Owners Code of Ethics

No. I think that if a person has an aggressive dog they should not be allowed in the dog park. In my dog park most attacks are by bully's

 

I just wanted to say thank you for all the great information, I am truly learning a lot from this website. I am a 22 year old young woman. Jane is my first Pit Bull iv owned, personally. I have been needing to read different articles to help me out with the whole picture. This article along with all the others that I read are so helpful. so thanks for the post. I truly enjoyed making my own personal check list of what im going to do, and what im not going to do. Thanks again for this! xoxo Julie&Jane

 

I can't believe the code of ethics says nothing about socialization and training at a young age. I have just rescued an 8 weeks old Pit that was tossed out if a car. Chloe is a good health now and I will be keeping her. I also have a Chihuahua and an American Eskimo. Since day one, she has met numerous other dogs, My children as well as many other people. I have never had a pit before, but I have extensive experience with dobermans. It's all about socialization at an early age. I do still have concerns about DA and I'll be watching closely, but not to sound like a broken record, it's all in how they are raised. Well, that my opinion.


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"It's all how you raise them" is an unfortunate myth that ignores both breed temperament and canine instinct as a whole.

No amount of socialization, training or proper rearing is going to make an American Pit Bull Terrier less of one or a dog less of a dog. A well raised Jack Russel should still not be trusted around small animals, a well raised Greyhound should still not be expected to not want to chase rabbits, and a well raised APBT should still not be expected to be unsupervised around other dogs without the possibility of serious consequence and a responsible owner is expected to understand this. The amount of times I've had to deal with people frustrated with their dogs because "they raised them right, so why are they acting like this" is so ridiculously common that it's infuriating, and made even moreso because most of the dogs' supposed issues were thing that aren't good ideas for the breeds anyway.

While socialization and training are important, how you raise a dog is only one part of what makes up a dog's behavior. How a dog is bred and what breed it is are also huge factors into how it acts that should not be overshadowed or ignored. No amount of well intentioned rearing will ever make a pit bull 100% trustworthy around dogs and small animals, especially unsupervised, and a responsible owner knows that, hence no dogparks and such.

In short, it's not all in how they're raised. It's how they're managed

 

Agreed. I like that you share many sides to a complex understanding of dogs too many people simplify things!!

 

I just adopted my first dog, as an adult, last month. I didn't adopt her according to breed or looks. I adopted her because of her personality and temperment. My kids went with me and met a couple of dogs and Flora was the calmest and sweetest pooch we met. I knew, when I agreed to adopt her, that she was a pit bull/mix. I understood that she very well could have dog/small animal aggression. I've been very cautious of her around other dogs and have had no problems as of yet. The worst that has happened is that a small ankle biter ran up and was jumping in her face, so Flora got over her and squished her under her chest. I still took it seriously and made sure to get Flora out of the situation quickly and calmly. The biggest problem that I've had is that I have a 14 year old cat that is highly territorial and keeps growling and attacking the dog. But even that has worked itself out.

What I don't understand is that, if I can go in blind and ignorant of the breed, not really knowing much about it at all, and still have the common sense to treat the dog like a dog and expect it to behave.....then why is it that other people are having such issues?

I did begin researching Pit bulls and Pit Bull mixes as soon as I adopted her. Why aren't other people researching how to raise their pooches?

It's not a right, to own a dog. It's a responsibility. If you can't be bothered to learn about your pet and invest time and effort into it, then why have one?

Buy a stuffed animal instead. D:<

 

Remarkable Post. Finally.
Anybody that has Pitbull dog will quickly learn how sensitive other people and other dog owners are to this breed.
I have always looked at it as an opportunity to promote the breed by not showing off, always waving first to other dog owners to show awareness and safety, secure my dog at all times (I even use 2' collars just in case),
I make the first effort to cross the street if we are on the same side of the sidewalk, not wearing any threatening clothes while walking with the dog that may put the dog in a bad light; it's really all the little and big things as we owners do that can either help or hurt the breed. People need to realize that owning an APBT is a ton of responsibility...it starts with the owner.

 

Great post!

A few times when I have been asked for my advise in situations and made any suggestions of the above, people looked at me and said they think I take this dog breed thing too seriously. I would smile and reply, "well if you are asking me, I don't think you take this dog breed thing seriously enough! "

 

permission to cross post?

 

Yes, but put a link to the forum.

 

This post is a good example of why I joined this chat after adopting.

 

Borrow my dog.

 

About that attack situation mentioned above, there's nothing TO do unless there is damage done. You can argue, but there are no legal actions that can be taken without proof, which would be an injury of some sorts.

I recently witnessed two Great Danes grab onto a Shih Tzu and nearly started pulling against each other using the small dog as a tug toy, luckily they dropped the dog when the owner started hitting them (which won't happen with a lot of Bullies, as they are too focused on their target). This was the second time I had seen this lady's dogs attack another dog, first time she came in with four Danes and she couldn't even handle ONE on leash, she was clearly being physically over powered by these dogs. I don't believe it's ever a good idea to bring that many dogs to a park, no matter the breed. It was the same story with the first dog, two of her Danes grabbed a Golden by the throat. Both the Golden and the Shih Tzu had some bleeding but no serious injuries, the cops were called the second time but because the dog didn't seem to need medical care and the park says "enter at your own risk" there was nothing illegal about what happened. A few of us tried to talk to the Dane owner, I had said that I didn't think she had bad dogs but that she can't handle them and some dogs just aren't good park dogs. I told her this was the second time I had seen it happen, she tried to deny it then said "yeah but I gave that dog's owner my number". I talked to a few regulars a couple days later and they too had seen incidents with these dogs.

Some people FORCE ignorance on dog aggression because they see it as a trait that makes a BAD DOG, there was nothing anyone could say to convince this woman her dogs were too much for the park because she was trying to tell herself she had good dogs (and maybe she did) and admitting her dogs shouldn't be there was against her perception of a good dog.

What do I do to keep my dog safe? I observe every dog entering the park, always put my dog at my side when they come through the gates and I see how they interact with other dogs before letting my dog approach. If I see a (potentially) dangerous dog and the owner does not leave with the dog, I leave. If I see a dog enter I had previously seen cause an incident, I leave. Winning an argument with an ignorant owner is not as important as keeping your dogs safe.

 

Thanks but I think pitbulls should still not be allowed in the park especially when there are many children. It's better to be on the safe side no matter how good your dog is.

 

All your credibility is lost when you imply a Pit Bull may be more dangerous with kids than other breeds. One even remotely educated on the breed knows otherwise.

 

Item 3: It is not recommended that a human-aggressive Pit bull be kept by owners with children, and under no circumstances shall the human-aggressive Pit Bull be bred, or given away, sold, or adopted into another home unless the adoptive home is a Pit Bull-experienced home that fully recognizes and can manage the human-aggressive Pit Bull.

Human aggression = euthanasia.