Are pitbull mixes safer?

[Anonymous]

My 21 yr old cousin just adopted a rescue. Knowing about a former friend's relative who was mauled to death by 2 I wonder if mixes are any safer?

[Anonymous]

No dog is safe if the owner does not know how to train or handle it. It is up to the owner to let others know that their dog may not be good with strangers/other people/other dogs. I have a friend who has adopted two pitbulls and they are as sweet as can be. However, her second one is not good with dogs and she makes sure to let other around her know and steers clear of them.

I would hope that your cousin invests in some good training and learns to work with the dog and be the "alpha" so when he/she says a command, the dog listens.

[Anonymous]

Pitbulls are only "less safe" because they're so incredibly strong and can do so much damage quickly. They are not inherently more likely to bite (chiuhahas and golden retrievers bite more frequently) but when they do the harm is that much greater. They are also more likely to have unstable homes and poor training.

So look at the strength and background of an individual dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No dog is safe if the owner does not know how to train or handle it. It is up to the owner to let others know that their dog may not be good with strangers/other people/other dogs. I have a friend who has adopted two pitbulls and they are as sweet as can be. However, her second one is not good with dogs and she makes sure to let other around her know and steers clear of them.

I would hope that your cousin invests in some good training and learns to work with the dog and be the "alpha" so when he/she says a command, the dog listens.

I understand the sentiment of this statement but it simply is not true beyond the perhaps reasonable emotion behind it. Your super friendly pit bull is simply capable and probable to conduct more damage to another person than my CKCS. The dog has one thing and one thing only on its mind. Where is the nearest and warmest lap to sit on? That is it! It is not looking for food, it is not looking to play, it is not looking for something acting unpredictably. It is looking for a lap. That is it. It likes all that other stuff, but if given the choice of a dog treat and a lap, it will take the lap 100% of the time.

[Anonymous]

My Pitbull mix looks 100% Pitbull to me.The rescue said he is a mix of a , which made us feel a safer, I have to admit. They said he was part foxhound. But who knows? When he was really little, his ears looked big and we thought that is where we are going to see the Foxhound. He had not other characteristic that we could see that looked foxhound like. Well he grew into his ears and now looks literally like the dog on the wikipedia page for American Pit Bull. It could actually be a photo of him there is such a likeness.

We're not giving him back because he seems sweet and we have had him almost a year now, but I'd be disappointed if the shelter just said "pit bull mix" to get him adopted. We're afraid to do the Wisdom panel because if it shows purebred pit that could have implications on things I'm told like insurance or in places with BSL.

But is it possible the shelters are just sitting around saying, "pit-bull lab mix" or "pit bull hound mix" based on no real knowledge of the dog's background?

[Anonymous]

Look up "gameness" and know that it was bred into the pitbull breed. It is there even if a dog was raised "right" and what makes them more dangerous as a breed. It is not a pretty fact, but a fact nonetheless.


I steer clear of all of them as there are so many other breeds I would not take a chance even if you paid me.

[Anonymous]

Yep. They learned to survive by fighting bulls and biting down and staying on the horn so they couldn’t be tossed and killed on impact from the throw.

Survival of the fittest. We just don’t put them in the same ring anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Pitbull mix looks 100% Pitbull to me.The rescue said he is a mix of a , which made us feel a safer, I have to admit. They said he was part foxhound. But who knows? When he was really little, his ears looked big and we thought that is where we are going to see the Foxhound. He had not other characteristic that we could see that looked foxhound like. Well he grew into his ears and now looks literally like the dog on the wikipedia page for American Pit Bull. It could actually be a photo of him there is such a likeness.

We're not giving him back because he seems sweet and we have had him almost a year now, but I'd be disappointed if the shelter just said "pit bull mix" to get him adopted. We're afraid to do the Wisdom panel because if it shows purebred pit that could have implications on things I'm told like insurance or in places with BSL.

But is it possible the shelters are just sitting around saying, "pit-bull lab mix" or "pit bull hound mix" based on no real knowledge of the dog's background?




Yes of course it is possible that people will lie/mislead/deceive. If they’re doing that the practice seems risky from a litigation standpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No dog is safe if the owner does not know how to train or handle it. It is up to the owner to let others know that their dog may not be good with strangers/other people/other dogs. I have a friend who has adopted two pitbulls and they are as sweet as can be. However, her second one is not good with dogs and she makes sure to let other around her know and steers clear of them.

I would hope that your cousin invests in some good training and learns to work with the dog and be the "alpha" so when he/she says a command, the dog listens.

I understand the sentiment of this statement but it simply is not true beyond the perhaps reasonable emotion behind it. Your super friendly pit bull is simply capable and probable to conduct more damage to another person than my CKCS. The dog has one thing and one thing only on its mind. Where is the nearest and warmest lap to sit on? That is it! It is not looking for food, it is not looking to play, it is not looking for something acting unpredictably. It is looking for a lap. That is it. It likes all that other stuff, but if given the choice of a dog treat and a lap, it will take the lap 100% of the time.

My 80 lb pit/border collie mix is also looking for the warmest lap too, lol.

The only thing "scary" about him is watching him play with pits or pit mixes. He tries his best to be gentle and not too rough when playing with other dogs. But with pits, there is no restraint from either dogs. It's full on, unrestrained, crazy, insane doggy playtime. And you can really see how powerful and strong they are.

Of course, this is not our first dog. He's not the alpha. He's had training. And we know how to handle him (and pretty much any other dog).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Pitbull mix looks 100% Pitbull to me.The rescue said he is a mix of a , which made us feel a safer, I have to admit. They said he was part foxhound. But who knows? When he was really little, his ears looked big and we thought that is where we are going to see the Foxhound. He had not other characteristic that we could see that looked foxhound like. Well he grew into his ears and now looks literally like the dog on the wikipedia page for American Pit Bull. It could actually be a photo of him there is such a likeness.

We're not giving him back because he seems sweet and we have had him almost a year now, but I'd be disappointed if the shelter just said "pit bull mix" to get him adopted. We're afraid to do the Wisdom panel because if it shows purebred pit that could have implications on things I'm told like insurance or in places with BSL.

But is it possible the shelters are just sitting around saying, "pit-bull lab mix" or "pit bull hound mix" based on no real knowledge of the dog's background?

Most of the time shelters do not actually know the lineage of the dogs that come in. They will either go with what the surrendering individual told them or take their best guess based on appearance. They aren't going to know and cannot be expected to know with any certainty what the breed makeup of an available puppy is.

[Anonymous]

People will come out of the wood work here to defend pit bulls but the reality is they were bred for certain traits and they all have the potential to be unsafe. I too know someone who was mauled by one, no warning and they did nothing to provoke it. I wouldn't let one of those murder machines into my home if you paid me and I don't let me kid get near them either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People will come out of the wood work here to defend pit bulls but the reality is they were bred for certain traits and they all have the potential to be unsafe. I too know someone who was mauled by one, no warning and they did nothing to provoke it. I wouldn't let one of those murder machines into my home if you paid me and I don't let me kid get near them either.

what traits? Other than being muscular dogs I don’t think they have other traits that other dogs don’t have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People will come out of the wood work here to defend pit bulls but the reality is they were bred for certain traits and they all have the potential to be unsafe. I too know someone who was mauled by one, no warning and they did nothing to provoke it. I wouldn't let one of those murder machines into my home if you paid me and I don't let me kid get near them either.

what traits? Other than being muscular dogs I don’t think they have other traits that other dogs don’t have.

Pointers were bred to point, border collies were bred to herd, and retrievers were bred to retrieve. You can try all you want, but you aren't going to teach an English Setter to herd sheep better than a border collie. Pitbulls were bred to fight and enjoy it. They are bred for "gameness", to bite, not let go, and enjoy it. They were bred to not give the traditional signs of escalating aggression, (a snarl, a growl, an airsnap), and to jump right to the bite, hold, and shake. There is often no clear warning when a pitbull is about to attack, when compared to normal dog behavior. That's why, during a pitbull attack, people can beat a pitbull with a baseball ball ( https://nypost.com/2019/10/02/bronx-man-says-he-hit-pit-bull-with-baseball-bat-20-times-to-stop-attack-on-4-year-old/ ), hit it over the head with the leg from a wheelchair ( https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/09/02/dog-owner-recounts-attack-that-killed-his-mom-and-sent-him-to-hospital/ ) or the cops can show up in the middle of a mauling and taze a pitbull ( https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/outreach/back-to-school/arkansas-man-mauled-to-death-by-pack-of-pit-bulls-authorities-say/527-5a6ffda1-626e-4be9-9c60-e6be6ab056db ), and the dog will continue to fight and try to kill. Goldens love to retrieve, and a biting pitbull is in its element. Pictures of pitbulls in flower crowns or tutus do not negate that these are dangerous animals. Any animal can bite, but no one compares a mosquito bite to a shark bite. Other dogs can bite, but a vast majority of maiming and fatal dog attacks are from pitbulls and their mixes.

[Anonymous]

Meanest dog I ever fostered was a tiny chihuahua. Pit bull, one of the sweetest.

All dogs are individuals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meanest dog I ever fostered was a tiny chihuahua. Pit bull, one of the sweetest.

All dogs are individuals.

This is an utterly ridiculous statement that ignores science and thousands of years of specialized breeding and human intervention in dog breed development. You will never breed two poodles and end up with a great dane, or have a pug that can compete with a sheltie in agility. Humans created dog breeds for a reason, and have been able to reliably predict the behaviors of most dog breeds.