Why I Say No To Dog Parks As A Pit Mix Owner

[smkie]

Pits should be banned from dog parks, because they have been bred to kill other dogs. I know that some pits are friendly with other dogs, but that is not the majority. Every time an owner brings their pit to the park, and the pit starts trouble, its hurting the breeds reputation, and putting other dogs at rist of serious injury. Its even putting people at risk of injury, because someone has to break up the fight. Is it worth it?

Any dog that is aggressive should not be in a dog park.

not that i have seen

 

[jess2416]

This has nothing to do with a dog park but its along the same lines... I was in Petsmart with Chloe the other day and there was a large intact male pit bull at the cash register and this couple with a Cocker Spaniel walks by the pit and the Cocker tried to attack it literaly (sp).. and NO it was play.. and do you know what the pit did? It just stood there and looked at the Cocker, didnt move, didnt growl, didnt do anything? I really dont have a point I just thought I would share

 

[Amstaffer]

The bottom line is that pits were bred to kill other dogs. Of course some of them do good with other dogs. Most of them dont, because their owners dont know how to properly train them. Without training, a pit wont think twice about going after another dog. Even with training, I wouldnt trust one in a pack of strange dogs.

Of course there are other dogs that will attack other dogs, and they dont have an ounce of pit in them. Thats due to poor training also. Pits need more training than most other breeds to make sure that they are not dog aggressive. But most owners do not do that, and that is why some dog parks have problems with pit bulls. Pit bulls are naturally dog aggressive.

I do not think pits should be in dog parks.

Whoah!..... Way to many generalizations here!

 

[Dobiegurl]

This has nothing to do with a dog park but its along the same lines... I was in Petsmart with Chloe the other day and there was a intact male pit bull at the cash register and this couple with a Cocker Spaniel walks by the pit and the Cocker tried to attack it.. and NO it was play.. and do you know what the pit did? It just stood there and looked at the Cocker didnt move didnt growl didnt do anything?

I've seen many stituations like this where the pit did nothing while another dog provoked it. People are making pitts out to be evil, possessed mosters.

 

[Amstaffer]

Mojo is dog friendly, save for gsd mixes. He's not friendly towards GSD mixes due to us being in that fight 2 years ago. So what are you saying? That because he's aggressive towards what could be less than 1% of the dog population, then that means I am less than 1% of a good trainer?

That makes little sense.

What I am saying is if you want to, you could correct Mojo's hang up with GSDs. You don't have to accept that behavior, it can be changed. Depending on Mojo...it might not be easy but it could be done.

 

[mojozen]

What I am saying is if you want to, you could correct Mojo's hang up with GSDs. You don't have to accept that behavior, it can be changed. Depending on Mojo...it might not be easy but it could be done.

I know this already. I know i can desensitize him enough so he doesn't get snarling, foaming, ready to attack and defend... we just don't RUN Into GSDs very often. It's hard to desensitize ANYTHING if you only experience the trigger every couple of months. I am actually hoping there is at least one in our next class so it can be something I can work on.

And even if he never did get over his hang up about GSDs ... I wouldn't love him any less. And if he did get over that hang up I still wouldn't take him to the dog park.

 

[Amstaffer]

(including the president and cofounder of PETA - Ingrid Newkirk)

Oh boy don't get me started on her, I got in an email battle her and her asst. about a year ago. Talk about a dense lady!

 

[Amstaffer]

Getting back to the subject, pits in dog parks, this is not just a theoretical discussion about the breed. This is a REAL ISSUE for some people and their dogs. I live in a major urban city with MANY dog parks and going to various parks twice a day I come across at least 20-30 different off leash pits/pit mixes a week. It is a plain fact, for whatever reason, that the majority of fights I've witnessed (where blood has been drawn) has involved a pit, not just an imagined phobia..

Couple of comments on this post

First if you see 20-30 pit/pit mixes a week they should be in the top 3 breeds you see. So with that in mind would it make statistical sense that thye would be in the most fights?

Second I live in Milwaukee WI (19th biggest city) and I do see some Pits at the park but I have yet to see one get into a fight. My Sal was attacked but didn't fight back and My friends APBT "Elwood" got bit by a Cocker and didn't fight back. On the other hand I have seen Akitas, Rotts, Goldens, Dalmations and Husky mixes get into with other dogs.

Thirdly (I know I said a couple) the people you described might not be 'Thugs" but bad owners might be sweet and loving; this doesn't mean they lack control of their dog or invested the training needed. You can't always tell who the "Bad" owner is by the way they look.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Mojo... I had no intention whatsoever to imply that your pup did not have a good life because he does not go to dog parks, my apologies if it came across that way.

Buddy LOVES the dog park so much, I would hate to take away that privilege from him. However, I would in a heartbeat if he were to show any agressive tendecies to any dog. He's actually quite submissive, just ask the Great Dane who wanted to play earlier today *chuckle* we have video footage, look for it when we get it up and going.

Anyways, I do not believe that any breed should be banned anywhere. Perhaps, specific dogs, but never a full breed, how unfair is that to other dogs of that breed that are more than capable of being "good"?

 

[rottiegirl]

Well, in MY experience I have only seen one pitt, who was not trained to fight, attack another dog but it was provoked (not an excuse but it wasn't just a "oh there's a dog to kill" fight) I have seen way more rott and GSD fights. When in a serious fight ANY dog, regardless of breed, is in it to kill the other dog its just the pit has the ability to do so. Does not make them more or less agressive. The majority means nothing to me. Once you can prove all pitts are possesed then try to ban them from the parks, I'll be right behind you if 100% of all pitts were agressive but thats not the case.

I think location has to do with this. Where I live there are tons of pits, and tons of irresponsible owners. And that does not mix very well. Where I live, I do not think pits should be able to go to dog parks. Its too much of a problem, a big problem.

Are you serious? Only pits are capable of killing another dog?? That is very false! Most pits do not let go in a fight, they keep going even when the other dog submits. Dogs normaly do not fight to kill, they fight to defend themselves, or its a dominance thing, but either way, they should back off when the other dog submits.

 

[rottiegirl]

Pitbulls are not bred to KILL other dogs. Do you know how much fighting dogs are worth? Alot of them are worth more than show dogs. They will stop the fight if one of them is loosing badly, they dont want dead dogs worth $$$$$. They are bred to fight, so please stop using the word kill. Yes some people who fight pits will let them kill other dogs, but that is minority. Fights are usualy WELL organised and planned

Wow, are you kidding? I think you need to do some research on dog fighting, and fighting breeds. They WILL fight to the death, that is their goal (the dogs goal). Dog fighters even use living bait for their pits. The bait usually is another dog, a puppy. The pit bulls attack and kill the bait. They are trained and bred to KILL.

Why do they have to stop the fight? Its because they KNOW that the one of them WILL die.

 

[rottiegirl]

I've seen many stituations like this where the pit did nothing while another dog provoked it. People are making pitts out to be evil, possessed mosters.

What are you talking about? Just because a dog is dog aggressive, doesnt make them "evil" or "monsters". Its just a simple fact.

I dont care how many stories about pits that are not dog aggressive is brought up. The fact still remains... most pits are dog aggressive.

You guys are making it sound like pit bulls are going to suffer, just because they cant go into a dog park.

 

[pocket warmer]

as far as the arguement which breed would win in a fight goes nothing is certain.Where my parents live in north of England pitbulls are like the must have accessory for the teenage boy.Non of them have a clue about them and let them run loose around the housing estates so dog fights are frequent.On 2 different occasions with 2 different pitbulls my mams sheepdog sam had a fight.It played through identically both times.pit would come lu nging in,sam would sidestep and swipe the dog away.After a few seconds of this and one good punch from sam the pits down n sams pinned it by the throat.clever see,boxed clever chose his moment n bang!First time it all happened so fast,we took sam in to clean the blood off him and realised he wasn`t even bit the blood was all from the pitbull.Go on Sam lad!

 

[Amstaffer]

as far as the arguement which breed would win in a fight goes nothing is certain.Where my parents live in north of England pitbulls are like the must have accessory for the teenage boy.Non of them have a clue about them and let them run loose around the housing estates so dog fights are frequent.On 2 different occasions with 2 different pitbulls my mams sheepdog sam had a fight.It played through identically both times.pit would come lu nging in,sam would sidestep and swipe the dog away.After a few seconds of this and one good punch from sam the pits down n sams pinned it by the throat.clever see,boxed clever chose his moment n bang!First time it all happened so fast,we took sam in to clean the blood off him and realised he wasn`t even bit the blood was all from the pitbull.Go on Sam lad!

Thats why the new trend in big money fights is sheepdogs..........

 

[rottnpagan]

Buddy LOVES the dog park so much, I would hate to take away that privilege from him. However, I would in a heartbeat if he were to show any agressive tendecies to any dog. He's actually quite submissive, just ask the Great Dane who wanted to play earlier today *chuckle* we have video footage, look for it when we get it up and going.

If you wait until he shows aggression*, it may be too late. You live in California, you've already got BSL there. Your dog will die, at the hands of that law.

IMO, the chance just isn't worth it.


*Granted, a dog may never show aggression, but the chance is still there. It's the same thing as why you wear a seatbelt. You may NEVER have a car accident. You can take driving lessons all your life (training for a dog?) and never have an accident. Or the day after your lesson, you could be in a 40 car pile-up. Do you just stop wearing a seatbelt, because you don't think you'll have an accident? Not me. That's why we don't do dog parks anymore.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Not *ALL* pit bull and pit bull mixes are agressive. I don't care what anyone else says, I've seen some pit bulls in pretty bad positions and they have come out of them liek true champions.

Yes, I do agree that there are those dogs that are still trained to fight, but not *ALL*.

Any dog has the potential to be agressive, towards people, towards dogs. Everyone is simply bashing pit bulls and that is unfair. Why have any dog parks then? Why let dogs go anywhere? Well, heck maybe dogs shouldn't be allowed in public.. because at any point, at any time, any dog could snap. NOT just pit bulls.

 

[mojozen]

dog aggression is not the same as people aggression. A lot of pbs come out of bad situations still not aggressive towards people but have a higher potential of being aggressive towards other animals.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Rottiegirl, pits CAN go into dog parks (they may be banned from some, but not all). And let me know when you do a study that shows factual evidence as to how many pit bulls are agressive. I'd be very interested in that.

 

[smkie]

http://gprime.net/flash.php/thepitbullproblem the facts!

more info http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=525

there are quite often pit bulls at our dog park and to this date i have never seen a problem. Since early socialization is the key to success, when we see a pit bull puppy there we know it is exactly where it NEEDS to be.

 

[mojozen]

I disagree with you on this matter, Smkie.

But whatever...