Anonymous
07/07/2025 18:58
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The dog was blue gray with a lithe longer body and a classic Pitt bull head/jaw. They were just playing and wrestling, and my dog had a good time, but I could see how quickly the dog could seriously hurt any animal it wanted to. It was so strong and quick and knew how to lower its head and charge and then quickly change direction and twist its body around to get to my dogs flank. It was sort of fascinating to watch how skilled it was (and it was a beautiful dog, and only playing thankfully).
I could see how people claim these dogs are built for fighting.
So what’s the answer? Some of the areas around where I live ban Pitt bulls. I know some people probably don’t think that’s fair, but I’m not sure.
Fwiw the owner adopted the dog from Alabama and was told it was a ‘lab mix’. He laughed because he said obviously that was somewhat misleading.
Ever watched sheepdog trials?
Yes, and?
I think this person was trying to point out the incredible quickness and agility of a Border collie.
Anonymous
07/07/2025 18:56
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:I spent some years fostering pregnant dogs and care for their puppies, and train them up for adoption.
All the puppies turned out to be pit mixes with non-pit mothers, except one litter that looked all lab.
Every puppy was trainable, affectionate and docile once taught boundaries.
The beagles mixes were by far the LOUDEST
If you train a pit well they're not going to be more or less dangerous than any other breed.
Thank you.
The best behaved dogs in the dog class I went to were pit bulls. It used to be Rottweilers, German shepherds, and Dobermans with the rotten reputations, when it's truly the fault of irresponsible dog owners who don't train their dogs and want to have a "badass" dog to intimidate people. Also the fault of unscrupulous breeders who don't breed for temperament, and who sell dogs to idiots.
Anonymous
07/07/2025 18:46
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I spent some years fostering pregnant dogs and care for their puppies, and train them up for adoption.
All the puppies turned out to be pit mixes with non-pit mothers, except one litter that looked all lab.
Every puppy was trainable, affectionate and docile once taught boundaries.
The beagles mixes were by far the LOUDEST
If you train a pit well they're not going to be more or less dangerous than any other breed.
That’s the problem. So many pits are not well trained. They’re not the products partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners.
So many people who own dogs these days have the exact same behavioral/training/ignorance issues, but think it's fine because "it's not a pit bull".
A yippy little kneebiters is going to cause problems one day, and a bigger dog is going to get blamed for reacting appropriately in dog because some ignorant owner didn't bother to properly train or handle their "not a pit bull". This problem is multi-faceted, and anyone smart about dogs already knows that.
Gone are the days of "partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners", PP. Sad, but true. Just look at all the neurotic fast-cash-grab "-doodles" there are.
How old are you? I grew up in the 1970s. There weren’t ‘ethical’ breeders back then any more than there are today. And owners were far worse than today in terms of training. The difference was that mutts were Benji type mutts. Today they are usually pitts. Back in my day, people’s dogs got out constantly, dug holes in people’s yards, occasionally there would be a bite, but never lethal.
This isn't true. There's a crazy diversity of dogs, and far more people are likely to own them than they did "back in our day". The quality of ownership has gone WAY down. People feel entitled to have a dog, justify horrible handling in the name of crazy shit like "emotional support animals", and regularly break the laws that are designed to keep public spaces safe for the entirety of the public.
Exactly what laws are being broken or not broken that would justify having a dog that can easily kill another as a pet?
I just think you’re far too focused on ‘good owners’. I don’t even know what that means.
It's the same as "a dog that can easily kill another".
No dog that's properly controlled and contained will be killing anyone/anything. There's an extraordinarily small margin of error here, and it truly requires multiple system failures. That's what separates a "good owner" from an idiot who lets their dog (any breed) off leash in public, in the public fountain, loose in their yard unsupervised/unattended, etc. and a liability.
Fatality should NOT be the metric. I don't want my toddler getting bitten by your chihuahua "emotional support animal" in the grocery store. I don't want someone's "friendly" off-leash lab bowling over my kid at the park. Good owners don't let these things happen.
Capable of causing serious or lethal injury seems like a good metric to me. The chihuahua or border collie is unlikely to kill or maim someone. That’s the thing that you seem to miss. Ime, even ‘good’ owners, ‘ethical’ breeders and ‘well trained’ dogs can make mistakes. I don’t think a pet that can kill or maim someone when a mistake is made should co exist in communities with others. Full stop
Anonymous
07/07/2025 18:20
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The dog was blue gray with a lithe longer body and a classic Pitt bull head/jaw. They were just playing and wrestling, and my dog had a good time, but I could see how quickly the dog could seriously hurt any animal it wanted to. It was so strong and quick and knew how to lower its head and charge and then quickly change direction and twist its body around to get to my dogs flank. It was sort of fascinating to watch how skilled it was (and it was a beautiful dog, and only playing thankfully).
I could see how people claim these dogs are built for fighting.
So what’s the answer? Some of the areas around where I live ban Pitt bulls. I know some people probably don’t think that’s fair, but I’m not sure.
Fwiw the owner adopted the dog from Alabama and was told it was a ‘lab mix’. He laughed because he said obviously that was somewhat misleading.
Ever watched sheepdog trials?
Yes, and?
Anonymous
07/07/2025 18:14
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:^ and I think the quality of ownership has gone way up. People take care of their pets in a way that did not exist when I was growing up.
People may baby and coddle and "spoil" their pets more, but that's not proper training, socialization and handling.
Dogs are not purse pets or accessories.
I’m confused about socialization. Seems like people on here say dog parks are bad and every vet, trainer etc agrees (I don’t see that, but whatever). So how does a dog get socialized then?
Anonymous
07/07/2025 18:01
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I spent some years fostering pregnant dogs and care for their puppies, and train them up for adoption.
All the puppies turned out to be pit mixes with non-pit mothers, except one litter that looked all lab.
Every puppy was trainable, affectionate and docile once taught boundaries.
The beagles mixes were by far the LOUDEST
If you train a pit well they're not going to be more or less dangerous than any other breed.
That’s the problem. So many pits are not well trained. They’re not the products partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners.
So many people who own dogs these days have the exact same behavioral/training/ignorance issues, but think it's fine because "it's not a pit bull".
A yippy little kneebiters is going to cause problems one day, and a bigger dog is going to get blamed for reacting appropriately in dog because some ignorant owner didn't bother to properly train or handle their "not a pit bull". This problem is multi-faceted, and anyone smart about dogs already knows that.
Gone are the days of "partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners", PP. Sad, but true. Just look at all the neurotic fast-cash-grab "-doodles" there are.
How old are you? I grew up in the 1970s. There weren’t ‘ethical’ breeders back then any more than there are today. And owners were far worse than today in terms of training. The difference was that mutts were Benji type mutts. Today they are usually pitts. Back in my day, people’s dogs got out constantly, dug holes in people’s yards, occasionally there would be a bite, but never lethal.
This isn't true. There's a crazy diversity of dogs, and far more people are likely to own them than they did "back in our day". The quality of ownership has gone WAY down. People feel entitled to have a dog, justify horrible handling in the name of crazy shit like "emotional support animals", and regularly break the laws that are designed to keep public spaces safe for the entirety of the public.
Exactly what laws are being broken or not broken that would justify having a dog that can easily kill another as a pet?
I just think you’re far too focused on ‘good owners’. I don’t even know what that means.
Lady with the rescue street pit here. I fully recognize that if my dog were vicious he could absolutely eviscerate a person. He’s powerful and strong in ways I didn’t realize dogs could be as I only had toy breeds in the past. The same can’t be said of a small dog. If he wants to bite or knock someone over he can and he’s only 65 pounds but it’s all muscle. Fortunately he is a great dog and I did get him a trainer when I knew he’d be staying. Responsible breeding (and personally I think this breed should be eliminated due to their treatment and mishandling) and pet ownership is a must.
Eliminate an entire category of dogs instead of eliminating the stupidity of some owners? Nuclear approach. And where are you going to draw that line? An aggressive shepherd, akita, rottie, dobie, bernard, LSD/Maremma, pyrenees, anatolian... hell, even a pissed off border collie could really screw up someone's day!
I’d argue it’s the same as route spaying and neutering all pets to curb the overpopulation. Are there responsible pet owners yes? The problem is the small minority who aren’t who are causing major issues. The pit breed is abused and discriminated against. It would be in the breeds best interest to not continue.
But what breed will be the next villain?
The small minority of irresponsible jerks is actually pretty easy to track and trace, which means they could be fined and stopped if we had better legislation, permit requirements for breeding dogs (of any kind), etc.
As strategies go, "kill off all the pit bulls" isn't reasonable, or feasible, or even likely to solve the problem of stupid backyard breeders, who will simply pick another breed to exploit and overbreed.
Anonymous
07/07/2025 16:47
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I spent some years fostering pregnant dogs and care for their puppies, and train them up for adoption.
All the puppies turned out to be pit mixes with non-pit mothers, except one litter that looked all lab.
Every puppy was trainable, affectionate and docile once taught boundaries.
The beagles mixes were by far the LOUDEST
If you train a pit well they're not going to be more or less dangerous than any other breed.
That’s the problem. So many pits are not well trained. They’re not the products partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners.
So many people who own dogs these days have the exact same behavioral/training/ignorance issues, but think it's fine because "it's not a pit bull".
A yippy little kneebiters is going to cause problems one day, and a bigger dog is going to get blamed for reacting appropriately in dog because some ignorant owner didn't bother to properly train or handle their "not a pit bull". This problem is multi-faceted, and anyone smart about dogs already knows that.
Gone are the days of "partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners", PP. Sad, but true. Just look at all the neurotic fast-cash-grab "-doodles" there are.
How old are you? I grew up in the 1970s. There weren’t ‘ethical’ breeders back then any more than there are today. And owners were far worse than today in terms of training. The difference was that mutts were Benji type mutts. Today they are usually pitts. Back in my day, people’s dogs got out constantly, dug holes in people’s yards, occasionally there would be a bite, but never lethal.
This isn't true. There's a crazy diversity of dogs, and far more people are likely to own them than they did "back in our day". The quality of ownership has gone WAY down. People feel entitled to have a dog, justify horrible handling in the name of crazy shit like "emotional support animals", and regularly break the laws that are designed to keep public spaces safe for the entirety of the public.
Exactly what laws are being broken or not broken that would justify having a dog that can easily kill another as a pet?
I just think you’re far too focused on ‘good owners’. I don’t even know what that means.
Lady with the rescue street pit here. I fully recognize that if my dog were vicious he could absolutely eviscerate a person. He’s powerful and strong in ways I didn’t realize dogs could be as I only had toy breeds in the past. The same can’t be said of a small dog. If he wants to bite or knock someone over he can and he’s only 65 pounds but it’s all muscle. Fortunately he is a great dog and I did get him a trainer when I knew he’d be staying. Responsible breeding (and personally I think this breed should be eliminated due to their treatment and mishandling) and pet ownership is a must.
Eliminate an entire category of dogs instead of eliminating the stupidity of some owners? Nuclear approach. And where are you going to draw that line? An aggressive shepherd, akita, rottie, dobie, bernard, LSD/Maremma, pyrenees, anatolian... hell, even a pissed off border collie could really screw up someone's day!
I’d argue it’s the same as route spaying and neutering all pets to curb the overpopulation. Are there responsible pet owners yes? The problem is the small minority who aren’t who are causing major issues. The pit breed is abused and discriminated against. It would be in the breeds best interest to not continue.
Anonymous
07/07/2025 14:15
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:The dog was blue gray with a lithe longer body and a classic Pitt bull head/jaw. They were just playing and wrestling, and my dog had a good time, but I could see how quickly the dog could seriously hurt any animal it wanted to. It was so strong and quick and knew how to lower its head and charge and then quickly change direction and twist its body around to get to my dogs flank. It was sort of fascinating to watch how skilled it was (and it was a beautiful dog, and only playing thankfully).
I could see how people claim these dogs are built for fighting.
So what’s the answer? Some of the areas around where I live ban Pitt bulls. I know some people probably don’t think that’s fair, but I’m not sure.
Fwiw the owner adopted the dog from Alabama and was told it was a ‘lab mix’. He laughed because he said obviously that was somewhat misleading.
Ever watched sheepdog trials?
Anonymous
07/07/2025 14:13
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I spent some years fostering pregnant dogs and care for their puppies, and train them up for adoption.
All the puppies turned out to be pit mixes with non-pit mothers, except one litter that looked all lab.
Every puppy was trainable, affectionate and docile once taught boundaries.
The beagles mixes were by far the LOUDEST
If you train a pit well they're not going to be more or less dangerous than any other breed.
That’s the problem. So many pits are not well trained. They’re not the products partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners.
So many people who own dogs these days have the exact same behavioral/training/ignorance issues, but think it's fine because "it's not a pit bull".
A yippy little kneebiters is going to cause problems one day, and a bigger dog is going to get blamed for reacting appropriately in dog because some ignorant owner didn't bother to properly train or handle their "not a pit bull". This problem is multi-faceted, and anyone smart about dogs already knows that.
Gone are the days of "partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners", PP. Sad, but true. Just look at all the neurotic fast-cash-grab "-doodles" there are.
How old are you? I grew up in the 1970s. There weren’t ‘ethical’ breeders back then any more than there are today. And owners were far worse than today in terms of training. The difference was that mutts were Benji type mutts. Today they are usually pitts. Back in my day, people’s dogs got out constantly, dug holes in people’s yards, occasionally there would be a bite, but never lethal.
This isn't true. There's a crazy diversity of dogs, and far more people are likely to own them than they did "back in our day". The quality of ownership has gone WAY down. People feel entitled to have a dog, justify horrible handling in the name of crazy shit like "emotional support animals", and regularly break the laws that are designed to keep public spaces safe for the entirety of the public.
Exactly what laws are being broken or not broken that would justify having a dog that can easily kill another as a pet?
I just think you’re far too focused on ‘good owners’. I don’t even know what that means.
Lady with the rescue street pit here. I fully recognize that if my dog were vicious he could absolutely eviscerate a person. He’s powerful and strong in ways I didn’t realize dogs could be as I only had toy breeds in the past. The same can’t be said of a small dog. If he wants to bite or knock someone over he can and he’s only 65 pounds but it’s all muscle. Fortunately he is a great dog and I did get him a trainer when I knew he’d be staying. Responsible breeding (and personally I think this breed should be eliminated due to their treatment and mishandling) and pet ownership is a must.
Eliminate an entire category of dogs instead of eliminating the stupidity of some owners? Nuclear approach. And where are you going to draw that line? An aggressive shepherd, akita, rottie, dobie, bernard, LSD/Maremma, pyrenees, anatolian... hell, even a pissed off border collie could really screw up someone's day!
Anonymous
07/07/2025 14:08
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The dog was blue gray with a lithe longer body and a classic Pitt bull head/jaw. They were just playing and wrestling, and my dog had a good time, but I could see how quickly the dog could seriously hurt any animal it wanted to. It was so strong and quick and knew how to lower its head and charge and then quickly change direction and twist its body around to get to my dogs flank. It was sort of fascinating to watch how skilled it was (and it was a beautiful dog, and only playing thankfully).
I could see how people claim these dogs are built for fighting.
So what’s the answer? Some of the areas around where I live ban Pitt bulls. I know some people probably don’t think that’s fair, but I’m not sure.
Fwiw the owner adopted the dog from Alabama and was told it was a ‘lab mix’. He laughed because he said obviously that was somewhat misleading.
Keep an eye on your dog or leave when the pitbull "mixes" show up.
You don't want your dog to get mauled by one.
Anyone who cares about their dog(s) will avoid "dog parks" on principle alone. Unsafe environments populated with ignorant (at best) owners and poorly-trained animals.
People who avoid dog parks tend to have issues IME. Dog parks are awesome
Vets, trainers, and more-experienced owners all disagree, but go off
You sure know a lot of people lol
It's almost like I've worked with dogs for multiple decades now, innit?
Anonymous
07/07/2025 14:05
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I spent some years fostering pregnant dogs and care for their puppies, and train them up for adoption.
All the puppies turned out to be pit mixes with non-pit mothers, except one litter that looked all lab.
Every puppy was trainable, affectionate and docile once taught boundaries.
The beagles mixes were by far the LOUDEST
If you train a pit well they're not going to be more or less dangerous than any other breed.
That’s the problem. So many pits are not well trained. They’re not the products partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners.
So many people who own dogs these days have the exact same behavioral/training/ignorance issues, but think it's fine because "it's not a pit bull".
A yippy little kneebiters is going to cause problems one day, and a bigger dog is going to get blamed for reacting appropriately in dog because some ignorant owner didn't bother to properly train or handle their "not a pit bull". This problem is multi-faceted, and anyone smart about dogs already knows that.
Gone are the days of "partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners", PP. Sad, but true. Just look at all the neurotic fast-cash-grab "-doodles" there are.
How old are you? I grew up in the 1970s. There weren’t ‘ethical’ breeders back then any more than there are today. And owners were far worse than today in terms of training. The difference was that mutts were Benji type mutts. Today they are usually pitts. Back in my day, people’s dogs got out constantly, dug holes in people’s yards, occasionally there would be a bite, but never lethal.
This isn't true. There's a crazy diversity of dogs, and far more people are likely to own them than they did "back in our day". The quality of ownership has gone WAY down. People feel entitled to have a dog, justify horrible handling in the name of crazy shit like "emotional support animals", and regularly break the laws that are designed to keep public spaces safe for the entirety of the public.
Exactly what laws are being broken or not broken that would justify having a dog that can easily kill another as a pet?
I just think you’re far too focused on ‘good owners’. I don’t even know what that means.
It's the same as "a dog that can easily kill another".
No dog that's properly controlled and contained will be killing anyone/anything. There's an extraordinarily small margin of error here, and it truly requires multiple system failures. That's what separates a "good owner" from an idiot who lets their dog (any breed) off leash in public, in the public fountain, loose in their yard unsupervised/unattended, etc. and a liability.
Fatality should NOT be the metric. I don't want my toddler getting bitten by your chihuahua "emotional support animal" in the grocery store. I don't want someone's "friendly" off-leash lab bowling over my kid at the park. Good owners don't let these things happen.
Anonymous
07/07/2025 13:59
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The dog was blue gray with a lithe longer body and a classic Pitt bull head/jaw. They were just playing and wrestling, and my dog had a good time, but I could see how quickly the dog could seriously hurt any animal it wanted to. It was so strong and quick and knew how to lower its head and charge and then quickly change direction and twist its body around to get to my dogs flank. It was sort of fascinating to watch how skilled it was (and it was a beautiful dog, and only playing thankfully).
I could see how people claim these dogs are built for fighting.
So what’s the answer? Some of the areas around where I live ban Pitt bulls. I know some people probably don’t think that’s fair, but I’m not sure.
Fwiw the owner adopted the dog from Alabama and was told it was a ‘lab mix’. He laughed because he said obviously that was somewhat misleading.
Keep an eye on your dog or leave when the pitbull "mixes" show up.
You don't want your dog to get mauled by one.
Anyone who cares about their dog(s) will avoid "dog parks" on principle alone. Unsafe environments populated with ignorant (at best) owners and poorly-trained animals.
People who avoid dog parks tend to have issues IME. Dog parks are awesome
Vets, trainers, and more-experienced owners all disagree, but go off
You sure know a lot of people lol
Anonymous
07/07/2025 13:59
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:^ and I think the quality of ownership has gone way up. People take care of their pets in a way that did not exist when I was growing up.
People may baby and coddle and "spoil" their pets more, but that's not proper training, socialization and handling.
Dogs are not purse pets or accessories.
Anonymous
07/07/2025 13:54
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The dog was blue gray with a lithe longer body and a classic Pitt bull head/jaw. They were just playing and wrestling, and my dog had a good time, but I could see how quickly the dog could seriously hurt any animal it wanted to. It was so strong and quick and knew how to lower its head and charge and then quickly change direction and twist its body around to get to my dogs flank. It was sort of fascinating to watch how skilled it was (and it was a beautiful dog, and only playing thankfully).
I could see how people claim these dogs are built for fighting.
So what’s the answer? Some of the areas around where I live ban Pitt bulls. I know some people probably don’t think that’s fair, but I’m not sure.
Fwiw the owner adopted the dog from Alabama and was told it was a ‘lab mix’. He laughed because he said obviously that was somewhat misleading.
Keep an eye on your dog or leave when the pitbull "mixes" show up.
You don't want your dog to get mauled by one.
Anyone who cares about their dog(s) will avoid "dog parks" on principle alone. Unsafe environments populated with ignorant (at best) owners and poorly-trained animals.
Depends on which dog park
Anonymous
07/07/2025 13:26
Subject: Our dog played with a beautiful Pitt lab mix at the dog park yesterday
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I spent some years fostering pregnant dogs and care for their puppies, and train them up for adoption.
All the puppies turned out to be pit mixes with non-pit mothers, except one litter that looked all lab.
Every puppy was trainable, affectionate and docile once taught boundaries.
The beagles mixes were by far the LOUDEST
If you train a pit well they're not going to be more or less dangerous than any other breed.
That’s the problem. So many pits are not well trained. They’re not the products partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners.
So many people who own dogs these days have the exact same behavioral/training/ignorance issues, but think it's fine because "it's not a pit bull".
A yippy little kneebiters is going to cause problems one day, and a bigger dog is going to get blamed for reacting appropriately in dog because some ignorant owner didn't bother to properly train or handle their "not a pit bull". This problem is multi-faceted, and anyone smart about dogs already knows that.
Gone are the days of "partnerships between ethical breeders and responsible, knowledgeable, disciplined owners", PP. Sad, but true. Just look at all the neurotic fast-cash-grab "-doodles" there are.
How old are you? I grew up in the 1970s. There weren’t ‘ethical’ breeders back then any more than there are today. And owners were far worse than today in terms of training. The difference was that mutts were Benji type mutts. Today they are usually pitts. Back in my day, people’s dogs got out constantly, dug holes in people’s yards, occasionally there would be a bite, but never lethal.
This isn't true. There's a crazy diversity of dogs, and far more people are likely to own them than they did "back in our day". The quality of ownership has gone WAY down. People feel entitled to have a dog, justify horrible handling in the name of crazy shit like "emotional support animals", and regularly break the laws that are designed to keep public spaces safe for the entirety of the public.
Exactly what laws are being broken or not broken that would justify having a dog that can easily kill another as a pet?
I just think you’re far too focused on ‘good owners’. I don’t even know what that means.
Lady with the rescue street pit here. I fully recognize that if my dog were vicious he could absolutely eviscerate a person. He’s powerful and strong in ways I didn’t realize dogs could be as I only had toy breeds in the past. The same can’t be said of a small dog. If he wants to bite or knock someone over he can and he’s only 65 pounds but it’s all muscle. Fortunately he is a great dog and I did get him a trainer when I knew he’d be staying. Responsible breeding (and personally I think this breed should be eliminated due to their treatment and mishandling) and pet ownership is a must.