I agree that all dogs have the ability to turn on you. I worked at vet's office for three years and will be the first to tell you that we very rarely had to muzzle a 'big' dog, even Pit Bulls. Generally, we had to muzzle smaller dogs, particularly Pomeranians and Chihuahua’s.
However, I have to say that pit bulls scare me simply due to their ability to lock their jaws when attacking. I own two small dogs, Shih Tzu's, and big dogs in general scare me, as my dogs can easily become a treat. In fact, my puppy was attacked by a German Shepard about 4 months ago. I was able to get the Shepard off of mine and right to the vet (he's just fine now). What would terrify me about a Pit Bull is that should one choose to attack one of my dogs, my dog would be dead. There is no hoping in getting a Pit to unlock his jaw when attacking.
I think it's sad that Pit's have been breed to show aggression, even though this is not true of all Pit's. Unfortunately, for the responsible Pit owners, those that want the dog just to look cool or tough and do not properly train and control them, make a poor name for those of you that do.
I agree, working at a vet as well iv only had to ever muzzle one rottie but we routinely muzzle aggressive chihuahuas (IME they are generally the "worst") But the other thing is pit bulls
were bred to show aggression, but not anymore. There are plenty of bad "backyard" breeders still but there are also plenty of responsible breeders who breed healthy, friendly, nice animals and with such a large gene pool it isnt very difficult to breed out a undesirable trait. And aggression is not truly bred, it is taught. Granted a baby puppy will learn from its parents or owner but it is not a gene, you cannot breed an aggressive dog. You create it. I do not really agree that any dog can turn on you at any moment, otherwise there would be many more occurances of it, and you would absolutely hear about it. Dogs that turn may have some history of abuse, maybe they are not neutered (yes it makes a huge difference), theres plenty of legitimate reasons but I truly dont believe that any dog could turn on your for
no reason. I wouldnt be nervous for a second about my dog with any person of any age, my grandfather has had only "aggressive" breed dogs most recently a rottie that was the sweetest thing in the world. Personally Im positive I will have a pitbull in my lifetime, probably after I get out of vet school in four years as my second dog and Ill get it from a responsible breeder who has a vet record and takes good care of their dogs. They are very misunderstood and alot of it is public ignorance, just like anything only the bad stories get widespread publication and then any good things that they do wont be.
You must also understand that many "attacks" (not all, but many) were provoked somehow either by another dog or person. My neighbor has a very aggressive jack russel mix who has actually bitten people and dogs, and whenever a larger dog reacts the owner blames the larger dog. I see this frequently at the dog park I go to and its not fair when it does happen. Though people shouldnt fear these dogs they absolutely should respect them. Some dogs dont do well with other dogs or strangers, theres nothing wrong with these dogs but the owners should not put them in situations where they would experience something that upsets them. This again go backs to the responsible owner.
Breed specific legislation is exactly what is seems.
He came from the pound though, and he was afraid. Again, it was the way he was raised and not his fault. He's a sweetie around me though, and he's getting better with the vet too.
