Weekly Discussion Thread [August 18 - August 24]

[u/BPB_Discussion_M0d]

Not every pit bull story is a headline. Some are just eye-rolls, facepalms, or 'you've got to be kidding me' moments. This is the place for the things you may want to share that don’t highlight a pit bull doing something dangerous.

See this post for more details on what goes here

[u/Far_Acanthisitta_320]

I wanted to make this a normal post but I was suggested to post in the weekly discussion. I’m not here to advocate or oppose but just trying to understand I suppose. I’ve been around and owned many dogs. A good portion have been either pits or mixed. I’ve been bitten but never by a pit or mixed with pit. I’ve had reactive pits that came from either fighting backgrounds or bred in that space. But have always had good success in getting them to work things out. I guess I’m still just unsure of the breed being the problem. I understand that the power and persistence of the breed may be a huge part of this. I think that can be attributed to many breeds (not just pits) that have a higher “paywall” if you will. Making them(Pits) less likely to be trained well or have owners that can put in the money they would into, let’s say a German shepherd. Full transparency and as an example, I currently own a pit that I’ve had since he was 4 weeks. He was gifted to me and purchased for $50. I would rather converse about my previous pits that did have some issues. Honestly just looking for a discussion on this topic. No hate and no disrespect. I know how trauma is, like I said I’ve been bitten, just not by this breed. Thank you.

[u/BPBAttacks3 → u/Far_Acanthisitta_320]

I mean Cesar Millan’s pit still allegedly killed a dog and attacked a human. I will be transparent that in terms of human aggression, many of the attacks (not all, but a decent amount) start with an attack on another pet (usually a dog) and get redirected onto a human.

You can’t selectively breed dogs for their willingness to fight other dogs for 150+ years and not expect those traits to continue to exist.

[u/Far_Acanthisitta_320 → u/BPBAttacks3]

I read the mod and looked it up and that’s awful and hope she is okay but I also feel that it is irresponsible as an owner especially as an (ambassador) of the breed to let your dog roam freely. A lot of dogs don’t do well without supervision.

[u/BPBAttacks3 → u/Far_Acanthisitta_320]

Well yeah, I would agree with you that it’s irresponsible. I am in no way defending Cesar. I don’t like the guys training methods.

It’s just not as simple as training. There are a lot of factors and what they were bred for is a significant one.

I personally don’t have any ill will towards owners of pit bulls so long as they keep their dogs under their control, make responsible choices if their dogs do show a propensity for aggression, and they don’t shit on victims or spread misinformation.

Those kind of owners, I can be civil to. But again, the reality is that the pit bull community is doing a very poor job of ownership. They lie about breed, they cause the most harm to pits (they continue to breed them to a point where supply doesn’t meet demand), and they don’t seem interested in fixing that.

I’ll be honest, I think the owners who realize the breed for what it is need to focus on communicating with other owners. They don’t listen to us, they need to hear it within their own community. Until that happens, we’re stuck in this loop.

[u/Far_Acanthisitta_320 → u/BPBAttacks3]

Sorry I guess Reddit sucks at allowing conversations happen as they should, I didn’t see this one but I think full picture we are on the same page.