Pit bulls, to own or not to own

I believe that the bias, and fear, that some people have towards Pit Bulls is because of the name and also possibly the reputation that they are supposed to have as being killers. One of my best friends had one years ago and also had 2 daughters that were infants around Duke. We now have a Pit Bull/ Whippet mix at home, she is the friendliest animal I have ever seen. I wonder what would happen if everyone started calling them by their real name: American Bull Terrier, instead of Pit Bull.

I have an American Pit Bull Terrier and a Chihuahua. I have owned several Pit Bulls over the years and all had great temperaments. For me and my family our dogs have become part of our family and we have 3 kids. My pit bull and chihuahua play together and sleep together. I find the breed fasinating and love learning about them. They are very loving and people pleasing dogs. The sad thing is when they have owners that fight them or mistreat them. Most of the time that is the ones you hear of attacking people or other animals.

I absolutely agree with you. I don't own a pitbull, I own a Chow. And everyone always says, "Oh, a Chow?! They're so mean, etc.". But it's not the case at all. My dog has never bit anyone unless they have done something to her. And that's only been once when someone was taunting her with a vacuum cleaner(don't know why they decided to do that, but they learned their lesson). She is as sweet as can be. Pitbulls get such a bad reputation. I wish more people would take the time to understand these precious dogs. It's not the dog, it's the owners. It breaks my heart to hear about another pit bull attack and then find out that the dog was put to sleep. Some people should not own pit bulls and some people just don't raise and train them right or for the right reasons. And so many people have so much hatred for these dogs that they want them all to be put to sleep, it's very sad. :(

Personnaly, because I have children, I would choose a different breed of dog. However, in their defense, I have heard that the way a dog is treated by its owner has more to do with their propensity toward agression versus dogs being naturally violent. If a person is willing to spend the time necessary in having a dog, I do not see an issue with having a pit bull.

i love them. i own one now.

Hi. I have had a Red Nose pit and he was such a sweet amimal from the time we got him as a pup until he was grown. I gave him back to the person I got him from because every time we would crank up a lawn mower or anything loud he would go nuts. He was out one day and we were using the chain saw and he lunged for it while it was running, we happened to see him and turned away and shut it down before he was hurt or worse. He bit my ex husband because he was cutting the grass and he backed up to close to him and he bit his leg. Every time my daughter would play with him I would loose it with fear so he had to go.