posted 06-17-2003 01:21 PM         

If he was snapping at you, that's NOT characteristic of the breed, and without seeing what actually happened, I couldn't begin to tell you why he may have done it. There are unstable pit bulls out there (as in any breed), so it's possible that you were unfortunate enough to meet one of them. Things that come to mind that may have triggered that response from him are that maybe he didn't like you standing over him, or that he may have had a (bug) bite or something along those lines that you couldn't see, but were rubbing as you petted him, or that he didn't like the way/where you were petting him. Whatever it was, it's not acceptable for an APBT do act that way, and such a reaction from a dog who was "great with people", would have landed him in the vets for further testing and/or the behaviorist for a temperament test if he were mine. Sorry you had to go through that

posted 07-24-2003 01:46 AM         

Dane; some things that come to mind - the dog wasn't socialized much, had a bad disposition - owner may well be aware and making excuses or owner ignorant & because of that unaware. Maybe the dog has a sore spot or injury (again owner may be unaware) or is fearful. From the sounds of it you are great with dogs and that this situation was not your doing, but perhaps the result of an unstable dog.

posted 09-02-2003 09:41 PM         

------------------
"Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies,
quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love
and always have to mix love and hate."

- Sigmund Freud
Susan M.B. Parker

posted 09-30-2003 08:25 PM         

This is not acceptable behavior for this breed. Man biters shouldbe destroyed no excuses. Luckly you did not become another stat against our breed.

posted 10-01-2003 02:37 AM         

I strongly disagree..!! No one knows why dogs bite.. I do not think that a dog that has bitten someone is considered an aggressive dog.. they bite for many different reasons, and it is not fair to say they should be destroyed.. A dog that is continuously biting, okay.. But not a dog that has bit once or twice for reasons that it felt threatened or it felt a need to protect. I think that is ridiculous to say they should be detroyed. I wouldn't allow my dog to be killed for biting someone strange walking up to me, or breaking in or any other reason remotely related to those.

posted 10-01-2003 11:38 AM         

The historic breeding of Pit bull excludes ANY human agression. They were not bred for protection or guarding they were bred for baiting and fighting. Both activities require close handling of the dog by humans when the dog is heated.

The temperment of Pit bulls should be rock solid and not shy or sketchy. There is no reason short of an owner being beaten up to justify a bite. (and I do believe that most of the APBTs I have met still wouldn't bite a person even in that case.)

Man biters are a deviant to this breed by all upstanding breeder's standards and by the breed description itself. This breed is already is in very serious danger from BSL. Maine--would you place a pit bull that had bitten? Would you take responsiblity for authenticating the dogs temp? Could you place it and not have that little feeling in the pit of your stomach? How would you deal with it if it bit again? (how many times, in your opinion, can a APBT bite and it still be okay?) If it did happen could you live with contributing further to BSL? I could not.

APBT that are manbiters should be put down. It is the only responsible thing to do.

posted 10-01-2003 04:23 PM         

You are absoultey correct. Uneducated owners are to blame.

The Amstaff and the Pit bull are the same dog. One is AKC and the other is UKC.

The dog was bred for bull baiting. Catching and holding a bull for the butcher. They were also used with bear baiting. The also were used believe it or not for ratting contests. (how many rats can your dog kill in a given time) Think about how long a dog would have lasted in the dogmen's days if they went to pull off a dog and it bit them. They most defiantly would have been culled. Also when they fought them there was three men in the pit and they washed each others dogs before the match. This is all historical information and you can verify it. Biters were unacceptable.

Chaining the APBT does not make it dog agressive. Dog agressiveness is a trait that is prevailant and more often than not considered the norm. Chaining most certainly does NOT make the dog human agressive if the dog is STABLE. If not stable it should be culled.

Any bite from any pit bull (think about it it! News flash it is not a poodle biting here!) is unacceptable but I noticed you were speaking about the PITT and I don't know anything about the research available on the PITT is that the same thing as a pibble?

Biting, even once, contributes to the neg reputation of the breed and ads to BSL across the nation and uneducated owners are destroying the breed. Those who accept human biting, take their APBTs to the dog park and those who fail to acknowledge their capacity for animal agressiveness are contributors to BSL; whether they had an accident or not, it will come. Not if... but when. Please research the Pit bull if you want to own one, not the Pitt. JUST SAY NO! and don't contribute to bsl.

posted 10-02-2003 12:11 AM         

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I do not think that a dog that has bitten someone is considered an aggressive dog

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"Dangerous dog" means a dog that bites an individual who is not trespassing on the dog owner's or keeper's premises at the time of the bite or a dog that causes a reasonable and prudent person who is not on the dog owner's or keeper's premises and is acting in a reasonable and nonaggressive manner to fear imminent bodily injury by assaulting or threatening to assault that individual or individual's domestic animal. "Dangerous dog" does not include a dog certified by the State and used for law enforcement use.
For the purposes of this definition, "dog owner's or keeper's premises" means the residence or residences, including buildings and land and motor vehicles, belonging to the owner or keeper of the dog.

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If a pit bull bites someone with direct and serius provocation, then yes, the owner needs to seriously re-evaluate their situation and consider having the dog PTS. Such a dog is a danger to others, as well as a serious liability for the person in possession of them. A provoked bite is a different story, but that's not what this was.

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The way I see it is if they are an aggressive dog that is only the owners blame for not raising it correctly by interacting it with other humans and other animals.

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Another thing, it's not only dogs that "haven't been raised right" that have temperament problems, there are dogs that are born with a predisposition to unstable temperaments, and no matter how loving and "correct" of a home they are in, these dogs often end up with serious temperament problems anyway.

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Goob enlighten me. I did a lot of research when I got my first pitt I thought pitts were breed to take down Bulls in England NOT TO FIGHT Am I correct in saying that is where they originated or was that the AM STAFF?

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One school of thought is that the APBT is the original "bulldog" (before it became short, squat, and mostly unathletic), with no other breeds added in. So, by that train of thought, APBTs were used for bull/baiting, then dog fighting.

The other is that "bulldogs" were used for bull/bear baiting, then mixed with terriers, to create the APBT, which was used primarily for dog fighting.

I think that the real story lies somewhere in between, with some of the original APBTs having been "bulldogs", some having been bull & terrier mixes. That's pure unproven speculation on my part though.

No matter which account is correct, maneaters have never been well tolerated. In the bullbaiting/bearbaiting arena, dogs were caught upon their owners backs at times, and had to be "repaired" on site, so handlers didn't want dogs that would bite out of fear or pain. In dog fighting, dogs were washed by the opposing dog's handler before the match, handlers were in the ring with the dogs, and often had to break them up several times, as well as tend to any wounds afterwards... again, no room for aggression there. Fighting dogs also changed hands often, it wasn't uncommon for one to go through 3-5 homes in their life, so they had to be friendly to all, and easily adapt to new handlers.