Talk of The Villages Florida - New Jersey Pit Bull attack.

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Statistically, the odds of a pitbull killing someone are the same as a child dying from Covid.

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Originally Posted by TNGary (Post 2006179)

As a non pit bull owner, and with "no dog in the fight" as they say in the south, I am curious as the benefit of owning pit bull when based on their statistical reputation surely there are other dog options, such as labs etc.
Being neutral on this subject, if I were to get a large dog, Pit's would not be on the list. Just trying to understand what myself and others are missing here regarding how the benefits offset the potential downside. Thank you

As a breed. I believe would prefer to have a Lab at my side rather than a Pit Bull if I were attacked by a human. Labs are bigger and more mentally stable than most Pit Bulls or show breeds. So, I think the Lab would be more "courageous" in defending their master. They are smarter than most breeds. The Pit Bull might get confused. Now, if I were attacked by another dog or a small child, the Pit Bull might be the better option.
Plus, IMO the Pit Bull is WAY ugly. The Lab has an intelligent and almost regal look about him.
I agree that, early on, the developers were correct - mixing junkyard dogs and fragile old human beings is a bad, illogical mix!

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Originally Posted by Topspinmo (Post 2006220)

But, I can kick the chihuahua away. It may clamp down on my leg and break the skin. On the other hand pit will clamp down and shred my leg. I can beat on his head and it will NOT let go. So you comparison is no where close to what could happen.

I agree with the contents or (DOGtents) of this post.

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Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 2006212)

There's no benefit to owning a pit bull any more than there's a benefit to owning a german shepard, or a great dane, or a full size poodle or collie, in the Villages. I'd ask - what's the benefit to owning a a chihuahua? They're ugly, they're high-strung, they demand constant attention, are not naturally socialized and need to be trained, often suffer from separation anxiety, need a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise (not just walking, actual exercise) every single day, easily get dislocated kneecaps, commonly have gum disease and have to have dental checkups yearly...

I mean if you're going to go through all that trouble for a pet, just go all out and adopt a baby. At least with a baby there's a chance it'll grow up and contribute something useful to the world.

See - I can come up with a whole diatribe on ANY breed, asking the question "why would anyone want to have..."?

I prefer larger dogs. Not great danes though, or dalmations. Never was fond of that shape at all. But give me a german shepard, or a doberman, or husky - and I'm a happy camper. Had a friend with a Great Pyrenees and that gorgeous boy melted me with his love every time I saw him.

Huskys are great! I had a neighbor's Greater Pyrenees female that would come and visit me often on my one acre up North. It was about a year old and not yet too mature. Once it got curious and put its head into a metal bucket that was sitting around. Her head got stuck in the bucket. I was NOT carrying my cell phone at the time - too bad THAT would have been a classic video! I had to stop laughing, run after her, and dislodge the bucket. She looked at me.....like WHAT? ......WHAT happened there....what up with dat?
Another story about her was that it was impossible almost to walk ANY straight line around her. She would try to HERD all people by rubbing against their knee as they walked. At 1st I thought it was just a friendly dog-thing. Wrong, I was being herded. I finally had to carry a shovel whenever I walked around her. I would pop the shovel against her head with mild force so that I could walk a straight line to somewhere. Some may say that I was being cruel, but that dog breed is SO TOUGH that she barely noticed. It was like I had to accept the dog's nature to herd and the dog knew to accept MY nature to want to walk where I chose to go. We achieved something simpatico.

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Originally Posted by Scorpyo (Post 2007046)

You are so right. Violently trained dogs should be euthanized. I guess that should include police dogs and military dogs as well. After all they do attach humans and the majority of them are not Pitt Bulls. Everyone knows it's not their training, it's their nature.
While we're at it destroy all cars. They kill around 50,000 people a year and we know it's not the driver. Of course we can use the same logic for guns, alcohol and drugs. Never, ever blame the person who trains the dog, drives the car, uses the gun, etc. After all people are so perfect and responsibility where it belongs is such a silly thing to consider.

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.

The owner may have really been responsible for the Pit Bulls killing or disfiguring a human being, but it is the animal that gets euthanized. The same thing happened in TV Land years ago when there were real buffalo in fields here. Grandparents let their grandchildren go under a fence and go pet the NICE buffalo - you can guess the "rest of the story".
I would prefer that no animals having human interaction be KILLED. Just like the buffalo were sent away from stupid easily injured humans - so would I prefer that no breeds with a reputation and statistics of injuring humans (like topped by the Pit Bull) - be bred in the whole US. There are too many other breed choices!
But, I do like and believe your motto about knowledge and ignorance!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reiver (Post 2007880)

Statistically, the odds of a pitbull killing someone are the same as a child dying from Covid.

OK. And in BOTH situations they are issues that could HAVE BEEN eliminated by some thoughtful US-wide coordinated response and problem-solving. Another similarity is that both problems, likely will NOT be solved in the near future, if ever! Also, many other counties HAVE solved BOTH problems.

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Originally Posted by Jaydancer (Post 2006798)

All bull terriers are NOT alike. For 14 years I had a British Staffordshire Bull Terrier. This breed has never been any good at fighting in a pit. He was the sweetest, soppy-est , most loving animal I have ever had.
The name Pit Bull comes from dog fighting which does not happen in Britain, the Brits do not think it is at all cool. Please do not call all Bull Terriers "Pit Bulls" They are not all bred or mistreated to make them mean enough for fighting in the "pit"

and many have not.

So you believe in all of England all bull terrier breeds are pussycats.

We have an American Staffy mix and she is very sweet. She would make the worst watch dog ever because she loves people and has never met a stranger. She is probably the least aggressive dog that I have ever known and that includes our sweet Golden Retriever who passed away earlier this year. Our Golden used to bark when someone came to the door, our Staffy mix just wiggles and smiles.

We got her as young puppy and at first we thought that she was a lab. I'm not sure that I would have agreed to bring her home if I had known at the time that she was mostly Staffy because I had heard so many "dangerous pit bull" stories and we had elementary school age kids who always had friends over. At any rate, she grew up around lots of kids and people of all age ranges. She is a sturdy little thing, quiet, never yappy, not high strung, snuggly, sweet. I honestly can not comprehend what someone would have to do to this breed to create a dangerous animal because Staffys are naturally very sweet and loving towards people.

American Staffordshire Terrier - Wikipedia

I did know a pooch that looked like this breed named Gypsy who was one of the gentlest dogs in Lynnhaven and at Doggie Doo Run Run. Showed up in its Lynnhaven owner's yard one day so Ben named it Gypsy. Ben passed eventually and I think Gypsy went to Ben's son.

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Originally Posted by Gulfcoast (Post 2009467)

Animals are bred to have particular characteristics. In general if a breed is bred to be aggressive the individuals within that breed will tend to be aggressive.

This was an interesting experiment in breeding for domesticity in silver foxes. Domesticated silver fox - Wikipedia