Is a dog for life, or is it to chew up your children?

Why was there a pitbull any way. The pitbull was put on the dangerous dogs act list many years ago. All dogs were required to be castrated or neutered and then muzzled. So in theory there shud be no young pitbulls and only very few, very old ones.The people who is are still breeding these dogs are to blame. They shud be persecuted.

I agree that all dogs are potentially dangerous and deadly because they are designed to hunt and kill just like wolves with whom they share a common ancestor. However your assertion is based on the assumption that all dogs will eventually attack children, which is completely unsubstantiated. Dog are not like a robot or computer program that is only capable of operating within its programmed parameters. Dogs dont simply "turn" without reason or provocation unless they are ill or abused. A dog who is raised responsibly, well-socialized, healthy, well-trained and treated with respect and affection will not simply turn around one day and bite someone who is walking by minding their own business. It just doesnt happen that way... dogs that are well raised do not just attack people for no reason... but dogs that are well raised are still capable of biting if they are threatened, hurt, teased, chained, abused or provoked by tresspassing. But most often these dogs bite because of the ignorance of people, that is to say people who do not realize what their body language, movements or actions are communicating to the dog. Children especially who are not familiar with dogs and are not taught how to interact with dogs are at the most risk because of their ignorance. Any dog owner that does say their dog would never bite someone is misguided because under certain circumstances even the gentlest of dogs will bite. Dogs should NOT be kept away from children and other people at all times because that in fact makes the likelihood of them biting someone increase dramatically because then the dog becomes ignorant to the body language, movements and communication of people. What should be done to minimize the risk of dog bites is simple... education, information, knowledge and experience of everyone in the world especially children. If all people knew how to understand and interpret dog communication then very few dogs would ever bite people unless as I mentioned before they are ill, or abused. I myself have never asserted that my dog would never bite someone in fact I am positive he would especially a child who's parents act like all dogs should love kids and dont bother to warn their child that dogs can bite if you pull their tail or hit them with a stick, or teach them anythng at all about dogs. However I can say that my dog would not bite me, or the children and adults he knows, trusts and shares mutual understanding with.... because I know dog body language and so does everyone who is allowed to interact with my dog. I make it a point to educate people about dog behaviour and language so that they can avoid creating circumstances where my dog would be provoked to bite. I wonder what personal experience you have with dogs to state that they should be kept away from children.... I have lived with 14 different dogs over my life, mutts, purebred, mixes... and I can tell you that out of them all only one ever bit someone and it was an adult who caused the dog to bite by giving the wrong signals to the dog. As a child I was never once threatened by a dog that I lived with never, because I had experience with dogs and I was taught how dogs think, act, feel and react. Do you know how dogs communicate? did you know direct eye contact is a challenging threat to a dog? hugging a dog around the neck from above is also an aggressive act, as well as bending down with your hands on your knees and lowering your head, stiff posture, straddling a dog, grabbing a dogs muzzle, standing stiffly with your head raised and eyes wide and staring and showing your teeth is also an act of aggression towards dogs... most people dont know that and can seemingly provoke an attack by doing nothing when really they are challenging the dogs social status or territorial rights with what seem to the dog to be aggressive and provoking signals. Without knowledge of how dogs communicate and what your body language is saying to the dog anyone can be bitten by any dog... it is not up to dog owners to seclude their dogs because others are ignorant... but it is up to dog owners to educate everyone who meets our dogs about how to understand the body language and vocal cues of dogs to prevent them getting bitten.

Why are you ranting and raving. I would rather have a house full of dogs than one or two kids! Kids do not mind, make a mess, stick around forever(even after they are grown), lie, cost lots of money, require lots of patience, demand lots of attention, unappreciative, etc. Our dogs mind pretty good, love us no matter what, are always happy to see us, listen well, learn things quickly, sleep all night, don't need a babysitter, etc. Kids could grow up to be killers.

I pity your children. Your attitude means they will never experience the joy of owning a pet and because you teach them to fear dogs, they will be more at risk of being bitten. I have owned dogs all of my life. My son was brought up with dogs as I showed and bred dogs. As long as the dogs are trained and the children taught to respect them there will be no problem. My old giant schnauzer never grew up with children, but I would guarantee her to be 100% safe with even the tiniest child.However, since I could not guiarantee that the children could not be trusted to be safe with her, she was never left unsupervised with them.Dogs rarely bite for no reason.

Why aren't the children kept away from the dogs? What right do your children have to be on my property? Sticking their hands through my fence to pet or taunt my dog? Why can't you mind your children when MY dogs are on MY property? When do MY rights start and YOUR rights end? Why should I compromise my right to the pursuit of happiness (ie: owning dogs) simply because you want to allow your children to run amuck? I have kids - 2 of them. I'm a single mom. I also have pets - 3 cats, 2 snakes & 2 dogs. I work 40+ hrs/week, my children are purple/orange belts in karate, my eldest runs track & cross country and has been a youth group leader with me for over 4 years. I'm a Sunday School teacher. My kids have been taught manners and respect. They know that I make the rules and it's their job to follow them. My kids do not climb on booths or run up and down isles in the market, church, theater, or diner. I do not barter with them to "please put the candy bar back" in line at the grocery store.If more parents would PARENT then less kids would be attacked. PERIOD. Children should be afraid of strange dogs and have respect for the dogs that they own. Yeah, dogs can bite - anything with teeth can bite, but my Chi and Westie are not going to rip apart my 12 / 16yo's without provocation. The kids know the dogs have teeth, the dogs know the kids have boots, the cats know the dogs have teeth, and the dogs know the cats have claws. It's all about respect.Kids these days do NOT have respect for other people's property (including dogs). They're being coddled and raised by people who think kids should "just be kids" -- oh was Johnny climbing your apricot tree? Gee sorry, that's just boys being boys! NO! That's a stupid boy who came into MY yard to climb a tree that wasn't his. IT'S CALLED TRESPASSING!Dogs need training and Kids need parenting. That's the moral of the story here.

Truly sick. You criticise me for asking a question about spanking magazines, and yet you make fun of the death of a child.Hypocrite.

Even the smallest of dogs can bite......so get it properly trained.

There are no bad dogs only bad owners,Your correct all dogs are capable of attacking but in most cases they have been provoked