"The American Pit Bull Terrier is a good-natured, amusing, extremely loyal and affectionate family pet, which is good with children and adults. Almost always obedient, it is always eager to please its master. It is an extremely courageous and intelligent guard dog that is very full of vitality."
Quote from dogbreedinfo.com


Some of you may have noticed that I am searching for a dog. During my research, I was looking through various humane societies. Most of the dogs seem to be of one breed. An American Pitbull Terrier.

Why, I asked? Why do people want to get the best "fighting" dog out there? And why are people,when they find out that a pitbull is actually a VERY sweet, gentle animal quick to abandon them? The breed goes back over 200 years when it was used a bull baiting dog ( a dog that would fight bulls), then later a pure dogfighting dog (as it is today). Since then, it has gathered America's heart as a family pet, yet people still buy them for their fearsome reputation. My question, is why? Why do people
A) Buy them if they have no intention of dog fighting.
B) Give them away if they don't want a good family dog?

Yes, it's a good fighing dog (the best in the world as a matter of fact), but also an excellent family pet. Why would anyone give this type of animal away?

[ 01-08-2005, 08:58 PM: Message edited by: Sir Degrader ]

I don't know about the whole buying them with no intention of dog fighting thing (since it's horribly cruel and I'm pretty sure illegal in North America), but I would think most people would get rid of a pit bull because of their reputation for visciously attacking and even killing people. I have no idea what the actual numbers are for which breed attacks more often, but I know that's a common misconception.

I happen to think pit bulls are sooooo cute, I love them. I also believe that bad owners make bad dogs, not the other way around.

yes, dogfighting is terrible, and illegal in all 50 states of the US, not including all Provinces and territories of Canada.
Why would you buy one in the first place If that's the case?

Well because not every dog will bite, it's not something you can really predict and they don't even always know why a dog attacks when it does. maybe people got the dog, then had kids and got worried about it being too rough with a baby??

I've heard two schools of thought on this the dog will either
A) Adopt the baby as part of the pack and die defending it
OR
B) Gradually accept it, and need to be supervised until the child is mature/strong enough to handle it.

Pit Bulls are great. I had one, and he was undoubtedly the greatest pet I've ever had (I've had 2 other dogs, and 3 other cats in my life, in addition to pseudo-pets (fish, hermit crabs and hamsters).

They're great fighting dogs because they're strong and have more powerful jaws than any other breed of dog. But they need to be trained to be fighters. Treated properly, and as long as they're not inbred or anything, they usually make excellent pets. And they're damn cute too! [img]smile.gif[/img]

The reason why they would give em away is probably because they can't handle em. They are sweet and all that, but they can also have a very stubborn attitude, if you don't know how to deal with that, the dog will own you instead of the other way around.

Otherwise they are the best pals. I've had 4 of em.