They should have gotten rid of the dogs when it was clear that they were showing aggression around the baby. Some dogs don’t take well to kids coming in.
Exactly. And not just gotten rid of but euthanized.
This business about “pit bulls aren’t at fault, it’s the owners or “trainers” to use that term loosely is true but it doesn’t go far enough.
I keep hearing it’s 100% the human beings fault, which is true but what’s overlooked is breeders in the first place. Perhaps through no fault of their own, but the very first pit bulls being bred is when pandora’s box was opened.
We have a little fox terrier, and these dogs were bred, along with rat terriers, from the very beginning to hunt down vermin on farms and so forth. It’s in their blood. If they see something small and grey they go after it and shake it to death. Little vermin killing machines. The family we got him from had two litters and on their farm there were no mice, rats, etc. because they were routinely exterminated.
So as he grew and to this very day, he takes off after ANYTHING small and gray...squirrels and the little grey kitten my daughter rescued. I explained to her and my mother NEVER EVER EVER let the kitten loose upstairs where Rascal is or there will BE no kitten.
Incidentally, now that the cat is fully grown, they get along famously chasing each other around the house, etc.
But she would have been dead LONG ago had we not intervened.
Same for pit bulls...training can only do so much, they were BRED to destroy things smaller than them. BIG difference is they’ll use teeth to accomplish this and they don’t stop at small and gray! AND their jaws and size CLEARLY makes them lethal.
Terriers in general (fox terriers, pit bulls,...) have this innate destruction in their genes!
Sure it can be overcome, but I’ve also heard too many stories about their pit bull was fine and showed NO aggression ever, until they killed a kid! Like they just up and snapped one horrible day.
It’s simply not worth the risk.
The breed IF it is to survive at all, MUST be controlled, perhaps always kept away from kids or used only as working dogs on farms, I don’t know...and it’s humane for the dogs as well.
What we’re doing now is CLEAR failure with these dogs, not to mention our children.
Best post of the (long) thread. Dogs are combination of genetics and training. Can actually say the same thing about any creature including humans. Training goes a long way but the genetics is always there.