Breed specific bans - Page 3

1. How old are you? 54

2. Have you ever owned a dog ? Many, from retreivers, toy dogs, to GSDs

3. Have you ever owned a pit bull ? No, would not have one.

4. Do you think banning pit bulls will decrease the number of attacks on people by dogs?  Unfortunately yes,  The statistics say that 31% of fatal attacks are from "pit type" dogs.

5. Do you think pitbulls are inately vicious toward humans? No, I think they have much higher prey drives and tenacity

6. Do you think a pitbull is too strong willed for the average person to control?  Not physically,

7. Do you think pitbulls are to physically strong for the average a) female   b) males   to control? A

8. Do you think it would be more fair to the public to instate requirements for pitbull ownership? No, it would be a huge burden on enforcement and cost to the public.

I think that laws to make ALL dog owners take more responsibility for their animals make more sense.  Such as new law in Vriginia that allows manslaughter prosecution of dog owners whose dogs are involved in fatal attack.

1. How old are you? 35

2. Have you ever owned a dog ? Yes; labs, GSDs, rottie, chow, jack russells.

3. Have you ever owned a pit bull ? No, but I've spent time with them and wouldn't mind one.

4. Do you think banning pit bulls will decrease the number of attacks on people by dogs? No... sooner or later a new "macho bad-boy breed" would emerge -- And are we talking about specifically banning the American Pit Bull Terrier; or dogs that resemble "pitbulls", like AmStaffs, American Bulldogs, Bullmastiffs, Boxers, etc?

5. Do you think pitbulls are inately vicious toward humans? No. High prey drive and children can look like prey, but this is true of any drivey breed.

6. Do you think a pitbull is too strong willed for the average person to control? No; not at all. Chows are far stronger-willed.

7. Do you think pitbulls are to physically strong for the average a) female   b) males   to control? No... but all dogs should be well-trained and it should never get into a contest of physical stregth between owner and dog.

8. Do you think it would be more fair to the public to instate requirements for pitbull ownership? They could never enforce it and it would be impossible to standardize; back to the question of: requirements for the American Pit Bull Terrier or all breeds resembling pitbulls.

1. How old are you? 32

2. Have you ever owned a dog ? Yes, many

3. Have you ever owned a pit bull ? No, but I have family and friends who have / do

4. Do you think banning pit bulls will decrease the number of attacks on people by dogs? No, people partake in illegal activiteis all of the time. Why would drug taker or dealers care if they had an illegal dog when they do illegal things daily?

5. Do you think pitbulls are inately vicious toward humans? No, they have been bred to NOT bite people for many generations. Name another breed bred to NOT bite humans? 

6. Do you think a pitbull is too strong willed for the average person to control? Not at all. I wouldn't even think a pit to be a harder dog to live or train with. I would rate Dalmatians and Huskies harder to control.

7. Do you think pitbulls are to physically strong for the average a) female   b) males   to control? No, actual PITBULLS should be about 35-45lbs.  Much easier to handle than my 84lbs GSD.

8. Do you think it would be more fair to the public to instate requirements for pitbull ownership? No, fair would be to instate requirments for ALL dog ownership. Owners who don't understand dogs shouldn't have a collie/cocker/poodle or a pit.

1. that's classified

2.many

3.no

4.no, there will always be good and bad in all breeds

5.I don't know

6.not necessarily. I think any dog will run over a weak handler

7.no, again, it's more about good training and good handling, not gender

8.no, I think the state or governing body should stay out of it

watsongsd,
You always amaze me. You are beyond your years.  I hope you continue to pursue your goals and don't  spend much of your life wishing you had not screwed up the first part as some of us have.

To answer your thoughtful questions:

1. Age   Rivaling Methusala ( S.P.)

2. Yes,   many, mostly working breeds

3.  I had a pit bull once for a brief period of time.

4.  In one respect yes. If you take any dog out of circulation the yearly bites will go down obviously. This is with any breed.
      However I think the percentage of dog bites will remain close to what it is as irrespnsible people will still own dogs of     
     unsound temperaments that will take the pits place.

5.  Pitbulls in the true sense of the breed are loving dogs towards people, children and even other dogs of a non-fighting 
     breed. Pits from old stock, dogs bred responsibly and raised responsibly can actually be the ideal pet.  Lots of energy and physically equiped to deal with childrens antics.

 6. No, not a healthy Pit. There are many, many breeds that are far more strong willed then pits. Keep in mind we are 
     talking about healthy dogs, not unhealthy ones. This is the only fair way to evaluate a breed. Otherwise you will need to 
      throw out most breeds.  As far as strong willed goes, some breeds such as a Rott are strong willed and this is what
      breed for.  But not Pits.

  7.  Again, if you are talking about the average healthy minded Pit the answer is no. These dogs are no harder to control
       then any breed, maybe even easier as they love people and love to please, so you do not have the constant power
       struggle going on.

8.   Your last question is a hard one to answer.  We have no legislation on Pits or other dogs in this country that I know of
       and part of me says " NO".  Too much Government.  However it would sure be nice to see some type of responsible
       ownership and breeding practices implemented.  Perhaps if the parent organization ( can't remember their name off
       hand) would simply refuse to recognize breedings that were distructive to the breed. I have no answers on that though.
     
       watsongsd,  good luck on your paper and keep at it.  Best regards, Olskoolgsds

Thanks for all the information. Most of the people I interviewed think pit bulls are only as vicious as their owners train them to be, amazing. It is true that people have fighting dogs, but, in the Bahamas at least,  not many people fight their dogs. They are so busy breeding for the huge heads and pretty colors, and paying the big bucks for eukanuba ( royal canin is a joke here, no one knows what it is) to beef the dogs up that they are afraid to let even take the dogs for walks for fear they will be stolen. Next door there is a yard of pitts, and surprisingly one was stolen. I think another good place to post this would be a site for the mothers of young children.

watsongsd,
I did not read the posts you recieved but I would like to coment on something you mentioned " most of the people I interviewed think pit bulls are only as vicious as their owners train them to be, amazing".

I would encourage you to study genetics and breeding practices. This is an area that IMO we are sorely lacking in, in regards to dogs. This does not pertain to those on this board as much as the average John Doe citizen.  If you go out and interview 100 people on the street 99 % of them will say just what you stated above.  Animal cops, and all of the other folks that do not understand breeding all fall back on this line of reasoning.

Too many bad dogs are blamed on the owners, this is epidemic thinking in the U.S. for sure.  I am not saying that upbringing, socializing or lack of, and encouraging them or training them to be vicious will not have any effect of them but it will have far less effect on them then byb that have been breeding unsound dogs for generations now.  In many subcultures it is very popular to have an aggressive pit bull.  These dogs are bred to other aggressive ( unsound by breed standards) dogs and you end up with lots of unsound dogs being bred to more unsound dogs. This is what happens to any breed that reaches popularity in the U.S. The only difference is that pit bulls are being bred strickly for aggression by macho young men that have no idea of what they are doing.  Any breed can be ruined by poor breeding practices and it has happened to the gsd, the Rott, the Collie, Boxer etc. 
You are a bright young man that has a bright future in front of you. So please look at things with your eyes open and consider who you are interviewing when you come up with opinions.  The last people to ask are those that only know what they see on T.V. and asume it can't possibly be the dogs fault so it must be in the way they are raised.

If you have a healthy sound dog you would have to go along ways to make him turn into a killer, and most don't have a clue how to do that if they wanted to.  If you take a dog that is unsound, has serious aggression issues or is untrusting of people there is little you can do to make him sound and compatible for family life. Hope this helps.

Firstly thanks for the complement. I forgot to say that in the last post, I got a bit carried away.

Secondly,

Firstly thanks for the complement. I forgot to say that in the last post, I got a bit carried away.

Secondly, I didn't think about it like that, but it does make sense. I guess this is why a breeding dog should have a BH, or CGC at the bear minimum.

4 pack - just curious as to what you mean they should be 35-45#'s?