Pit bull bans

I know a lot of places have pit bull bans but I was wondering what exactly fell in these bans. I am assuming a Staffordshire Bull Terrier would but what about breeds like the bull terrier and American bulldog?

It's generally the American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier. I have heard that some places have a clause in the law that if a dog has enough of the typical characteristics of a "pit bull" it applies. I don't think the American Bulldog applies, but I'm sure the laws vary in different locales.

The bans are mostly total BS, so any dog that they feel like calling a Pit Bull, they will.

The AKC doesn't officially recognize the Pit Bull and in the US it is often used as a catchall term for a wide variety of dogs. (Including the Staffordshire Terrier, which is a separate breed in the UKC and other organizations)

So when a local government bans the Pit Bull, they can effectively outlaw a wide assortment of dogs and mixed breeds. If they say it is part Pit (and so many shelter dogs are these days) then it is out. Totally legal to have a Rotweiller trained to kill or a pack of Wolves, just not a loving, house-trained, sweet Pit Bull.

(yes, I am on the side of the Pits)

pinchvalve wrote: The bans are mostly total BS, so any dog that they feel like calling a Pit Bull, they will. The AKC doesn't officially recognize the Pit Bull and in the US it is often used as a catchall term for a wide variety of dogs. (Including the Staffordshire Terrier, which is a separate breed in the UKC and other organizations) So when a local government bans the Pit Bull, they can effectively outlaw a wide assortment of dogs and mixed breeds. If they say it is part Pit (and so many shelter dogs are these days) then it is out. Totally legal to have a Rotweiller trained to kill or a pack of Wolves, just not a loving, house-trained, sweet Pit Bull. (yes, I am on the side of the Pits)

I agree it is total bs. Dogs aren't born aggressive they are made aggressive.

My neighbor has a Staffordshire terrier. biggest baby of a dog I've ever met. Never barks, growls...nothing. Drools a little bit

Grtechguy wrote: My neighbor has a Staffordshire terrier. biggest baby of a dog I've ever met. Never barks, growls...nothing. Drools a little bit

They aren't the smartest dogs. They have the potential to inflict a lot of damage and they are average in intelligence. That can be a scary combination.

pinchvalve wrote: So when a local government bans the Pit Bull, they can effectively outlaw a wide assortment of dogs and mixed breeds. If they say it is part Pit (and so many shelter dogs are these days) then it is out. Totally legal to have a Rotweiller trained to kill or a pack of Wolves, just not a loving, house-trained, sweet Pit Bull. (yes, I am on the side of the Pits)

Here we have sporadic bans in place, normally though HOA's not the gov though. I do know that there is a huge ban against blue blooded's due to a few deaths in the region. I have nothing against pits, its the crappy owners that I dislike. You can train a poodle to attack if you try hard enough.

Otto Maddox wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: My neighbor has a Staffordshire terrier. biggest baby of a dog I've ever met. Never barks, growls...nothing. Drools a little bit

They aren't the smartest dogs. They have the potential to inflict a lot of damage and they are average in intelligence. That can be a scary combination.

No kidding. You have just described Congress.

Otto Maddox wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: My neighbor has a Staffordshire terrier. biggest baby of a dog I've ever met. Never barks, growls...nothing. Drools a little bit

They aren't the smartest dogs. They have the potential to inflict a lot of damage and they are average in intelligence. That can be a scary combination.

But they are smarter then English bulldogs and you don't hear of a lot of bulldog attacks.

pinchvalve wrote: (yes, I am on the side of the Pits)

I think they SHOULD ban pit bulls and anything like them. They are horrible, dangerous, malicious animals. I think they should also ban all typs of domesticated birds. Birds are closely related to dinosaurs and, if humans were alive back then, dinosaurs surely killed many of them. If humans and dinosaurs weren't alive back then, I'm sure dinosaurs WOULD have killed many of them. Do we really want to give birds the opportunity to wipe out humankind?
We haven't even discussed ant farms and bee-keepers!

I'm not a fan of PBTs, I would never want to own one, but I've known plenty of them that were well behaved sweeties.

Having said that, I completely disagree with the notion that no dogs are born aggressive. Dogs are pack animals, wild K9s as well as feral dogs often interact very aggressively among themselves, furthermore many of the Bulldog breeds were bred for aggressive traits. Some dogs carry that trait more than others. Like all other dogs they need proper training.

To be clear, I'm not hating on PBTs, the problem is most often the people that own them.

Dogs can be alot like cars, if you put just any idiot in a Corvette or 911, and turn them loose on public roads, something catastrophic might happen.

My pit deviants when they were pups. I love my dogs and I would trust them with any little kids, but I would not trust them with any other dogs. My experience, they are born with something......?

I have a friend that was big time in the SE fighting dogs. He would point things out watching mine violently play together is an inbred, form of fighting. Always using their weight to wear the other dog out, wounding the leg then locking on the neck etc. I sure did not teach them that.

I do wish mine were less dog aggressive.

Otto Maddox wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: My neighbor has a Staffordshire terrier. biggest baby of a dog I've ever met. Never barks, growls...nothing. Drools a little bit

They aren't the smartest dogs. They have the potential to inflict a lot of damage and they are average in intelligence. That can be a scary combination.

Wow, you just described half the dog population there is. Ban all dogs except tea cup poodles and Pomeranians?

tea cup poodles and pomeranians are not dogs. They're footballs with legs.

ScottRA21 wrote:

Otto Maddox wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: My neighbor has a Staffordshire terrier. biggest baby of a dog I've ever met. Never barks, growls...nothing. Drools a little bit

They aren't the smartest dogs. They have the potential to inflict a lot of damage and they are average in intelligence. That can be a scary combination.

Wow, you just described half the dog population there is. Ban all dogs except tea cup poodles and Pomeranians?

The meanest dogs I have ever met were Pomeranians.

I can tell you. My Akita was a very well-bred dog. A great dog, never showed any aggression towards humans (protection yes, aggression no). That said, it was a different story with other dogs. There is an instinct. That could be bred out over time, or it could be bred IN. It depends on the line they come from. Most folks don't breed Akitas, PBT, Rotties and the like to be a lap dog so it's harder to find one without that trait.
THat being said, while the breeding influences behavior, so does ownership and training. With a problem dog, I'd rather shoot the owner and train the dog....

Remember, the most common dog to attack humans is the Cocker Spaniel, followed by German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, and Chow Chows. I got that information from a study done in the late 90's.

This study done more recently shows that in fact, PBT and Rotty's are the most common breed of attack.

http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-study-dog-attacks-and-maimings-merritt-clifton.php

I guess I have got lucky with the dogs I have met but the sweetest dogs I have met are a Staffie, Rotty and two Dobermans.

PHeller wrote: Remember, the most common dog to attack humans is the Cocker Spaniel, followed by German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, and Chow Chows. I got that information from a study done in the late 90's. This study done more recently shows that in fact, PBT and Rotty's are the most common breed of attack. http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-study-dog-attacks-and-maimings-merritt-clifton.php

Should be noted that study says press reported attacked and the press likes to call a lot of dog "pit bulls" even if they aren't.

HappyAndy wrote: Having said that, I completely disagree with the notion that no dogs are born aggressive.

I think some dogs are born dog aggressive but not aggressive towards people.

93EXCivic wrote:

HappyAndy wrote: Having said that, I completely disagree with the notion that no dogs are born aggressive.

I think some dogs are born dog aggressive but not aggressive towards people.

Ok then, go find a poorly socialized dog and try to take his food away. Better wear some protective gear because he's going to bite you just like he would any other stranger or subordinate pack member .

There is something about PBTs being particularly dog aggressive. They also bring it out in other dogs too, I used to have an Akita that played well with almost every dog he ever met, except for a few specific PBTs, my big dummy Akita was 14 years old with bad hips trying to jump the fence every morning to chase after one particular Pit (of several) that roam my neighborhood.

Any dog can be agressive. The worst I have encountered is my wife's aunt's mostly Chihuahua mix. It will try to bite any man that enters her house. She has to put it in the pantry and close the door if any male comes to the house. I have been to her house at least 3 times a week for the last 5 years and it still wants to bite me.

The next worst was my brothers Dachshund. It was very territorial. It would bite anyone who entered the house if given the chance. But if they put it in its crate until you were in and seated somewhere it was fine. Usually would want to get in your lap to be petted.

His wife's brother who lived next door and visited almost every day got bit one day when they forgot the procedure. Even though he had been coming to visit for 3 years.

HappyAndy wrote:

93EXCivic wrote:

HappyAndy wrote: Having said that, I completely disagree with the notion that no dogs are born aggressive.

I think some dogs are born dog aggressive but not aggressive towards people.

Ok then, go find a poorly socialized dog and try to take his food away. Better wear some protective gear because he's going to bite you just like he would any other stranger or subordinate pack member .

But that seems to be a trait of not being trained right then the nature of the dog.

Quite a few guardian dogs were bred to bond with a single owner/handler or family - anyone or anything outside of that bond gets a suspicious response at best (anatolians, filas, dogo argentinas, kuvasz, mastiffs, great pyrenees, ovtchartkas originally had the trait). Some breeders work to get lines that are more people friendly - others breed for those exact working traits. Am-staffs were originally family dogs - kind of an all-purpose companion, pet, guardian...The biggest problem with am-staffs are people who abuse them or breed them to fight and jackass owners. Dogs do what they are bred and trained to do. Edit - I've been bitten twice - chihuahua and tea cup poodle (my wife and I volunteer with doberman and great pyrenees rescue).

pit bull myths
They have locking jaws - they don't - same structure as other dogs
pit bulls don't feel pain - same nervous system as other dogs
pit bulls have a higher bite pressure than any other dogs - it's similar to a german shepherd, significantly lower than a rottweiler
pit bulls turn on their owners - pets give lots of warnings before resorting to teeth - people can be oblivious to the warnings. Non-pets - fighting dogs with new owners could be a lot less predictable.

Great Pyrenees - facing down a bear - most people think of these as cuddly furballs - it would be a mistake to wander onto one of the fields of a working one.

Why are you asking about Pit Bulls? You want this dog: