[QUOTE=RedmondDressage;7680588]
OMG he is ADORABLE! I hope you get him :D[/QUOTE]
I’m concerned he might be very vicious. My husband found this disturbing photo evidence on the rescue page:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t1.0-9/10547689_10204312025782871_850130319378646044_n.jpg
[QUOTE=gr8fulrider;7680636]
I’m concerned he might be very vicious. My husband found this disturbing photo evidence on the rescue page:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t1.0-9/10547689_10204312025782871_850130319378646044_n.jpg[/QUOTE]
The dog is super adorable!!!
That said, it will depend on the dog. I boarded at a barn with a pit bull mix would would run full speed into the ring at night when I rode to say hello. The horse wasn’t thrilled but he was a sweet dog.
THAT said, pit bulls are notoriously great with people and some other animals but not so great with other dogs. I would NOT leave a pit bull unattended with a puppy in a stall or with any other dog. I house-dog sat for a few years for a pitbull lab mix who lived with an older terrier dog. i took this dog to the dog partk that the owners regularly took him to and he actively avoided any conflict. He was such a great dog. he and the older terrier lived together without incident for about 4 years, although they had to be fed on different sides of the kitchen. One day, 2-3 days after I housesat for a week, the pitbull mix killed the older terrier when the owners went out to the store for a couple of hours.
Do not leave your pitbull mix free with other dogs without direct supervision. Unfortunately, their breeding is mainly done by idiots and any pitbull is likely influenced by this.
In the past 4 days, two kids have been killed by pitbulls. For all the people who love and make excuses for the breed…enjoy them. But you can’t pretend away reality.
I’ve had Boxers, amazingly wonderful dogs…but they aren’t pitbulls and pitbulls aren’t boxers.
[QUOTE=Trakehner;7680779]
In the past 4 days, two kids have been killed by pitbulls. For all the people who love and make excuses for the breed…enjoy them. But you can’t pretend away reality.
I’ve had Boxers, amazingly wonderful dogs…but they aren’t pitbulls and pitbulls aren’t boxers.[/QUOTE]
I’ve known more unstable Boxers than unstable pit bulls. I wouldn’t own a Boxer- I like my cats alive.
I picked up a starved pit on the side of the road once. She was a fantastic dog that was wonderful around people and all critters,large and small. But I wouldn’t purposely get one for a farm dog - like I said, I like my cats alive and that prey drive can’t be completely trained out of some dogs.
Pitt mix w/ Akita was my horses best friend. Still, would not risk off leash around other peoples horses if you have not had a long time to develop his manners and respect around the rest of the barn gang.
I have a Boxer and a Pit Bull. The Boxer is 12 and the Pit Bull is 2.
They are wonderful friends and I wouldn’t hesitate to leave them alone together. Milley the Pit was 11 weeks when we got her, so he is the boss of her.
She is overly exuberant with people, she loves everyone. If introduced politely, she is great with other dogs.
But I will add that we are a private farm, not very many people coming and going. She loves the UPS and FedEx guys and anyone else that happens by. She just isn’t exposed to a lot of other dogs.
She was raised here around horses. She’s kind of a dope about them, walks under them, closely behind them, what have you. Our horses don’t pay any attention to her. Lucky her!
[QUOTE=J-Lu;7680768]
One day, 2-3 days after I housesat for a week, the pitbull mix killed the older terrier when the owners went out to the store for a couple of hours. [/QUOTE]
^ this is why our local pittie/bullie rescues have this in their adoption contracts
Do not leave your pitbull mix free with other dogs without direct supervision.
gr8fulrider
Thanks. I’m wondering if he even is a pit bull.
This is him at 10 weeks:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/pet-uploads...90770.jpg?336w
What do you think?
He would be classed as a pittie mix in the local shelter/rescue system 
And, yes, another vote for getting him :yes:
[QUOTE=shakeytails;7680798]
I’ve known more unstable Boxers than unstable pit bulls. I wouldn’t own a Boxer- I like my cats alive.
I picked up a starved pit on the side of the road once. She was a fantastic dog that was wonderful around people and all critters,large and small. But I wouldn’t purposely get one for a farm dog - like I said, I like my cats alive and that prey drive can’t be completely trained out of some dogs.[/QUOTE]
Just amazing…Pits with a sad history of killing people (#1 breed in human deaths in the US) but you hate all Boxers which are rated as very good with kids/families and not listed as a “biting” breed. Denial is a wonderful thing.
Cute dog!
I do want to echo what has been said about homeowner’s insurance. Your insurance company might have a problem with this…or they may simply ask you to sign an exclusion form. Regardless, I’d give them a call to be on the safe side.
[QUOTE=Trakehner;7681295]
Just amazing…Pits with a sad history of killing people (#1 breed in human deaths in the US) but you hate all Boxers which are rated as very good with kids/families and not listed as a “biting” breed. Denial is a wonderful thing.[/QUOTE]
I agree. One person’s personal experience shouldn’t be enough to sway anyone in one direction or another.
Knowing “more unstable Boxers than Pit Bulls”…how many is that total? I’ve personally only known 3-4 Boxers…so if one of them was unstable, that’s like 30% of the breed, right?
[QUOTE=gr8fulrider;7680636]
I’m concerned he might be very vicious. My husband found this disturbing photo evidence on the rescue page:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t1.0-9/10547689_10204312025782871_850130319378646044_n.jpg[/QUOTE]
Look at those FEETIES! He’s gonna be a big boy!
Sweet!
Thanks for all of the responses. We will check with our insurance company. There are so many pit bulls and mixes in our neighborhood my guess is there will not be much of a problem.
I will not leave him in a stall unattended with the other puppy, though that seemed like an attractive idea before reflecting.
There are two other dogs in his foster home where he’s been since 10 weeks, so the socialization process has started. He was nice to other dogs at the adoption show, but he’s a puppy and we shouldn’t take for granted that he’ll stay that friendly.
We still need to carefully test him with our cat. He’s been in indoor adoption shows where there are cats and showed no interest in them, and he was indifferent to pigeons and squirrels on the sidewalk, but both those times he was in very crowded places with many other stimuli to distract him.
If we get him I’ll also DNA test him. Breed misidentification is very common. Here are the results of a study where vets were shown pictures of mixes and asked to identify them, side-by-side with information about their true breeds:
Vets guessed “American Staffordshire Terrier” on several of the dogs who had no Am Staff blood.
[QUOTE=Trakehner;7681295]
Just amazing…Pits with a sad history of killing people (#1 breed in human deaths in the US) but you hate all Boxers which are rated as very good with kids/families and not listed as a “biting” breed. Denial is a wonderful thing.[/QUOTE]
I’m not denying that pits can be ill-tempered, but neither should you deny that Boxers aren’t always perfect family dogs that don’t bite. A friend had a Boxer she had to euth because she was afraid for her own child’s safety-the child was older and the Boxer had grown up with the child. This was an experienced big-dog owner and the child was great with animals. I’ve known several others that could not be trusted. Of course I’ve known a few good ones, too, but more bad than good. Just my experience.
I have a foster right now who looks like a black/white version of this dog! She’s a fantastic puppy.
As for the barn stuff, I definitely wouldn’t recommend putting your dog in a stall with someone else’s dog while you ride. It’s just not a good idea without direct supervision. Both of my dogs are rescues who were about 6 months old when we got them. They have learned to hang around the barn and mostly stay away from the horses. One of the first things we taught them was to stay out of the stalls and fields unless specifically invited in. Believe me that when I yell “OUT!” they’re scurrying their butts out of the fields.
If you’re going to consider off-leash time you may want to check into the Tagg GPS system. Our yard is fenced in, but the dogs go down to the barn with me every day (private farm). I can’t imagine not having it!
Repeat after me: he is a boxer mix. Now people will judge him based on his actions. Repeat this to your insurance company and they’ll keep insuring you. Make sure your vet papers say the same thing. If he isn’t a boxer, he is probably American bull dog., but there isn’t really a way to know, unless you do a DNA test and even those aren’t great, so why call him a pit and deal with the prejudice if you don’t have to. I would not DNA test. I just really think there is useful information to be gotten that you can’t get by observing his behavior. I have found th at most shelters call anything with brindle a pit, which is stupid. He looks almost exactly like my boxer/pointer mix. He is fantastic around the horses but as a younger dog had mad energy. Boxers and other sports g dogs that act out do so because they do t get enough exercise. They need a lot! I hope you are ready!
You will probably be able to figure out pretty quickly if he’ll be OK left in stall with another dog. Observe then together and use good judgement. Don’t put th EM in with toys or treats so they have nothing to fight over and you will probably be fine.
He looks exactly like a stray I rescued up who was dumped with an actual full blood pit. I had to re-home her b/c we had no fenced yard, and I couldn’t take the risk of her roaming free. She was super sweet, and her and my cat became best friends immediately. I cried when she went to her new home.
I have a friend who had two boxers from the same litter. One became aggressive and had to be put down. The other is the best dog ever. So very much depends on the individual dog.
And you will have to advise your insurance carrier of the dog. On the off chance he bites someone they could deny coverage if they aren’t aware you have him. One of the first things State Farm asked when I took out my policy was do you own a pit bull…they didn’t seem concerned about the super mean old tom cat I had (RIP grumpy old man).
Human ignorance never ceases to amaze me. EVERY breed can be responsible for injury//death to a human.
You have to assess the animal as an individual and take into account the animal’s upbringing.
[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;7680278]
I dunno, my first impression was “Boxer.”[/QUOTE]
Mine, too. If he bounces, you’ll know. (I do not have the energy to deal with a Boxer. A Corgi is bad enough.)
Good-tempered dogs come in all breeds. The only issue I have with the pit cross (known parents, she’s half Pit, half GSD) next door is she thinks she lives here. She knows I’m the cookie lady, and she likes my dogs, plus she likes to sneak into my mud room for a few minutes of peace and quiet (she just weaned eleven puppies.) Oh, and she has yet to figure out my goats do not wish to play. Katie: playbow PLAY! Goat: HEADBUTT Katie: YAY PLAY! Nice dog, not the sharpest tool in the shed…
[QUOTE=beowulf;7681559]
Human ignorance never ceases to amaze me. EVERY breed can be responsible for injury//death to a human.
You have to assess the animal as an individual and take into account the animal’s upbringing.[/QUOTE]
Indeed human ignorance is an amazing thing.
The first thing you note about any animal is its breeding. That’s the DNA you have to deal with. Training, conditioning, upbringing, etc. all will affect the manifestation of that DNA but the DNA will always be there.
I’m appalled at the amount of pure anthropomorphism that floats around the animal world. Dogs are not humans; neither are horses, goats, cow, chickens, etc. They are what their DNA tells them to be. We can apply human concepts but that’s mostly trying put a square peg into a round hole. With a big enough hammer you can do that. The process, however, will be tough on the peg, hole, hammer, and hammerer.
How amazing (and I don’t mean this in a good way) is an instruction that goes “Do not leave your pitbull mix free with other dogs without direct supervision”. Dogs so unreliably bred that they require continuous human supervisory attention??? And this is a good thing???
Get whatever kind of dog you want, but keep unreliable, badly trained, ill mannered beasts out of the public domain. Or have deep pockets and be ready to pay for what you break.
G.
I bred Afghan Hounds, Borzoi, Salukis and whippets for forty years and I have judged group two on a continual basis.
Who cares? I agree…however when I am evaluating a purebred dog…I have a standard and usually shyness or aggression is a fault
People think Afghan hounds are lovely little couch doggies…They are BRED TO KILL GAME…they are a SIGHT HOUND…They usually do not run away…but instead…are chasing after PREY.
Why is this important? Because for hundreds if not thousands of years…this behavious has been bred into that breed and is fairly predictible.
Labs are a wonderful working breed. Out going…blacks tend to be more stable than goldens…(of course there is an exception)…they are notorious for destruction…especially kennels…I have a solid steel grill “sleeper” kennel that I can use for a lab if they are going to attack the walls (lined with puckboard)
Who cares? Well…Labs are in the top ten list for BITING PEOPLE…much of that is due to the numbers but also much of that is due to a LAB CROSS that resembles a lab but has “other” blood.
Staffordshire Terriers are a wonderful breed. Stable and USUALLY predictable. They have been bred for centuries for a working purpose with bulls.
Cross ANY of the above with a “pitbull” type dog…one that for a few generations has been bred to KILL other dogs…and you are a soup mixture that can never ever be predicted.
There is absolutely no need for a pitbull, nor a pitbullcross …I do not know how many times I have pitbulls come into the kennel and the owners say…ah…he sleeps with our two year old…and the minute they are out the door…all bets are off…they MAY or MAY NOT react in a favorable manner…what can be a worry is the strength of their shoulders and front weight. They can bring a person down in a second
Just a word of advice…they also lock their jaw…IF this happens you can grab them by their tail and push several fingers up their anus…this will release the lock…
If you have a dog…and you take it to a stable…hope you have lots of insurance…three pit type bullies brought down two horses at a stable north of me…horses had to be destroyed…and the bullies inflicted damage at another farm with some calves. That owner had a gun and the dogs were dead. Owner now faces charges AND there is a lawsuit for over 1/4 MILLION dollars…
Again…the woman who owns the dogs is “in shock”…she never imagined they could be like that as she owned them from birth and had owned their mother with no problems.
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