Never judge a book by its cover.

Bug-Eyed Earl · Post by **Bug-Eyed Earl** » 2004-05-17 11:51pm

I always assumed that the dog across the street was a boxer, never really getting a good look at it. Then one day in the pet store I see a book about Pit Bulls, and the dog on the cover looked exactly like the dog across the street. Given that the thing was always barking, I assumed it was a mean dog based on their reputation.

Then one day last week I get home, and the dog is in our driveway. They havfe had this dog for a long time, and this was the first time I had ever seen it get out. I pull in, park at the bottom of the driveway like I usually do, and stuck my head out the window and called it to see what it would do. I didn't hear anything, so I turned and saw it slowly trotting towards me, taking its time. The owner has said before that she's friendly, but all people with vicious dogs say that since the dog gets along with them. Remembering that, and seeing how little this dog is, I wrap my jacket around my arm and hold out my hand. It bounds up to me...and sits on my foot. I give it a little rub on the head, and it fell over, happy as can be. So I pet it, and it happily followed me back to its house; evidently it broke off of its chain and crawled under the fence, since the gates weren't open. I put it back in, and pet it a little bit more before leaving.

I heard it whine a little as I left, and I realized I had made a friend. This was the third pt bull I had ever had close contact with in my life, and like the others, it was a pussycat. Granted, I don't doubt the stories about them, but how the dog is raised, I think, is the biggest factor in how it acts.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-05-17 11:55pm

"There are no bad dogs, just bad owners."

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-05-18 12:25am

Lonestar wrote:"There are no bad dogs, just bad owners."

Hehe

.

aphexmonster · Post by **aphexmonster** » 2004-05-18 04:33pm

im deathly afraid of dogs , i probably would of stayed in my car -

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2004-05-18 05:05pm

I prefer cats, far cuter and far cleaner. And they can be raised to be nice and loving.

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2004-05-18 05:10pm

SyntaxVorlon wrote:I prefer cats, far cuter and far cleaner. And they can be raised to be nice and loving.

Ok my cat, as playful as she was tended to go crazy and decide to tear the crap out of my hand/arm/leg/face when she saw fit. My sister's dog on the other hand has been nothing but a big 'ole love machine, a really big Rotweiler/Lab mix love machine.

I like cats too but dogs are at least predictable.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-05-18 08:34pm

Every Pit Bull I've ever met was extremely sweet natured.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-05-18 08:42pm

I've noticed that 'fighting dogs' like Dobermans, Pitbulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Bulldogs, and similar always seem to have quite a bit nicer disposition than 'lap dogs' like Poodles, Chihuahuas, etc.

I've never been bitten by a big dog, but I can't remember all the times some tiny-yapper half the size of my head tried to bite it off!!

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-05-18 08:44pm

SyntaxVorlon wrote:I prefer cats, far cuter and far cleaner. And they can be raised to be nice and loving.

I agree, I love cats.

They're also less maintenance than a dog.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-05-18 08:51pm

Cats are indeed superior to Dogs.

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2004-05-18 09:08pm

Lonestar wrote:Cats are indeed superior to Dogs.

While I do prefer cats to dogs, I have a feeling you may be getting yourself into hot water with that statement. Unless you are being sarcastic be prepared to defend yourself.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-05-18 09:12pm

Icehawk wrote:
While I do prefer cats to dogs, I have a feeling you may be getting yourself into hot water with that statement. Unless you are being sarcastic be prepared to defend yourself.

I have nothing against dogs, at all. They have many admirable qualities.

However, it's worth noting that while one of my cats is the Bitch Kitty From Hell, the other is a Dog-Cat, and enjoys being affectionate, doing tricks, and playing catch for hours on end. So, I get the best of both worlds.

(Incidently, the BKFH has opposeable thumbs, and she figured out how to open doors with door handles. My Parents' new house has door knobs, and she knows those damn things are the key to power...)

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-05-18 09:13pm

I have two cats, Chalupa and Kessie:

They're both playful and they like to snuggle.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-05-18 09:15pm

Ein, you're cats are lovely.

I just want to take the second one home.

I too will state cats are superior.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-05-18 09:17pm

Gandalf wrote:Ein, you're cats are lovely.

I just want to take the second one home.

I too will state cats are superior.

Thanks!

I just found these on the hd from when one of my ex-roomies uploaded his camera into my comp...

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-05-19 01:22pm

Damn, did I just kill the thread? Shit...

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2004-05-19 01:43pm

Well, it's not really a dogs v cats thread, it just got derailed...at any rate, my experience with supposedly bad-ass dogs is they've always been nice in a good home. Smaller shitty dogs tend to get spoiled, and that is, i suspect their reason for being annoying.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-05-19 01:46pm

Rye wrote:Well, it's not really a dogs v cats thread, it just got derailed...at any rate, my experience with supposedly bad-ass dogs is they've always been nice in a good home. Smaller shitty dogs tend to get spoiled, and that is, i suspect their reason for being annoying.

Oops.

I noticed 'bad-ass' dogs tend to have owners who keep up with them real good too.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » 2004-05-19 02:07pm

I have several friends that own pitbulls, and I've always found them to be some of the nicest dogs around. Of course if you don't know them they can be some scary ass looking dogs, the one thing I've learned aboutt hem though is that most pits are fine with people, the problem is with other dogs. Most pits love people, strange dogs are another story.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-05-19 02:23pm

Dogs are better.

Housebroken animal > Boxes of Shit in my House

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2004-05-19 02:52pm

You can teach cats to shit outside, all of ours do.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-19 03:20pm

I like both.

Ein:[/b] The reason smaller dogs like poodles and West Highland terriers are often more aggressive is usually down to the fact that they can be spooked and feel easily threatened by larger animals (anything larger than them, so 90% of life). They often get vicious and don't want to be off guard, especially if being crowded. Bigger dogs don't often have this problem since they mentally have the ability to see that they're in no immediate danger, a sort of arrogance sometimes given I've seen tiny dogs go beserk on larger ones with funny results.

My Labrador as a puppy was evil and anything that wasn't a bitch was an enemy. He'd often growl and pull on his lead to attack Alsations three times his mass who, funnily enough, didn't feel in the least bit threatened by the pipsqueak.

Oh yeah, cool cats too.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-05-19 05:34pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:I like both.

Ein:[/b] The reason smaller dogs like poodles and West Highland terriers are often more aggressive is usually down to the fact that they can be spooked and feel easily threatened by larger animals (anything larger than them, so 90% of life). They often get vicious and don't want to be off guard, especially if being crowded. Bigger dogs don't often have this problem since they mentally have the ability to see that they're in no immediate danger, a sort of arrogance sometimes given I've seen tiny dogs go beserk on larger ones with funny results.

My Labrador as a puppy was evil and anything that wasn't a bitch was an enemy. He'd often growl and pull on his lead to attack Alsations three times his mass who, funnily enough, didn't feel in the least bit threatened by the pipsqueak.

Oh yeah, cool cats too.

That's a neat explanation. I guess I'd rather not get chewed on by a mini-pooch that almost can't hurt me than respected as an equal by a big huge dog that can probly fatally shred me to bits in a Dog's New York Second. Rottweiler Come Home! (Just please don't shit on the carpet)

Solauren · Post by **Solauren** » 2004-05-19 05:53pm

My family had lab/rottiweiler cross for 14 years.

Biggest damn such you ever wanted to meet.

He was 4 and barked at my grandmother one day.
She yelled back and he ran behind the dinning room table (probably cause he knew who it was at that point)

Then again, he did bite throught a screen door to try to get at someone that was yelling at my sister throught it so....

Korvan · Post by **Korvan** » 2004-05-19 06:05pm

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:I've noticed that 'fighting dogs' like Dobermans, Pitbulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Bulldogs, and similar always seem to have quite a bit nicer disposition than 'lap dogs' like Poodles, Chihuahuas, etc.

I've never been bitten by a big dog, but I can't remember all the times some tiny-yapper half the size of my head tried to bite it off!!

My dad once ended up with 13 stitches in his hand when he tried to pet a Jack Russell.

There's a good reason why the "fighting" dogs are often good natured around people, it was part of their breeding. In dog fighting's prime, any dog that took a snap at a person, even the referee trying to seperate them, would be destroyed. It was also customary for trainers to exchange dogs the night before a match to allow for a complete inspection. If a dog was found to be vicious, it was destroyed.

The pit bulls you hear about in the news, are pretty much all owned by real assholes who mistreat them and/or purposely train them to attack people.

My girfriend's housemate owns a pitbull and she is the sweetest thing you could ever meet (the dog, the owner can be a little bitchy sometimes). But you can't let her near most other dogs, or she'll attack as she was originally rescued from a crack house as a puppy where other dogs were set on her for training. She was the last surviving puppy from her litter.