Pitbulls hands down. Especially when they're Internet famous like mine...
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My brother has a pit bull named Slater. He is a great dog.
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I love them, I don't understand the stereotype of them being vicious...if you wanna see my pit, look up Jax the Puppy on Vine
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They are sweet dogs, I've worked with them a lot. However, people easily forget why pit bulls even exist, they were bred to hold or take down large animals. So they're not exactly 'polite' compared to your typical household dog. They also become stimulated pretty easily. So they aren't really the best dog if you want them interacting with a large group of other dogs. Let alone a group with other bully breeds around.
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He hangs out with Rotweillers and other Pitbulls, still nothing. Nurture over nature.
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True to an extent.
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I haven't seen otherwise, and considering he's nothing but sweet it's just true.
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Edited by Prototape: 1/22/2015 4:27:16 AMI have seen otherwise, nearly every day. Not just with pit bulls, but with a lot of different breeds. If something large enough happens to piss them off, make them fearful, etc. Training goes out the window immediately and they are in a completely reactive state. At that point, nurture is completely irrelevant and nature takes precedence as a defensive mechanism. At this point, things typically escalate into a fight unless they're stopped. Some dogs are better at containing the urge to escalate things into a fight, but some get so involved with correcting the other dog that they'll stop at nothing to do so. People do a huge disservice to dogs in general by investing too much faith in their dogs. Trust is good, but being under the assumption that your dog will [i]never[/i] do anything remotely bad is a bit naive. I'm not saying "Your dog may kill another dog!", but you need to be a little realistic. That line of thinking has literally come to bite me in the ass.. and arm.. and back.. face, and acquiring a nice split lip from a sweet but highly reactive Brown Lab. Beyond that, dogs who I never would have thought to start fights start them, etc. Point being, even me who's worked with dogs for a couple years now still gets caught off guard because dog communication is so intricate, you often miss things you wouldn't even know were there to begin with. Some things in dog behavior are undetectable as of yet, so a lot of the concepts around working with dog behavior are very abstract and hard to really consider, such as your overall motion and how much 'space' you create around yourself, etc. It's weird stuff. I'm not saying anything against your dog, nor do I have a distaste for pit bulls, I'm just being realistic. Their breed traits are generally very influential on their behavior, particularly in play considering their individual instincts are what they translate into play. A herding dog tends to go for legs for example. Some pits are generally okay, they may spend a lot of time on their back legs with their mouth around another dog's neck, but as long as they're gentle it's not a problem. And I've seen some who get too carried away, they get locked into that reactive state, and we have to separate that dog from the playgroup. And then there's the ones who are cause for concern (which isn't their fault, etc.). Training goes a long way with any dog, the pit bulls I consistently work with are typically just fine. They get overwhelmed/too reactive sometimes so we have to give them a rest break, but they're sweet. Yet their traits influence their play heavily, which a log of dogs don't like. And if you mix bully breeds together (I'm not talking about a visit with familiar dogs, that's a completely different story. My dog does fine with the family dogs, but if I took her to work with me one day she would behave in a completely different way due to a different social structure), they feed off that and get too invested in the play, which has the potential to end up making another one of them mad, which throws them into a bit of a frenzy. I see that all the time, but some are less reactive than others, which is where I will concede that you're partially right. If anyone's on your side here, it's me. I like all kinds of dogs enough to go in and work with them every day despite it being disgustingly stressful. I just don't discard the downfalls to any breed simply because I like them. I love Corgis for example, but they can be little bastards sometimes. Mine in particular has a very strong herding instinct and damn near torments the other dogs at home because everything has to go [i]her[/i] way. That doesn't mean she's a killing machine or a bad dog, it means that her breed traits are a bit stronger. Another one I've worked with has somewhat weaker instincts in that regard, so she doesn't actively herd, but she will run around a bit and bark until everything settles down. The same applies with pit bulls, they were bred to take down large animals with fervor. This can result in traits that people deem undesirable, but that too doesn't mean they're bad dogs or killing machines. I've actually never been harmed by a pit bull, ever. Even by one who didn't particularly like me, all he did was try to knock me down. No actual harm was done. I have however been hurt by a handful of other breeds that people typically wouldn't expect any 'bad' behavior from. Pit Bulls are very good people dogs, and marginal 'dog dogs', assuming they were raised right (as with any dog). Thus ends my book. My intention wasn't to offend you or anything, I just like talking about this stuff.
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No you hit the nail right on the head, but I think nature can be trained for instinctual situations, such as someone breaking in, or being physically harmed, etc. I've seen a German Shepherd tear my brother's forearms to shreds that was once considered a very sweet dog, but at the same time my brother did get into a fight with the owner. I think overall as long as you don't physically discipline a dog or make it feel as if when it does something wrong it's going to feel the need to have to defend itself, then 9/10 it won't just attack someone when distressed. Hell my fiancé and I even have commands for the little guy when we feel he needs to be on the lookout or whatever the situation may be. Otherwise if he does get into the trash or does something he knows he shouldn't, me simply raising my voice makes him put his ears down and he rolls onto his back. If that isn't nurture of showing dominance and him knowing that he won't be harmed, I don't know what is.
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Love em had one for 8 years best dog I've ever had. Got a tattoo of him after he passed.
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Yeah the most loyal, sweet dogs that'll destroy anyone that threatens their owners. Couldn't ask for anything more. Plus from what I've seen from mine they're really smart.