Unfortunately, their breed heritage has long since changed. There are definitely still some top notch pit bull breeders out there, though. Like I said, characteristics breed into dogs MUCH faster than they do in humans and other animals. Almost all dogs come from a small subset ancestors.
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let me guess, you’re gonna say it’s “Lab Mix” because that’s what just about every stray/rescue dog at the rescue shelters are considered…
YES, if you put you hand over his nose, he will exhale and sound like a horse with his big ol cheeks flapping.
I have a buddy in st. laderdale that named his boxer “damnit”.
Awesome choice he his betuiful :tup:
Labrador is the #1 breed of dog with attacks that require a hospital/drs office visit. But insurance companies can’t/won’t deny you coverage because of them because they are also the #1 dog breed owned in the US. Kinda screwed up there.
I’ve had Boxers all my life. When I bought my house, the 2nd thing I got was a dog. This is/was Moe. He was a rescue and got him at the age of 1. He’s a boxer/something mix and about 90lbs. I didn’t really like the name Moe, so I went with Bo. Congrats on the new addition to the family.
That’s why stats are bullshit. Labs out number all other breeds by a long shot. Obviously with more dogs out there, there will be more attacks.
Also, people who have “lab mixes” always claim their dog is a lab without mentining the mix. My fiance’s family does this. The dog is a lab/pit bull mix, but anytime someone asks what kind of dog they have, they say “yellow lab”. He’s a sweet dog, don’t get me wrong…I’m just saying, a lot of these so-called Labs out there have SUPER sketchy breeding histories.
When people ask me what mix Nadia is, I tell them she’s a pit mix. Why? Because she is a fantastic dog, and a great breed ambassador. I WANT people to know that pit bulls and pit mixes can be sweet and well behaved.
Nadia’s mother was tied to a fence at a shelter in NC. Our rescue works with another rescue down there, and we had room to take in a few puppies (her mom, a pit bull, was adopted down there, and is apparently a very sweet dog who is adored by her new family). We have no idea what Nadia’s breeding is. She’s been treated with kindness since the day she was born on a cold shelter floor. We train using positive reinforcement, and she’s met over 200 dogs since we got her last July. Food for thought Also, not every rescue is as good as the one we work with. We have mandatory training for all our foster dogs, with a trainer that has a lot of experience. We go on group walks to help socialize all the dogs, too. And out of the hundreds of dogs we’ve placed, we have never had a dog returned for aggression. I think that says something.
The training goes a long way. Especially when the puppy is VERY young, and especially when the trainer has lots of experience with the breed. Better breeding habits are definitely needed, though. There are too many backyard breeders mixing shitty bloodlines and givng the dogs to lousy owners who do the same thing or worse to the pups. Until it gets controlled, the breed will go further and further away from it’s heritage. The rescues are doing the best they can, but for now, all they’re doing is cleaning up a neverending mess.
Down here in NC, the rescues are in brutal shape. No funding, nobody taking the dogs. Still, shitty ass dog owners refuse to neuter their dogs.
A study, published this week in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, with researchers questioning 6000 dog owners had some surprising conclusions.
The dog breed most likely to bite was not the Pit Bull, Rottweiler, or German Shepherd, but …wait for it…the Dachshund. And second was the Chihuahua, followed by the Jack Russell Terrier.
Known as sausage or weiner dogs, Doxies were originally bred to hunt badgers in their holes. The research, conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, found that one in five Dachshunds have bitten or tried to bite strangers or have attacked other dogs and “one in twelve have snapped at their owners.”
One of the researchers, Dr. James Serpell said that smaller breeds might be “more genetically predisposed towards aggressive behavior than larger dogs.”
Previous research into dog aggression has focused primarily on dog bite statistics, but researchers said that these are misleading since most dog bites are not reported. Furthermore, bites from small dogs are less likely to require medical attention and are almost never reported.
Breeds scoring low for aggression included Basset Hounds, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Siberian Huskies and Greyhounds.
The Rottweiler, Pit Bull and Rhodesian Ridgeback scored average or below average marks for hostility towards strangers.
In defense of small dog breeds, many owners may not discourage biting the way owners of larger breeds might. Also small dogs may learn early in life that biting an obnoxious child (or adult) is necessary for their own protection.
Ok let me reword since you want to be a fggt about it. He would growl and snip at you if you gave him a treat then went over to pet him while he was eating it hence thinking you were gonna try taking it or something.
Why would you be OK with a dog being food aggressive? What if you needed to take something out of his bowl? Having a dog nip when you take away food is definitely NOT acceptable.
Lots of dogs do that - it’s called resource guarding. Totally workable, it takes a lot of time and patience. Seems to affect dogs of any breed, in any situation.
Also, not every rescue is as good as the one we work with. We have mandatory training for all our foster dogs, with a trainer that has a lot of experience. We go on group walks to help socialize all the dogs, too. And out of the hundreds of dogs we’ve placed, we have never had a dog returned for aggression. I think that says something.