I've been injured by a pitbull

[AimlessWanderer]

Pitbulls should all be made to have poodle-perms?  Might soften the blow some.

Hope the leg's OK Boss.

Not sure of Ruby Doggy's exact pedigree, but can't see Chrissy going for that plan somehow 

Besides, I think I'd feel even worse if I just had my thigh muscle torn from the bone and the offending creature had an 80's perm

best not hang around any Mancunian footballers then.

 

[Ashley]

 

[ironraven]

The pitbulls I've met come in two varieties, badly abused and thus are 50-60 pounds of PTSD, or they are 50-60 pounds "hi, how ya' doin', wanna play". That being said, a 60 pound dog running into a full grown human isn't going to be feeling so good- shame on you, giving that poor dog a head ache like that, you got what you deserve. 

[Accujohn]

Any of you that don't like pitbulls really need to go to your local shelter and put your money where your mouths are. Spend some time with strange dogs, especially pitbulls then come on back and let us know how dangerous they are.

I encounter a lot of dogs on a regular basis, many of which are one of the many pitbull type breeds and I'll tell you they are a lot less inclined to be aggressive than other breeds.  Many are dogs I've never met before.  Until you've put the time in with dogs that I have I consider your opinions to be very much flawed.

Cesar Millan uses pitbulls to help teach other dogs to calm down because they are so even tempered.

That's all I'm saying on the subject.

Def

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All my dogs have been shelter dogs, and that's after i was attacked by a rott. My feelings are both justified and reasonable. Keep your dog controlled, especially ones missing screws.

[Stormdrane]

The only dog I've owned came from the pound as a puppy(lab/heinze 57 mix mutt), and she was part of our family for 17 and a half years through 10 moves in four states from one home to another.  If I were to ever find another dog, I'd look to my local animal shelter to find one that needed a home, and would have no problem if that dog were a pitbull/mix.  Cats are great for those that aren't allergic to them..

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Any of you that don't like pitbulls really need to go to your local shelter and put your money where your mouths are. Spend some time with strange dogs, especially pitbulls then come on back and let us know how dangerous they are.

I encounter a lot of dogs on a regular basis, many of which are one of the many pitbull type breeds and I'll tell you they are a lot less inclined to be aggressive than other breeds.  Many are dogs I've never met before.  Until you've put the time in with dogs that I have I consider your opinions to be very much flawed.

Cesar Millan uses pitbulls to help teach other dogs to calm down because they are so even tempered.

That's all I'm saying on the subject.

Def

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Anecdotal evidence is no substitute for hard statistics.  In research and statistics, there's what's called the "person who" effect; lots of people know of one individual that is at the extreme ends of the normal curve, one of the normal outliers that exist in any distribution of data.  The perfect example of this is George Burns; he drank like a fish and smoked like a chimney until the day he died, and he was over 100 when he finally did pass on.  However, that doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of people who drink like that get an ulcerated liver and brain damage (Korsakoff's Syndrome), and various kinds of cancer, particularly lung cancer. 

That said, Cesar is Cesar, no one else can handle a dog the way he does.  (He is also one of those people out on the very far end of the distribution.)  My wife actually got his book (http://www.amazon.com/Cesars-Rules-Your-Train-Well-Behaved/dp/0307716872/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1350889692&sr=8-6&keywords=Cesar+Millan) and followed it to the letter with our poodle (who we got from a shelter; he was an abandoned breeder's reject because he has a pronounced under-bite) and followed it to the letter.  Our dog isn't perfect, but he's frell of a lot better behaved than any other dog I've ever come across.  When I take him for a walk, I only put him on-leash because I have to.  He obeys verbal commands alone 99% of the time.

And, it's that other 1% that worries me.  Especially when I'm with my daughter, who loves animals, and loves going for walks and to the park.

I'm with Heinz, and I am wary of all dogs I don't know irrespective of their owners opinions. Once I've got to know them and made my own mind up I'll accept that individual dog as being "safe", but will not translate that to other dogs of the same breed. Can't accuse me of being stereotypical in that respect  Even when I know a dog is "safe", it's still in the back of my mind that the dog can still turn. I've heard too many tales of lovely family dogs going ape and causing severe harm

This is exactly what I tell my daughter; she's so naturally adventurous, curious, and loves animals so much, that she wants to hug just about every dog she sees that's even slightly friendly.  I hate to have to reign in that natural love and enthusiasm, but I also worry about her safety, especially considering some of the behaviors I've seen from other people's dogs.

I'm sorry, but I'll never accept any comments of this breed is like this, and that breed is like that - yes they may have genetic dispositions in a certain direction, but dog's are just as individual and as prone to going off the rails as we are - but they bite harder and have less morals and restraint when they go nuts

I hope I've been clear with my sentiments on this.  I agree that one shouldn't automatically pigeon-hole every single dog based on breed, but at the same time, a little caution goes a long way, and is always a good thing.  When I take my daughter and our poodle to the dog-park, I always take a cautious wait-and-see approach.  I don't automatically assume that every dog is going to behave poorly and/or aggressively, but at the same time I don't just assume every dog is a total belly-roller either.  As I said above, you never know when you're going to run across that 1% 

In fact, now that I think about it, the last time I was at the dog park with my daughter in tow, there was a Husky that was playing with our dog, who got a little too aggressive.  I called our dog over, pick him up, and this Husky didn't get the message.  I pushed him back with my leg and at that point his hackles went up and he lunged at me.  I hauled off and planted my foot squarely in his chest, prompting a yelp and a tail-tuck from him, and off he slunk.  I just consider myself lucky he wasn't actually more aggressive than that.  Again, you never know, with a dog you don't know, when you're going to run across an animal that falls into that 1%.