kendalyn

That bathtub picture is adorable!! Such cute eyes :D :P Guest: I hope you will agree to come back (logged in) and have a rational discussion about dogs and dog aggression.

I've never actually tried a halti, but I know a lot of people who find them to be very effective tools when teaching a dog to walk on a leash. The halti controls their head, and that's pretty much all I know about them! When worn correctly they would be pretty hard to get out of. Probably someone who has used them before will reply to help you out!

Exactly!! I just hope that this person doesn't own any kind of animal EVER!!! Either he/she is trying to make inflammatory statements just for the heck of it, or he/she is really heartless. Unfortunately, it sounds to me like he/she is definately uneducated about dogs.

Yay Missy!! Much needed good press for a misunderstood breed :D

Since when does any animal not require food and water? Why do you think that these dogs don't deserve the kind treatment that any other dog would?

I'm not positive but I do think that usually places that train service dogs usually have their own breeding stock and choose which puppies from those litters are suitable to begin service dog training. However, if you think these dogs have what it takes, you can have them evaluated by private companies that will test the puppies on their personality traits. The dogs could be adopted by individuals who train their own service dogs and than receive a license to have the dog as a service dog. You would have to pay for the evaluation yourself and than advertise the dogs as having been approved by that company as a good potential service dog. Just an idea for you... However, if the company were to tell you that these dogs really would not make good service dogs, it would be unethical for you to sell them for work in that capacity. Especially if you don't know the genetic heritage of the dogs. Service dogs really do need to be very healthy.

That kind of attitude is exactly what needs to be eliminated in order for this breed to have a chance at being accepted by the public. Any dog, no matter what breed will become aggressive if it is constantly treated as an aggressive dog even though it may not have shown any aggressive tendancies. That is to say that the animal is not socialized, not taught basic manners and good behavior, not loved and not integrated into a stable, wholesome environment. By the way, the same thing happens to children when treated this way. Why should we expect dogs to react any differently? No dog instinctively wants to fight and be mean. It is a reaction to a previous experience or a last resort for the animal when it knows no other way to respond. So Guest, you are wrong. Not all pits are aggressive, and those that are, were made that way by people who didn't care for them properly.

PETA is just ridiculous. They came to my college once and put up posters asking the kids to drink beer instead of milk! Now, if that is not irresponsible, I don't know what is. If there is one thing college kids don't need, it is to be encouraged to drink more alcohol! They also hang around grocery stores and put stickers on packages of meat that say "warning: rotting animal flesh inside". Inflammatory comments like that don't help anybody discuss the issue rationally. All these people want to do is to instigate fights!

:evil: This story made my stomach turn :evil: What a terrible person :x

I agree. I really don't understand the difference between people buying "new" breeds or established purebreds. It's still taking away homes from shelter animals. But than, people who are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a pure bred or "new" breed, probably aren't the people who will adopt a shelter or rescue animal anyways. Overall, I think the best way to get people to adopt more rescue animals would be to change public opinion away from thinking they have to have a purebred dog from a breeder in order to have a good pet. Some people really belive that the old saying "you get what you pay for" applies to dogs. That's really too bad because many people who think like this also think that those purebreds won't need as much training and won't have behavior issues. Obviously a big misconception.

When Buck was with his sisters, he was definately low man on the totem pole. There was this one toy in particular that the alpha dog (Tucker) would not let Buck have, even if Tucker wasn't playing with it at the time. The second Buck picked it up, Tucker would come over and take it away! Buck didn't really seem to mind. He was used to it I guess. Bossed around by both the girls! Poor guy :wink:

I don't personally know much about APBT conformation, but bad breeding unfortunately is common. And many people quite often think bigger is better... I have to wonder if maybe the bad people who fight these dogs are the ones wanting them to be bigger?

exactly, you hit it right on the nose Kathy 8)

This may not work for you, but I got Buck to stop pulling by simply not moving when he pulled. As soon as he moves back a step, than I walk forward, but not until he actually takes a step backwards. It works well. Usually if he gets to the end of the line, he'll feel the lead tighten and he'll step back. But you have to let her take the move backward, obviously pulling her back won't help. Once she learns that she doesn't get to move at all when she pulls, she'll stop pulling. At least, that's what happened with Buck. But every dog is different... The only thing is that with this method, at first it can take forever to get anywhere! Stop, start, stop, start. :fadein:

except, what about all the pups that are already dying in the shelters? There is really no reason to breed just because it is a neat thing. Would you give birth to a child simply for the experience of being pregnant? It's not right.