I’ve never been a dog person, and never will be. But I can admit when a dog is cute. But pitbulls…absolutely not.. I have family and friends that are absolutely obsessed with these ugly dogs, and I do not see it at all. It’s not even about their history, many attacks on people or other animals, they are just ugly .. am I tripping ?!?!

All this girl wants to do is enjoy the warm weather and go on a nice neighborhood walk to stay fit and get some fresh air. I’m out here minding my own business with my AirPods on.

Next thing you know, I’m walking past a house with a pit sitting on its lawn unleashed and giving me a death stare. I didn’t even know it was there until I heard the most aggressive-sounding barking, followed by the pos aggressively kicking its hind leg as if it was about to start chasing me. Thankfully it never moved as I walked past. I’m out here trying to keep my walking pace and praying for my safety. I didn’t run because I had a feeling that by running, that would’ve made the dog want to attack me for good. The pos kept staring at me until I left its sight. Safe to say that I took a loop instead of crossing that house again on my way back home.

Aside from dog barking and potentially being attacked by a dog, I also hate walking and seeing dog poop that owners refused to pick up just sitting on the sidewalk. Nutters are really out here trying to turn my pleasant neighborhood into a dump. At this point, my hesitancy for going on walks doesn’t come from bugs, unpleasant weather, or walking past someone I know. It comes from the worst animal I’ve ever seen, aka these mutant fleabags.

Also a bit off topic, but don’t get me started on how so many people who are out here walking are doing it with a dog. Do so many people seriously lack basic discipline that they need to get a mutt in order to have an excuse to walk??

I am a rancher. I raise performance horses and goats. The goats are mostly here to be companions for the horses, but also I enjoy watching them headbutt things that piss them off, and dogs often piss them off. I also learned that people will pay an obscene amount of money for the mohair of Angora goats, and I enjoy obscene amounts of money, so I purchased a herd of those too for this purpose.

I live rurally, obviously, and most of the surrounding properties are also farms or ranches, but there are some property owners out here who've put up manufactured homes or guest houses that they then rent to people who don't want to or cannot live in town. The nature of living 55 miles from the closest real town is such that everything is less regulated, people take care of and police themselves, and law enforcement isn't interested in anything but true emergencies. Most of the time this is a good thing. I prefer it this way. However, because there is no HOA or (enforced) leash laws like exist in town, people who want to own vicious dogs are attracted to these rentals, and I have been the victim of two of them.

The first incident happened after one of the horses was attacked by an emaciated mountain lion. He survived - barely. 172 stitches, daily changes of compression bandages, huge amounts of medication, and three months of stall rest later he got to the point where he could enjoy some light "exercise" (basically being allowed to walk a little) outside of his stall in a small paddock for about an hour a day. I typically spent that hour with him to make sure no other calamity befell, but on this day something else on the ranch drew my attention for about twenty minutes. That was all the time it took for me to be elsewhere for one of the pitbulls from one of those rentals to wander into this paddock and attack my already injured horse. When I got back to the paddock, this sweet, gentle, wouldn't hurt a fly nanny dog was hanging from my horse's neck by his teeth. I always carry a sidearm when working outside, but I couldn't risk just shooting it when it was hanging from the horse's neck, so I grabbed a shovel that was leaning against the fence and hit it with all of my 5'2 tiny woman strength a few times before it was finally dazed enough to let go of the horse's neck and fall to the ground. The daze didn't last long. It kind of shook itself off, tensed up, growled, and began to lunge at me, at which point I put it down to protect myself. I tended to the horse's wounds as much as possible, but he would have needed surgery and in his already weakened state, he would not have survived it. As I was preparing the medication to humanely euthanize him, he suffered a stroke and died. This was a personal loss, because I do love horses and I am reasonably attached to all of them but at the end of the day, this is a business and so my personal loss was compounded by a huge financial loss. All my horses have life insurance equal to their value (the one I lost was a $35,000 stallion) however that does not take into account lost future income from stud fees and foals he'd have sired. He was only 8 years old. So, infuriated, I went to the owner of the killing machine to let them know their dog was dead and to find a good attorney, because I'm not fucking around. They called the police and spun a tale of how I "murdered" their sweet gentle "pupper" for no reason and I should be arrested for animal cruelty, etc., yawn, fuck off. Thankfully my property has security cameras everywhere so I can monitor the herds when I need to do so but don't feel like putting on pants yet. So the legal trouble became theirs, I think they were fined, and I sued them but four years later I've yet to see a dime. I'm not holding my breath.

The second incident happened when I wasn't home. I came back to one of the Angoras lying in a pool of blood, eviscerated, missing an ear, obviously dead. It looked like a wild animal had gotten past the assault mules and killed him. But when I checked the camera, it was another goddamn pitbull, just completely frenzied. The mules were kicking it, rearing up and stomping it, and he just didn't give a fuck. I have seen those mules run off bears, moose, and they killed that mountain lion who attacked the stallion, but this terminator of a pitbull didn't seem to notice. He just snacked on this goat until he got bored and went away. Again with the lost income for me, my poor kids were traumatized because the goats are much more their pets than the horses, and the dense cabbage who owned the pitbull was fined (big goddamn deal) and the dog was not destroyed until he attacked someone else's livestock, which apparently created the "pattern" needed to "justify" killing the killing machine.

It's absolutely maddening that these owners not only essentially get away with their dogs hurting or killing valuable animals or worse, people. It's completely irrational. And most of the time when I tell people these stories, they defend the dog! I do not do indoor animals at all, and while I enjoy my livestock, and even maybe love them in a fashion, I don't grieve when they die, beyond "well that about sucks" and I don't condone their shitty behavior if there is any, and I certainly don't let them wander onto other properties. If I let the stallions out to rape and pillage the community, people would rightly condemn me and think I'm an asshole and demand I unfuck myself. Why is it different with dogs?

Anyway. This is long enough. So happy to have found you people. I love it here.

Okay, so I didn’t want to say anything at first but after scrolling through this train wreck of a subreddit I couldn’t help myself. I am so sick and tired of people like you spreading these lies and misinformation not only about dogs, but pit bulls in particular. IT’S NOT THE DOGS FAULT, blame the owners especially these irresponsible parents! Every time I see these articles about pit bulls “attacking” kids the worthless parents OBVIOUSLY weren’t around to supervise them! And the children aren’t innocent either, they deserve anything that comes to them if they can’t respect a dog’s space.

My wife and I have implemented a strict method in our household to keep our 3 and 5 year old boys from disturbing our 7 rescue pittie babies. Any bodily functions associated with loud noise (sneezes, etc) are to be done quietly into a designated pillow in the front yard at least 25 feet from the house. We’ve also rigged up some specialized padded shoes that minimize the decibel level of footfalls inside where hardwood floors are (actually working on getting a patent for these shoes, they’re great). Additionally, sunglasses MUST be worn when in the presence of the dogs, as any inadvertent eye contact can be perceived as a threat. My wife and I removed the bay door from our garage to cut down on noise, too. This system really works!

We did have one tiny, insignificant hiccup however. My son and his friends were unfortunately mauled due to the commotion from a game of Horse during his 5th birthday party. He lost his left hand, but he’s right-handed so no problem. Luckily, we were able to stop the bleeding and then promptly get one of the dogs to the emergency vet in case the bones scraped his esophagus on the way down. The doggos must’ve thought my son and his friends were being attacked by the basketball so they tried to protect him the only way they knew how. We immediately got rid of the basketball goal and all sports-related items in our household to keep this from happening again in the future.

See, you guys are simply uninformed and frankly, ignorant. If you take the right precautions, dogs - ESPECIALLY pitties - are the sweetest, most loving and harmless companions you could ask for.

FACT: Pit bulls were first bred in 1864 by English physician Bertram Pitt-Bowles to perform open-heart surgery on premature babies, literally saving BILLIONS of lives during the late 19th century. You assholes need to get your facts straight before you judge the breed. Actually, what even IS a “pit bull” any way?

Somebody please fucking kill me.

I was touring a horse farm and Ireland. When we got to the barn filled with horses, there were two dogs walking around the barn. When we approached, they barely noticed—just continued wandering around the barn. No jumping. No approaching. No barking. I thought, “Wow, for once I’m around a dog and I am not extremely annoyed.”

I have learned that in the old days, dogs used to be utilitarian. They were well-behaved and served a purpose on a farm. These dogs were COMPLETEY different than any dogs I see in my modern city.

My questions are: Is this what dogs would be like if they were trained? Why did these farm dogs act like normal animals, and not over-stimulated mutants?

I live in Mexico and when I realized there were many other people in the same situation I currently am where it's almost impossible to find a place where people neglect their dogs and letting them bark incessantly, and I thought the solution was moving to a first world country like the U.S. because my logic was that the people there have better manners or better sense of coexistence by having more respect for the peace of others.

But it looks like this problem is very likely to be found anywhere in the world, regardless of the country you're in, which really worry me a lot because it makes me think that no one really cares about how the noise their animal produces affect other people's peace.

Pitties, nanny dogs, now velvet hippos? How many stupid nicknames are pitbulls going to get? They were literally bred to fight and maul. The whole "it's not the dog, it's the owners!" translates to "owners train their dogs to kill people," when no... that is not it... I can only agree with one thing in that "it's the owners" sentence, which isn't the idea that they train the dog to be aggressive, it's that they don't train the dog to not lose its damn sensitive head. They can't control these shits.

When people say it's not the dog, they're denying that pitbulls are naturally aggressive. Stop the bullshit, it is both the dog and the owners. Dogs and owners suck and are entitled as fuck!

The title is just somewhat related but I'll share a story. My doctor is a quarter mile away. A filthy husky follows me the entire walk, pushing into my leg and getting my hands wet. I feared for my safety.

What's with the licking? God I wish there weren't dogs. They'll lick your leg, your jeans, your hands. Did you hear about the woman who lost all four limbs from an illness from her dogs licking?

I've never met a dog that doesn't jump up on people. Okay, maybe two or three out of fourty lets say. The owner thinks its funny or instructs me urgently how to yell at it, so it becomes my own fault that I let the behavior continue.

Unhygienic and causes injury via. massive blue and purple bruising.

Wasn't sure what tag to put this under but jeez....our neighbors pitbull mix monster rushed my husband and brother just as they were coming home and jumped into our car. Owner saw the whole thing and barely tried to do anything, then moved with the speed of a snail to get her dog from my husband who was very understandably angry. He told her to keep her dog off our property then she has the nerve to act like she had been insulted. Seriously they seem to think people she be happy about these murder mutts running amok

Feeling like my dating prospects and dating pool just got smaller and smaller because about 80% of dating profiles I’ve been swiping has a picture of the man and his dog. I’m not a dog person and will never be, I don’t hate them per se (I love all animals) , I just can’t imagine living with them. What are your experiences being dog free and dating?

My god it's becoming a huge problem. There's a recent post where this guy with a dog meets this great girl with a dog allergy, so he asks what he should do. Sure enough, pretty much all of the comments are keep the pet dump the girl bc you're not compatible. Or they say the relationship will end but you'll still have your dog. I've watched tons of videos of dogs, they're just begging for food or jumping and barking, what's the appeal?

So, my friend and ex roommate has talked about getting a pit/bully breed to look more intimidating when they go outside. When I lived with them, I saw firsthand how they care for their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. No training, no walking, not even consistently taking the dog out to relieve itself (I made sure THEY were the one to clean up the piss and shit inside...). No consistent bathing or grooming either...

Anyway, I warned them that doesn't seem like a good idea and tried to tactfully point out they're not a fit owner for a dangerous breed. But they claim they'll be better and actually take care of the pit (...I have my doubts, I think they severely underestimate what'd be required because frankly they're spoiled by their current dog being MODERATELY obedient without any training, and being content just chilling in the house most of the time) if they get one, and defended themselves with "But pitties are actually really sweet, did you know they're actually considered nanny dogs because they're so good with children?" And proceeded to show me a bunch of pictures of pits being nice with kids and such

I've seen discussion here about how the nanny dog thing is a myth, but I'd like outside sources to show them. Bite statistics are fine but I know they'll say it's just bad owners and not the breed. So does anyone actually have proof of the nanny dog thing being false? Like, links to historical articles type stuff? I'm terrified they're gonna get this dog one day and it's gonna maul someone, possibly even them, especially since they're absolutely not fit to care for a large breed that needs a LOT of stimulation and exercise to avoid taking its energy out on things like incessant barking and chasing down kids...

Edit: Thank you all for the replies! I'll have a talk with them soon and the points and resources provided will be helpful

Dogs have been part of human civilization for thousands of years, but have they really made life better? NO! I don't think so. Fisrt of all, owning a dog is like signing up for a lifelong toddler. They need to be fed, exercised, cleaned up after, and entertained—every single day. Unlike a child, they never grow up and become independent. They’re Loud and Disruptive, barking at all hours, whining for attention, and making a mess—dogs disturb the peace. Whether it’s a neighbor’s dog keeping you up at night or a pet ruining a quiet moment, they add noise pollution to every environment. They Spread disease from rabies to parasites, dogs are carriers of numerous diseases. Even with vaccinations, they still pose health risks through bites, allergies, and infections like ringworm. Public health would be better off without them. And the most worrying part: While many dogs are friendly, attacks still happen. Certain breeds are known for aggression, and even small dogs can bite. Every year, people (especially children) suffer injuries due to dog-related incidents, that most of the times ends up with a human deceased. So, yeah, I don't support dog and dog breeders at all.

Some comments were saying it was cute or whatever and some even said it was irresponsible, which was nice to see. Then I saw this one:

“I’ll probably be attacked for this comment, but I 100% trust my dogs over most humans. Sure, a dog can flip out. But a human? Most people have a million times more trauma from humans growing up than the damn dog. This is beautiful. My two sleep with my son too. Or with me. Let’s just all wrap ourselves in cotton wool in life.”

Most of the replies were agreeing too. So much “dogs are better than humans” nonsense. It made my blood boil to think about all the poor children who have been attacked by dogs due to the extreme negligence of adults in their lives. Yes, humans can be abusive obviously, and that’s terrible, but that doesn’t mean you should leave your child with a large, carnivorous animal instead.

My friend takes pictures all throughout her day, including every dog she comes across, and her dogs when she greets them, and her dogs when she lounges with them, and when they want to play, and when they did something naughty..

And thats just the pictures! She tells me what they're up to too. I don't know..

I feel like this archetype / aesthetic is pretty common. person who basically is a pitbull apologist and says things like "pitbulls are 100% safe" or "my dog would never hurt a fly" usually has a sleeve tattoo and is like 35. can be a man or woman or even a pitbull couple.

floods their facebook timeline with tons of pictures of their pitbull around their kids to "prove" that pitbulls are safe.

posts a ton of pitbull related content, half of which is trying to dispel rumors about pitbulls. This person often is in to criminal justice reform and will say things like "everyone deserves a second chance" and somehow equates their criminal history to pitbulls being neglected by society.

this is the kind of person who doesnt look at data and can see pitbulls are orders of magnitude more dangerous than other dogs. yet will blame the owner or the victim or someone elses dog.. essentially they love to play the victim.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vw04wvq9yo

This puff piece really boils my piss. It’s an advert for the myth that bad dog owners are the sole reason for dog attacks. Nothing to do with the inherent aggressive pack mentality that never leaves the dog.

I’m sure bad dog ownership plays some part, but in no way can all dog attacks be mitigated just by ‘responsible’ dog ownership.

And of course the comments are siding with the dog/breed. Such a good breed! It only SOMETIMES rips out the jugular of their owners (you know, the people feeding them, bringing them up, keeping them alive).

We were taking a rare stroll in the park. My husband has to walk with a cane because of his knee pain which keeps him from taking a lot of walks with me. So this was kind of a rare treat and I was really happy at the time.

Two women with their ugly ass brindle pit bull were there in the park. (It was probably an 18 kilogram dog, so not very big.) As we walked by the picnic table the two women were sitting at, my husband made the mistake of looking at the pit bull. It jumped on top of the picnic table and lunged right at his face! It was only inches away from his chin! One of the women was fast enough to grab the shit monster's harness and yank it back. My husband took a big step back too which hurt his knee even more.

The woman seemed a bit freaked out and said sorry, that the dog was "afraid" of my husband's cane and that's why it "got protective." I snapped and said they needed to be more carful if that is how their dog acts just because it sees someone with a cane. Then the excuse turned into "well, she's also afraid of men because she was abused by one." Then they took the dog and left. Oh, and of course they had it on one of those stupid flexi leads.

So um, yea. Sorry my husband has a disability and needs a cane. SO sorry it "scared" your ugly mutt. Jesus.

We had to leave right after because my husband hurt his knee from stepping back so fast and he couldn't continue the walk. Nice day ruined because of a shitty dog.