Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Damn Pittbulls

Wrong.

Anything else?

That's the thing, though. Most owners of those breeds would likely be willing to sign an exclusion from coverage for dog bites, but when they ask for this, are flatly refused. So you can get the same result by simply saying no to those questions.

It's not just Pits or Rotts. Here is a list from one of the insurance companies I represent:


"Do you or any household member own one or more of the following breeds or a mix of one of these breeds of dog?

Akita, Alaskan Malamute, American Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Mastiff, Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher, Pit Bull, Presa Canario, Rottweiler, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Wolf Hybrid."

A previous poster said people will lie about the type of dogs they have in order to get homeowners insurance. That is true, and I've had it happen in my Agency.

The problem arises when there is a claim for a dog bite and the insurance company finds out the homeowners lied on the application. At that point, the insurance company can deny coverage and will most likely cancel the policy asap. The homeowner is then left to pay for damages all on their own.

How much of your money do you think a jury will award the family of a 4yo, whose face was mauled by your dog?

There are insurance companies that will insure homes with the above named breeds in them, but there are fewer such companies each year.

They should add Shar pei's to that list . The one my mother had was psycho and powerful. He hung himself in curtain cords a couple of times and live to tell about it. He turned on her a couple of times ,no damage ,just would grab her hand and not let go. Did not even break skin, but you could not get him off with out a punch in the eye.........

It's not just Pits or Rotts. Here is a list from one of the insurance companies I represent:


"Do you or any household member own one or more of the following breeds or a mix of one of these breeds of dog?

Akita, Alaskan Malamute, American Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Mastiff, Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher, Pit Bull, Presa Canario, Rottweiler, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Wolf Hybrid."

We have a pitbull mix i got as an 8-week-old pup.

I never let him outside of the fenced back yard unless i was there. For the 1st 9 months or so, he would run out to "meet" other dogs walking by and I would immediately intervene (sprinting to engage). He didn't want to "fight", just do the normal butt-smelling stuff.

Understandably, the passersby did not know that hence my instant running out to secure him and apologizing profusely (then instilling hefty negative reinforcement).

However, after nine-ten months of getting his head literally hammered (not literally by a hammer...just my hand), he learned unconditionally I was the alpha. We also were lavish in loving on him - he thinks he's a lap dog..... at 85lbs, he's a bit much!

I had consulted a police K9 trainer i personally know about socializing and training strong-willed dogs. As I had participated in some of their "training events" (I was a bad-guy wearing a padded suit!) multiple times I had seen my friend use some seemingly too-rough discipline on his 105lb Belgian Shepherd (a sharp crack on the head via his 6 D-cell MagLite). He assured me then the dog was OK and some needed a little more "convincing" than others. He just seemed strange, but he had been a K9 trainer for over 20 years and was well-regarded in police K9 circles (he was a well-known trainer in the state i lived at the time).

He encouraged me to have my young children involved in the leash training i had learned from him as well. It was simply making the dog sit if he pulled the leash at all. With the added pronged pinch collar to assert the dog's low position on the authority "totem-pole" our dog learned very quickly who was who in the "pack" pecking order.

It has all worked very well and our "dangerous" pitbull is very well adjusted (we semi-frequently have 25-35 people at our house for my wife's work functions). He is very social and loves being petted (and fed!).

When i am working outside on our never-ending landscaping projects/updates, he will just lay on the and driveway in the sun. If another dog walks by on the sidewalk, he remains sitting and doesn't even stand up.

But all this positive behavior came after a year of (seemingly harsh) head-cracking negative reinforcement of unapproved behaviors.

He is a superb watch dog though. Our neighbors (we share a fence with) have came up the stairs to our front door (when we weren't home) and reported he was nothing but 85lbs of popping teeth and growling/barking.

It took nearly two years for our dog to accept our friends who come to take care of our chickens (and have known him since our adoption) when we weren't home. Now, they board him at their house (they have 3 very small kids) and he protects their house and kids the same as at ours and recognizes them as Alpha's as well.

It all takes a lot of time investment, but is well worth it.

Incidentally, my wife is his "favorite" and he is usually not more than a few steps from her. However, he often shadows me (like now as he lays at the other end of the couch). In fact, if i lay on the floor he will be instantly come over to me and try to lick me to death.

He knows he is loved, but had to learn the "hard" way.

Just this week, a pit killed an 8 month old baby. The baby had been around the dog the whole 8 months,
as it was the babysitters dog. Just went off.

If this is indeed correct it's interesting and somewhat ironic to me that the 2 most popular and proven Guard/Attack dogs used by police forces
all over the world, the Belgian Malinois, and German Shepherd, do not even make the list.

I wonder if the baby sitter instead had a big furry cat that went off and silently fell asleep on the babies face smothering it to death
without the sitter even noticing, would people be as judgmental or outraged?

Shadetree,

cats smothering infants is nothing new, to me its negligence not just an accident.
just like little kids drowning in backyard pools while the parents or minders are home.
another is parents running over their kids in the drive.

If this is indeed correct it's interesting and somewhat ironic to me that the 2 most popular and proven Guard/Attack dogs used by police forces all over the world, the Belgian Malinois, and German Shepherd, do not even make the list.

huh? My grandma from a little peasant European village in the mountains and now long dead,
warned the family about cats and babies.

Well I never heard of it, so I just googled it and about all I can find on it is it's an old wives tale, including from Snopes.

...I quit after scrolling through 10 solid pages of results.

Jesus Christ.



Dave

My google search brought this one up straight away, it was 2nd on the page...lol..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1379196/Sleeping-cat-suffocates-baby.html

Wow you found 1 on the second page of the WORLD WIDE WEB. I didn't bother going that far. Did you read through the articles on the first page?