From Wikipedia:

 

Pit Bull breeds have become famous for their roles as soldiers, police dogs, search and rescue dogs, actors, television personalities, seeing eye dogs, and celebrity pets. Historically, the Bull Terrier mix Nipper and the American Staffordshire Terrier, Pete the Pup from the Little Rascals are the most well known. Lesser known, but still historically notable pit bulls include Billie Holiday's companion "Mister",^[78]Helen Keller's dog "Sir Thomas",^[79] Buster Brown's dog "Tige",^[80] Horatio Jackson's dog "Bud",^[81][82] President Theodore Roosevelt's Pit Bull terrier "Pete", "Jack Brutus" who served for Company K, the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the civil war,^[83] Sergeant Stubby who served for the 102nd Infantry, 26th (Yankee) Division during World War I, and Sir Walter Scott's "Wasp".^[84]

Contemporary significant pit bulls are: Weela, who helped save 32 people, 29 dogs, 3 horses, and 1 cat;^[85] Popsicle, a five-month-old puppy originally found nearly dead in a freezer, who grew to become one of the nation's most important police dogs;^[86] Norton, who was placed in the Purina Animal Hall of Fame after he rescued his owner from a severe reaction to a spider bite;^[87] Titan, who rescued his owner's wife, who would have died from an aneurysm, D-Boy, who took three bullets to save his family from an intruder with a gun,^[88] and Lilly, who lost a leg after being struck by a freight train while pulling her unconscious owner from the train tracks.^[89]

To go with your point RockMom, the only people who seem to want/own a Pit Bull are people that aren't capable of training them the right way.

To go with your point RockMom, the only people who seem to want/own a Pit Bull are people that aren't capable of training them the right way.

 

If a dog requires that much training then there's no need for them. Get a beagle.

From dogbreedinfo.com

 

Pit Bulls excel in practically every canine task including herding, guarding, hunting, policing, cart pulling and ratting. A Pit Bull named Banddog Dread holds more canine working titles than ANY other breed. The owner's name is Diane Jessup and you can reference her book "The Working Pit Bull." It tells all of Dread's accomplishments.

Absolutely awful. Heart breaks for the little girl and her family.

 

It's all about the owners and how they train the dogs.

 

An old lady I know tripped over a little lapdog and fell, the dog proceeded to rip her face up, needing 20+ stitches, etc. Point being, any dog breed, has it in them to attack and get vicious.

 

I know a couple people who own pit bulls and they're very friendly calm dogs. Wouldn't want them around kids, but again, it's about being a responsible owner, and doing the necessary training.

If a dog requires that much training then there's no need for them. Get a beagle.

 

I agree. But I wouldn't suggest a beagle. They're very stubborn. They're great dogs eventually. But they're very stubborn.

I think it's also worth noting that "pit bull" seems to maybe be an overused term. Anyone know what the stats are by specific breed generally referred to as pit bulls?

 

The term pit bull is often used as a generic term used to describe dogs with similar physical characteristics. The general public and news media consider a "pit bull" as one of several breeds including the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Terrier, or any mix thereof. In some parts of the world, the American Bulldog and Dogo Argentino are also classified as a "Pit Bull-type" dog, despite major genetic differences. Any dog that is mixed with a "bully breed"^{[citation needed]} may also be called a "pit bull" including those that are descended from the English Bulldog, French Bulldog and Boston Terrier.^[2] However, breed fanciers believe that using the term "pit bull" as a catch-all term for several different types of breed is incorrect due to the fact that the only breed that has the term "pit bull" in the official breed name is the American Pit Bull Terrier. The breeds often labeled as "pit bull" have their own unique histories, breed standards, and temperaments.

The genetic similarity of bull breed dogs may make it difficult for experts to visually identify the breed,^[3][4][5] and while mixed breed dogs are often labelled a "pit bull" if they have certain physical characteristics such as a square shaped head or bulky body type,^[2] visual identification of mixed breed dogs is not recommended by the scholarly community.^[3]

I've had 2 of my children bit in the face by a dog. One was a cocker spaniel and the other was a mix that had chow in it. One left a small scar and the other required 17 stitches to close up. Still makes me sick when I look at the scars on his face. I was surprised that no one contacted us about it to investigate the dog and the situation considering it wasn't our dog either time. Needless to say both dogs got what they had coming to them for biting my kids.

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but what were they doing to get bit in the face?

The owner needs to be charged with attempted murder. These dogs had to be trained to act like this.

 

I'm not a fan of pit bulls & have seen far too many people (adults & children alike) mauled by these animals, but the law simply does not support that type of charge, nor should it.

My daughter was bitten on the chest by my parents' border collie when she was about 6. She had leaned over Queen and her shirt covered the dog's head causing her to panic.

 

Collies also tend to be an aggressive breed.

I would ask anyone that owns a pit bull why they selected that dog?

Collies also tend to be an aggressive breed.

 

See, I've been around collies all my life. My grandfather had 2, and then my mom and dad have had 2 border collies. None were ever aggressive. Queen herself was never aggressive. She just panicked when the shirt went over her head. My daughter was more traumatized by the fact that my dad shot Queen for biting her than she was from the bite.

I would ask anyone that owns a pit bull why they selected that dog?

 

I would imagine because a lot of pit bulls are dogs that are in shelters or "unwanted", so you have people who want to rescue a dog taking them in.

 

I'd also venture the vast majority (probably close to 99%) of all pit bulls go through life without incident.

My youngest son's good friend was attacked by my former neighbors pit bull several years ago. They were just minding their own business playing catch in the yard (my yard) when the dog somehow got loose and attacked for no reason. I ended up beating the dog off of the child with a bat, which really didn't even phase the dog. The kid needed stitches and had a few deep gashes, but suffered no permanent injury. Had I not happened to be home, who knows what could have happened. We called animal control and the police who ultimately did nothing. The dog was required to be registered as vicious (an extra $50 fee) and to be leashed and muzzled when outdoors. Despite numerous calls and pleas on our part, the dog was never removed. Fortunately, those neighbors eventually moved soon after, but it seems that, at least in Kenton County, the dog almost has to kill someone in order to be removed. I'm extremely skeptical around Pit Bulls now, and no longer give them the benefit of doubt when I see one.

Universal response from owner of a pit bull that attacked:

 

"Hmm, that really surprises me. He wasn't raised that way."