't really see a risk.

Most dog attacks against children are the result of parents not watching their children while their child is poking, prodding, and generally annoying the dog. This is not an issue in my home because my wife and I watch our children and... gasp ... talk to our daughter about what is right and what is wrong behavior with the dog. She's old enough now where she understands but when she was younger she needed to be told what was appropriate and what was not. No, the dog did not want to be hugged 24 hours a day. No, you don't put your finger there.

The difference is I raised my dog from when she was a puppy, not somebody else. Now if you want to know if I'd bring a Pit Bull into our home that I didn't raise, the answer would be no. But I wouldn't do that with any dog.

A lot of what people feel about Pit Bulls is the very little they know about them and unfortunately that very little is very negative. If you actually had the benefit of experience from puppy to adult with a Pit Bull those negative stereotypes wouldn't be so negative.

[JackB1]

Well Scoop...it's not that you're a "BAD" parent...it's just that you may be increasing your chances of something happening by owning a pit bull. That's not to say that there aren't nice pit bulls that never would ever do anything to a kid or another human, but isn't the slight risk that seems to be inherent with these dogs something that may worry you? It's a serious question...wouldn't even a slight risk be something that you'd want to mitigate?

I have to side with Db here Scoop. I am happy nothing has ever happened and your dog may be the sweetest in the world, but like Db said...why add more risk, especially when it involves your kids? Especially since it was a stray, you have no idea what it's bloodlines are. It could have some fighting in it's family tree and all it takes is one incident. You did a very noble thing by taking in that dog and I wish you all the best...but I can see the points that Db made.

[JackB1]

I guess I'm a bad parent who should have his taken away from him.

This is our dog, Maxine with my daughter. I found Maxine on the streets when she was just a puppy and took her in. We've had Maxine for 9 years now and she's a great dog. I don't know exactly what she is but I'm fairly confident that she has some Pit Bull in her. She is the most loving dog I've ever had.

That's awesome, what a cutie!!!! (The dog and the girl, ha!)

Here's a pic of me and my retired racing greyhound Casey at the Tribe game a couple months ago. (Yeah, I'm too cheap to buy the photo from the website, ha!). Casey raced on a track in Wisconsin until he was five. He's 12 now, enjoying his retirement...

You are my hero Lex! Greyhounds that only knew a life of racing almost are "born again" when they get adopted. You did a wonderful thing to save him. It takes a lot of patience when you get a greyhound to get them acclimated to just being "a dog". I have a neighbor that just got one that raced for 4 years and I was surprised at how messed up the dog was when they first got it. But he's doing much better now...just a few weeks later. Anyone who thinks that racing is "normal" for these dogs, should go check out a greyhound adoption facility and see how skitish these dogs are after years of living and racing at the track. Way to go Lex!

[JackB1]

A lot of what people feel about Pit Bulls is the very little they know about them and unfortunately that very little is very negative. If you actually had the benefit of experience from puppy to adult with a Pit Bull those negative stereotypes wouldn't be so negative.

I have to agree with you here Scoop. Unfortunately, all the breeding and training to "fight to the death" has almost ruined them as a desirable dog to keep as a "household pet".

[ScoopBrady]

Well Scoop...it's not that you're a "BAD" parent...it's just that you may be increasing your chances of something happening by owning a pit bull. That's not to say that there aren't nice pit bulls that never would ever do anything to a kid or another human, but isn't the slight risk that seems to be inherent with these dogs something that may worry you? It's a serious question...wouldn't even a slight risk be something that you'd want to mitigate?

I have to side with Db here Scoop. I am happy nothing has ever happened and your dog may be the sweetest in the world, but like Db said...why add more risk, especially when it involves your kids? Especially since it was a stray, you have no idea what it's bloodlines are. It could have some fighting in it's family tree and all it takes is one incident. You did a very noble thing by taking in that dog and I wish you all the best...but I can see the points that Db made.

I don't know what else to say other than I had the dog first and at no point have I ever felt uncomfortable about it nor have I or my wife felt as if our children were at any more risk by keeping her.

[lexbur]

Way to go Lex!

Thanks for the kind words, Jack. But whenever anyone tells me Casey's lucky I adopted him, I always turn it around and say I'M the lucky one, since he's such a great dog!

And you're right about how greyhounds are right when they come off the track, but it is AMAZING to watch them transition from that into a "normal" dog. It's a whole new world to them, and it takes a little time to adjust. Imagine a five-year-old dog biting into a squeaky toy for the very first time. Can you blame him for being freaked out? Ha!

[Teal]

All I gotta say is, good for you, Scoop.

[JackB1]

Way to go Lex!

Thanks for the kind words, Jack. But whenever anyone tells me Casey's lucky I adopted him, I always turn it around and say I'M the lucky one, since he's such a great dog!

And you're right about how greyhounds are right when they come off the track, but it is AMAZING to watch them transition from that into a "normal" dog. It's a whole new world to them, and it takes a little time to adjust. Imagine a five-year-old dog biting into a squeaky toy for the very first time. Can you blame him for being freaked out? Ha!

That's great to hear! Thanks for sharing.

[Rodster]

No, you don't put your finger there.

Thanks for sharing and no we don't really want to know where there really is.

[TCrouch]

My first dog was a Pit named Pedro when I was a kid. Best dog I ever had for 3 or 4 years.

Then, one day, his ass end dropped and he got that "squat" stance that pits have, and he became a killing machine. Literally. He broke his leash and ripped the d*ck off of some neighborhood lab, attacked my dad's friend and took part of his chin off (thank god this was the 80's and lawsuits weren't quite so crazy), killed cats, and went nuts. We shipped him out to my grandpa's farm so the he could do less damage there (kind of the junk yard dog on a chain type scenario) and my grandpa's poodle wanted to try to get some food.

Pedro put a limb in each corner of his pen--ripped that dog to shreds. Then he went after my niece when she got too close to him and we had to put him down.

We didn't change anything with how we raised that dog--he was loving and great for a few years, and then nature and his instincts took over. The issue we had was putting him down when it started instead of waiting so long.

No matter what dog it is, we'd never own anything with Pit in it ever again, but that's just us.

[pk500]

I've told my kids: The day you can get a dog is the day that my body is just becoming lukewarm, 6 feet underground. No dog problems in the Kelly household.

[JackB1]

I've told my kids: The day you can get a dog is the day that my body is just becoming lukewarm, 6 feet underground. No dog problems in the Kelly household.

It seems like people are either "dog people or they are not "dog people". No gray area.

The thing that I can't figure out, is that most of these people that are not "dog people" usually have no problem with cats.
I guess we are in the minority...we have both.

[RobVarak]

I've told my kids: The day you can get a dog is the day that my body is just becoming lukewarm, 6 feet underground. No dog problems in the Kelly household.

It seems like people are either "dog people or they are not "dog people". No gray area.

Not always. I adore dogs. Had one growing up, love them whenever I come across one. Yet I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in having one in my house. Zero percent chance of it happening, no matter how much begging goes on.

[rhymes450]

I think it's stupid to have a pit bull...but I think it may be moreso for the government to 'ban' them. I don't want the government, federally speaking, banning much else.

That being said, we went this route:



I mean, how can you go wrong with a beagle?!?

Fabulous dog. I`ve got a twelve-year-old beagle and a daughter who's 3 years younger and I can pretty well put my hand in the fire and say that a beagle won't eat your kids. It'll eat practically everything else though, from lettuce to moths in my experience (I've even got a hole in my favourite denim jacket from when she was a year old... so if your kids have got furry toys...). Stubborn as hell. As a friend of mine said, "if your beagle wants to go through the wall, the best thing you can do is wait for it on the other side". The beagle will soon let you know how things are gonna be from now on. "The beagle has landed".

[TCrouch]

And yet...that same grandpa I had had a beagle.

I had my face absolutely mangled by that dog one morning. It actually ripped my entire upper lip off of my face when I kneeled down to say good morning to my grandma one morning. It took 3 plastic surgeries to put the sh*t back together as a kid. Had to have skin grafts and all sorts of crap.

And yet I don't hate dogs--love them. But my experience with a beagle hasn't been better than the pit bull

Every breed will have the bad ones. But your chances of getting a bad one with a beagle are probably miniscule. My grandpa must have had like the "one" in your "one in ten thousand chances of having an aggressive beagle" dog. Your chances of getting a bad one with a Pit, Rottweiler, Ridgeback, or something like that are probably off the charts.

[Jimmydeicide]

I like dogs but i could take them or leave them, the first Beagle was free, nursed from sickness awesome dog "Biscuit"
I finally gave in to all the whining it was 3 on 1 come on.
"You wont look after it, it takes work"
"We will"
"what about walks"
"of course we will"
"im not cleaning s*** up!"
"Oh we'll do that"

Fast forward to now and we have Tetley to keep the other one company, my wife cleans up the crap and feeds the dog half the time.
Good job we have a decent yard for them to run around in.

More work than its worth but i say that about my kids too

[rhymes450]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with that beagle and in a way it's a lesson to those of us (including me) who think that our own personal experience is in some way binding. I guess that no animal, including, and maybe above all, the human being is totally predictable.

[TCrouch]

No kidding.

I think the saddest part of this whole story is simply this:

I don't care if it was a Pit Bull, a Beagle, or a Chihuahua. If a baby is THREE DAYS OLD, how in the world can you leave it in the house with a dog unsupervised for ANY time? That child couldn't have been discharged but the day before, so there's no way I'd even think of leaving it with the family dog until there has been a lot of time for it to acclimate.

It's tragic, and I'm sure the parents aren't normally "negligent" per se, but more along the lines of naive. Animals are always unpredictable. Even now, my 8-month-old black lab is the sweetest thing in the world, but I'm always cautious about putting my face anywhere near a dog, or exposing my kids to any animal, no matter how sweet it seems, without being right there as the guard.

[Macca00]

Not always. I adore dogs. Had one growing up, love them whenever I come across one. Yet I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in having one in my house. Zero percent chance of it happening, no matter how much begging goes on.

Same here for myself and the missus. Love visiting friends with dogs and love my mom's black lab but don't want one of our own.

[tjung0831]

Tjung's family pet. He can look mean if he wants to but he's pretty much a lap dog!

[greggsand]

I like people showing their dogs in this thread rather than discuss the current original topic (write your congress-person people). My vicious Airedale 'Berman':

[XXXIV]

I like people showing their dogs in this thread rather than discuss the current original topic (write your congress-person people). My vicious Airedale 'Berman':

Hey dude! you look like your dog!

[greggsand]

Hey dude! you look like your dog!

I get that a lot....

[DChaps]

How would you go about banning a breed of dog anyway? I don't really care one way or another, although I probably should as I was attacked in college while running by a pit bull mix, but it just seems like an improbable thing to accomplish at this point, even if laws were passed. How would you determine pit bull mix %? How would you punish those that inevitably would still breed, sell, and own pit bulls? And aren't there plenty of other breeds that could just as easily be trained to do what a pit bull can do? Seems like an easy thing to talk about, but very difficult to accomplish. And if society is cool with elminating a specific type of animal, there are plenty of others I would like to get rid of before a pit bull.