My neighbors are getting a rescue pit bull

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is something I would never ever never never ever do with any pit bull dog, not even one I believed I knew well. Frankly this isn’t a wise thing to do with most dogs, unless you really really really really know the dog’s temperament over a very long time. That said I do it will my border collie mix who I recently learned is part APBT, but even though she’s incredibly sweet tempered and mostly led by her border collie genes, I recognize this is a risky behavior.

It troubles me to see a photo like this attached to a story about rehabilitation of rescued previously abused pit bull fighting dogs. This pose is high risk in general (anyone know enough about canine behavior and body language to articulate why?) and it’s alarming to see it normalized with a pit bull of sketchy origin/background. Yikes.

The dog's body language doesn't look aggressive to me

Ears back on a dog means fearful submissive or fearful aggressive. Just shows how few people truly understand canine body language despite there being years of study of canine behavior and guides available that show what various indicators are. This pose of man and dog is one that leads to thousands of facial maimings and lethal attacks by dogs every single year in America alone - that is the data I’ve tracked for over a decade now. The man’s pose is dominant over and is perceived by a dog as a potential threat. It is never wise to put your face up to a dog’s face like that unless you know the dog very very very well and even then it is assuming a high risk of serious injury because all dogs are unpredictable and even good dogs can snap and bite. My point is that publicizing a photo like this is dangerous because a great many people ignorant of dog behavior and canine body language will think it’s something cute to do with dogs they know or meet - and it really isn’t. I’m sure all the overconfident self-assessed experts here will counter with arguments that I’m wrong - but as I said, I’ve studied hundreds and hundreds of dog attacks for over a decade. So I know of what I speak.

[Anonymous]

Here it is straight from a canine behavioral expert with a PhD:

How to Avoid Dog Bites to the Face
Step one: Never bend over a dog or put your face close to theirs.
BY KAREN B. LONDON, PHD
JUNE 1, 2021

A little puppy growling and baring his teeth at a larger dog.
Nicole S. Young / Stocksy
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One disadvantage of being a canine behaviorist is that many human behaviors scare me. My heart leaps into my throat when I see people performing risky behaviors like hugging and picking up dogs, sticking their faces right by a dog’s face, or bending over a dog. When I see people doing things like this, I want to shout out a warning. (I feel the same way when I’m watching a horror movie and want to yell, “Don’t go in the house!”)

I work with many clients whose dogs have bitten someone, and as I hear the stories of what happened, the same human behaviors are mentioned over and over. I’m not saying this to blame the people, but rather to help us all learn how to lower our risk of being bitten. Dog bites are a serious problem that should be avoided at all costs. Among the most distressing are bites to the face. In a study, scientists examined 132 incidents of bites to human faces that did not involve bites to any other parts of the body. The goal of the study was to determine the human behavior that preceded the bites.

Well-known risky behaviors such as bending over a dog, putting your face close to a dog’s face, and making very close eye contact with the dog occurred before many of the bites, (which is no surprise). What was a bit of a shock was the percentage of times that these no-no behaviors happened before the 132 incidents in the study.

In 76% of the bites, people bent over the dog just before the bite. In 19% of cases, a bite was preceded by people putting their faces close to the dog’s face, and in 5% of cases, gazing between dog and person at close range occurred before a bite. In no incidents was a bite to the face preceded by trimming the dog’s nails, falling on the dog, hitting the dog as punishment, stepping on the dog, pulling the dog’s hair, tugging the dog’s body, or scolding the dog.

More than 75% of the bites to the face happened to people who knew the dog. Over two-thirds of the bites were to children, and of those, 84% were to children under the age of 12. Children who were bitten were with their parents in 43% of the cases and with the dog guardian in 62% of the incidents. Sixty percent of the bites were to females, and no adults were bitten by their own dogs. More than half of the bites were to the nose and lips of the person, as opposed to the chin, cheek, forehead or eye area.

All of the dogs who bit someone in the face were adult dogs, and over two-thirds of them were male. In only 6% of the bites did people report that the dog gave a warning such as growling or performing a tooth display (aka, showing their teeth) prior to biting. (To me, this is the single most surprising finding in the study, and I think it’s quite possible that some people did not notice or failed to remember warnings from the dogs.)As the authors of the paper mention, their research is based on questionnaires that asked people about past events. As a result, there are inherent limitations to the study. Still, the findings about the frequency with which kids are bitten, the greater likelihood of male dogs biting faces than female dogs, and the finding that only adult dogs bite faces are consistent with previous research.

If you have ever been bitten in the face or seen it happen to someone else, what do you remember about the human behavior right before the bite? As this study shows, human behavior matters!

Karen B. London, Ph.D., is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and Certified Professional Dog Trainer who specializes in working with dogs with serious behavioral issues, including aggression. She writes the animal column for the Arizona Daily Sun and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She is the author of six books about canine training and behavior, including her most recent, Treat Everyone Like a Dog: How a Dog Trainer’s World View Can Improve Your Life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]The same people who get pit bulls are the same people who don’t believe in vaccinations, think Dog the Bounty hunter is real, have excessive tattoos, and used to date abusive drug addicts. [/b]They don’t get that a pitbull is genetically a ticking time bomb. I’ve known nice pit bulls, but that doesn’t mean they won’t snap in a second and rip your fking arm off.

So not true. I believe in vaccinations ( just got boosted) have zero tattoos, don't know dog the bounty hunter and never dated abusive drug addicts.

The pit lovers are more likely woke urban dwellers who believe no one, or no dog, could ever do harm if they do, it’s not their fault, it’s society’s. They have been vaxed and boosted and are sure to virtue signal every chance they get.

Yes, the pit bull lovers fit the liberal agenda more. The every dog/person is the same and they can do no harm. Lets not ban them it's not fair agenda.

I think the opposite especially as I lived in England. The people I saw with Pits were skin heads who were members of right wing parties that wanted to make the UK all white. Thinking about it, I've never seen a "minority" person with a Pit. I'm sure there must be one somewhere with a Pit but I've never met them.

Michael Vick had more than a few.

Funny you mention Michael Vick because those dogs were made to fight and yet they found that many were "failures" and didn't want to fight

Interesting story: the last of his pit bulls died but this is about all of them
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129989424

Lol. Between this comment and the “chihuahuas bite the most!” comment, it sounds like the pit bull lobby has descended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]The same people who get pit bulls are the same people who don’t believe in vaccinations, think Dog the Bounty hunter is real, have excessive tattoos, and used to date abusive drug addicts. [/b]They don’t get that a pitbull is genetically a ticking time bomb. I’ve known nice pit bulls, but that doesn’t mean they won’t snap in a second and rip your fking arm off.

So not true. I believe in vaccinations ( just got boosted) have zero tattoos, don't know dog the bounty hunter and never dated abusive drug addicts.

The pit lovers are more likely woke urban dwellers who believe no one, or no dog, could ever do harm if they do, it’s not their fault, it’s society’s. They have been vaxed and boosted and are sure to virtue signal every chance they get.

Yes, the pit bull lovers fit the liberal agenda more. The every dog/person is the same and they can do no harm. Lets not ban them it's not fair agenda.

I think the opposite especially as I lived in England. The people I saw with Pits were skin heads who were members of right wing parties that wanted to make the UK all white. Thinking about it, I've never seen a "minority" person with a Pit. I'm sure there must be one somewhere with a Pit but I've never met them.

Michael Vick had more than a few.

Funny you mention Michael Vick because those dogs were made to fight and yet they found that many were "failures" and didn't want to fight

Sorry you can't handle anyone poking holes in your viewpoint.

Interesting story: the last of his pit bulls died but this is about all of them
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129989424

Lol. Between this comment and the “chihuahuas bite the most!” comment, it sounds like the pit bull lobby has descended.

[Anonymous]

People making such judgments about Pitties automatically demonstrate how stupid they are. These were "nanny dogs" until sensational headlines and cruel people started to fight them (not in their nature and they are baited, starved, abused and taught to fight. Even then, some do not).

I've seen many pits go to loving homes and be members of the family (including in my own relatives). Ive seen dogs of ALL breeds be aggressive due to various traumas they've encountered (or to medical issues).

There is no science to back up that pits are inherently aggressive. None.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People making such judgments about Pitties automatically demonstrate how stupid they are. These were "nanny dogs" until sensational headlines and cruel people started to fight them (not in their nature and they are baited, starved, abused and taught to fight. Even then, some do not).

I've seen many pits go to loving homes and be members of the family (including in my own relatives). Ive seen dogs of ALL breeds be aggressive due to various traumas they've encountered (or to medical issues).

There is no science to back up that pits are inherently aggressive. None.

They were never bred to be nanny dogs. They were bred for bull baiting and pit fighting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People making such judgments about Pitties automatically demonstrate how stupid they are. These were "nanny dogs" until sensational headlines and cruel people started to fight them (not in their nature and they are baited, starved, abused and taught to fight. Even then, some do not).

I've seen many pits go to loving homes and be members of the family (including in my own relatives). Ive seen dogs of ALL breeds be aggressive due to various traumas they've encountered (or to medical issues).

There is no science to back up that pits are inherently aggressive. None.

Have you actually read anything about the history of pit bulls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]The same people who get pit bulls are the same people who don’t believe in vaccinations, think Dog the Bounty hunter is real, have excessive tattoos, and used to date abusive drug addicts. [/b]They don’t get that a pitbull is genetically a ticking time bomb. I’ve known nice pit bulls, but that doesn’t mean they won’t snap in a second and rip your fking arm off.

So not true. I believe in vaccinations ( just got boosted) have zero tattoos, don't know dog the bounty hunter and never dated abusive drug addicts.

The pit lovers are more likely woke urban dwellers who believe no one, or no dog, could ever do harm if they do, it’s not their fault, it’s society’s. They have been vaxed and boosted and are sure to virtue signal every chance they get.

Yes, the pit bull lovers fit the liberal agenda more. The every dog/person is the same and they can do no harm. Lets not ban them it's not fair agenda.

I think the opposite especially as I lived in England. The people I saw with Pits were skin heads who were members of right wing parties that wanted to make the UK all white. Thinking about it, I've never seen a "minority" person with a Pit. I'm sure there must be one somewhere with a Pit but I've never met them.

Michael Vick had more than a few.

Funny you mention Michael Vick because those dogs were made to fight and yet they found that many were "failures" and didn't want to fight

Interesting story: the last of his pit bulls died but this is about all of them
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129989424

I’m the PP you are quoting. It was horrendous abuse and I’m glad the dogs were rescued. I personally would never own a pit bull, but it’s not like they are evil or anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People making such judgments about Pitties automatically demonstrate how stupid they are. These were "nanny dogs" until sensational headlines and cruel people started to fight them (not in their nature and they are baited, starved, abused and taught to fight. Even then, some do not).

I've seen many pits go to loving homes and be members of the family (including in my own relatives). Ive seen dogs of ALL breeds be aggressive due to various traumas they've encountered (or to medical issues).

There is no science to back up that pits are inherently aggressive. None.

They were never bred to be nanny dogs. They were bred for bull baiting and pit fighting.

Exactly! The breed is not a nanny dog it is pit bull. Bully breeds were bred to fight bulls… it is in the breed name. And then it moved to dogfighting. It’s just the pitbull dog lobby in group that came up with this nanny dog fantasy. A lie that is repeated, is still a lie

[Anonymous]

I put my face in my dog's face all the time. Pit mix. My dog would never, ever hurt me.
YMMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I put my face in my dog's face all the time. Pit mix. My dog would never, ever hurt me.
YMMV

You do you. I have a friend who got bitten in the face by her pitbull. Up until that day, that was the “sweetest dog ever”. And then just one day, maybe the dog is in a bad mood, who knows, she was bitten in the face. She had to get plastic surgery. Just because you have been lucky so far does not mean you will always be lucky. For your sake, I hope you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People making such judgments about Pitties automatically demonstrate how stupid they are. These were "nanny dogs" until sensational headlines and cruel people started to fight them (not in their nature and they are baited, starved, abused and taught to fight. Even then, some do not).

I've seen many pits go to loving homes and be members of the family (including in my own relatives). Ive seen dogs of ALL breeds be aggressive due to various traumas they've encountered (or to medical issues).

There is no science to back up that pits are inherently aggressive. None.

They were never bred to be nanny dogs. They were bred for bull baiting and pit fighting.

dp Here is a more balanced article about pit bulls

https://nedhardy.com/2020/06/03/pitbull-nanny-dog/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is something I would never ever never never ever do with any pit bull dog, not even one I believed I knew well. Frankly this isn’t a wise thing to do with most dogs, unless you really really really really know the dog’s temperament over a very long time. That said I do it will my border collie mix who I recently learned is part APBT, but even though she’s incredibly sweet tempered and mostly led by her border collie genes, I recognize this is a risky behavior.

It troubles me to see a photo like this attached to a story about rehabilitation of rescued previously abused pit bull fighting dogs. This pose is high risk in general (anyone know enough about canine behavior and body language to articulate why?) and it’s alarming to see it normalized with a pit bull of sketchy origin/background. Yikes.

The dog's body language doesn't look aggressive to me

Ears back on a dog means fearful submissive or fearful aggressive. Just shows how few people truly understand canine body language despite there being years of study of canine behavior and guides available that show what various indicators are. This pose of man and dog is one that leads to thousands of facial maimings and lethal attacks by dogs every single year in America alone - that is the data I’ve tracked for over a decade now. The man’s pose is dominant over and is perceived by a dog as a potential threat. It is never wise to put your face up to a dog’s face like that unless you know the dog very very very well and even then it is assuming a high risk of serious injury because all dogs are unpredictable and even good dogs can snap and bite. My point is that publicizing a photo like this is dangerous because a great many people ignorant of dog behavior and canine body language will think it’s something cute to do with dogs they know or meet - and it really isn’t. I’m sure all the overconfident self-assessed experts here will counter with arguments that I’m wrong - but as I said, I’ve studied hundreds and hundreds of dog attacks for over a decade. So I know of what I speak.

I don't think this is always true. My dog does this when I pet the side of her head. No fear or agressive

[Anonymous]

I have a pitbull mix who was bitten in the eye by a pure bred beagle.

Sometimes pure bred dogs are actually more aggressive due inbreeding.

Ask your vet. They will tell you.

And educate yourself. Pits are not a breed. What kind of bully breed is it? And as someone else asked, is it a puppy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I put my face in my dog's face all the time. Pit mix. My dog would never, ever hurt me.
YMMV

You do you. I have a friend who got bitten in the face by her pitbull. Up until that day, that was the “sweetest dog ever”. And then just one day, maybe the dog is in a bad mood, who knows, she was bitten in the face. She had to get plastic surgery. Just because you have been lucky so far does not mean you will always be lucky. For your sake, I hope you are.

+1. Don’t do it with ANY dog, not just pit bulls. I would not stick my face in my dogs face, although he does it all the time.