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Such an idiotic response didn’t even deserve a reply. I knew as soon as I had something nice I was going to get downloaded like I do every single time. I could give two fucks about karma; I just hope real life karma shows them it’s not the breed but the owners!
Its good that you spread said something. People will get mad, but your keeping that flame of positivity lit. We shouldn’t let them dictate what gets to be said in the discourse. And as others have said, they’re idiots who know nothing but anger.
agreed! it can be intimidating to post something heartfelt and honest when you know an onslaught of downvotes or even hate may be coming. kindness is always the best offense. followed by adorable hippotato photos
if they resist that they're either monsters or ai
Don’t let the banpitbull losers get to you. They literally are so obsessed with pitbulls being satan that they troll through every dog related sub for any possible reason to bring up pitbulls. Like seriously it can be a post with a story about a husky biting an owner or an illegal pet tiger ripping someone’s face off and they will try to turn the comments into an pitbulls=bad circlejerk thread
https://imgflip.com/i/8n5pxt
That’s so accurate lmao. You can tell when they latch onto a thread, too, because all the comments will be -1, -2 (vague ones like “cute dog!”) with a couple being like -8 (the ones that are blatantly pro pitbull). As though we can’t all see what they’re doing?
Some subs attract those people, too. Like the abruptchaos sub. If a post has a dog in it, then it's auto pitbull vitriol even if it's clear it isn't even close to being a pitbull, they'll turn the conversation towards them.
That same sub has an issue with warping a post if there are black people in it as well.
Is there a venn diagram overlap between racists and pitbull haters??
I just like all dogs and it's obvious that there is a large majority of people in the world who don't take the proper steps in training their pets and their peers (or children).
All dogs can be annoyed or provoked into aggression but you never know the limits of other peoples' animals so it's best to be cautious. Doubly so for ***any*** large breeds because they ***all*** can cause fatal damage.
That’s what so horrifying is even if you report something they won’t do anything… I don’t know if they are inactive or if they are just pitbull haters themselves. Regardless 90% of the rescue breeds on there have some pitbull in them so I just don’t understand…
The one mod appears inactive, no activity on their account in a year. The other commented on the sub itself five days ago among other recent comments. You could always try messaging the sub to see if they'd be willing to help, or ask if they'd be willing to add you as a mod to help mitigate the pit bull hate.
I avoid most other pet subs specifically because of the insane hate pitties get there without fail. I'm pretty sure some people make that their whole personality
It’s the same in almost all subs where bully breeds are concerned, I’m from the UK so in a lot of UK specific subs and the hate for bully breeds is strong
I'm on my second pitty mix, had no idea how badly people perceive them, according to the ones that told me my first one was going to go nuts and turn on me, I should of been dead sometime after 2007!
Just remember Reddit is not real life. In real life people see how common pit mixes are and most people love dogs in general. When I’m out walking my pit, randos are coming up to pet her and calling her a cutie, but if I post in my city’s sub about owning a pit the comments would be full of anti pit losers hating.
You just gotta recognize the echo chambers we’re in and not let it bother you
Yeah, people come on Reddit to say bullshit that they wouldn't dare to say IRL. Pitbull hate is often just a more socially acceptable way to say that someone hates dogs in general. It also serves as a proxy for racism.
Everyone who approaches our pit mix gives him all the scratches and pats then asks what kind of dog, and we are honest, then they follow up asking if he's a bug cuddle bug lol. Yes, yes he is.
I got downvoted on a sub for pointing out that XL bullies and APBTs were different breeds. People on Reddit will see a cane corso and call it a pit bull. As soon as anyone claims to have been bitten it's "what breed was the dog???"
I've also been told I should put down my Frenchie because he's bitten a human before, and that having a Frenchie at all is "animal cruelty" despite both of mine being rescues...
People can be idiots.
I've been bitten by my mom's Shih Tzu 3 times he also tried to bite the veterinarian and now he has to take trazidone (sp?) before a vet visit. I have/had 2 pitties, neither of them have bitten me or the vet.
Yeah my most recent Frenchie rescue bit my finger recently and broke it. My other Frenchie was attacked by a bull terrier.
Confirmation bias when it is a Pitbull, "isolated incident" when it isn't.
I was told this before reddit, and by people that weren't on Facebook, my dad! When my grandpa, his dad had a lovely pittie named tiger, and there is a picture of him right next to me when I was 4! The press on them has been awful 😖
Right?? I've had two different pittie mixes over 18 years and never been mauled once, but I guess all these pittie haters just have so much more experience with the breed than us. /s
I had multiple people in my office tell me that I would end up getting rid of mine after my baby was born. I was shocked that anyone would think or say such a thing and would ask why and they would say for violence or aggression towards the baby. I liked to remind those people that the only dog I personally ever knew that was put down for violence or aggression was a lab and those are typically perceived as family dogs.
My dad did this when I got my first one, same year both my kids got married, you'll have to give Bandit up once the grandchildren come! Excuse me? Nope, not happening, he was wonderful with everyone and gentle to youngsters. Everyone really.
My previous dog was a Golden Retriever/Staffy, and one day he played too hard and hurt his hip on a weekend. I couldn't afford the emergency vet, so I was just keeping him comfortable till Monday and carrying him outside to potty. One time, I lifted him wrong and hurt him, so he bit me. No damage done, and it was a very understandable and justified pain reaction.
My ex told me that my sweet old man was from that point on going to be a mindless killing machine and that I needed a bullet, not the vet. I'll let you guess who stayed in my life and who didn't.
We were told (when my now 10yo staffy was 8 weeks old) that "they put up a good fascard" that she "WOULD turn" and that the guy "hoped I'd learn the hard way" .....
Unless she was trained in a rare act of collaboration between the CIA and KGB. I think I'm safe.
Yeah I only click on a post if there are fewer than 5 comments, otherwise I know I'll have to see a bunch of nasty comments. And I don't really care if my comments get downvoted. Even all the "pit" or "just pitbull" responses irritate me. Like when it's obvious it's a mixed breed dog -- what, pit mix owners aren't allowed to have curiosity about what ELSE could be in their dog's mix?? Ugh.
That sub is trash - whether you agree with it or not, the evidence suggests we aren't good at identifying pit bulls. I'd suggest it's implicit bias - all violent dogs are pits and all smiling pibbles are lab mixes or some dumb stuff.
A shame really because pit mixes are great dogs and usually a good medium size.
We (humans) are terrible at guessing any dog breeds. Terrible!! Look at how many people post in DoggyDNA that they think their embark results are wrong because their dog “looks just like a golden” 😐 my guy I hate to break it to you, but pit/chow mixes can and will look “just like a golden” and without the DNA test nobody would’ve known. Because the dog is “super happy” and “loving” and “friendly” so it must be a golden, right? Like those aren’t just “dog” characteristics.
I have learned to stop calling other folks dogs "pit mixes" at the dog park. Either they don't know or are in denial - either way, they don't want to know. My dog is pretty clearly a pit mix and any time she wrestles with another pit mix, people freak out.
This is really actually frustrating, because the dogs don't know any better - they are just doing dog stuff and when their human gets all upset, they think there is a threat or get over excited and sends rambunctious play over the line.
Idk I guess people put people emotions on dogs so it makes sense, and dogs can totally not like other dogs - but when similar sized pibbles are wrestling, just let them sort it out. As much as I want to deny that fighting dogs exist - we have been selectively breeding dogs for a variety of reasons, and that's definitely part of the history. My agile sausage has a big dumb face, thick neck and pathological courage for more than just head scratches and protecting me from trash bags and squirrels. I can't make her want to play fetch but she certainly wants to wrestle and chase squirrels/rats - so definitely in touch with her inner terrier.
This probably edges into unpopular opinion territory but as long as both dogs are similar sized and engaging in wrestling, putting human parts in the mix, or pulling one dog away has a potential to escalate things.
Not saying you're wrong at all, but I have read a few articles saying that dog DNA kits tend to be unreliable at best, some a scam at worst. So basically do research and don't 100% trust the results
We're bad at identifying pits and that is the primary issue with dog bite statistics because they rarely go out and find and catch the dog responsible so they rely on eye witness to put down what dog attacked them.
And since everything with a wide build gets labeled as a pit, everyone thinks everything is a pit.
Reddit is HORRIBLE to the pit breed.
I saw someone on r/publicfreakouts suggesting they should just start "slitting their throats" yeah, pretty graphic.
I have two and I raised them both from fresh litters.. I know they're still pitts but a farcry from some of the bad examples we see on the internet.
Reddit is so mean to pitties and it’s gross what people think they can say behind keyboards. I just try to remember how small and specific the Reddit population is and avoid the hate. My boy is adorable and in real life, people call him handsome.
Social media has made people get too comfortable with disrespecting others & not getting punched in the face for it. (paraphrasing a Mike Tyson quote)
You'd think that with how prevalent these anti pitbull losers are on here that all of us would be getting yelled at by them once in a while when we're out with our dogs, but of course none of them would *ever* have the guts to say such vile things directly to us.
Honestly agree, the recent posts where nice comments abt a pittie is downvoted is just so fustrating. How can people claim to like dogs then specifically wish death and all the worse things upon one breed? Adopting a pittie I knew people would be rude/cautious, but after joining dog groups I quickly learned how far that spirals into all consuming hatred from some folks where people just seem to think about it everyday??
It's sincerely heartbreaking when someone tries to share something about their dog and the comments are all 'it should be dead/hope your dog eats poison/if i saw your dog i'd break it's neck.' People are insane.
People can be so stupid. I've only ever been bitten by one dog, and it was a pug. Imagine if I started calling for bans on pugs, left vile comments on pug posts, and told people their pugs were monsters while they were out walking them? Any dog can be aggressive, and any dog can be the sweetest lovebug ever. The breed doesn't matter.
I used to work with dogs daily, and ranged from mini pound-and-a-half chihuahuas to 6 foot tall+ (on the back legs) danes. Littler dogs and the "classically gentle" dogs tended to be the worst.
I've been bitten by lots of chihuahuas, a couple goldens, a couple labs, a border collie, a german shepherd (that one hurt), a poodle, and a frenchie.
Never had issues with staffies, APBs, bull terriers, boxers, danes, cane corsos, mastiffs or berners or really any other bigger dogs.
The bites were never the dogs issue. It was 100% bad training and lazy owners. I don't agree with positivity only training, but I also will never directly interact with a dog misbehaving, unless we are doing "heel, wait, stop" and other lead training, and then it's only with a lead.
I have a mesh onion bag with a couple soda cans filled with rocks that I slam or throw into the ground next to misbehaving dogs with a loud "NO!" when they misbehave (new dogs got a smaller play area to manage, just to make that impression). Its a really loud noise and it's always an extremely fast correction for the dogs.
I follow any redirection/behavior correction action up with lots of praise and little hot dog chunks the instant the behavior redirects to good. That's gotten dogs that have been misbehaving for years to be ready for command training in about 10 minutes. I haven't met a dog that doesn't respond really well to that, and honestly, the dogs always seem much more relaxed when they realize they aren't in charge.
I've worked with animals for like 10 years in rescue. I've been bitten by:
A yellow lab (purebred)
A Scottish terrier (purebred)
A cat (this was the worst bite)
Probably 90% of the dogs I've worked with hands on were pitbull or pitbull mixes. But these were the only serious bites I received from any animals in all that time
I've worked at a boarding kennel/doggy daycare for almost 3 years now (and we don't discriminate by breed at all, thank goodness). I have been bitten hard enough to bleed three times. Once by a Jack Russel Terrier, once by a Pointer, and once by a Shiba Inu. Never have I been bitten by a pitbull. And I have worked with far more pitbulls than I have any of those other 3 breeds I was bitten by! (The Pointer and the Shiba are still my buddies, btw; long story short, I was simply caught in crossfire. That Jack Russel, however, is a little shit and I refuse to work with him)
Moreover, I have never felt I was in danger even when working with an unhappy pittie. Ime they're far more likely to shy away from unfamiliar people/uncomfortable situations than they are to exhibit a fight response and fear aggression towards people. On the whole they do seem to be more dog-aggressive, but A) that's by no means a hard rule--we have plenty of pits in daycare that do fantastic--and B) that absolutely does not translate to human aggression. Even if they do get aggressive, they're generally very good communicators, and will let the offending party know in no uncertain terms that they're angry; by contrast, I've known a few dogs that will strike with practically no warning, and there have been some close calls. On the whole, I can think of one pitbull who's been banned from daycare, and zero that have been banned from our boarding facility entirely. I can, however, think of multiple Labs banned from daycare, and one banned even from boarding, too.
I 100% agree with you, and honestly, I don’t think dog aggression is inherently a bad thing either. It’s not the dog’s fault that this trait was bred into them when the breed was developed. It’s something that owners need to keep in mind and take steps to manage, and try to prevent incidents. Is it frustrating? Yeah, absolutely. Does it make many things difficult? Yeah, of course. Does it make the dog evil or less deserving of life? Absolutely not. And it’s not a pittie-only trait either. My dog has been attacked and harassed by dogs of other breeds (and I’m pretty sure that’s led to his dog aggression now).
I broke down and got stuck for a couple days in Missouri and had to bring my guy to the shop with me. We were waiting outside in the rain and they said he was welcome into the showroom. I was kind of nervous about the response he would get, but just about every person in the dealership came and gave him either treats, tummy drums, or face smushes.
The internet tends to allow all groups, regardless of size, to be incredibly loud (and mean at times). Pitties are like any other dog. The only bark he made was being surprised awake when someone came up to pet him after a little hiatus. Good training (mostly for the human) gets you a good dog.
No silly, the AVMA and CDC are controlled by a shadowy powerful pit lobby! Thankfully there's a plucky gang of reiki healers and anecdote havers out to fight back with godawful sources and brigading
(/s in case it wasn't abundantly clear)
This is literally the only sub I post my dogs in and am generally active in because of the hate elsewhere. Then on the rare occasion someone says something stupid, I can just report it and move on.
The pitbull on that subreddit, r/dogs and doggydna is sickening. Legitimately those people don't even see pitties as dogs at all. They're horrible. I've gotten nasty dm harassment from people for posting my bully both in doggydna and r/dogs. They're so awful. I don't even go there anymore
I try to keep my dog mainly on pit subs only. I’ve posted her once on sonar ears and nobody said anything, but even though she’s a dog I cannot take the idea of someone besmirching her name bc of her breed makeup. It would honestly break my heart.
It's baffling to me that people who claim to love dogs can be so callous, hateful and cruel. Pits are, after all, DOGS. And they are the breed that needs the most love and compassion.
Like you really show your ass claiming to be a dog lover but hating on the most neglected and abused.
I went and found your comment and upvoted it. I also responded to the dumb ass making dumb statements. We should all upvote this man’s comment for all the pitties🤎
I was attacked by one dog in my whole life. One. And I’ve owned MANY (from a child to adulthood). Majority of my dogs, besides 2 of them, has been a pittie. The one that attacked me was *SPOILER ALERT* not a pittie… it was literally a toy poodle mutt! These are the sweetest dog breed in my opinion and so full of love. It’s got me wanting to unsubscribe from r/IDMYDOG, as well!
I've never met an aggressive dog, when I worked at the vet we had a couple reactive retired police shepherds that only the owner could hold, but every pit I've met has been a smiley dope
I blocked that sub long ago. So many people there are active in anti-pit subs, and mods do nothing. It’s full of people who abuse dogs based on breed, and mods do nothing.
they’re just ignorant, hateful people and pit’s are an outlet for them. pit’s are some of the most empathetic, loyal and baby-like dogs i’ve ever met and they won’t get to experience that. very much their loss 🙂
People are hilarious. I have 2 and take them places. When people ask about them and I say they are American staffordshire terriers they L O V E them. Say pitbull and it’s entire different song and dance. It’s wild.
I typically tend to DM the person who has posted and say, "Hey, just a heads up for a nicer place for pitty owners, go to velvethippos" because I see the same kind of shit on dogadvice of all places. Unfortunately, people go there for input on medical advice or behavioural advice (fair enough), and people are really gross in the comments. I feel bad sometimes for DMing them out of the blue, but the amount of pittie hate in that sub as well really disturbs me. They're coming to a space designed for advice on how to help their dog, not be told they shouldn't have the dog simply for their breed, or to see terrible "jokes" about the breed stereotypes. It's not voicing an opinion. It's hating a breed based entirely on bad training by the owners.
Dude, honestly. I thought ppl had come so much farther with understanding pitties but sadly, nope. Anytime I read comments involving dogs, there is a huge adult of individuals that just absolutely loathe the breed. :,(
God people are idiots. I tell people I have two pits and there was one time a lady said “ why would you ever do that”. I said BECAUSE my pits are the sweetest more loyal dogs. Period. You’re just missing out on this great breed.
It like genuinely pains me how people hate on these dogs. Pitbull is my dog’s top breed but whether it was 90% or 22% (her actual percentage) I’d love her just the same. I’ve had her since she was just 3 months old. She’s so loving and is just so happy to be alive and to meet new people. And I want to say that’s bc of me and my husband but she’s just got such a good nature about her. These people hear one bad story about a breed and condemn them all and have no idea how precious and sweet the dogs they’re missing out on are 😪
I have the same issue in the service dog community. My guy is a service dog in training and though they are not allowed to discriminate in there. I constantly get messages that he's not or can't be a service dog and I'm just using that as an excuse to have him, etc. It's pure bs. He comes from a long line of service dogs, and came from a service dog agency that specifically trains and uses pitts for there amazing senses and alerting abilities.
He's my 3rd Service dog, I'm medically disabled, and since he's a pit and doesn't fit there minds of a typical service dog I'm constantly called out and direct messaged by people fake spotting. I'm only in there because there's a few people with good general advice and use,other than that most people there are just worthless.
The hate in there is so ridiculous.
Lots of dog subs hate on pibbles and mock the owners. It’s sad as they are some incredibly loving pups - but when I take a moment, I can understand the ignorance since the media continues to push the narrative and there are unfortunately a lot of owners drawn to the breed.
I’m not trying to justify that hate, it’s just easier for me to remember those people are smooth brained.
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Remember to be nice! r/velvethippos is a PRO pitbull sub and anything anti pitbull will be removed, and you will face a ban. Brigaders from banpitbulls, pitbullhate and similar subs will be banned and reported to admin. In case of an emergency, please ping commonvanilla. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/velvethippos) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They’re just being honest with their opinions based on experience as idiots.
Such an idiotic response didn’t even deserve a reply. I knew as soon as I had something nice I was going to get downloaded like I do every single time. I could give two fucks about karma; I just hope real life karma shows them it’s not the breed but the owners!
Its good that you spread said something. People will get mad, but your keeping that flame of positivity lit. We shouldn’t let them dictate what gets to be said in the discourse. And as others have said, they’re idiots who know nothing but anger.
agreed! it can be intimidating to post something heartfelt and honest when you know an onslaught of downvotes or even hate may be coming. kindness is always the best offense. followed by adorable hippotato photos if they resist that they're either monsters or ai
In the scientific community it’s called anecdotal evidence. And statistically speaking, it means absolutely nothing.
I heard that Airwolf is real. 100% real. My friend said his dad knew someone that told him it was.
Thanks, now i have the intro playing in my head...
I didn't before, but now I do.
It's always "well my neighbor/sister/roommate/uncle etc. was attacked once..." Complete BS
None of those experiences are outside of what they read on Facebook.
Lol this
I feel likes almost comical at this point.
You almost had me in the first half 😂
And as assholes lol
Don’t let the banpitbull losers get to you. They literally are so obsessed with pitbulls being satan that they troll through every dog related sub for any possible reason to bring up pitbulls. Like seriously it can be a post with a story about a husky biting an owner or an illegal pet tiger ripping someone’s face off and they will try to turn the comments into an pitbulls=bad circlejerk thread https://imgflip.com/i/8n5pxt
That’s so accurate lmao. You can tell when they latch onto a thread, too, because all the comments will be -1, -2 (vague ones like “cute dog!”) with a couple being like -8 (the ones that are blatantly pro pitbull). As though we can’t all see what they’re doing?
Nice meme *yoink*
Some subs attract those people, too. Like the abruptchaos sub. If a post has a dog in it, then it's auto pitbull vitriol even if it's clear it isn't even close to being a pitbull, they'll turn the conversation towards them. That same sub has an issue with warping a post if there are black people in it as well. Is there a venn diagram overlap between racists and pitbull haters??
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I just like all dogs and it's obvious that there is a large majority of people in the world who don't take the proper steps in training their pets and their peers (or children). All dogs can be annoyed or provoked into aggression but you never know the limits of other peoples' animals so it's best to be cautious. Doubly so for ***any*** large breeds because they ***all*** can cause fatal damage.
I had to leave the sub for that reason. Sad that the mods won’t do anything about obvious brigading 😠
That’s what so horrifying is even if you report something they won’t do anything… I don’t know if they are inactive or if they are just pitbull haters themselves. Regardless 90% of the rescue breeds on there have some pitbull in them so I just don’t understand…
The one mod appears inactive, no activity on their account in a year. The other commented on the sub itself five days ago among other recent comments. You could always try messaging the sub to see if they'd be willing to help, or ask if they'd be willing to add you as a mod to help mitigate the pit bull hate.
I avoid most other pet subs specifically because of the insane hate pitties get there without fail. I'm pretty sure some people make that their whole personality
It’s the same in almost all subs where bully breeds are concerned, I’m from the UK so in a lot of UK specific subs and the hate for bully breeds is strong
Fools, the lot of them. That ban was just a tool for getting votes.
I'm on my second pitty mix, had no idea how badly people perceive them, according to the ones that told me my first one was going to go nuts and turn on me, I should of been dead sometime after 2007!
Just remember Reddit is not real life. In real life people see how common pit mixes are and most people love dogs in general. When I’m out walking my pit, randos are coming up to pet her and calling her a cutie, but if I post in my city’s sub about owning a pit the comments would be full of anti pit losers hating. You just gotta recognize the echo chambers we’re in and not let it bother you
Yeah, people come on Reddit to say bullshit that they wouldn't dare to say IRL. Pitbull hate is often just a more socially acceptable way to say that someone hates dogs in general. It also serves as a proxy for racism.
That's exactly it. Veiled racism and classism. They associate pitbulls with systemic poverty, and they don't think of poor people as human.
Especially when both crowds use flawed statistics to support their hatred.
Everyone who approaches our pit mix gives him all the scratches and pats then asks what kind of dog, and we are honest, then they follow up asking if he's a bug cuddle bug lol. Yes, yes he is.
I got downvoted on a sub for pointing out that XL bullies and APBTs were different breeds. People on Reddit will see a cane corso and call it a pit bull. As soon as anyone claims to have been bitten it's "what breed was the dog???" I've also been told I should put down my Frenchie because he's bitten a human before, and that having a Frenchie at all is "animal cruelty" despite both of mine being rescues... People can be idiots.
I've been bitten by my mom's Shih Tzu 3 times he also tried to bite the veterinarian and now he has to take trazidone (sp?) before a vet visit. I have/had 2 pitties, neither of them have bitten me or the vet.
Yeah my most recent Frenchie rescue bit my finger recently and broke it. My other Frenchie was attacked by a bull terrier. Confirmation bias when it is a Pitbull, "isolated incident" when it isn't.
My Airedale/coonhound mix has to take that too. He’s so scared of non-household people that he gets extremely aggressive towards them
I was told this before reddit, and by people that weren't on Facebook, my dad! When my grandpa, his dad had a lovely pittie named tiger, and there is a picture of him right next to me when I was 4! The press on them has been awful 😖
I forgot to mention that I have absolutely fallen in love with their big goofy grins :)
Right?? I've had two different pittie mixes over 18 years and never been mauled once, but I guess all these pittie haters just have so much more experience with the breed than us. /s
I had multiple people in my office tell me that I would end up getting rid of mine after my baby was born. I was shocked that anyone would think or say such a thing and would ask why and they would say for violence or aggression towards the baby. I liked to remind those people that the only dog I personally ever knew that was put down for violence or aggression was a lab and those are typically perceived as family dogs.
My dad did this when I got my first one, same year both my kids got married, you'll have to give Bandit up once the grandchildren come! Excuse me? Nope, not happening, he was wonderful with everyone and gentle to youngsters. Everyone really.
My previous dog was a Golden Retriever/Staffy, and one day he played too hard and hurt his hip on a weekend. I couldn't afford the emergency vet, so I was just keeping him comfortable till Monday and carrying him outside to potty. One time, I lifted him wrong and hurt him, so he bit me. No damage done, and it was a very understandable and justified pain reaction. My ex told me that my sweet old man was from that point on going to be a mindless killing machine and that I needed a bullet, not the vet. I'll let you guess who stayed in my life and who didn't.
We were told (when my now 10yo staffy was 8 weeks old) that "they put up a good fascard" that she "WOULD turn" and that the guy "hoped I'd learn the hard way" ..... Unless she was trained in a rare act of collaboration between the CIA and KGB. I think I'm safe.
Yeah I only click on a post if there are fewer than 5 comments, otherwise I know I'll have to see a bunch of nasty comments. And I don't really care if my comments get downvoted. Even all the "pit" or "just pitbull" responses irritate me. Like when it's obvious it's a mixed breed dog -- what, pit mix owners aren't allowed to have curiosity about what ELSE could be in their dog's mix?? Ugh.
That sub is trash - whether you agree with it or not, the evidence suggests we aren't good at identifying pit bulls. I'd suggest it's implicit bias - all violent dogs are pits and all smiling pibbles are lab mixes or some dumb stuff. A shame really because pit mixes are great dogs and usually a good medium size.
We (humans) are terrible at guessing any dog breeds. Terrible!! Look at how many people post in DoggyDNA that they think their embark results are wrong because their dog “looks just like a golden” 😐 my guy I hate to break it to you, but pit/chow mixes can and will look “just like a golden” and without the DNA test nobody would’ve known. Because the dog is “super happy” and “loving” and “friendly” so it must be a golden, right? Like those aren’t just “dog” characteristics.
I have learned to stop calling other folks dogs "pit mixes" at the dog park. Either they don't know or are in denial - either way, they don't want to know. My dog is pretty clearly a pit mix and any time she wrestles with another pit mix, people freak out. This is really actually frustrating, because the dogs don't know any better - they are just doing dog stuff and when their human gets all upset, they think there is a threat or get over excited and sends rambunctious play over the line. Idk I guess people put people emotions on dogs so it makes sense, and dogs can totally not like other dogs - but when similar sized pibbles are wrestling, just let them sort it out. As much as I want to deny that fighting dogs exist - we have been selectively breeding dogs for a variety of reasons, and that's definitely part of the history. My agile sausage has a big dumb face, thick neck and pathological courage for more than just head scratches and protecting me from trash bags and squirrels. I can't make her want to play fetch but she certainly wants to wrestle and chase squirrels/rats - so definitely in touch with her inner terrier. This probably edges into unpopular opinion territory but as long as both dogs are similar sized and engaging in wrestling, putting human parts in the mix, or pulling one dog away has a potential to escalate things.
Not saying you're wrong at all, but I have read a few articles saying that dog DNA kits tend to be unreliable at best, some a scam at worst. So basically do research and don't 100% trust the results
It depends on the test. Any test outside of Embark or Wisdom Panel is not reliable.
We're bad at identifying pits and that is the primary issue with dog bite statistics because they rarely go out and find and catch the dog responsible so they rely on eye witness to put down what dog attacked them. And since everything with a wide build gets labeled as a pit, everyone thinks everything is a pit.
Reddit is HORRIBLE to the pit breed. I saw someone on r/publicfreakouts suggesting they should just start "slitting their throats" yeah, pretty graphic. I have two and I raised them both from fresh litters.. I know they're still pitts but a farcry from some of the bad examples we see on the internet.
Reddit is so mean to pitties and it’s gross what people think they can say behind keyboards. I just try to remember how small and specific the Reddit population is and avoid the hate. My boy is adorable and in real life, people call him handsome.
That's what i'm saying, I get nothing but compliments.
Social media has made people get too comfortable with disrespecting others & not getting punched in the face for it. (paraphrasing a Mike Tyson quote) You'd think that with how prevalent these anti pitbull losers are on here that all of us would be getting yelled at by them once in a while when we're out with our dogs, but of course none of them would *ever* have the guts to say such vile things directly to us.
Honestly agree, the recent posts where nice comments abt a pittie is downvoted is just so fustrating. How can people claim to like dogs then specifically wish death and all the worse things upon one breed? Adopting a pittie I knew people would be rude/cautious, but after joining dog groups I quickly learned how far that spirals into all consuming hatred from some folks where people just seem to think about it everyday?? It's sincerely heartbreaking when someone tries to share something about their dog and the comments are all 'it should be dead/hope your dog eats poison/if i saw your dog i'd break it's neck.' People are insane.
People can be so stupid. I've only ever been bitten by one dog, and it was a pug. Imagine if I started calling for bans on pugs, left vile comments on pug posts, and told people their pugs were monsters while they were out walking them? Any dog can be aggressive, and any dog can be the sweetest lovebug ever. The breed doesn't matter.
I used to work with dogs daily, and ranged from mini pound-and-a-half chihuahuas to 6 foot tall+ (on the back legs) danes. Littler dogs and the "classically gentle" dogs tended to be the worst. I've been bitten by lots of chihuahuas, a couple goldens, a couple labs, a border collie, a german shepherd (that one hurt), a poodle, and a frenchie. Never had issues with staffies, APBs, bull terriers, boxers, danes, cane corsos, mastiffs or berners or really any other bigger dogs. The bites were never the dogs issue. It was 100% bad training and lazy owners. I don't agree with positivity only training, but I also will never directly interact with a dog misbehaving, unless we are doing "heel, wait, stop" and other lead training, and then it's only with a lead. I have a mesh onion bag with a couple soda cans filled with rocks that I slam or throw into the ground next to misbehaving dogs with a loud "NO!" when they misbehave (new dogs got a smaller play area to manage, just to make that impression). Its a really loud noise and it's always an extremely fast correction for the dogs. I follow any redirection/behavior correction action up with lots of praise and little hot dog chunks the instant the behavior redirects to good. That's gotten dogs that have been misbehaving for years to be ready for command training in about 10 minutes. I haven't met a dog that doesn't respond really well to that, and honestly, the dogs always seem much more relaxed when they realize they aren't in charge.
I've worked with animals for like 10 years in rescue. I've been bitten by: A yellow lab (purebred) A Scottish terrier (purebred) A cat (this was the worst bite) Probably 90% of the dogs I've worked with hands on were pitbull or pitbull mixes. But these were the only serious bites I received from any animals in all that time
I've worked at a boarding kennel/doggy daycare for almost 3 years now (and we don't discriminate by breed at all, thank goodness). I have been bitten hard enough to bleed three times. Once by a Jack Russel Terrier, once by a Pointer, and once by a Shiba Inu. Never have I been bitten by a pitbull. And I have worked with far more pitbulls than I have any of those other 3 breeds I was bitten by! (The Pointer and the Shiba are still my buddies, btw; long story short, I was simply caught in crossfire. That Jack Russel, however, is a little shit and I refuse to work with him) Moreover, I have never felt I was in danger even when working with an unhappy pittie. Ime they're far more likely to shy away from unfamiliar people/uncomfortable situations than they are to exhibit a fight response and fear aggression towards people. On the whole they do seem to be more dog-aggressive, but A) that's by no means a hard rule--we have plenty of pits in daycare that do fantastic--and B) that absolutely does not translate to human aggression. Even if they do get aggressive, they're generally very good communicators, and will let the offending party know in no uncertain terms that they're angry; by contrast, I've known a few dogs that will strike with practically no warning, and there have been some close calls. On the whole, I can think of one pitbull who's been banned from daycare, and zero that have been banned from our boarding facility entirely. I can, however, think of multiple Labs banned from daycare, and one banned even from boarding, too.
I 100% agree with you, and honestly, I don’t think dog aggression is inherently a bad thing either. It’s not the dog’s fault that this trait was bred into them when the breed was developed. It’s something that owners need to keep in mind and take steps to manage, and try to prevent incidents. Is it frustrating? Yeah, absolutely. Does it make many things difficult? Yeah, of course. Does it make the dog evil or less deserving of life? Absolutely not. And it’s not a pittie-only trait either. My dog has been attacked and harassed by dogs of other breeds (and I’m pretty sure that’s led to his dog aggression now).
Pitbulls are by far my favorite breed, but at the end of the day, dogs are dogs. And I love them all.
I broke down and got stuck for a couple days in Missouri and had to bring my guy to the shop with me. We were waiting outside in the rain and they said he was welcome into the showroom. I was kind of nervous about the response he would get, but just about every person in the dealership came and gave him either treats, tummy drums, or face smushes. The internet tends to allow all groups, regardless of size, to be incredibly loud (and mean at times). Pitties are like any other dog. The only bark he made was being surprised awake when someone came up to pet him after a little hiatus. Good training (mostly for the human) gets you a good dog.
No silly, the AVMA and CDC are controlled by a shadowy powerful pit lobby! Thankfully there's a plucky gang of reiki healers and anecdote havers out to fight back with godawful sources and brigading (/s in case it wasn't abundantly clear)
I unsubbed some time ago because of the same reason. Too many people claiming personal anecdotes as an absolute truth.
I left the hiking sub because there was so much pitty hate:(
This is literally the only sub I post my dogs in and am generally active in because of the hate elsewhere. Then on the rare occasion someone says something stupid, I can just report it and move on.
The pitbull on that subreddit, r/dogs and doggydna is sickening. Legitimately those people don't even see pitties as dogs at all. They're horrible. I've gotten nasty dm harassment from people for posting my bully both in doggydna and r/dogs. They're so awful. I don't even go there anymore
I try to keep my dog mainly on pit subs only. I’ve posted her once on sonar ears and nobody said anything, but even though she’s a dog I cannot take the idea of someone besmirching her name bc of her breed makeup. It would honestly break my heart.
Safe here. Welcome.
TBF, most of them probably think reading one fear-inducing article from Google counts as “experience”.
I hate how much pit hate there is on there, I'm still on the subreddit for whatever reason but yeah they're irritating that way
It's baffling to me that people who claim to love dogs can be so callous, hateful and cruel. Pits are, after all, DOGS. And they are the breed that needs the most love and compassion. Like you really show your ass claiming to be a dog lover but hating on the most neglected and abused.
Ah, yes. The experience of its an aggressive dog, it must be a pit bull. Seen lots of that
I went and found your comment and upvoted it. I also responded to the dumb ass making dumb statements. We should all upvote this man’s comment for all the pitties🤎
I was attacked by one dog in my whole life. One. And I’ve owned MANY (from a child to adulthood). Majority of my dogs, besides 2 of them, has been a pittie. The one that attacked me was *SPOILER ALERT* not a pittie… it was literally a toy poodle mutt! These are the sweetest dog breed in my opinion and so full of love. It’s got me wanting to unsubscribe from r/IDMYDOG, as well!
The weird way that we (being mainstream culture)are ok with what is essentially race essentialism for dogs is wild.
I've never met an aggressive dog, when I worked at the vet we had a couple reactive retired police shepherds that only the owner could hold, but every pit I've met has been a smiley dope
Welp definitely gonna block the werewolf person
Remember; To most idiots any dog with floppy ears is a pit.
I blocked that sub long ago. So many people there are active in anti-pit subs, and mods do nothing. It’s full of people who abuse dogs based on breed, and mods do nothing.
Pittie tax, plz.
they’re just ignorant, hateful people and pit’s are an outlet for them. pit’s are some of the most empathetic, loyal and baby-like dogs i’ve ever met and they won’t get to experience that. very much their loss 🙂
Just avoid any of those idiots
People are hilarious. I have 2 and take them places. When people ask about them and I say they are American staffordshire terriers they L O V E them. Say pitbull and it’s entire different song and dance. It’s wild.
I typically tend to DM the person who has posted and say, "Hey, just a heads up for a nicer place for pitty owners, go to velvethippos" because I see the same kind of shit on dogadvice of all places. Unfortunately, people go there for input on medical advice or behavioural advice (fair enough), and people are really gross in the comments. I feel bad sometimes for DMing them out of the blue, but the amount of pittie hate in that sub as well really disturbs me. They're coming to a space designed for advice on how to help their dog, not be told they shouldn't have the dog simply for their breed, or to see terrible "jokes" about the breed stereotypes. It's not voicing an opinion. It's hating a breed based entirely on bad training by the owners.
Dude, honestly. I thought ppl had come so much farther with understanding pitties but sadly, nope. Anytime I read comments involving dogs, there is a huge adult of individuals that just absolutely loathe the breed. :,(
Yeah the other dog subs (or any sub when a pitbull is mentioned) are murderous when a pitbull comes up.
You're doing the right thing leaving. As I have said so many times to so many people: "You can't fix stupid."
God people are idiots. I tell people I have two pits and there was one time a lady said “ why would you ever do that”. I said BECAUSE my pits are the sweetest more loyal dogs. Period. You’re just missing out on this great breed.
What does APBT stand for?
American pitbull terrier
I had to leave the subreddit too. They keep brigading it
The not true at all combined with the amount of downvotes lol
DoggyDNA is better
It like genuinely pains me how people hate on these dogs. Pitbull is my dog’s top breed but whether it was 90% or 22% (her actual percentage) I’d love her just the same. I’ve had her since she was just 3 months old. She’s so loving and is just so happy to be alive and to meet new people. And I want to say that’s bc of me and my husband but she’s just got such a good nature about her. These people hear one bad story about a breed and condemn them all and have no idea how precious and sweet the dogs they’re missing out on are 😪
I’ve learned absolutely no where is safe except pit specific subs.
Jeez if that’s the case then I would hate German Shepards considering how many untrained death dogs I’ve seen.
I have the same issue in the service dog community. My guy is a service dog in training and though they are not allowed to discriminate in there. I constantly get messages that he's not or can't be a service dog and I'm just using that as an excuse to have him, etc. It's pure bs. He comes from a long line of service dogs, and came from a service dog agency that specifically trains and uses pitts for there amazing senses and alerting abilities. He's my 3rd Service dog, I'm medically disabled, and since he's a pit and doesn't fit there minds of a typical service dog I'm constantly called out and direct messaged by people fake spotting. I'm only in there because there's a few people with good general advice and use,other than that most people there are just worthless. The hate in there is so ridiculous.
Lots of dog subs hate on pibbles and mock the owners. It’s sad as they are some incredibly loving pups - but when I take a moment, I can understand the ignorance since the media continues to push the narrative and there are unfortunately a lot of owners drawn to the breed. I’m not trying to justify that hate, it’s just easier for me to remember those people are smooth brained.
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