My daughter has 4 kids and an American Bulldog cross. He's been neutered, has a sweet disposition, and has been hassled by other dogs but never responded with a bite. Nor does he behave in a threatening manner, with humans or other dogs.
The first couple weeks she had him (he was a walk-in volunteering to join the family, and maybe under a year old) I kept a very wary eye on him, and was armed. It soon became apparent that he was bright, tractable and not human aggressive. He is gentle with kids and tolerates being hassled by little ones, and is sensible about who he can play rough with. (He is a canine genius at keepaway and tug-of-war, but calibrates his play depending on the size and sensibility of those whom he plays with).
I did a fair amount of research and have come to the realisation that so-called "pit bulls" have received the same sort of media attention as most of the posters on this forum. Those of you who are attack-trained and brought up in violent circumstances are dangerous to be around, but you are in the vast minority. Golden retrievers have a greater percentage of "biters" than pit bulls.
Certainly caution is the best attitude toward strange dogs; after all, you don't know how they've been trained (or not, as the case might be). But don't condemn an entire breed because of what you see in the media; they'd have us believe we're always in immediate danger from every point of the compass. Fear sells commercial time, you know, and any media outlet that puts out only positive news will go broke in a week.
The first couple weeks she had him (he was a walk-in volunteering to join the family, and maybe under a year old) I kept a very wary eye on him, and was armed. It soon became apparent that he was bright, tractable and not human aggressive. He is gentle with kids and tolerates being hassled by little ones, and is sensible about who he can play rough with. (He is a canine genius at keepaway and tug-of-war, but calibrates his play depending on the size and sensibility of those whom he plays with).
I did a fair amount of research and have come to the realisation that so-called "pit bulls" have received the same sort of media attention as most of the posters on this forum. Those of you who are attack-trained and brought up in violent circumstances are dangerous to be around, but you are in the vast minority. Golden retrievers have a greater percentage of "biters" than pit bulls.
Certainly caution is the best attitude toward strange dogs; after all, you don't know how they've been trained (or not, as the case might be). But don't condemn an entire breed because of what you see in the media; they'd have us believe we're always in immediate danger from every point of the compass. Fear sells commercial time, you know, and any media outlet that puts out only positive news will go broke in a week.