If you are getting one ..get it as a puppy and socialize it properly. If you are getting more than one..buyer beware, they can be agressive when in a "pack".

My dogs alone are great.. but when I get them together and they encounter another dog..they team up on it immediately. My dogs are a lab and lab mix.

Proper training and excercise are important.. you are getting a high energy breed..one that needs to be run on a daily basis or they get pent up energy which turns into bad chewing habits and such.

Dogs are like kids.. you have to give them lots of attention..if you arent home much or a couch potatoe.. dont bother getting one at all.

imo Pit bulls/staffordshire terriers were bred for a purpose, and the breed suffered from bad documentation, bad breeding, and generations of abusive owners. Sure, there are good dogs and the breed is being slowly corrected, but they are still dogs with tremendous potential to do damage. You might get bit more often by a spaniel, but you're more likely to be able to kick the spaniel away and bandage up a couple toothmarks than you would be if you were bit by a pit bull.

Combine that with the number of these dogs that people rescue from SPCA operations where there is no known history for that particular dog and you're asking for trouble.

Just like a greyhound will always run and can't be let off-leash in wide open spaces if you expect to get your dog back, a pit shouldn't be trusted to be able to override its breeding instincts.

Rottweilers are the same in my books. Just as trigger-happy and just as deadly.

i don't like 'em

been chased by 2 dogs my entire life, both were pits. Good thing they lost interest quick. :)

Good post. I was thinking very similary to you when I read Lady Mischief's post. Too many people like to think of dogs as similar to wolves. Sure, that's where they came from. But are we anything like chimpanzees? No. Two different species. Just like wolves and dogs are two different species. And I don't know where Lady Mischeif is getting her info from, most police dogs remain a police dog until they are too old for duty.