A dog you can trust or a dog that will kill?

I own "vicious" dogs too. They are incredibly well-trained but I always try to remain aware of who is around them and what they are up to. A dog is only as vicious as its environment. And to whomever said Rotties were bred to kill. You're wrong. They're herding and work dogs. Please educate yourself before you spread "vicious" rumors like that.

They don't know that they aren't lap dogs either, huh?

No breed is a bad breed when trained correctly.

this. some are tempered differently but overall if you train them correctly you shouldnt have problems. I have a border collie and she is never around little kids. The odd time that she is she is very gentle and playful.

ETA: everything ive read about border collies says they are bad around little kids.

THAT"S BS. Border Collies had aggression literally bred out of them over time.
I've had three BC's. My first one had to put up with the two small children that were born after I adopted him and he was ALWAYS gentle and kind and more than tolerant.

My daughter has a deaf bully breed that wouldn't harm a child or an adult, but can't stand dogs that are bigger than she is. But she'll let the pet rats crawls all over her head.

My friends chihuahua was attacked by a Jack Russel Terrier.

Dogs are like people... they have their own unique personalities born of conditioning, fear, love, experience, etc...

I personally would never have a Husky, a Mastiff, a bully breed. But that's because I have a VERY strong preference for BC's and their general personality profile.

I have several friends that have bred and raised full blood pits and some that own full blood or mixed pits. They all have said they would rather own those dogs opposed to a smaller breed with "little man syndrome". One of my friends' son was bitten and had to get stitches from her mother's chihuahua and his pit has never even snapped at him. Her son is 10 now and had him for several years.

Training is a must with any breed. There is no way of knowing the dynamics of the pack of dogs in question. However as a mom of three who has a Pitbull who is sweet and loving we have never had an issue or problem. My kids have been bitten and it was not from him but from Labs. I don't hate all labs for it though. In my opinion it is another case of the knee jerk reaction that people seem to have when things of this nature happen.

I believe that all dogs must be trained. I also believe that you need to take care to teach your dog tolerance to situations you may not be in control of. When things begin to get crazy and the kids are wrestling in the middln ine of the floor and our dog wants to lick and join in that is fine but I have seen that the training we have done with him works because if it gets to be to much he goes to his bed and lays down. He will not go further. He plays rough with my husband and oldest son, however if they say drop or sit or he does just that.

He goes to work with my husband and daughter everyday. Our customers love him and so many who previously were wary of him are no longer wary but actually come in to visit him even if they have no other reason to come in.

Love, and training inculding tolerence are key. But we have no idea what the pack dynamic was in this case. That cannot be under estimated.

I absolutely 100% agree with the first poster. No breed is bad, but there are multiple factors that can make a bad dog.
The breeding and genetics (mean parents can make mean pups)
Mean owners (you should never hit or kick a dog, they have the memory of an elephant and if they ever decide they want to be the alpha they could harm you in order to show that.)

We had one dog who was bred for size and she became mean. We later found out her mother was horrible.
My dog I have now hates anyone with a beard and cowboy hat. Our neighbors are Amish and every time she went on their property they kicked her til she went home. (I also think they shot at her since she hates gun shots)

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I take my two dogs to the dog park all the time. One is a pit mix, the other a blue heeler mix. Both of them remained on the leash until we trusted them completely to 1) come when called, 2) behave around other dogs, 3) behave around other people.

I have seen many dogs at the park, and you can always tell the owners that don't put in enough effort to train their dogs or the owners who use pain to teach. They are the people who are chasing their dogs all around the 500 acre park, screaming at the dog. Or the owner that goes to the park like 10 terriers off leash. Or the owners who are too involved in their own selves to notice that their dog is actually aggressively hording a stick, and think it is funny that the dog is doing so.

99% of the time the fault falls upon the owners of the dogs. People go and adopt a dog without looking at their life styles, the training needed for the dog, and ability to offer it the devotion it needs (and this is directed towards all dogs, take for example someone adopting a herding dog and trying to keep it as an apartment dog, and then wondering why they come home to a destroyed couch). And, sadly, the pit breeds have developed a horrible stereotype due to dog fighting. I would wonder, if dog fighting had never come about if the pit breeds would still have the same reputation that they have today. Honestly, I doubt it.

I used to be one of those people who were weary of pit breeds, until I found my Buster. Like any dog, he can get carried away and my husband and I are often times getting onto him at the park for getting rough. Not because we mind, but because we don't want someone taking his rough housing and twisting it into aggressiveness.

When my parents got married, they got a Siberian Husky who was regularly mistaken for a wolf. He was five years old by the time I was born. (I'm the oldest of two.) My parents were worried about how the dog would react to a tiny loud thing getting all the attention that had been his. According to my mom, the dog considered us "his puppies." He was very calm and gentle. The only time he became at all threatening was when a salesman walked into my parents' house uninvited. My mom had been trying to get the guy to go away, and instead he pushed his way in. Mom says the dog stood up on his hind legs, put his paw on the guy's shoulder, and looked him straight in the eye; she says she was as surprised as the salesman.

My vet, on the other hand, was terrified of my dog because he had been bitten by four huskies and didn't trust the breed. Now, how my dog reacted in the vet's office, I don't know, BUT in the seven years we had together, he growled at me once, and showed his teeth to me once (I think I was pulling on his tail...I was really young, and whatever upset him, I know it was my fault), and my parents corrected him both times. My parents never worried about leaving him alone with us.

However, I'm afraid of Shar-pei/Beagle mixes, and even more so of Shar-pei/Beagle/Daschund mixes. My neighbor's daschund died, and she bought a bigger dog to replace it: a shar-pei/beagle mix. This dog spent her first two years taking running jumps to pounce on everyone who walked through the door, and she's heavy. She's also a nipple-biter. No, you didn't misread that; in addition to jumping all over me, she used to try to latch on to the two parts of my anatomy that stood out to her. She also has the beagle bark.

Anyway, in spite of being attached to this dog, my neighbors decided that they missed dearly their deceased daschund's personality (he was, indeed, a gentleman), and decided they needed a second dog. They found an absolutely adorable little guy who looked like a Hershey's milk chocolate bar. I love that dog at least as much as I love my own. My neighbor spent her dog-fixing money on getting her son another expensive game console for no legitimate reason; he wasn't doing especially well in school, it wasn't his birthday, she just wanted to feel loved. Long story short, her male daschund and her very agressive shar/beagle mix had six beautiful mutant babies. They're not even as high as my knee, but these dogs are so nasty that I wouldn't like to be in the same yard. Heck, I'd be happier if I weren't in the same neighborhood; they can be heard at least two blocks in every direction, and my neighbor lets them out at 5:30 in the morning for half an hour at a time. I once passed through a town with a pack of feral dogs, and THEY were nicer than these dogs are. LONG STORY SHORT...if I had a baby, I would leave it with a bull mastiff before I'd leave it with any of my neighbor's spawn of Satan.

I rescued an American Pit. She is the most docile dog I have ever seen. My three year old tries desperately to get her to play tug-of-war, but that dog is totally aware she could hurt my daughter. She only puts the end of the tug rope in her mouth and lets my daughter pull the other end. She never pulls back if my daughter has it, but if it's me that dog can pull so hard she brings me to the floor. She also lets our cat chew on her ears and attack her tail with this "oh it's you again" look on her face.

But as sweet as my dog is, my sister has told me if she ever has children, I'm no longer allowed to bring my dog to her house. Even though she owns a friggin' little shihtsu that has bit me and nipped at my daughter on more than one occasion.

eta- I spelled "shihtsu" wrong on purpose because the edit ****su.

ANY dog is unpredictable. The problem is that we humanize them, but they are still dogs. it's just in their nature. It is up to the owners to prevent any incidents.

There's a meme going around now that says

"In the 70's, it was the doberman pinscher
In the 80s' it was German Shepherds
In the 90s, it was Rottweilers
Now it is the Pit Bull
When are the OWNERS going to be held accountable"

And it's absolutely true. A few days ago a 2 year old girl was killed by the family's 7 pit bulls (they had 9 dogs total, but the other two were different breeds) when she wandered outside. There were FIVE adults in the house and not ONE of them were watching her. (I believe it was reported the 12 year old was supposed to be doing it.) At least in this case, they will be held responsible, but this was absolutely preventable. And 7 dogs and a little girl died due to lazy irresponsible a-holes.

Thank you for this post I agree 100% similar to what I was saying

Blame the deed not the breed ANY dog can be nasty but the owners create the monsters. I own an English bull terrier daft as toast but I would never trust her 100% and you never should with ANY dog it is after all and animal descended from wolves . My brother in law is a doctor and he said that the most recorded dog attacks in the NHS are from collies and Labrador's but you won't see that in the papers.

It's always the same they vilify a breed when it suits them ii's been Rotties, dobermans, GSD, akita's you name it but never a poodle of shihtsu all of which can be killers if not trained.

I will always blame the owners It took us 12 months of rigorous vetting before we could take on our dog EDUCATION is what's needed not destroying a breed!

Education is needed! I have been bitten by jack russels, one attacked our docile old lab and tore his ear open and another time grabbed him by the neck, Tyson was walking to the car and about to jump in the boot when this rat came running across the estate and jumped into the boot as Tyson did and damaged his neck, what made it worse is that this dog was not dealt with and the owners did not offer to pay for the vet bill!