What People Don't Know About Pitbulls

You hear it often on the news "Pitbull Attacks Child" , and the first thing you do is shake your head and say "These dogs are monsters!" Well yes. Some of them can be pretty mean. I have t admit that before I became a pitbull owner, I felt the same way. I grew tired of seeing people getting attacked by dogs and I wondered why steps were not being taken to get rid of them. I, like millions of other people, based my information on Pitbulls, on the news, and the media.

One day, I was visiting someone's house and they were selling Pitbull puppies. I am not an advocate of backyard breeders, nor do I recommend anyone to support them. There are too many pets in shelters that need homes, so buying an animal, to me, is heartless. However, as I looked at these puppies, that were already about 3 months old, they were being confined to a cardboard box, laying in their own feces, and barely knew how to walk, I grew sympathetic for them. I immediately took one of them home, and just like that, I became a Pitbull owner.

As a mother of 3 kids, I quickly began to regret this decision because I had all of my friends and family in my ear telling me how Pitbulls are dangerous and I should not have one around my children. If you hear that enough, you start to believe it. So I got on the Internet and began to learn about this breed. I wanted to make sure that I raised my Pitbull right, so that she didn't turn on my kids one day. Here is where I learned that just about every Pitbull "fact" that people are being told is completely untrue! Here are some of the stories I had been told that turned out to be myths about pitbulls.

1. "A Pitbull will turn on it's owners." This is NOT true. If a dog, ANY dog, is healthy,trained well, and not abused or neglected by its owner, it will NOT turn on them. If a pitbull turns on someone, it can be due to reasons such as being ill (rabies effects the brain.), or being abused and neglected, or mistreated, not being correctly trained. (You have to let an animal know that YOU are the boss.), or because it has not been properly socialized.(If you leave a dog tied in the backyard with no human contact, then how is it going to know how to behave around people?) Dogs usually don't attack for no reason at all. Also, if they are raised to be violent, then that is how they will act.

Pitbulls thrive on being obedient. So if its owner is praising him when he bites and acts violent, then he will think that is what he is supposed to do. If his owner teaches him that biting and aggressive behavior is wrong, then he will know that he will be doing something bad if he acts that way.

2. "A pitbull will lock his jaw and not let go." This is a myth. Yes, it is true that a Pitbull has a very strong jaw. In fact, they were originally used as bull baitors. However,their jaws are no different than any other breed. Pitbulls are not robots or "superdogs." There have been many expert studies to prove that Pitbulls do not have locking mechanisms in their jaws. In fact, they don't even have the strongest jaw of all breeds! There is no way to measure this because all dogs have different sizes and strengths. That would be like saying "Men in Ohio are the strongest in the world." It is a complete stereo-type!

3. "Pitbulls are dangerous to have around children." Again, a myth. I have owned my Pitbull for 3 years, and not once have I ever had to worry about her hurting my children. My kids tease her, take her food, pull her ears and tail, and she just lays there and deals with it, or whines to me about it. The reason why we continue to see Pitbulls attacking children in the news is because Pitbulls are the only attacks that the news chooses to show! Not only that, the way the public sees it, if it looks like a Pitbull, then it must be a Pitbull! There are many breeds of dogs that resemble the Pitbull, and they get all lumped together into one description. Therefore, the statistics of Pitbull attacks are actually lower than recorded because people have a hard time identifying a true Pitbull.

I have seen German Sheppards and Akitas attack so many children, yet people view these breeds as "good dependable dogs."

I guess what it all boils down to is this; "There are no bad dogs, just bad owners! If my dog roams into your yard and attacks your child, then shame on ME as an owner for not being responsible for containing my dog properly. However, if your child roams into MY backyard, and gets attacked by my dog, then shame on YOU for not being a responsible parent and not knowing where your child is at.

A dog is not a "Monster" for protecting his yard and his family. That is what they are supposed to do. Isn't that the whole reason why people buy large breeds? It is the owners who train these animals to be aggressive and fight, that are the REAL monsters. I say, instead of banning this loyal breed, they should make it more difficult to own one. A responsible Pitbull owner will properly license and insure their pet. They will get a high fence so that the dog cannot escape, and lock the fence so children cannot enter the yard. They will take their pet to obedience classes and socialize it well with both children and other animals. This is what I did and my dog is the most affectionate dog you will ever meet.

Anyone who feels that ALL Pitbulls are vicious animals that need to be banned, should come and meet MY Pitbull.