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superstar wrote: Another factor why you see many in the shelters is because of the owners, pitbulls are not for first time dog owners. That breed is constantly challenging to be the alpha and the owner/s need to understand all actions from the dog, from having the dog eat last after the humans to making sure when they go for walks they are either on the side or behind or a simple retreat from an owner if the dog jumps on you. if they start conceding the alpha position that's when trouble starts.

Not a pit only problem, plenty of other breeds need an established 'alpha' or it can cause behavioral problems in them as well.

w/ what C-dub said - breed characteristics do tend to follow the bloodline when bred properly. And any of the bloodlines of multi-generation 'pit-bulls' that were bred for dog fighting rings are problematic. The problem is 'pit-bull' isn't a recognized breed, and any dog having even similar characteristics are lumped into the 'breed/category'. I guess that's where I have my problem, that and the witch-hunt/mob mentality of the whole 'pit-bulls' are evil.

The problem is a complex one, no one factor or thing can be pointed to as the whole of the problem. But personal responsibility is the one that I think as a society we should fall back on for this one. The onus is on the owner to know the dog's background and breed standards/characteristics. Along with that, to get proper training and socialization done and to properly exercise the dog. Any breed, but especially in medium to larger breeds, if they have more energy then what is being expended, personality/behavioral problems have a tendency to manifest themselves. These tend to manifest themselves in similar ways in a lot of dogs, aggression can be one of them. Even breeds not 'known' for an aggressive disposition can develop one if not raised and trained/taken care of properly.

OneGun wrote:So, if the pit bull's owners have LTCs and they are cited for a Class C misdemeanor, can they lose their LTCs?

I believe it has to be a Class B or above, and I think they have to be convicted first(someone correct me on this if I'm wrong)

der Teufel wrote:

Pariah3j wrote:I'm of the mindset to blame the owner, not blame the breed.

I view it as a combination of ingredients. Maybe owners could/should do better at training and restraining their pit bulls. However, it seems that when there's a news account of a vicious dog attack, often a pit bull is involved.

I don't read many stories about poodles attacking people …

News media sensationalism and the current yellow 'journalism' that we get also would have us believe crime rates are skyrocketing and that those scary black guns are the problem. Not picking on you, just pointing out that even if a poodle viciously attacked someone, would it make headlines? Probably not.

If you take all of the comments about 'pit bulls' and replace it with 'large dog breed' because I believe that's more accurate. Any large dog can attack and maim and there is probably a story out there to back it up.

I own mini-schnauzers and wouldn't own a pit-bull myself, but that's because the breed doesn't interest me so I don't have a 'dog in the fight' so to speak - just a believer in owner responsibility.

I'm of the mindset to blame the owner, not blame the breed. To me its akin to blaming an AK or Hi-Point gun for killing people.

Pitbulls if trained and socialized properly aren't a problem IMO. The problem is owners (and this goes for all breeds) not really knowing the breed or how to train them properly.