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Member Advice Summary
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Pitbulls, Mutts & Kids...OH MY!
by tiffer0220 | Feb 19 '00
I am writing from a different point. I already had 2 dogs when my first son was born. A mutt male dog and a purebred pitbull female dog. (YES a pitbull!)
My pitbull was still a baby herself when my son was born. She was only 6 months old....Return to opinion
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Wonderful ideas! (Reply to this comment)
by shartion
Now if we could only do the same with cats? Thanks!
Shar
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Feb 19 '00
9:49 am PST
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:) (Reply to this comment)
by IrishMa4
Great editorial. I'm very sorry about the loss of your puppy. My dog, Sasha, died last year and my girls miss her a lot and talk about her too.
Thank you for sharing :)
Bobbie
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Feb 19 '00
10:01 am PST
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It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by spoalanm
I'm glad everything worked out OK for you, but I would never have an infant or any kids in the house w/a pit bull dog. It would just scare me too much, and I'd never get any peace. I am a huge dog fan, but I like small harmless dogs, like my Shih-Tzu, or even big friendly dogs like labs. I have read too many accounts of pit bull dogs mauling small children. To me, this is like keeping a loaded gun around your kids that you have no control over and could go off at any time. Just too damn risky!
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Feb 19 '00
11:13 am PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by tiffer0220
See I have to disagree with you here. Yes pitbulls that are interbred tend to fly off the handle and attack anyone. My pit was not interbred. She had papers, and both her parents had papers.
Big friendly labs? It goes both ways, I had half of my face bitten off by a golden retriever when I was a child and my best friend's brother was mauled by an irish settier (the little terrier thing).
I have been around pitbulls most of my life, and none that I have known personally ever attacked. Unless on command of course.
So I do not think it is fair to just stereotype pitbulls, it really goes by whatever the media is pumping up that year. One year I remember it was German shepards that all of a sudden attacked children, and the next year it was some other kind of dog.
But you are entitled to your opinion, and owning a pitbull probably would not be good for you. Just like I will never own a golden retriever.
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Feb 19 '00
12:04 pm PST
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have 2 dogs and a baby on the way (Reply to this comment)
by KMINER,  in Kids & Family
thanks for the advice - we have 2 cats, 2 dogs, our older dog who is 5 we are not worried about, but our "puppy baby" (1 year) is our spoiled baby and she is jealous and etc , we are trying to work with her now to get used to the baby clothes and stuff smells plus the baby's room - thanks for alleviating some of our fears - hope we have the same kind of success !
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Feb 19 '00
3:29 pm PST
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All dogs do what they are trained to do. (Reply to this comment)
by vam01
My wife and I had three dogs that were our children before children. One was a Pitt-bull, that was my best friend before my wife and I had met.
We introduced her two dogs to my dog without a problem other than teritorial rights depending on whose domain we were in at the time.
After we had moved in together in a new home that neither dog had ever seen they got along great.
When our first son was born they took to him like the brother that he was. Stormy was trained by me at a young age to protect my work truck, and would chew you up if you got close enough when he was in his watch mode. Any other time he was as docile as a little kitten. He never once even growled at our son as he wanted to see what dogs ate.
All animals are going to react to the atmosphere to which they are raised, be it cats, birds or pitt-bulls. You can not trust an animal that has had to fight its whole life to survive, even human animals.
Gregg
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Feb 19 '00
8:09 pm PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by kksg13
As a matter of fact a child was just killed here in Atlanta last week by a pit bull.. I think it takes one irresponsible person to bring something like that into a house with children. I mean do you love the stupid dog more than you love your kid?
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Feb 20 '00
5:59 am PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by kksg13
Something I forgot to add: The thing with a pit bull is that YOU NEVER KNOW when it will decide to attack. A pit bull does not have to be inbred to attack it just has to have something snap in its brain to decide to maul or kill.
Being an animal (hence it is not a human) no one can ever predict what will happen. It just happens to be that these dogs can be much stronger and more vicious if it does attack. I'm not getting on you per se for your decision to have one, but that small child who was just mauled to death is still fresh in my mind.
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Feb 20 '00
6:07 am PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by tiffer0220
And as a matter of fact a small child was killed here a few months ago by mixed breed dog. So its a no win situation. As far as being called irresponsible, well I do not see how bringing my kids into my home where my pitt was is being irresponsible. I knew exactly where my pitt came from, knew where her parents came from, and knew exactly what her temperment was BEFORE I had kids.
To each his own, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I know many people do not agree with me because I had a pitt, but being called irresponsible? That's a bit low don't ya think?
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Feb 20 '00
6:10 am PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by Alastor
Tiffany,
I noticed that you seem to be under personal attack for your decision. While I find that to be egregiously lame, I'll restrain myself from any retaliatory onslaught against the poor honager.
It's been my personal experience that a dog of any type will do what it is taught to do. The reason Pits were given such a bad rep was because A) they were a select breed that was trained by bastard children in large quantities, and B) The media.
Don't sweat the personal attacks or anything, I tend to think that if these dogs were truly dangerous they'd have rounded them up and put them down.
Alastor.
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Feb 20 '00
7:24 am PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by MississippiMom
I have to agree on your comment. I have two that are full blooded with papers and they are excellent with my grandchildren. It's my mixed terrier and daschund that I worry about with the little ones.
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Feb 20 '00
9:09 am PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by MikesCelticLuv
Tiffany,
I'm sure you already know to ignore the negative comments about Pit Bulls. The media overplays the junk about them. We had a child here that was mauled by a Labrador. The key is training. If you train a pit bull to be gentle, they will. I am more afraid of my friends little 8 pound poodle than I am of the pit bulls I've known. This poodle has attacked me on several occassions. She even attacked my 95 lb Golden Retriever/ German Shepard mix. The little dog scratched up my pup's face. And my dog didn't attack because I told her not too. She's well-trained. My brother and his friends have raised Pits for 15 years. Currently, my brother has an American Stratfordshire Terrier. They're cousins of pit bulls and are often mistaken for them. They have the same tarnished reputation, caused by irresponsible owners. My brother's dog is the sweetest thing and she is frequently around my almost 4 year old niece. No one is irresponsible for letting my neice around her. She's very protective of my niece and is VERY gentle with her. HEck, my niece uses her for a pillow, much like your son uses your mutt. :-)
In all my years I have never come across a bad pit-bull or Am. Strad. That's because all of the owners were responsible and the dogs were well-trained. Look in a dog book. People who know what they are talking about will tell you, in these books, that they are not dangerous.
If you search around, I'm sure you can find a study done on violent pits. It was found that most pits who had a record of attacked were raised by males under the age of 25 with criminal records. Makes ya think!
Thankfully, even though there is a long way to go, pit bulls are beginning to lose that bad reputation. Eventually, with more education, people will see them as the sweet and loyal dogs that they really are.
But, what do I know.......I'm only a veterinary student. ::::::::wink::::::::::
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Feb 21 '00
10:14 am PST
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Two dogs too (Reply to this comment)
by Annie_Crane
First off, I was raised with Pit Bulls and German Shepards. I have never been able to understand the complaints. All dogs will bite if provoked. I was never bitten.
And, as for when my first two children were born, we also had two dogs. One being a poodle (Pierre) that I had had since he was three months old and the other a six month old peekapoo (Popeye). The poodle was really to old to be played with by children, but he would sit there and let them love on him, grumbling when he finally had enough. Popeye seemed to understand they were babies while playing and never got rough with them.
Not long later, Popeye was hit by a car after chasing a vehicle out of our drive. My children missed him dearly. It was their first experience with death. When Pierre reached the ripe old age of 20, he too passed away.
My children deeply miss having a dog as a pet. Unfortunately where we live, they do not allow dogs or cats. I believe being able to have a pet, love them, take care of them, and play with them is a rewarding experience for a child as long as parents are there to prevent any accidents from happening. (sorry about the long comment)
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Feb 21 '00
10:59 am PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by tiffer0220
Thanks Mike for your comment. I am used to negative feedback about my pit. You should have seen the looks I would get when we would take her to the park with us. One lady even called the police on me.
And to everyone else who has replied. THANKS for the comments. Whether good or bad, I do appreciate them.
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Feb 21 '00
12:39 pm PST
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Can yyou stand another comment? (Reply to this comment)
by derval
I have been reading the comments left after your review and, while I've never been around pitbulls, I am very much aware of their "reputation". In very general terms, I think a dog is what you make it to be. The worst attack animal I've ever had was a stray, twenty pound daschund mix, who absolutely adored her adopted family but detested anyone from "outside". Since she was such a sweetie at home, I didn't give any thought to inviting our realtor into my house. Well, Peanut attacked him, biting him on the ankle. AND tried to attack him again when I was holding her! She took off after kids on bycycles, the mailman, etc. The trick is to take care and keep a close watch on dogs and little children. Peanut was another mom to my son and was very protective. She grew up woth him and never did anything that would make me worry.
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Feb 23 '00
12:21 pm PST
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Doggie Heaven is a Wonderful Place (Reply to this comment)
by Hard_To_Please
I expected to see many more negative comments about your review and was pleasantly surprised at the number of positive ones...
My dog Lightning is half German Shepard and half Pit Bull and is the gentlest,sweetest creature imaginable. I know that there have been incidents around the country but I KNOW my dog and you obviously knew yours. Sorry to hear about your loss...Mark
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Feb 25 '00
5:19 pm PST
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Pit Bulls Are Not the Problem (Reply to this comment)
by YentaKvetch
As your piece pointed out, there is nothing inherently wrong with having a pit bull as a pet. If well treated, the dog will get along just fine.
The problem is, of course, with owners who train their dogs--of whatever breed--to be mean.
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Feb 26 '00
4:40 pm PST
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pitbulls (Reply to this comment)
by LisaRyder
Thanks for your kind words on pitbulls! I have one at home. She is great!! It's all in how you raise them.
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Mar 01 '00
7:40 am PST
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Wow! (Reply to this comment)
by pepsipipe
To kksg13, I read your profile and you state that you rate racist people very poorly. I find that hilarious since I was thinking the same about you. Just what do you think humans are? We are animals with a slightly higher brain capacity than dogs. We do not kill unless we are trained to. Enough said
Tiffer, thank you for your article. The last line was very important. Jealousy is not a fun thing to deal with between kids. My Pepper was slightly jealous of my Poncho when we first brought the new one into the house. We had to go out of our way to show him that he was just important to us still. And of course he realized it quickly. My fiance and I are planning on having kids "kids" someday but I am not the least bit worried despite the reputation that some German Shepherds and Rot's carry. The ones that carry those reputations are not my kids. Pepper and Poncho are. Keep up the good work.
-Julie =-)
p.s. I congratulate you for letting certain comments roll right off your back. That's certainly a commendable attribute you possess that I do not.
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Mar 01 '00
7:45 pm PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by spindletopapbt
When people comment on how unpredictible or vicious a certain breed is, consider the source. They have probably had very little interaction with enough examples of the particular breed to form an educated opinion. Of course I'm a bit biased as I have owned and been involved with American Pit Bull Terriers for over a decade in showing, training and rescue and have seen the full spectrum of good and bad individuals in the breed. I also know enough about dogs in general to be able to read their body language and behavior, unlike those "experts" who claim the dogs are "unpredictible". Inbreeding in of itself does not cause temperament problems and in fact out crossing or randomly breeding dogs adds more unknown factors to the gene pool. This is simple, factual genetics, easily verified by any elementary textbook.
Conclusion, a knowledgeable, responsible dog owner can safely bring a stable, healthy dog of any breed into a home with children and have it work successfully, just as I and thousands of others have done.
Wendy Browne
Spindletop Refuge
http://come.to/pitbullrescue
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Mar 15 '00
8:40 am PST
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Excellent Review (Reply to this comment)
by sunnydayM
I enjoyed your review. I did have a few comments on it and some of the comments written here. It became so long, I turned it into an opinion. If you are interested, it is titled Even Good Dogs Bite. I look forward to reading more of your work.
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Mar 17 '00
1:32 pm PST
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by susiewho
In response to Spindletop's comment. THANK YOU. I raised Doberman Pinscher's with my children and got the same reactions.Intelligence is so refreshing.
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Mar 18 '00
4:50 pm PST
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THE BREED OF THE DOG, IS NOT THE PROBLEM (Reply to this comment)
by CARLA.C
I totally agree with you.
a dog can be loyal to any child., as long as it was raised by loving people in a loving environment.
a beagle is prone to attack just like a rott, or a pittbull, if it is mistreated, and raised the wrong way.
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Mar 24 '00
8:21 am PST
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An intelligent attitude (Reply to this comment)
by AnniWitch
Thank you for your review. It proves, once again, how a positive outcome can be achieved if people use good judgement and common sense.
_Anni
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Apr 19 '00
5:06 pm PDT
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lyn91 (Reply to this comment)
by lyn91
So sorry to hear that you lost you pit bull. My 2 "girls" love children too! Poor pit bulls get a bad rap--mine are the best dogs I ever had. My older dog (almost 11) just started having urinary problems due to Cushings syndrome and I know there will come a day when I will have to make the same choice you had to, hopefully it will be later than sooner!
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May 06 '00
5:45 pm PDT
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very well done, (Reply to this comment)
by suzig
enjoyed reading it,
suzi
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Jul 18 '00
7:34 pm PDT
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Bad Raps (Reply to this comment)
by Marque69
It really is a matter of how the dog is raised AND their background. We have 2 dogs and 3 kids. Our oldest dog is a 3 1/2 year old Rott (purebred) and a 7 month old yellow lab (also purebred). Our kids are 11, 10 and almost 4. We got our Rott when our baby was just a couple of months old. When my husband first started talking about getting a Rott, I was very nervous as I knew their "reputation". I started talking to breeders of different breeds. A friend of mine said the key to ANY dog who is to be raised around children is that the breeder themselves have small children in the house. That way the pup is used to a child handling it from the very beginning.
Our Rottie is absolutely the best dog I've ever owned. She is wonderful with the kids, a very good protector (at least she sounds like it!!) an all around fantastic dog. The only reason we didn't get a 2nd Rott when we went to get another dog, was our home owners insurance. We had a hard enough time getting the insurance we have now with just 1 Rott.
I think the quickest way to make a vicious dog, is to chain them up. Our dogs are NEVER chained, EVER. They are house dogs. Yep, HOUSE dogs. Hershee (our 140# Rottie) and Buddy (our 7mo old Lab) are part of this family, and they know it. They sleep on the couches, the beds (when I don't kick them off!!! LOL)
OK, this is more of an opinion then a comment! Sorry, got carried away.
Anyways, my point is, any dog who is not bred or raised right is a risk REGARDLESS of breed. Don't be so quick to judge the dog based on what breed it is.
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Jul 24 '00
6:05 am PDT
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Re: It Worked Out OK For You, But... (Reply to this comment)
by clintj1
I have a question for you? Who od you blame for the columbine shootings? The parents or the children? My point is that I blame the parents! If you raise an animal or a child a certain way of couse they are going to react a certain way! this was for the comment "do you love the stupid dog more than your child?" I happen to treat my dog (1/2 pit-bull) the same as my children.
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Aug 05 '00
6:51 pm PDT
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Are you sick of comments on this yet? (Reply to this comment)
by Jennifa
While I personally would not bring a Pit Bull or Rott into my home, I believe that there are pits and rotts that MAY be just fine. The important thing is to know WHERE THE DOG IS COMING FROM! There are too many "puppy mills" out there that are inbreeding. That is what happens when a dog becomes so popular and people become greedy. Also it can do with the way people train them. As far as little dogs being harmless, we bought a Lahso Apso and it hated my son and bit him, the second it did, we took it back, and he was only a puppy. It hated kids but it's sister, who was too expensive, loved kids. Also, when I was 10 I was attacked by a "Lassy" dog. He bit through the skin on both my legs, both arms and a finger. My advice again would be KNOW WHERE THE DOG COMES FROM, HAS IT BEEN ABUSED? Many questions should be answered. I also don't feel that those with Pitts and Rotts, should feel that because their's are fine, then it's just "media hype". Jen (ps, sorry to read of your loss, that is hard!:( )
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Sep 07 '00
1:59 pm PDT
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Different Breeds for Different Folks (Reply to this comment)
by butterfly10954
I agree with you about the breeds. Who knows what goes through a dogs mind? While some breeds may have characteristics associated with that particular one, not all are like that. I know for a fact that there are plenty of unfriendly labs and retrievers. So I agree with your opinion.
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Sep 10 '00
9:06 am PDT
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