Really James Harrison?

#2
#2
The most contemptible part of that story is how Harrison now wants the dog to be killed. It's not the dog's fault that Harrison is too stupid to keep it in a house with a little kid. I'm no fan of pit bulls, but if somebody with a young child is dumb enough to own one, then whatever happens is on the owner's head. Ridiculous.
 
#5
#5
It's as newsworthy as any of the other 700 stories about NFL players' offseason shenanigans that don't involve a dead body. Having a pit bull and a two-year-old in the same house is every bit as monumentally stupid as going to a nightclub in NYC with a handgun stuffed down the front of your sweatpants.
 
#6
#6
Vercingetorix said:
It's as newsworthy as any of the other 700 stories about NFL players' offseason shenanigans that don't involve a dead body. Having a pit bull and a two-year-old in the same house is every bit as monumentally stupid as going to a nightclub in NYC with a handgun stuffed down the front of your sweatpants.
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One of the most ignorant statements ever. More people are bitten by chihuahuas and dachshunds every year than pit bulls. Because a pit has a more sever bite it gets the publicity.
 
#7
#7
superdave1984 said:
One of the most ignorant statements ever. More people are bitten by chihuahuas and dachshunds every year than pit bulls. Because a pit has a more sever bite it gets the publicity.
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the last sentence of your rant is why it's stupid to have pit bulls and two year olds that close.
 
#8
#8
superdave1984 said:
One of the most ignorant statements ever. More people are bitten by chihuahuas and dachshunds every year than pit bulls. Because a pit has a more sever bite it gets the publicity.
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How many more chihuahuas and dachshunds are kept as pets than pit bulls? Of course there are "more" bites by those breeds, just by sheer numbers.

The difference is that if a chihuahua or dachshund bites a two-year-old, he gets a tetanus shot and an ice cream cone. If a pit bull gets a hold of him, he's lucky if he lives through it. If you don't understand the difference, then I sincerely hope you never have children.
 
#10
#10
Vercingetorix said:
How many more chihuahuas and dachshunds are kept as pets than pit bulls? Of course there are "more" bites by those breeds, just by sheer numbers.

The difference is that if a chihuahua or dachshund bites a two-year-old, he gets a tetanus shot and an ice cream cone. If a pit bull gets a hold of him, he's lucky if he lives through it. If you don't understand the difference, then I sincerely hope you never have children.
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I have children and a grandson. I have owned a pit before. Wonderful dog. I trusted the dog completely around my children and, if she were still alive, I would trust her around my grandson. Any dog is capable of doing serious damage by biting. If you have ever seen a dachshund bite, you might think otherwise. Yes, a pit's teeth are like steak knives. But they can be trained correctly and taught not to be aggressive.
 
#11
#11
superdave1984 said:
I have children and a grandson. I have owned a pit before. Wonderful dog. I trusted the dog completely around my children and, if she were still alive, I would trust her around my grandson. Any dog is capable of doing serious damage by biting. If you have ever seen a dachshund bite, you might think otherwise. Yes, a pit's teeth are like steak knives. But they can be trained correctly and taught not to be aggressive.
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You accuse me of making "one of the most ignorant statements ever," and then you talk about how you kept a pit bull around your kids. Awesome. Your kids are lucky. I hope you at least taught them which end of the crack pipe you're supposed to smoke from.

I'm not saying that pit bulls can't be wonderful dogs, but ultimately they are what they are -- well-trained or not, they're instinctive attack machines. And little kids are never-ending sources of abrupt loud noises, yanking of tails, and everything else that pushes the dog's training to its absolute limit. Why would anybody who knows what damage a pit bull can inflict take that risk at all with a child that he supposedly cares about? You must believe that you're Lord God Dog Trainer to have willingly kept young children in the house with a dog like that. It's like having a bomb in the house that's programmed to go off at a certain high decibel level, and then allowing your teenager's rock band to come over and practice in the garage.

I grew up in a house with a dachshund. Great dog; we had her for almost 20 years. The only incident she ever had was once, when I was about five years old, I snuck up on her when she was dead asleep and (being a stupid five-year-old kid) yanked hard on her tail. She shot about two feet in the air, sprung around, and took a chunk out of my arm. Being a dachshund, it wasn't that big a deal -- doctor's office, had to clean out the wound for a few days, etc. But if she'd been a pit bull, then God knows what what have happened. What kind of fabulous training can anybody give a dog that you can rely on it to obey when it's yanked out of a deep sleep by a sharp pain?
 
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#12
#12
Actually we just taught the dog not to bite. Good old fashioned rewarding of good behavior and punishing bad. We got her as a result of a police raid in the neighborhood. The drug dealer just tossed the dog out and let her fend for herself as a barely weaned pup. She never bit anybody. Even when the kids would literally tackle her. However, she would get between the kids and anybody she did not know and just by her being there, people didn't bother them. It's not the dog, it's the way it is raised. Without a doubt the smartest dog I have ever owned. Very well mannered, playful and obedient.

Instinctive attack machines? Predators yes. Humans kill more people than dogs ever will so I guess you are also an instinctive attack machine and should be kept away from children. Oh, but I guess you were raised not to do that. Dogs can't possibly be taught stuff like that.
 
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#14
#14
Vercingetorix said:
You accuse me of making "one of the most ignorant statements ever," and then you talk about how you kept a pit bull around your kids. Awesome. Your kids are lucky. I hope you at least taught them which end of the crack pipe you're supposed to smoke from.

I'm not saying that pit bulls can't be wonderful dogs, but ultimately they are what they are -- well-trained or not, they're instinctive attack machines. And little kids are never-ending sources of abrupt loud noises, yanking of tails, and everything else that pushes the dog's training to its absolute limit. Why would anybody who knows what damage a pit bull can inflict take that risk at all with a child that he supposedly cares about? You must believe that you're Lord God Dog Trainer to have willingly kept young children in the house with a dog like that. It's like having a bomb in the house that's programmed to go off at a certain high decibel level, and then allowing your teenager's rock band to come over and practice in the garage.

I grew up in a house with a dachshund. Great dog; we had her for almost 20 years. The only incident she ever had was once, when I was about five years old, I snuck up on her when she was dead asleep and (being a stupid five-year-old kid) yanked hard on her tail. She shot about two feet in the air, sprung around, and took a chunk out of my arm. Being a dachshund, it wasn't that big a deal -- doctor's office, had to clean out the wound for a few days, etc. But if she'd been a pit bull, then God knows what what have happened. What kind of fabulous training can anybody give a dog that you can rely on it to obey when it's yanked out of a deep sleep by a sharp pain?
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This is just flat out wrong. Pit bulls are only aggressive towards people if they are mistreated or trained to be aggressive towards people.

That said, young children should always be supervised in the presence of dogs.
 
#15
#15
superdave1984 said:
Actually we just taught the dog not to bite. Good old fashioned rewarding of good behavior and punishing bad. We got her as a result of a police raid in the neighborhood. The drug dealer just tossed the dog out and let her fend for herself as a barely weaned pup. She never bit anybody. Even when the kids would literally tackle her. However, she would get between the kids and anybody she did not know and just by her being there, people didn't bother them. It's not the dog, it's the way it is raised. Without a doubt the smartest dog I have ever owned. Very well mannered, playful and obedient.

Instinctive attack machines? Predators yes. Humans kill more people than dogs ever will so I guess you are also an instinctive attack machine and should be kept away from children. Oh, but I guess you were raised not to do that. Dogs can't possibly be taught stuff like that.
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Again, I am not saying that pit bulls are evil; I knew some folks who had one once, and he was a great dog. It's just that they are such savage attackers when they want to be (and no, it's not just "how they were raised"; it's also how they've been bred for two hundred years to favor all the qualities that make a dog a fighting machine) that I can't understand why anybody would pass up on all the other hundreds of breeds of dogs to keep a pit in the house with young children. Little kids are loud; they jump around suddenly; they yank on tails and climb on dogs' backs. Why take the risk? Why not keep a dog that, in the unlikely event that it does decide to lash out, is vastly less likely to kill whatever it's going after?
 
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#16
#16
emainvol said:
This is just flat out wrong. Pit bulls are only aggressive towards people if they are mistreated or trained to be aggressive towards people.

That said, young children should always be supervised in the presence of dogs.
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It was poorly phrased on my part. I don't think that pits are much if any more likely to attack people than other dogs. The issue is that, thanks to centuries of breeding, they are much more ruthlessly efficient than other dogs if they do. For a 30-pound toddler, it can be the difference between a tetanus shot and disaster.

Couple that with the fact that little kids are a risk factor all by themselves, by virtue of the fact that they're so much more likely to provoke a dog in the first place, and it just seems like a dangerous combination. I don't see why anybody who cares about either dogs or kids would risk it.
 
#17
#17
Vercingetorix said:
It was poorly phrased on my part. I don't think that pits are much if any more likely to attack people than other dogs. The issue is that, thanks to centuries of breeding, they are much more ruthlessly efficient than other dogs if they do. For a 30-pound toddler, it can be the difference between a tetanus shot and disaster.

Couple that with the fact that little kids are a risk factor all by themselves, by virtue of the fact that they're so much more likely to provoke a dog in the first place, and it just seems like a dangerous combination. I don't see why anybody who cares about either dogs or kids would risk it.
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Point taken.
 
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