Let's Have a Discussion About... - Comments

The weekend before last I was babysitting 2 kids and they had a pitbull. My mom had told me they had one and it was protective of the kids. First she was sniffing me and such like what most dogs do. Well I was sitting on the couch some time later and she got up on the couch as well and was kind of in my face. She was pretty much staring me down. After a few minutes she got down and left me alone since she knew I wasn't any harm to the kids. All night though she would go and sit in front of the front door whenever she saw headlights or heard a car. She did this until the couple came back.

I think she was the first pitbull I had ever been around. And in my opinion she was more of a protector and would only attack if she had to like if someone broke in. I think if they were raised to be aggressive then probably so. If they were raised right (i guess you could say) then they really aren't a problem.

I was walking my dog once down a street a few blocks away and there were 2 gorgeous pitbulls just laying on someone's front lawn as he washed his car. They weren't chained up at all... just, happy to lay there and watch the world.
And I thought that was amazing.

So I'd say that no, not all pitbulls are terrible, aggressive dogs. But I think, just like most breeds, they can easily be trained/led to be aggressive if they're not properly socialised because as dogs, it's just what they are.

It is due to being cut off from socialization. All puppies in a litter get along together and with other animals easily when they are born. When they are taken away and become the only pet in the household, they loose that socialization. It takes a lot of work to keep up on this.

They are so nanny dogs. I love my staffy/pit mix and I trust her with my familys lives.

Actually, I don't believe people "breed" Pits to fight. It's not possible. They can "train" Pits to be mean and aggressive, but that's more along the lines of abuse though. And not to mention illegal. No dog is truly aggressive. There could be some sort of genetic problems that might cause aggressiveness but I don't think aggressive behaviors can be bred into a dog of any breed, especially Pits.

I honestly believe that the misconception of Pits being aggressive stems from the idea that people who are "training" Pits or any other dogs for fighting, are just scaring and provoking the dogs, initiating the dog's Flight vs Fight instinct and since most dogs in the Dog Fight Shows are practically cornered, they have no choice but to fight.

I'm kinda confused by what you mean by Nanny dog though. Do you mean like have a dog that is trained to take care of kids, kinda like the dog from Peter Pan?

I used to have a Pitbull mixed and he wasn't aggressive at all. He had a lot of energy and was very lovable course he wasn't the licking sort of dog though XD And I do admit, my aunt's pitbull kinda scared me when I first saw her when she was fully grown but to be fair, she just had puppies and she didn't know me so she was just protecting her puppies.

The reason Pits are chosen for fighting is because they have this ability or knack for being able to bite into things/people/other animals and being unshakable. I think it's called Lock Jaw or something like that. And that's another reason why Pits get bad reputations. Because of the lock jaw thing.

delirium. wrote a very good blog explaining the bad rep for pits here.