I'm the proud owner of one full-blooded pit bull and one who is half pit and half Plott hound. I can tell you they are the sweetest gentlest dogs in the world. Pits are the most misunderstood, abused breed of dog there is. The are one of the large terrier breeds and have been twisted by breeding aggressive dogs to produce a breed with the POTENTIAL to do great harm. With a large majority of the dogs this potential never happens. A small percentage makes the headlines and the rest are condemned because of it.

Right now on Petfinder (they lists dogs for adopton) there are pits and the breeds who are mixed with or mistaken for pit bulls:

1,258 American bulldogs
3,083 American Staffordshire terriers
9,186 pit bulls
854 Staffordshire terriers

That's 14,381 pit bull type dogs who are up for adoption! Now lets add the ones that are euthanized immediately upon being turned over to a pound and the ones that people own. that is a whopping number of supposedly loaded weapons and yet you hear about very few fatal attacks and only slightly more bites. Given the breed's reputation you would think they would be eating people and dogs all over the country, but they just aren't -- because most of them aren't any more dangerous than any other big dog.

Unlike most big dogs however, they do need to be owned by someone who understands terriers and pit bull/bully breeds in specific and they must be socialized, obedience trained and neutered. Any pit breed that shows the slightest aggression toward humans should be euthanized. I don't feel that aggression toward other dogs is acceptable either. The breed MUST be kept in a fenced yard (chaining can only make any dog more aggressive) and they must be supervised. I'd be willing to be that these dogs were none of the above.

Far too many pit owners think it's funny when their dogs act aggressively and both they and their victim pay the price. I wish they could just shoot the owners of these dogs, or better yet throw them in with some aggressive dogs and see if they still think that aggression is funny. My heart breaks for the boy's parents because this should never have happened.

A pit or bully breed who has been well brought up is the funniest, sweetest dog in the world. They are incredibly loyal and just want to love you. Mine have raised two litters of puppies (rescued pregnant dogs) and it's hysterical to see Hannah at 55 pounds playing tag with 12 pound Widget. Gloria will launch herself across the room and give the others hugs. They have learned to tolerate her enthusiasm and even her constant stream of drool (she is brain damaged from a beating by a dog fighter.)

If you follow the link below I believe that at the top right you will see a picture of Gloria, our full blooded pit girl playing with Lola a pit bull puppy. Oasis and Thistle are friends and Oasis is mostly pit bull, but keeps watch on all the babies. She and Thistle the piggie are not ours. Katie and Hannah are our half pit girls and Maggie Mae is their mother. These dogs are the other side of the story above.

Peace,
Jane and the Hole in the Wall Gang

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Pups and Pits

beautifully expressed, Jane.

The problem is that anyone can go to the shelter and adopt a pit-type dog. The problem is that dog bites and dog homicides rates are going up, and that most dog homicides are caused by pit-type dogs, with Rottweilers coming in second. As pit-type dogs become more and more popular, partly due to availability in shelters, we will see more and more maimings and deaths caused by them. And most of the maiming and death victims are children.

All dogs bite, all dogs can attack. But certain types of dogs can cause great damage and even death when they do this.

These are the facts. I don't have the answers. But Dog Bite Law promotes measures such as requiring dog owners to have liablility insurance, and stricter criminal prosecution of owners of dogs who maim or kill.

I'm pretty convinced that dogs pits and others, who attack children do so because they do not know what a child is. Children look different, smell different and sound different from adults. A dog with a high prey drive would naturally be attracted to chasing something small that runs and screams.

Pits are available in shelters because morons are over-breeding them trying to make a buck. If the law would crack down and require that all pit and mixes be licensed and registered and that you had to apply for permission to breed them we could get the overpopulation under control. But people don't want restrictions on their rights and so any fool who has two pit bulls can breed. Most of the pups end up in poor homes and the cycle goes on and good dogs and nice kids are dying because of it.

Until the law actually does something other than banning the breed which doesn't work, we are going to have attacks that never had to happen.

as Jane said.

"they do need to be owned by someone who understands terriers and pit bull/bully breeds in specific and they must be socialized, obedience trained and neutered. Any pit breed that shows the slightest aggression toward humans should be euthanized. I don't feel that aggression toward other dogs is acceptable either. The breed MUST be kept in a fenced yard (chaining can only make any dog more aggressive) and they must be supervised. I'd be willing to be that these dogs were none of the above.

Far too many pit owners think it's funny when their dogs act aggressively and both they and their victim pay the price. I wish they could just shoot the owners of these dogs, or better yet throw them in with some aggressive dogs and see if they still think that aggression is funny."

The problem I have with so many proposed animal control laws is that they are breed-specific.

If the law isn't flexible, all dogs of that breed are outlawed, which isn't fair & it isn't right.
If the law is flexible, whose judgment is going to determine whether your dog is allowed to stay?

Instead of breed-specific laws, maybe the answer is more people-specific laws:
no chained dogs
no yard dogs
no dogs in tiny pens for more than 8 hours a day
no human beings allowed to beat sticks against a fence & jeer at dogs & throw things at them

re: kids looking different.

I've had the thought before that a small child on a tricycle, especially going in the opposite direction from a dog ("fleeing") looks a lot like a small prey animal, & *all* dogs have a prey drive to some degree.

One day I was working in the garden, sort of squatted down with my knees up near my chin, yanking weeds, when I heard a tappity-tap sound on the sidewalk behind me.

turned around just in time to see the neighbor's *very sweet* Rottie on the sidewalk (thank goodness for the sound of toenails on concrete!), bearing down on me with a hungry look on her face.

I said, "Well, hello there, Missy, what're you doing over here you very nice dog?"

She stopped in mid-stride & looked surprised.

I understand that the dogs that killed this little boy were "pets' of the family the boy had been visiting,so I would think they were accustomed to children being around.
I do agree that breeding,environment,etc. have much to do with the temperament of any breed of dog and that pits get a bad rap sometimes.My DD has one that is half pit,half Australian Sheppard that is a sweetie but I still don't trust her.

"I understand that the dogs that killed this little boy were "pets' of the family the boy had been visiting"

but that assumption is based on what?

what the report says?

& where did they get their info?

& how true is it?

If your (or my) dogs killed someone, would we admit the dogs had been chained up, or the kids had been allowed to tease them, or we took the dogs out to demolish other dogs every week-end?

I bet we'd swear the dogs were "family pets" & we were astounded & grieved by the sudden turn of events.

Interesting that the article doesn't mention that the boy was found with dog bites? How are we to know that another pack of dogs attacked and killed the boy, and that these dogs were guarding a hurt child? My first Rottie Kang tried to go after 2 men who were playfully tossing a toddler between them. Kang heard the child scream and protection mode kicked in. As soon as the men stopped making the child scream, Kang stopped going after them (he was attached to a leash, a picnic table, and myself, so there was no chance he could have gotten to them). Later that day, the child approached Kang (the men were not paying attention), and Kang just licked him and got lots of petting. Of course, I was right there with the leash because NO CHILD SHOULD EVER BE LEFT ALONE WITH ANY DOG OF ANY BREED FOR ANY AMOUNT OF TIME.

This article makes a lot of assumptions about what happened. Just because there were pits in the vicinity doesn't mean they had anything to do with the child's death. He could have been hit by a passing car for all we know.

Finally, the dogs' owners were at fault for this tragedy, not the dogs. They did not have the dogs safely contained. And what 7 year old goes wandering down a road without parental or other responsible adult supervision? There are many people to blame, but unfortunately it is much easier just to kill the dogs and accept no personal responsibility. Which is of course how it always seem to go nowadays.

Sylvia-This is from the article.I "assumed" it was true because of this statement that the dogs belonged to the family the boy was visiting.

"Tanner was found alone about 150 yards from his house and 50 to 75 yards from a neighbors house where he had been playing with some friends, Reeves told The Associated Press on Monday. The two pit bulls, along with two others seized at the scene by law enforcement, belonged to those neighbors, Reeves said."

meghane, that's the kind of thing that scares the bejeebers out of me, that something like that can happen & the dog's response be misinterpreted & then, oops, too late, dog's dead, & the cops/neighbors/whoever says, oh well, we couldn't take the chance, we did what we had to do.

From the same article:
"On Wednesday in Fort Worth, a womans two pit bulls attacked her 2-year-old niece as she was preparing to give the child a bath, police said. The little girl was critically injured, and her aunt also was injured as she lay over the child trying to protect her, police said."

I guess these two dogs were just "protecting" this child because her aunt wanted to give her a bath?? These two dogs were obviously the woman's pets and most likely familiar with the woman's niece.I can't say that for sure but I would think since the child was her niece she had probably been there before.Sorry,but any dog can turn on anyone,even your "sweetest,gentlest" dogs! In fact my DS and DDIL's Great Pyrenees attempted to bite her in the face just recently for no reason. I'm not saying it's only Pitts but it seems they are doing a lot of damage lately.Until the full story comes out I'm sure there will be many questions.
150 yards is not far for a child to walk,from one neighbor's house to another and who knows,the dogs may have been chasing him.Yes the dogs should have been contained or on a leash but they weren't and a little boy is dead.Too late now for hindsight.
I know I (and maybe even you) would have done the same thing in the officer's position,especially since the dogs were
aggressive to him also.I certainly wouldn't have waited to see if they would attack me too!

"any dog can turn on anyone,even your "sweetest,gentlest" dogs!"

Feeling as you do, I wouldn't blame you a bit if you decided against having a dog of any kind.

I love my dog and I love dogs in general too, but there doesn't seem to be much sympathy for the poor dead child in this thread.

From the site I linked to above:

"There is a dog bite epidemic in the United States. There are almost 5 million victims annually -- about 2% of the entire population. 800,000 need medical attention. 1,000 per day need treatment in hospital emergency rooms. The annual human death count in the USA is over 30. Most of the victims who receive medical attention are children, half of whom are bitten in the face. Dog bite losses exceed $1 billion per year, with over $300 million paid by insurance."

"Getting bitten by a dog is the fifth most frequent cause of visits to emergency rooms caused by activities common among children. (See Weiss HB, Friedman DI, Coben JH. Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments, JAMA 1998)"

"An American has a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog each year. (CDC.)"

"In 2007, there were 32 fatal dog maulings in the USA."

Last week my brother and sister in law were walking their new lab puppy down the street in their nice suburban neighborhood when a pit bull appeared out of nowhere and charged them. My brother picked up their puppy and the pit jumped up and nicked his face. Other neighbors turned up and shooed the dog away with brooms and such. Turns out it was a neighbor's dog who was in the backyard unsupervised and jumped the high fence.

I have always said on this forum that all dogs bite, and will likely bite another dog or human in its lifetime. We owners have the responsibility to manage our dogs so that this is controlled. But as much as I say these things, I know because I see - many, many dog owners just haven't a clue. People on this forum are more informed than most. The average person in your neighborhood hasn't got a clue how to train or manage their dog. That's the sad and scary thing.

I don't see a lack of feeling for the tragedy of the death of a young boy;
but it does seem that the thread was posted to sensationalize the fact the child was killed by "pet" pit bulls.

As Janie said, several ages ago, near the top of the thread, the problem lies with pet owners.

Some of today's "popular" breeds (I'd bet that Pit Bulls will eventually go the way of Dalmations & Chihuahuas) have exremely strong prey drives,
they require strong management,
very few people should own them,
& perhaps mandatory education & licensing should be required for people who do want them.

I have 2 dogs who are pit mixes, & they're the best old things in the world.

*but*

If I had an inkling that either one of them had an inappropriate prey drive (for instance children, my cats, or my other dog), I'd have him/her euthanized.

If those dogs did indeed attack that little boy, I have no problem with the fact that they were euthanized or shot on the spot.

What I do have a problem with is the suggestion that a pit bull or other bully breed, or really any dog, is guilty til proven innocent *& that no human being has been criticized for having had a role in this tragedy*:

not the parents for inadequate supervision/protection
(150 yds from parents' house +50-75 yds from neighbor's house=600 to 675 feet, plenty of room for a predator of any kind including human to get a child, plus there's no indication that *any* parent, of the child or of the children he was going to visit, was actually *watching*, which means that any distance would have been enough for a predator)

& not the dog owners for failing to watch their own children, which would have meant that they'd have been out there, for exercising inadequate supervision/training/understanding/control of their dogs

*Nobody* has been held accountable except the dogs.

That little boy was out there on his own, & those dogs should have been under control.

As Meghane said,
NO CHILD SHOULD EVER BE LEFT ALONE WITH ANY DOG OF ANY BREED FOR ANY AMOUNT OF TIME.

Sylvia-I did not post this to "sensationalize" anything,other than a little boy being killed by dogs,that happened to be pit bulls.The fact that they "belonged" to the family the boy was visiting which in my eyes would make them "pets",and to bring attention to the fact that "any" dog is capable of turning on someone and maiming and in some cases killing! And I never said the dog was guilty until proven innocent.Just that I probably would have done the same thing the officer did under the circumstances because the dog was showing aggression toward him.Don't twist what I have said.
"Feeling as you do, I wouldn't blame you a bit if you decided against having a dog of any kind."
For your information I have 4 dogs.They are Chihuahuas and normally not too dangerous although DD use to have one that we called Devil Dog because he could get pretty viscous at times.Most of the time he was sweet as could be,but then he would turn and bite the hand that fed him! LOL That is why I say "any" dog,I don't care what breed or size,can turn on you! And you are right,nobody HAS been held accountable but the dogs and I'm sure all concerned are regretting that they didn't watch the children better and supervise the dogs better.I agree,no child should be left alone with any breed for any amount of time.And I am sure there will be more investigation into this tragedy.

your entire initial post:

"This is horrible!"

with a link to the news story.

no comment, no question such as "what do you think could have prevented this?", nothing.

sounds sensational to me.

At least the "kill all pit bulls" crowd hasn't come out to play.

A child is dead and he died horribly.I absolutely can't imagine how his parents must feel right now. :(

The dogs had NO business running loose and possibly no business being alive. I've had a lot of arguments with "pit bull people" that no level of aggression is acceptable in the breed. The don't seem to get it that their acceptance and excusing aggression as being "part of the breed" is what is harming people and animals and is getting their breed banned.

I'm scared to death of a loose pit bull and I have a right to be because I don't know if he's a mush or a monster. I donated a while back to help the surgical costs for a pit bull who was nearly killed defending his little girl from another pit bull. There you have the pit bull from both sides - killer and savior. They can be great dogs -- but they need great owners.

By the way Lillie, it's not true that any dog can turn on you. Where did you ever get that idea? Some dogs wouldn't harm you if you were torturing them to death. Some will fight back if they are being hurt - is that turning on you or protecting themselves. I have a tiny Shih tzu who was abused in a puppy mill. He will bite the vet and the tech every time because he is afraid of them, but won't bite me if I hold him. Any time I hear of a dog bite I want to know the circumstances because they don't just suddenly attack without provocation. I should know, I've handled probably a thousand of them working having worked in shelters and doing rescue for most of my 60 years. I've been bitten ONCE by my own dog breaking up a fight and she was so sorry I forgave her instantly. :)

There have been posts here in the past about dogs suddenly biting for no apparent reason - remember? A dog bit a visiting child who was just sitting in front of him, another dog jumped up and bit a child visitor at the door.

A dog's provocation is different than what humans think of as a provocation, obviously. Digs are not humans. They don't think like us, they don't act like us.

Silvia, nothing in Lillie's brief post was sensational. I agree that owners should be held responsible for any harm their dog does to a person.

Any dog can be unpredictable. A few years ago a neighbor of my parents: One neighbor ,with a 9 year old, went to visit next door neighbor who owned a collie. The boy was just standing next to his father and the collie bit him in the face, no reason at all. The boy had to have about 20 stiches (on cheek)The owner had the dog put to sleep, on his own, he was devastated his dog did this, had never done anything aggressive before, was just a bit high strung. (the dog was 3 yrs old)

"Any dog can be unpredictable" - true, but most can't/won't kill you, except the pitts and rotties. You never hear about a kid dying after being attacked by a maltese.

I am not a dog person but I am the mother of two young kids (ages 6 and 8). I would not let my children play at anyones house that owned this type of dog. Period - end of discussion. I don't care how sweet, well-trained etc... It is right to own them, but it is my right to stay away!

silvia-There you go again,putting words in my mouth and assuming you know my "intention" for posting the article! I didn't comment on any of the things you mentioned because I saw no need to.I was merely posting an article about a horrible tragic,incident that happened to involve pitt bulls.Could have been any other breed of dog. I guess in your eyes (because I thought the incident was horrible) that I started this just to diss the pitt bull breed.Nowhere in any of my posts have I condemned any breed of dog.I did say I don't trust DD's pitt mix,but that is just my opinion of that dog.Not necessarily because it is a pitt mix.
janegael-Maybe I should have just said that all dogs can be unpredictable.Would that make you feel better? There have been dogs that you would think wouldn't bite a flea that have bitten for no reason.Just like my DDIL's Great Pyrenees.He is nothing but a big baby.He sleeps with them every night! DD was sitting on the sofa and he walked over to her and sat down in front of her,as he has done a million times.She leaned toward him to pet him,as she has done a million times before and he snapped at her face! No provocation,nothing out of the ordinary.I guess what I am trying to get across is that we should never trust our dogs to "never" do something out of the ordinary because they just might!

((HUGE SIGH))

there is nothing I can say that the other people who know the truth about pits have not already said. But I do know that there is not one documented case in this country of a nuetered, trained, and well loved house pet of the pit breed attacking and killing a human. It is 100% the stupid humans who own untrained dogs and who breed them in their basements for a few measly dollars.

And the media, who is much to blame for the unfair reputation of the bullybreeds, rarely mentions the circumstances surrounding the incident...recently I read of a 7 yr old who was killed by the "family" dog - what was not mentioned was that the dog spent 24/7 on a short chain in the basement, was being starved, and was found with all kinds of poison and pesticide in his system, from desperately eating rat poison.

I am tired of all the sensationalism surrounding this breed, and tired of the people who fall for it just because they hear about it on tv or read it in the papers. In the early part of the 20th century, the pitbull was the most common family dog in America, mostly due to their wonderful reputation with kids. They were the symbol of America on war posters, a symbol of pride. The downfall of these dogs did not come until the criminal element started exploiting the strongest trait the breed has : loyalty and an overwhelming desire to please. Those very traits are what make these dogs easy to manipulate into fighting, not some inherent meanness on the dogs part.

The info is out there, if anyone wants to educate themselves.

Not having been there on the scene, in the shoes of the officer involved, it's hard to know what was going on. My first thought when I read the article was how do they know it was those dogs that injured the boy, just like others have said. But the article did say the dogs were aggressive. If I were in the officer's situation, not knowing if the child was alive or dead, not being able to get close to the child because of the dogs, I might have shot them too. It's a tragic situation for all involved, especially the boy.

This reminds me of a news story that came out a few years ago where some highway patrol officers stopped a car with a family inside. For some reason, the officers made the entire family get out of the car. Well, the family's Golden Retriever hopped out too, and started running up to the officer, wagging it's tail. Incredibly, the officer felt threatened, and shot the dog dead, in front of the whole family. It was a completely different situation, but goes to show that animals get the brunt of human's stupidity all the time.

I've never lived with a pit bull, so I can't comment about them. They are the prominant breed of dog in my neighborhood. There's a house about a block away that has 2 pit bulls chained up inside a fenced yard. I raised my eyebrows at that, wondering why they were chained. I figured they could get out easily. I hate to see any dog chained. For heaven's sake, get your fence fixed.

Sally

Pit bulls always make the news, when in truth, by percentage, they don't bite any more than any other breed. It's just that the pit bull type of dog is the most common dog, it just seems like they bite more. (http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/legislation.php)

Anybody live in Ohio? We need to stop BSL. HB568 is being proposed to ban and euthenize all pit bulls in the state of Ohio. Plus they can enter your home to seize the dog. I urge you to write/email your Representative to oppose this bill. First, Pit Bulls, then what? Golden Retrievers?

"Sec. 955.111. (A) Beginning ninety days after the effective date of this section, no person shall own, keep, or harbor a dog that belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.

(B) Not later than ninety days after the effective date of this section, a person who owns, keeps, or harbors a pit bull dog on the effective date of this section shall surrender the dog to the dog warden. Not later than ten days after receiving the dog, the dog warden shall euthanize the dog. "

This is a brief account of what happens when locals enact BSL.

"This article's title may sound cute, but it relates the reality of a nightmare I now live with daily. We own a nine-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier with a CDX. She is in training for a Utility Dog title and is also registered with Therapy Dogs International and was part of a regular dog visitation therapy program. For seven years, we worked with doctors, nurses, therapists, and patients at Children's Hospital and various nursing homes throughout the city.

We were involved, but no longer. Cincinnati passed an ordinance, and now it is illegal for us to attend obedience classes or to do our therapy work."

People bred the pit to be aggressive and now people are upset that they bite. Until laws get passed against the PEOPLE who breed and misuse them nothing will change. If pits are outlawed the idiots will find another big dog to make aggressive. Some people just love the idea of having a big dangerous dog and some sick people get off on watching them fight.

I have rescued and euthanized 3 dogs for aggression. Two were pit bulls, one was a German shepherd and all had been abused. Two other equally abused German shepherds are the world's sweetest dogs and my pit girls are dolls. Every dog is different and you just can't lump them together by breed, which is what BSL does. They need to be evaluated as individuals and aggressive dogs do need to be removed and even that gets into that slippery slope of taking away our rights.

Izzie, no dog attacks out of the blue. People may not know what the trigger is and we can't ask the dog. I use an animal communicator, something most people scorn. But something made that collie bite the little boy. What a pity it cost so dearly in harm to a child and death for a dog.

livvysmom, if you or your children has a friend with one of the breeds who has been known to be aggressive and they do not keep the dog far from the children you should not go there. They are not being responsible and your child is not safe. I KNOW my dogs will not bite. When a child comes over they are not allowed near the child with the exception of 3 of my dogs who I know adore children and then only with supervision. My son was raised with my Dobermans, German shepherds and rescue dogs without incident, but not everyone is so fortunate.

By the way, the worst bites I've gotten have been from those yappy little toy dogs. My Shih tzu/Yorkie is the most aggressive dog I've ever owned. Fortunately at only 12 pounds she doesn't do much damage and the big dogs just think she's funny.

janegael-How can you honestly say that you "KNOW" your dogs won't bite? That is like saying I will never get hit by a car while crossing the street.The chances may be slim,but there's still a chance.You NEVER know! I'm sorry,but dogs are animals with animal instincts.No matter how well trained or well behaved or how much they "love/adore" children,there's the possibility.I do agree however that a dog of any breed should never be left alone with a child of any age.
"You never hear about a kid dying after being attacked by a maltese."
livvysmom-that may be true in most cases but a few years ago a baby was killed in my area by a small terrier mix.The baby was left on the floor in a car seat while the mother stepped outside to talk to a neighbor.The baby had on a dirty diaper and the dog went after it.The little boy died from injuries to his genitals.This was a family pet,raised with other small children.Granted,the mother should never have left the child unattended with the dog,but who would have thought such a thing could happen? So your statement isn't entirely true and any dog might display it's normal animal instincts!

PS janegael-What is an animal communicator?

The press's field day with pits and rotties doesn't save lives or prevent dog bites. It's sensational, perpetuates fear and the stereotype that these are unpredictable dogs. It saddens me to read posts showing that the press has worked well in spreading these views.

The fact is any breed of dog can be unbalanced and aggressive. I disagree strongly though that any dog can bite at any point without some kind of trigger. I have worked with abused and unbalanced dogs. As Jane wrote, dogs have triggers - if we grasp them or not is another matter entirely.

Frankly, I've known more unbalanced and aggressive toy dogs than any other breed group, especially with the rise of designer purse-dogs. Google Pomeranian kills, one did in fact kill a baby in Cal.

Dogs are individuals just like people. The fact is careless owners are careless owners. Breed bans won't change that. Dog owners who enjoy and find aggressive behavior amusing or some kind of power-trip will just move on to a new breeds.

I have not read this entire post, so I'm sorry if I missed something or repeat something already said. I believe that pits are wonderful pets, very sweet, and loving. I also believe that they can be deadly, like many other breeds. It is up to the dog owners to be responsible for training their animals. Pits are readily available, and in the wrong hands without proper training or enclosure can cause a lot of harm. I lived in South Florida for 5 years. Just north of the Broward/Miami-Dade county line. In Miami-Dade it is illegal to own pits. There are a large amount of cases of dog fighting down there, and that was the answer to that problem. Remembering many cases on the news, the general idea was that they were bred for their agressive traits. The biggest and meanest pit was bred with the biggest and meanest female pit. They keep the ones they want, and get rid of the excess. That excess of pups or losers are given away or end up loose, being given away in the Wal-Mart parking lot, to friends, or in legal shelters in Broward county (at least it was still legal last time I was there). So, they are agressively bred dogs that made it into the mainstream. I realize that there are lines of pits that ARE NOT bred this way. But I also think that this dog is particularly bred in major ways to be aggressive. And they end up in the wrong hands, with some unfortunate results. Christy

Terrible! I, for one, am a huge supporter of Pitbulls because at a shelter where I volunteer, I've met a number of very, very sweet ones. In fact, I rarely meet a pitbull terrier-ish dog that didn't like me.

Some of the dogs I walked could possibly have needed supervision along the line- not to get too near other dogs (and perhaps other pits especially), not to get too close to strangers. But they were great with me, at least.

Pitbulls are about the most athletic and strongest dog breed I've ever walked. So of course they could do a huge amount of damage under the right circumstances. I wonder what those dogs' histories were- whether they were strays, bred to fight, mistreated, whatever. *Sigh*

As for Rottweilers- well, any Rottweiler I've met has been very calm and easy-going, so I have trouble seeing them as this monstrous potential killer. *Shrug* Pitbulls, with their boundless enthusiasm, exuberance and passion, sure, but Rottweilers eh?....

River, a woman from Germany told me she was shocked at the ferocious reputation Rottweilers had in this country;
in Germany, they're popular family dogs, like Labs are here.

(The only dog that ever attacked me was a Shih Tzu!)

I've owned several dogs who would not bite a child no matter what. My big German shepherd, Alex, was getting sat on by my nephew and he took the brat by the seat of his pants and gently dragged him out of the room, deposited him in the bedroom and came back to lie down in peace and quiet. The same charmer was trying to remove the left eye of my hound mix, Cassie, and she was washing his face although she had to be in pain and her eye was swollen later. He's no longer allowed around my dogs -- for THEIR safety.

An animal communicator is a person who can talk to animals and understand them when they talk back -- basically a psychic. My husband was a skeptic until our first session and now he's the first one to say to call Cindy if we have a problem. We had a war going on between two dogs. One session with her and the war was over. By war I mean they would attack each other on sight and sent all 4 of us to the hospital one night.

I use Cindy Wenger Info@PeaceableKingdomAC.com We rescue abused dogs and use her when we get one in that is so scared or so angry that we can't deal with them. All she wants is their name and color and she will proceed to tell you things that you can confirm and things you never knew. We feel she has been worth every dime and has greatly improved the quality of life for the dogs we've needed help with.