[Chloef_2799]

The few times I had problems with Bess it wasn't our fault. One incident I remember well was when my family was having our annual reunion and Bess was laying under the picnic table at the big pavillion we rent out. She was on a leash but no one was holding it and it wasn't tied to anything. Some guy and his chow chow were walking (dog not leashed) when the dog suddenly charged some of my little cousins who were playing soccer. My aunts started yelling at the guy to leash his dog because it was trying to attack the little kids but he just yelled back and said it was the kids fault and them running with a ball made his dog want to play. All the while he is yelling the dog is running through the few hundred people at my reunion charging, barking, growling and snapping at people. Bess stood up and barked and it ran over and started attacking her. My dad grabbed the dog by the collar and walked it back towards the guy with his hand around its muzzle holding it by the collar and they guy stared freaking on my dad saying he was abusing his dog and Bess instigated the fight, she was a pit bull and pit bulls alwasy instigate and his dog wanted to get the ball and play with it and he snapped at people because we have food. Well needless to say when all eight of my uncles stood with my dad who was still holding the guys dog he shut up and ran away tail between his legs. Bess had scratches on her neck and legs but she was ok.
IMO I am more nervous of the akitas, chow chows and golden retreivers around here than the pit bulls and rottweillers.

[Ginny01OT]

Originally Posted by Captbob

My experience at the dog park today. I was there with my dog and 3 other dogs that I knew and that my dog plays with. A women comes in with about a 9 month old Pit Bull and lets it loose. Immediately it starts running at my dog and one other and starts mounting both of them. My dog threw a fit, which is not her usual behavior, and started really growling at this dog and it sounded to me like stage one of a major dog fight. I yelled at the women and told her to get control of her dog, as I pulled my dog away. Instead of doing that , she starts arguing that her dog isn't fixed yet, and that is the way they act and she made no attempt to control her dog. I let my dog loose again, and her dog went over and did the same thing with the same result. I leashed up my dog and left the dog park. Maybe I am the unluckiest person in the world when it comes to Pit Bulls, but I am startting to think that they are a major PIA...

You were right, that lady (?) should have left and I hope to goodness she has that dog spayed or neutered. In the dog park the other day there was the sweetest nine month old English Bulldog named Hank problem was he was not spayed, he was not going to be spayed and that got other dogs in a tizzie. It all worked out but it was a potential problem that might have turned ugly. I am starting major obediance training with my dog and was told by several trainers that he should not visit the dog park too often as that can contradict his our training efforts......

[German Shepherd Lover]

Originally Posted by Chloef_2799

The few times I had problems with Bess it wasn't our fault. One incident I remember well was when my family was having our annual reunion and Bess was laying under the picnic table at the big pavillion we rent out. She was on a leash but no one was holding it and it wasn't tied to anything. Some guy and his chow chow were walking (dog not leashed) when the dog suddenly charged some of my little cousins who were playing soccer. My aunts started yelling at the guy to leash his dog because it was trying to attack the little kids but he just yelled back and said it was the kids fault and them running with a ball made his dog want to play. All the while he is yelling the dog is running through the few hundred people at my reunion charging, barking, growling and snapping at people. Bess stood up and barked and it ran over and started attacking her. My dad grabbed the dog by the collar and walked it back towards the guy with his hand around its muzzle holding it by the collar and they guy stared freaking on my dad saying he was abusing his dog and Bess instigated the fight, she was a pit bull and pit bulls alwasy instigate and his dog wanted to get the ball and play with it and he snapped at people because we have food. Well needless to say when all eight of my uncles stood with my dad who was still holding the guys dog he shut up and ran away tail between his legs. Bess had scratches on her neck and legs but she was ok.
IMO I am more nervous of the akitas, chow chows and golden retreivers around here than the pit bulls and rottweillers.

I really love my animals and I do my best to keep my animals from causing anyone any stress or annoyance, much less endanger them or their animals.
If I were you, I would carry something lethal and give the dog a wack and get on with life. You shouldn't have to be so afraid to take your dog for a walk. I personally have no problem deep sixing another persons animal if it endangers me or anyone else I feel the need to defend.

Go to a farm supply store and purchase a cattle prod and take it with you on your walk. It will make your pesty dogs go away in a hurry. If you live in a Concealed carry friendly state you may want to arm yourself with a more lethal weapon.

[vanbum]

Im not a big fan of using a gun on a dog unless the dog is just going nuts tearing someone apart or really attacking someone. Ive heard too many stories of police officers shooting harmless dogs because the dog barked at the officer or walked over to sniff the officer and stuff like that.

And I think citizens can make that same mistake if confronted by a barking dog and they feel threatened. I would suggust a "non leathal" weapon for use against dogs such as bear mace, which has a range of 20 feet ($40 price tag- ouch!) Or a tazer.

Even the best pet owner can make a mistake, a window accidently left open, a gate latch opened by a kid etc.... and I would certianly be upset if one of my dogs was shot and killed because he got out accidently and barked at someone walking past.

I knew a homeless man who rode a bicycle around town and he always had a little chow dog in one of those kid carriers people attach to their bikes so they can haul kids around as they cycle. One day he went to the park and a couple 10 year old kids had their pit bull in the park running loose, the pit bull ran over and killed the chow dog and those kids were happy and smiling that their pit had killed another dog. If I had been there that day, I might have beaten those kids half to death, I would temperary insanity but probably go to jail anyhow. That homeless guy loved his dogs, he was crying for 3 days.

There will always be people in our world who have no compassion for animals, all they care about is that their pit bull is "cool" and "tough"

[Alpha]

I've got some dog and bear mace

I've used most of my dog mace up though on wandering neighborhood dogs in our yard

[CrzyBritNAmerica]

Originally Posted by Alpha

I've got some dog and bear mace

I've used most of my dog mace up though on wandering neighborhood dogs in our yard

Yeah I'd be the same way if I had mace. Bridgette is a pit mix and people give me strange looks when I ask them if their dog is friendly. Despite whatever breed Bridgette is I can trust her, but I sure as heck won't trust other dogs...especially unleashed ones. She was attacked about 3 months ago by a husky mix off leash and she just lay there on her back and almost got her freaking leg ripped off. She peed everwhere, but never took a growl, snarl or anything towards the other dog. Heck, she's scared of our 5 month old cat!! I think any dog has the potential to be aggressive (whether to other animals or humans) and it is always down to their upbringing and owners.

[Captbob]

Originally Posted by vanbum

Im not a big fan of using a gun on a dog unless the dog is just going nuts tearing someone apart or really attacking someone. Ive heard too many stories of police officers shooting harmless dogs because the dog barked at the officer or walked over to sniff the officer and stuff like that.

And I think citizens can make that same mistake if confronted by a barking dog and they feel threatened. I would suggust a "non leathal" weapon for use against dogs such as bear mace, which has a range of 20 feet ($40 price tag- ouch!) Or a tazer.

Even the best pet owner can make a mistake, a window accidently left open, a gate latch opened by a kid etc.... and I would certianly be upset if one of my dogs was shot and killed because he got out accidently and barked at someone walking past.

I knew a homeless man who rode a bicycle around town and he always had a little chow dog in one of those kid carriers people attach to their bikes so they can haul kids around as they cycle. One day he went to the park and a couple 10 year old kids had their pit bull in the park running loose, the pit bull ran over and killed the chow dog and those kids were happy and smiling that their pit had killed another dog. If I had been there that day, I might have beaten those kids half to death, I would temperary insanity but probably go to jail anyhow. That homeless guy loved his dogs, he was crying for 3 days.

There will always be people in our world who have no compassion for animals, all they care about is that their pit bull is "cool" and "tough"

I got one of these Pepper sprays a couople of weeks ago. I use to use Halt but decided that it probably wouldn't work very well with a really angry dog. This is about 50 times stronger than Halt and made by a company that makes Bear Spray. It is for Joggers, comes with a Holster and costs about $20...

https://store.udap.com/merchant.mvc?...tegory_Code=PS

[vanbum]

I suppose if you are gonna get pepper spray, might as well get one that works on people too. I thing the odds of getting attacked by a person is greater then being attacked by a dog.

[Chloef_2799]

GermanShepherdLover - I have a small can of dog mace now. After the incident with Chloe and Sadie it will be in my pocket always along with my cell phone.
The reason we never carried any protection devices around when we had Bess was because 1 - she was very large for a female boxer. 24 inches at the shoulder and she probably weighed about 60 or 70 pounds (which is a guess so don't quote me on that). 2 - Most people in my area didn't have dogs who were willing to attack her. She was never a dominant or aggressive dog but when other dogs got close to her and were being aggressive or dominant she would puff herself up and growl softly. She never fought or attacked other dogs I think she growled just to let the other dog know "hey bud...I am not going to fight you so bug off." And 3 - at my family reunions for some reason the guys in my family are very big (my dad is the shortest at 6'3" and the tallest uncle is 6'6") so most people tend to leash their dogs as soon as my family asks them to. We are not a bunch of mean people though we are always polite and treat people like we want to be treated so often when we have our reunions we have dogs running around with us and some people will ask us to leash them up and we do and we appologize. it was just that this guy was an idiot. He even yelled to another person waling by that we had a pit bull and it attacked his dog. The lady ended up runing away with her little dog instead of calling for help like he asked her but yeah.....what a jerk.

[Marley]

I think that Pitt Bulls really do get a bad rep. There are lots of "bully breeds" who get mistaken for pitts that have similar heritage and the aggressive traits bred into them.

I personally will NEVER trust one. I don't understand why anyone would take the chance. I'm not a dog behavioralist, and am not always around to watch my dog in the back yard (fenced) so I'd never trust a pitt around other dogs when I am not prepared to see the subtle cues he might give off before visciously attacking another dog or human.

My roommate has a pitt mix. I don't trust her. She's mostly playful, but even my roommate and her bf (the owners) don't fully trust that one day she won't "turn". They decided then to adopt the bf's brother's full pitt who is 8 months old. They brought just her home without the part pitt around, and it only took her 30 minutes to decide to attack my shepherd/lab/husky mix who is so gentle and mellow and reserved with other dogs. There probably were some "signs" that she was going to, but she'd never been aggressive before! Of course not, no dog that one day attacks has EVER been agressive before! (Note sarcasm!) So now my dog is locked in a crate even more during the day because he can't be out with her, because the roommate can't get her out of the house until the weekend!

I will never trust a pitt, or any of the other "bully" breeds. I don't see the point of even bothering. I want to have kids one day (i'm 23 now) and I make a lifetime committment to my animals. Who would ever have a pitt or any other typically aggressive breed around kids is just being neglectful. But what do you do when you have kids and the kids irritate the dog and the dog snaps and attacks the kid? You take him to the pound. And add to the overpopulation and lack of responsibility that already exists.

I know a lot of their behaviors has to do with their environment and training, but you don't always know what has been bred into a particular dog, and as someone else commented earlier, I am not about to go up against an extremely strong dogs genetics!

[Alpha]

Marley the fact that you mispell "pit" already tells me that you are uneducated and unwilling to listen to any facts or stories from any of the responsible pit owners here on DF like myself.

I'm especially a bit perturbed that you imply I'm irresponsible for having a pitbull around children.

Your post makes it quite clear to me that your just plain ignorant.

ANYONE that's done ANY research about APBT's would know that they were WELL KNOWN to be GREAT family members, ESPECIALLY with children because of their high pain tolerance and general, limitless love of humans.

The fact that imply that it's in APBT"s GENETICS to be human agressive once again proves how IGNORANT you trully are.

I'm not telling everyone to go out and buy a pitbull and guarenteeing that it's not going to be DA or even possibly HA.

The FACTS about the breed are they are NOT bred to be human agressive.

What do you think of GSD's? Rottweilers? Dobermans? None are bully breeds but are bred FOR human protection, meaning they have more of a possibility for being human agressive than a pitbull.

Please, if your just going to post your opinion, dandy.

But don't make it sound like your knowledgeable about the breed than make clearly ignorant comments that are based on no fact, rather myth.

I could post a dozen pictures of Hades with my niece and nephew.

I could tell a dozen stories about some of the abuse Hades has put up with, and his reaction. Although it's clear your one of the so-called "dog people" that have made a decision about a breed without first off, knowing anything about it, or secondly trying to understand WHY the breed has such a bad reputation. (I'll give you a hint, it's mostly from the owner)

I KNOW MY DOG. I've researched the breed, it's pretty darn clear you have not.

ETA- Holy crap I just re-read your post and see that already OWN a lab/GSD! And you plan on having children!??!

Did you know that labs were #1 in my town for biting small children in the family last year?

Or that GSD are BRED for human protection, therefore they're more likely to bite a human than a pitbull?!?!

OMG!! How irresponsible of you to plan on having children around that dog!

[CrzyBritNAmerica]

Originally Posted by Alpha

Marley the fact that you mispell "pit" already tells me that you are uneducated and unwilling to listen to any facts or stories from any of the responsible pit owners here on DF like myself.

I'm especially a bit perturbed that you imply I'm irresponsible for having a pitbull around children.

Your post makes it quite clear to me that your just plain ignorant.

ANYONE that's done ANY research about APBT's would know that they were WELL KNOWN to be GREAT family members, ESPECIALLY with children because of their high pain tolerance and general, limitless love of humans.

The fact that imply that it's in APBT"s GENETICS to be human agressive once again proves how IGNORANT you trully are.

I'm not telling everyone to go out and buy a pitbull and guarenteeing that it's not going to be DA or even possibly HA.

The FACTS about the breed are they are NOT bred to be human agressive.

What do you think of GSD's? Rottweilers? Dobermans? None are bully breeds but are bred FOR human protection, meaning they have more of a possibility for being human agressive than a pitbull.

Please, if your just going to post your opinion, dandy.

But don't make it sound like your knowledgeable about the breed than make clearly ignorant comments that are based on no fact, rather myth.

I could post a dozen pictures of Hades with my niece and nephew.

I could tell a dozen stories about some of the abuse Hades has put up with, and his reaction. Although it's clear your one of the so-called "dog people" that have made a decision about a breed without first off, knowing anything about it, or secondly trying to understand WHY the breed has such a bad reputation. (I'll give you a hint, it's mostly from the owner)

I KNOW MY DOG. I've researched the breed, it's pretty darn clear you have not.

ETA- Holy crap I just re-read your post and see that already OWN a lab/GSD! And you plan on having children!??!

Did you know that labs were #1 in my town for biting small children in the family last year?

Or that GSD are BRED for human protection, therefore they're more likely to bite a human than a pitbull?!?!

OMG!! How irresponsible of you to plan on having children around that dog!

I was going to post a reply to Marley's post, but you said it all Alpha! Nice post and I agree with every word.

Also want to add that my pit mix has been very loving and loyal to us and to my (now 6 month old) baby nephew! She's SCARED of our 5 month old cat, and is the biggest baby when it comes to actual aggressive dogs. She got attacked by a husky/gsd mix and just lay there and yelped/peed. So please don't tell me that all pits and pit mixes are untrustworthy. As Alpha said, you clearly know nothing about the breed.

[vanbum]

I agree with CrzyBritNAmerica and Alpha's replys - But I can understand why some people feel the way Marley does.

We all know that the media tends to jump on any story in which anyone gets attacked by a Pit while they might ignore the same stories if the dog was a lab or a golden or something, but it sure seems like sometimes when A pit is involved the damage can be very bad. Kids face gets torn off, someones leg needs amputating, a 2 year old is killed etc....

So I think when people see those stories, they think that any pit might "snap" one day and go nuts and cause that kind of damage and it scares them.

If someone says they will never trust a pit, then maybe they shouldnt own one. Maybe their lives are too busy to learn the facts and put forth the effort to be a responsible pit owner.

Perhaps a poodle would be a better choice.

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by vanbum

Perhaps a poodle would be a better choice.

Poodles imo, especially standards, are another one of the most judged breeds of dogs. Standard poodles are gorgeous athletes and never seem to get the kind of respect they deserve. Poor things.

[Chloef_2799]

Growing up I was terrified of poodles (mini and standard) and keeshonds because some neighbours around my area had these kind of dogs and they were quite aggressive and un-p[redictabel. The lady who had two keeshonds had to muzzle the one because it had bitten other people and the un-muzzled attacked a few people as well but not as badly as the male. As I got older however and learned more about dogs I realized these dogs were unfrotunately not trained, socialized and I am quite certain the standard poodle was badly abused (he attacked my dad when he was walking Leslie and both dogs had to see a vet because the tore each other up pretty badly). I am no longer terified of keesies or poodles. As a matter of fact I think keshonds are great dogs and would love to have one but I am not prepared to take on a third dog nor one who would require the grooming a keeshond would need. But maybe one day I will.
I have said it many times and will say it again people need to research and educate themselves before saying one breed or species is bad. With bad education thats how people make bad decisions.....just look at certain endangered species and (perfect example) pit bulls. People used to think wolves and bears were blood thirsty live stock murderers and baby killers so they hunted them almost to extinction. Bears hardly eat meat (90% vegetation and 10% meat) and wolves are hardly vicious man killer. As a matter of fact they are afraid of people and would sooner head for the hills than attack a human. Its all about education and research. Need I say more?

[Alpha]

Vanbum- You're so right. And while it's not the general publics fault that the media misleads them, if they are trully dog lovers before they start making general negative comments about a breed, perhaps they should educate themselves first.

I've met a few people in my small town that were right up there jeering for the pitbull ban here in Ontario. But after they met my Hades, and saw my 5 year old nephew walking him ALL BY HIMSELF downtown in our city doing a fine job I must add, a lot of them have changed their minds, about pitbulls and just in general dog training.

After reading my post again it's kind of harsh, I'll admit the topic angers me sometimes.

It's a little different on the internet, if I were to meet some of the people who post negative opinions about people in PERSON, I would respond much differently...

So in other words, in person, about this specific topc, I'm nicer LOL

It's just soo much easier when people can hear me talk and you can SEE and PAT and LOVE ON my dog. You can see him with my other dog Roxy, who picks on him relentlesly, poor little guy. LOL And yet he does nothing to defend himself other than look up at me with sad, caring eyes.... (actually much like in my signature, the pic on the right )

*sigh*

Or see him with my niece and nephew walking politely down a busy crowded road with dogs and people and cars....

Chloef- All great points in your posts

[Captbob]

Originally Posted by Alpha

Vanbum- You're so right. And while it's not the general publics fault that the media misleads them, if they are trully dog lovers before they start making general negative comments about a breed, perhaps they should educate themselves first.

I've met a few people in my small town that were right up there jeering for the pitbull ban here in Ontario. But after they met my Hades, and saw my 5 year old nephew walking him ALL BY HIMSELF downtown in our city doing a fine job I must add, a lot of them have changed their minds, about pitbulls and just in general dog training.

After reading my post again it's kind of harsh, I'll admit the topic angers me sometimes.

It's a little different on the internet, if I were to meet some of the people who post negative opinions about people in PERSON, I would respond much differently...

So in other words, in person, about this specific topc, I'm nicer LOL

It's just soo much easier when people can hear me talk and you can SEE and PAT and LOVE ON my dog. You can see him with my other dog Roxy, who picks on him relentlesly, poor little guy. LOL And yet he does nothing to defend himself other than look up at me with sad, caring eyes.... (actually much like in my signature, the pic on the right )

*sigh*

Or see him with my niece and nephew walking politely down a busy crowded road with dogs and people and cars....

Chloef- All great points in your posts

You are saying that the people that see your particular Pit Bull, think it is friendly so therefore, everyone should feel that way about all PB's. At two dog parks that I attend on a regular basis, that is not the perception that the vast majority of people who also happen to be dog owners, have of the breed. This is after they see examples of D/A in the PB's that attend the park. This has nothing at all to do with any media, this is something you are seeing with your own eyes. They have regulations about prong collars and studded collars not being allowed in the dog park, and every day, there are PB's that are brought into the park wearing them. Many of the PB owners have crappy attitudes, and it doesn't take them very long to make quite a few enemies among the regulars in the park. One of these parks is quite large, and one or two of these dogs can force all the other owners to leave to avoid a hassle.

Now if this is the impression that dog owners are getting, you can probably see how that would affect to the general public's perception of the breed.

[CrzyBritNAmerica]

Originally Posted by Captbob

You are saying that the people that see your particular Pit Bull, think it is friendly so therefore, everyone should feel that way about all PB's. At two dog parks that I attend on a regular basis, that is not the perception that the vast majority of people who also happen to be dog owners, have of the breed. This is after they see examples of D/A in the PB's that attend the park. This has nothing at all to do with any media, this is something you are seeing with your own eyes. They have regulations about prong collars and studded collars not being allowed in the dog park, and every day, there are PB's that are brought into the park wearing them. Many of the PB owners have crappy attitudes, and it doesn't take them very long to make quite a few enemies among the regulars in the park. One of these parks is quite large, and one or two of these dogs can force all the other owners to leave to avoid a hassle.

Now if this is the impression that dog owners are getting, you can probably see how that would affect to the general public's perception of the breed.

Well if you are all dog owners and dog lovers then you should see that its nothing at all to do with the breed. It's the owners. I mean, come on, the dogs didn't put the spike/prong collars on themselves....the PB puppies weren't born thinking "oh yeah I am going to kill all kinds of dogs when I grow up."

If it wasn't for the media then you guys at your dog parks would simply think "This dog (refferring to the aggressive dog at the park) is a problem...and not "oh it's a Pitbull, it's a problem." Does that make sense? My point is, if it wasn't for the way the media played on the entirety of the breed then people would see the problems on a dog to dog basis and not by seeing the breed as a whole.

It's the owner's fault! Alpha is trying to make the point that not just his PB is friendly and well adjusted, but that anyone who takes the time to train and socialize their PB will have a friendly and well socialized PB too. People assume that EVERY PB will 'turn' and attack it's owner someday....maybe a few will, but it has nothing to do with the breed. I've seen plenty of passive dogs become suddenly aggressive, and of the ones I have seen not one has even been a PB. Any dog can be aggressive and it's not strictly PBs that are the problem. If ANY BREED (or mixed breed) dog falls into the hands of a careless/abusove person it has the potentiality of becoming an aggressive (whether DA or HA) dog.

It's sad that you live in an area where people don't bother to socialize and train their PBs...but you are only talking about 2 dogs parks, in YOUR area. We have a majority of PBs that come to our 2 dog parks and I've seen plenty of aggressive dogs...not one of those was a PB. We are lucky here that the PB owners are taking the time to create friendly dogs.

So no, it's not the entire breed that causes the problem...it's the people who don't care that this dog is probably going to be PTS because of their freaking carelessness to train them. It's just sad that everyone can't think tis way. If everyone thought of it as a problem based on a dog to dog basis then they could tell others and maybe people would take the hint and stop training their PBs to become aggressive, angry "killers". I mean seriously, look at the people who own these PBs that are aggressive...with most people you can tell that the dog is not in good hands. They are just a popular breed for the wrong people and that is why they are getting this sad reputation. If every PB was owned by some like Alpha or other PB owners on this forum, then I think we'd have NO problem with PBs at all!

[Laurelin]

I agree with you CrzyBritNAmerica. (I need a shorter name to call you though )

Anyways, I don't see how any of the things you are seeing reflects on the breed, it just reaffirms the fact that we are all aware of here that many people attracted to pits are attracted to them for all the wrong reasons. obviously these people are not responsible, they put little to no time into their dogs, they possibly have trained them to react this way, they most likely haven't socialized their dogs, yet you blame the breed? Any dog would turn out badly under those circumstances.

Obviously pit bulls have attacked people before. No one says they haven't. All they are saying is that it is blown out of proportion and often times mis-identified.

The problem with the breed is that unfortunately it is popular. All breeds suffer because of this. It is attracting many horrible horrible owners and breeders who don't give a care about their dogs' temperaments. It's not in the breed, it's just due to irresponsibilty. All breeds that are overbred and bred without care by BYB produce dogs with temperament issues. It does not mean that is how the breed is *supposed* to be.

It's like saying that all little dogs are ankle biters that are treated like accesories and never trained. Obviously some dogs are treated like this- and people notice them. That doesn't mean all little dogs are. I sure as hell don't treat my toy dogs that way. It shouldn't be that since a portion of badly bred, badly kept small dogs are vicious or badly socialized that no one should be able to keep them. I love them. Mine are well behaved and I have every right to keep them whether people like them or not.

[CrzyBritNAmerica]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

It's like saying that all little dogs are ankle biters that are treated like accesories and never trained. Obviously some dogs are treated like this- and people notice them. That doesn't mean all little dogs are. I sure as hell don't treat my toy dogs that way. It shouldn't be that since a portion of badly bred, badly kept small dogs are vicious or badly socialized that no one should be able to keep them. I love them. Mine are well behaved and I have every right to keep them whether people like them or not.

Nice reply! I think you probably said it better than me. But to add on to this statement I think it goes for ALL dog "stereotypes"

Chihuahuas and other small breeds: They are (like Laurelin said) seen as people's 'accessories' but not everyone who has a small breed treats them like that. They are known to be yappy...but I have met plenty who have been trained not be yappy. Again here it comes down to the OWNER and the training.

Dalmations and Chows: People see these dogs as HA and say they aren't good with kids. Well I have seen plenty of Dalmations and Chows around kids. Again, down to the owner and the training.

Anyone could do this with every breed specific stereotype and see that it comes down to the owner and the type of people these dogs appeal to. Chihuahua's appeal (at the moment anyway) to people like Paris Hilton (not that I have a problem with Chihuahua's or Paris Hilton...don't want to offend anyone) but it is a FAD at the moment to see people with these little dogs in their purses and treated like more of an accessorie and not a dog.

PBs appeal to a different kind of person, but it's the same situation. It's the owners irresponsibility.


Oh and PS. Laurelin everyone usually just types CrzyBrit... lol