just seen on the news....dont see a long future for him unfortunately...seems like he may be part of the 1% of the pit bull population that is somewhat decent..

 

just seen on the news....dont see a long future for him unfortunately...seems like he may be part of the 1% of the pit bull population that is somewhat decent..

I think it is a mistake for anyone in the retriever community to publicly make up statistics like this.

- Chris

I'm sure there are plenty of links with this particular dog -

Here's one:

[video]http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/175-pound-pit-bull-hulk-shatters-misconceptions-breed/story?id=29353371[/video].

 

I retract my original statement in lieu of saying that that is an unfair statement to make about any breed.

 

I have seen the photos and am wondering if this animal could be the product of breeding a very large Pit Bull to a Cane Corso?

WAY too big to be a pit bull. Even large for a CC.-Paul

 

I love these guys. Team BSL (anti-Breed Specific Legislation) running a team of awsome pittbulls in flyball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFLuwpyr1c8

 

Looks like the original "organized confusion drill"! Zoinks!

 

I was told by an Animal Control Officer years ago that she responded to more bite/aggression calls about Labs than Pit Bulls. And the ONLY death (of a human, in this case a toddler) she investigated was caused by a a yellow Lab. Any breed is capable with the wrong owners! I don't own pit bulls and never will, but I meet a great many nice ones (Labs too of course<g>).

 

I got a real kick out of watching the boy play the harmonica and Hulk reacting to it.
Boy was definitely having a great time.

 

call me an idiot and dont know me...is your kettle or pot black...come say hello.....wow,,apparently ya'll dont get sarcasm....but then again i could care less....have a great day......did ya sense that sarcasm....

 

The person who wrote what you mention has clearly retracted it...nearly 24 hours before you wrote your post. I think it's a shame that you did not recognize that fact.

I did not sense any sarcasm in your first post. I sensed a fabricated statistic and commented that it is a mistake for retriever advocates to publicly make such claims.

I'd suggest if you are joking or trying to interject humor, you put a little more effort into expressing it more clearly.

I did not find your first post funny, nor did some others.

Chris Atkinson

 

While he may be a very nice family guard dog, I think it is a little doubious that this kennel is using the publicity for their own financial gain under the guise of showing the "gentle" side of pit bulls. Trotting this dog around NYC isn't about promoting the pit bull and changing the general public's perception. It's about promoting their protection dog business. Advocates trying to fight BSL legislation certainly don't want a giant pit bull trained to attack people to be the face of their movement.

It's certainly ok to be in the guard dog business. You can even say you support those groups who work hard to change the public's perception of pit bulls being vicious and aggresive dogs. Just don't go on a publicity parade and act like your reason for being there is to prove just how gentle your pit bull is, so others like him must be too. He is being trained as an attack to dog that will be used a stud for a very high fee. He's not some run of the mill therapy dog visiting nursing homes and children's hospitals.

Also - the videos of the little boy riding him like a horse make me cringe. Competely irresponsible, even if Hulk would never nip his boy for doing so, it suggests that any seemingly good natured dog would react the same way. Someone who trains dogs for a living should have better judgement then that.

 

I shared some of your thoughts. I found it unfortunate that the owner got air time with his kennel logo on his clothing. I really wish this dog did not have cropped ears and that he was from a rescue - not a breeder.

While I will hopefully ALWAYS have at least one labrador in my possession from a reputable, professional breeder - ideally also a friend whose dogs I know personally, I feel that there is no valid need for breeders of pits. The population of bully breeds in our shelters is exploding.

I also cringe when folks publicly demonstrate children climbing on and riding large dogs - I don't care what breed. It's an irresponsible expectation for adults to create in a child's mind. All dogs can bite and big dogs can bite hard. All dogs - especially strange ones deserve respect.

The flyball video with the pit-team is GREAT! If you watch it the whole way through, you'll see that they post a little statement about where each of the team members came from. Every one of them is from an animal shelter and none of them promote any "pit breeder".

The nice takeaway from this dog that got the publicity is that it can give another piece of evidence that the bully breed and bully breed mix dogs that get labeled as "pits" are not automatically the killer animals that our media and society tries to label them as.

It is a fact that many of the seized dogs (not all...some had to be put down) from the Michael Vick fighting kennels were successfully converted into nice companion dogs.

One of our RTF members has recently taken on a new view of this category of dog after having regular exposure to these dogs in an animal shelter local to him.

Chris

 

Well I do own a pit and I will be the first to say my lab would bite you faster than my pit. If my wife screams my lab is biting the first person near her. While my pit rolls over wanting a belly rub. Not all pits are aggressive. My wife is working on getting her tdi title for our pit. So I guess he will be "a run of the mill therapy dog walking around nursing homes and children's hospitals"

 

Chris to re-word my question. My question was referring to you saying the shelters were full of bully breeds. There are multiple bully breeds so whats wrong with someone wanting a full blood pit bull terrier or a or a bull terrier or an American staffordshire terrier or just a staffordshire terrier? All breeds have a purpose they were bred for rather it is for hunting type trials, show type or just plain working type (weight pulling)

Here is a link that most reputable and professional breeders do as far as testing http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php/9370-Health-Testing-Doesn-t-Mean-Just-a-Yearly-Vet-Check

Thank you for not arguing my opinion on cropping ears there are people that run pit bulls in coyote hunting type trials. Here the dogs are judged on tracking trailing as well as running the coyote. Sometimes they are even judged on catching/holding the yote. So for this most owners would like ears cropped to drop the risk in the coyote being able to bite/rip the ear off of a dog. Same goes for boar hunting when using a pit type dog as a catch dog.

******************************************************
I am certainly by your side as far as the breed specific regulations! I think it is completely over board and some people are just plain out stupid about it

While I do believe some pit bulls have a tendency to be aggressive people should also look at how many dog bites happen a year by breed. I can guarantee you pit bulls are not the number one. the reason they get so much attention is not the number of bites but the damage done by a bite. This is mostly due to ignorance as well. People actually believe pits have some sort of magical jaw that locks down once its got a hold of you and instead of doing the normal opening of the mouth to get what ever is out of it. People try to slide the body part out and of course this causes way more damage in the long run.

 

Vis: Animal legislation in general and breed specific legislation in particular... I sat in on a community comment session during the rewrite of the animal control statutes for our county and it was an eye-opener. It was a wide-open type of forum and I came away with one clear message...

We are always just one crazy person or pressure group away from bad stuff happening that will impinge our right to own and enjoy dogs. Whether it's people who would try to prohibit killing ducks and pigeon fliers, or make circus elephants illegal, stop rodeo, make big bad scary dogs against the law, classify a dog licking a person a "dog bite incident", hold property owners responsible when trespassers get bitten within an enclosed, fenced backyard...

Two words: "Eternal Vigilance"

 

Chris... FWIW, I went on-line to Nevada Lab Rescue... there is not a lab in the lot. Most are pit bulls, maybe with some lab in them.

 

Wow.. He also boasts a $20,000 stud fee....

 

I can't believe you are discussing this thread as a pro vs con pit bull subject!!!! The dog is a freak. The video absurdly and dangerously exploitive, only a (successful) marketing strategy. This thread truly demeans RTF. Sorry Chris, but this is just bad. I'm outta here.

 

I don't believe I am either Carol.

I'm discussing this because I feel strongly that if we as retriever folks chip away at pits or pit-like dogs, we are opening the same door that could come back to slam on our own retriever hobby.

Bye! Chris