Reply #83: My friend had two pits and a wolf hybrid [View All]

[LeftyMom]

One of the pits she rescued from a family that didn't treat him well, and he's agressive toward people sometimes and unpredictable. She keeps him in the backyard when they have guests or children in the house.

The other pit is a an old sweetie who thinks she's a lap dog. It's funny when she walks her and people shy away from the big scary pit bull, because she has no teeth (they were all pulled by the vet years ago b/c of decay) but she might try to love you to death.

The wolf hybrid is huge, but he's very gentle with babies and children, other dogs and cats. He bit the agressive pit once but now they've established that he's alpha male and haven't had any more trouble. He's really smart and if I could have a puppy where I live I'd encourage her to breed him, because he's lovely to look at and has admirable personality traits. He plays nicely with my son, even when he pulls his tail or messes with his ears.

My point is this, my friend has three "problem breed" dogs. The only one that's actually a problem was raised by neglectful (and possibly abusive) assholes. The ones she raised are model dogs, even though she has no special training, because she treats them well and let them know from puppyhood that she's in charge and expects them to be obedient to her. While some breeds are more volatile than others (and pit bulls certainly qualify) making sure the dog is bred well (and not bred for fighting or agression, or inbred) and then raising it with love and attention, but a firm insistance on proper behavior, will prevent most of these attacks.