Just yesterday 3/17/21, a 3 year old boy from New Jersey was mauled to death by a neighbors 2 pitbulls and the boys mother is hospitalized from the attack. The report states that neither of these dogs had shown aggressive behavior in the past. The boy and his mother were in their own fenced in back yard at the time of the attack but the dogs somehow got through.. Search it to read the full report.

Tons. Where do you think they got their reputation

Opinion

I love dogs. All breeds. And I attribute most bad dog behavior to their owners.

But imo to think that there is no variation between breeds regarding a possible tendency toward aggression is ignoring biological realities.

Well said

Some dogs are smart enough to reject close minded individuals.

I've had dogs all of my life. Grew up with collies. I've personally shared my life with a collie, Irish setter, a Newfoundland, two golden retrievers and now two small sweet dogs.

None of my dogs have ever bit anyone or showed any agression whatsoever. Note they were all sporting or working dogs. Two little ones a cockapoo and a cavapoo. Both 14 lbs.

I know of two pit bulls far from TV that seem very sweet. But I would never trust them around my pups.

Honestly, I don't get the type of mentality of someone who gets a, forgive the term, a guard or junkyard type dog.

My brother in law had a huge German Shepherd that scared me, and I'm not easily scared about dogs. Cause that's what he wanted. A vicious guard dog. That was his dog not all German Shepherd for sure. But there is still a Guard or protective type mentality in play

But that's just me I guess.

Had a woman walking a big dog near my golden. Her words about how friendly her dog was were hanging in the air as her dog bit my sweet female golden. She moved thankfully.

Now I don't trust any dog near my small ones.

Plus one!!

^^This. A simple small stun device works great - just the sound of it is usually enough to scare off aggressive animals and people. Can get them with a built-in flashlight as well, so does double duty for safety.

Get back to the issue
 

Back to the main issue...

We would not be talking about this had the Pit been on a leash. Period.

That is the ONLY problem.

On leash....no issue, no biting, no attacking, no nothing.

Pit owner needs to be retrained.

Every professional dog trainer I have met, says there are no bad dogs. There are only bad owners.

When you go to a trainer, the dog gets little training and it’s the owner that gets trained. Dogs are dogs and the owner has to know how to handle a powerful dog.

I have two dobermans. I would never have them in public off leash. They love people, but don’t like other dogs. Nevertheless, we always seem to meet a knucklehead with a tiny dog that’s off leash and comes running towards our dogs and they think the incoming dog is going to attack them. Wrangling 200lbs of dogs fearing they are going to be attacked by an unleashed pocketbook dog is scary! Keep your dogs ON LEASH and there are no problems.

Rant done.

Well, yes, on the leash and the owners.

Two Dobies? One wasn't enough to scare the bejesus out of people?

And if they collectively tore into a tiny dog then they are aggressive. Did I miss that?

First, you have to be strong enough with a leash to hold back a full on pull of a raging pit bull. Good luck with that! Second, large animals like say, American Staffs, a breed I am quite familiar with, need DAILY training, or behavioral review, if you want to be able to count on them regularly.

Rant accepted. We have a 13-yr-old golden retriever who loves people and other dogs, but I still wouldn't have him off leash anywhere public. For one thing, he'd love to chase (lumber, at his age) after a rabbit. For another thing, he's traffic-stupid. The third thing, it's the regulation.

I agree. I don't trust any dog at all.

I had a goldie, gentle temperament, you could pull his teeth out without the dog biting. His main fault was that he would try to slowly sneak onto your lap, one paw, then the other paw, then a bit of upper body, and if you still let him, one hind foot, then the other. He thought that he was still a puppy, and you would not notice that a 78lb dog was lying on your lap. :) (How I loved that dog.)