Anonymous wrote:I am so angry and annoyed. My young kids are very good friends with their young kids. There aren't too many kids in our neighborhood so this family was their main playdate. Now I won't allow my children to go over to their house and I'll have to be hypervigilant anytime we're outside in our own yard. They have a busted fence which I doubt they'll fix first and I can absolutely see their dog getting loose often.

What compels people with young children to make such stupid decisions?

That's great for them. They're awesome dogs.

And, you should be "hypervigilant" anytime your kids are around dogs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it hurt from clutching your pearls so hard? Dogs are only as bad as their owners…as are children. I don’t think the neighbors will be losing much by losing you as “friends”.

Typical crap from dangerous dog owners. This is not true but keep telling yourself that.

There's a lot of truth in this statement and guess what? A lot of owners are utterly crappy owners. Yes, I mean you, person who allows your dog to charge and jump on other people and dogs or often -- oops! -- allows your dog to escape and roam around or to run around off leash and jump on people because "he's friendly".

Anonymous wrote:Does it hurt from clutching your pearls so hard? Dogs are only as bad as their owners…as are children. I don’t think the neighbors will be losing much by losing you as “friends”.

Typical crap from dangerous dog owners. This is not true but keep telling yourself that.

Anonymous wrote:Nine pages of DCUM hysteria over something that is nobody's business other than the family adopting the pit bull.

That's not true. OP is right to be concerned for her children's safety around a rescue pitbull whose history is likely unknown.

Nine pages of DCUM hysteria over something that is nobody's business other than the family adopting the pit bull.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people on DCUM are completely ignorant on what pit bulls were bred for. In recent years they have been known for fighting but this is ABUSE not their inherent personality. In fact, pit bulls have a better temperament than golden retrievers.

[url]https://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/1220-american-pit-bull-terrier-temperament-dog-bites
[/url]

Yes shelters are filled with pit bulls because ignorant people are too damn afraid and would rather throw down 5k for their designer doodles. My 35 pound pit bull is the sweetest animal and is a favorite at the dog park because of how loving she is towards people and dogs. Your neighbors are better off without you OP.

this. It’s also interesting that give the average HHI on this board and how so many people have had direct contact with aggressive pitbulls………

I'm one of the PPs with a new rescue pit bull in the neighborhood. I'm surprised, too, that someone in this neighborhood with the average HHI would rescue a pit.

My dog and I were once charged by an unsocialized rescue Pit Bull, luckily the owners were close by and were able to tackle the dog before it got a hold of our dog, so I totally get it. However, my dog was also viciously attacked by a purebred Lab. It slipped out it's owner's front door and ran straight for us and just tore into our dog, he ended up needing multiple staples. I was also bitten by a Lab as a child while camping. I was rollerblading and fell into another campsite and the dog attacked me. I've also had issues with multiple aggressive German Shepherds. In my experience any dog can be aggressive, the worst dog bite I've ever gotten was from a family member's 10 pound lap dog.

As far as Pit Bulls go, I once worked as a nanny for a family with two of them and it completely changed my opinion of the breed. It made be understand why some people call them nanny dogs. They were both amazing dogs, but one followed the 2 year old around everywhere she went. The dog even allowed the 2 year old to use her as a step to get to higher places. The dog was the most patient, loving, calm dog I had ever met, and I've been around dogs my entire life.

I guess my point is that yes, you should be careful around this dog, just like you should be careful around any dog you are not familiar with. However, I don't think you should just write off your neighbors over it. I mean just talk to them, see if they know its history, tell them you are nervous and ask them what kind of training the dog has had. Their response will either make you feel a little better or convince you that you should get a 6 ft privacy fence installed and be done with them.

This is such a difficult topic. I'm an animal (dogs in particular) lover and believe in "adopt, don't shop." That said, I can't explain why the majority of the dogs on dogsbite.org are pitbulls. I don't know if they need more love, stronger supervision, etc., but the numbers don't lie. I think OP has a right to be concerned. When you're dealing with your kids you can't be too careful.

They are cheap and hipsters love cheap.

Anonymous wrote:The people on DCUM are completely ignorant on what pit bulls were bred for. In recent years they have been known for fighting but this is ABUSE not their inherent personality. In fact, pit bulls have a better temperament than golden retrievers.

[url]https://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/1220-american-pit-bull-terrier-temperament-dog-bites
[/url]

Yes shelters are filled with pit bulls because ignorant people are too damn afraid and would rather throw down 5k for their designer doodles. My 35 pound pit bull is the sweetest animal and is a favorite at the dog park because of how loving she is towards people and dogs. Your neighbors are better off without you OP.

This is just not true. You sound desperate. I'm sure your dog is nice to you, but give me a break.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is you never read about those doodles killing the toddlers they live with but you keep telling yourself how sweet those pit bulls are and the toddler did something wrong.

This. I know two people who were bitten by pitbull‘s. One of them was my mother. It was the neighbors pitbull who jumped up and bit my mother in the chest, fortunately the owners were outside with the dog and so were immediately able to get the dog off of my mother before it got to her face. The other pitbull was a friend’s father’s dog. She was taking care of her father’s dog because he was in the hospital and she was bitten in the face. She had to get plastic surgery on her cheek to repair the damage to her face.

When there are so many other dogs to choose from, why choose pitbull? I think they should all be neutered and spayed out of existence and I agree with PG County having the ban on pit bulls. If Moko had a ban on pit bulls I feel so much more comfortable. I know I posted about this previously, but once when I was walking my dog a woman was walking her pitbull and that dog practically dragged her across the street towards my dog. I actually shouted at her to control her dog and it seemed to give her some adrenaline to actually be able to control her dog. Before that she had no control as that dog was dragging her. The dog was obviously stronger than her. Nasty, nasty dogs

This just happened this week in our Old Town neighborhood. Pitbull dragged the female owner/walker across the street toward another person with a dog. Scary stuff.

Anonymous wrote:Friends had a rescue pit bull that was “a total sweetheart” and “would never hurt anyone.” They came home one day and the dog had literally torn off their front door and molding from the inside.

Just need to note, in passing, that this behavior is separation anxiety, not aggression. All dogs that get anxious when lonely can do this. Dogs can chew through doors and couches when they really want to.

But I agree with everyone that pit bulls, because of the way their jaw is built, have an extremely strong, unrelenting bite relative to their size, and cannot be trusted because one bite can mean death or permanent disfigurement. It's not the dog's fault that they are built this way - it's the humans' fault for breeding them. Yet this is how it is. There should be a breeding ban on all aggressive breeds.

^^^^. Pit bulls, not Pit bull’s . That was a typo — I use voice text. There may be other typos, but that’s what caught my eye first.

Anonymous wrote:The thing is you never read about those doodles killing the toddlers they live with but you keep telling yourself how sweet those pit bulls are and the toddler did something wrong.

This. I know two people who were bitten by pitbull‘s. One of them was my mother. It was the neighbors pitbull who jumped up and bit my mother in the chest, fortunately the owners were outside with the dog and so were immediately able to get the dog off of my mother before it got to her face. The other pitbull was a friend’s father’s dog. She was taking care of her father’s dog because he was in the hospital and she was bitten in the face. She had to get plastic surgery on her cheek to repair the damage to her face.

When there are so many other dogs to choose from, why choose pitbull? I think they should all be neutered and spayed out of existence and I agree with PG County having the ban on pit bulls. If Moko had a ban on pit bulls I feel so much more comfortable. I know I posted about this previously, but once when I was walking my dog a woman was walking her pitbull and that dog practically dragged her across the street towards my dog. I actually shouted at her to control her dog and it seemed to give her some adrenaline to actually be able to control her dog. Before that she had no control as that dog was dragging her. The dog was obviously stronger than her. Nasty, nasty dogs

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people on DCUM are completely ignorant on what pit bulls were bred for. In recent years they have been known for fighting but this is ABUSE not their inherent personality. In fact, pit bulls have a better temperament than golden retrievers.

[url]https://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/1220-american-pit-bull-terrier-temperament-dog-bites
[/url]

Yes shelters are filled with pit bulls because ignorant people are too damn afraid and would rather throw down 5k for their designer doodles. My 35 pound pit bull is the sweetest animal and is a favorite at the dog park because of how loving she is towards people and dogs. Your neighbors are better off without you OP.

this. It’s also interesting that give the average HHI on this board and how so many people have had direct contact with aggressive pitbulls………

So both of you bought into that propaganda hook, line & sinker, huh?

The history of the Pit Bull can be traced back to the early 1800’s in the United Kingdom. Pit Bulls were originally bred from Old English Bulldogs (these dogs are similar in appearance to today’s American Bulldog) who gained their popularity on the British Isles in a cruel blood sport known as “bull baiting”. One to two Bulldogs were set to harass a bull for hours until the animal collapsed from fatigue, injuries or both.

Once bull and bear baiting was outlawed, the public turned their attention to “ratting”. This practice pitted dogs against rats in which they were timed to see whose dog would kill the most rats in the least amount of time. The “pit” in Pit Bull comes from ratting as the rats were placed into a pit so that they could not escape. Ultimately, the public turned their eyes upon dog fighting as it was more easily hidden from view and thus the law. Ratting and dogfighting both required more agility and speed on the part of the dog, so Bulldogs were crossed with Terriers “Bull and Terriers”, more commonly known as the first Pit Bull Terrier.

Despite their tenacity and determination in battle, commoners actually bred pit bull terriers with some of the same qualities and traits that we still love about them to this day. Through selective breeding and culling, bite inhibition towards humans was greatly encouraged. Gamblers had to be sure that they could enter a pit and handle their dogs in close proximity without the danger of being bit themselves. If a dog bit a human, it was usually culled.


Shortly before the Civil War, immigrants from the British Isles came to the United States, but along with them came their Pit Bulls. It was during this time that the Pit Bull Terrier breed was named the “American” Pit Bull Terrier. Though these dogs had been specifically bred for fighting, they soon became a much larger and invaluable fixture in a developing nation. In early America, these frontier dogs took on an all-purpose role. They were responsible for herding cattle, herding sheep, guarding livestock and families against thieves and wild animals, helping on the hunts and as hog catchers. Their loyal and loving demeanor with humans, especially children (this is where the “Nanny Dog” myth originated from), earned them a prominent place not only as a working dog but as a companion.

They’ve tried to breed their aggressiveness towards humans out, but they’ve only been doing that for 100 years. They come from a long line of dogs bred for aggression and violence. You can’t deny that most dog deaths are from pits and many many many of them aren’t from abusive households. Bulldogs are also vicious and this explains they come from the same place. Boxers are also at the top of the bite list and they are from bulldogs too. It’s hard to care for pits and square that with the facts about them, but you’ll be a much better pit owner if you understand their inherent danger. Keep them secure at all times and never ever let them around kids or other dogs.