Pit Bull Owners Defend Breed After Dog Fighting Bust

WNCT ^

[Chet 99]

Updated: April 14, 2010

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - Tuesday’s dog fighting bust is just the latest incident surrounding the controversial breed.

These pit bulls were trained to fight and now face an uncertain future.

People who own the breed say that’s not their nature.

One group is determined to prove that image isn’t everything. A whiff and a sniff—just like any other dog.

Only these are the much maligned pit bull.

Their owners say they are just like any other dog.

“They’re full of life, full of fun,” said Lee Nolan, founder of The Guardians Pit Bull Owners Club. “They’re hilarious to watch.“ Lee Nolan started The Guardians Pit Bull Owners Club two years ago, in part to change the way people think about the breed.

The problem is dog fighting busts like the one in Duplin County and a few months ago in Greene County involved pit bulls—dogs that were trained to attack.

“It hurts a lot because these dogs are wonderful animals and I hate to see anything happen to them,“ said Samantha Tye, a pit bull owner and trainer. It’s not clear what will happen to the pit bulls recovered in the Duplin County dog fighting bust. These fans of the breed say they deserve a second chance. “They’re naturally born to be a protector,” Nolan said. “So, you’re brainwashing the dog to be a fighter, to fight for its life all the time. So, it’s always on that fight or flight, do or die, kill or be killed mode.“ Dog trainers like Samantha Tye say pit bulls trained to fight can change their behavior.

However, it takes time.

Up to a year and a half and there are no guarantees.

“I’ve had dogs that have been fighting dogs that are terrified of everything, just sit in a corner and cower because they’re just, they were destroyed,“ Tye said.

In the world of pit bulls, there are lovers and there are fighters.

While technically the same species, they can be a breed apart.

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[oldenuff2no]

Until I see a pit bull working at the level we train to I will have no doubt as to my opinion of their train-ability, predictability and the low level of their intelligence.
Working stock dogs have have a working vocabulary that can reach hundreds of commands.
I actually think most pit bull problems are because of people who do not understand the potential nature of the dogs that pull them down the street.
Lets clean up one more big lie. There was a comment about the war dogs being rehabilitated. That was true but the way it was stated was meant lead one to believe that these were pit bulls, they were not. For the most part these early war dogs were, belgian shepherds, Tervurens, german shepherds, belgian sheepdogs, and malinois.

[LongElegantLegs]

Uh, no, the source states that they were mostly Doberman Pinschers; what are your qualifications again? Do you claim to be a military k9 trainer?

[kanawa]

Who pays for your testimony in court,
the lawyers, the insurance companies or the government?

[Scythian]

For all the dead little children ...

[LongElegantLegs]

Okay, I see from this post that you were a military handler/trainer...But you don't seem to know what a prong collar is...You say you've been training stock dogs for 40 years, along with "Bomb dogs, dope dogs, attack dogs and even service dogs"...And yet you have an extremely narrow view of dog breeds and their potential...What's going on with you?

[oldenuff2no]

I'm a real dog trainer and I train for real dog handlers. Prong collars are not a collar that is used on any of my working dogs. Even choke chains are a training aid and not something to choke a dog down or physically restrain them through brute force. That is not how they are used in proper hands. You train a dogs brain to respond to commands without having to use physical force to restrain them. If you are in a tug of war situation then you are just wrong in every thing you are doing. A trainer is after a conditioned response. Dogs should always walk on a lose leash and you should be able to control them with only your voice in all off leash situations.
Even Law Enforcement attack dogs can be called off of a person with only a voice command. It is part of their certification.

[kanawa]

A picture of a dead dog... “For all the dead little children”.
I can’t fathom how you would think that appropriate.

btw, since you’re stealing someone’s bandwidth by posting that picture
you might want to link to their site so we can see their anti-dogfighting message.

http://www.virtualupstate.tv/contact.html

[kanawa]

...and you should probably give credit to the prop company that made the “dead pit bull”.

http://www.bjwinslow.com/gallery/animalparts?page=4

LOL what a doofus!

I wonder of they make fake Hippos?

[Salamander]

Damn right they were Dobes.

They were the [in]famous “Devil Dogs” whose ranks later included GSDs and other working breeds.

Famous show kennels [such as the seminal Arthal kennels] donated their prize dogs for the war effort.
Most of the owners got their dogs back...when they survived.
Some let the handlers keep the dogs they’d grown to love.

[just think LEL, somebody, somewhere is paying beau coup Benjamins to this guy]

[Salamander]

But he wasn’t old.

[smart ass!]....LOL

[Salamander]

I’m the queen of the universe.

Don’t believe me?

I said it and you read it on the internet and everybody knows everything you read here is automatically true.

[Salamander]

Why would I do that?

They ~really~ suck at it.

It took me almost half a second to say “fake”...:))

[Randy Larsen]

Not true!

What about the ones that were killed during the fights?

[LongElegantLegs]

I said it and you read it on the internet and everybody knows everything you read here is automatically true.

Yeah, I know, but I do try to give people here the benefit of the doubt. It IS confusing though, because I learned the full history of the War Dogs in boot camp, and my MOS had nothing to do with dogs.

[Salamander]

Well, obviously they’re dead and were unable to be resurrected and rehabilitated.

/face palm

[LongElegantLegs]

Well, obviously they’re dead and were unable to be resurrected and rehabilitated.

How evil of them!

[Salamander]

Let’s add “sinfulness” to their already burgeoning list of bad traits.

[sometimes I think I hallucinate some of these people’s posts]....LOL

[Salamander]

What’s “MOS” mean?

[pardon my ignorance]