Steve James wrote:People do think pit bulls are more dangerous, but they're not mean by nature. They can be big and super protective, though. Around kids, imo, it's most important for the kids to be socialized with the dog. I.e., not tease or deliberately annoy the dog, like throwing toys, etc. I know this from a situation with a German Shephard that had to be given away because the two-year old would throw toys at the dog while it was chained up. The parents were rightly afraid that the dog would break the chain. Otoh, I know plenty of people who've raised pitties alongside their kids. So, in that case, if you see a kid with such a dog, do not tease the kid. Rather, don't think about it.
It's just true that a 150lb guard breed needs to be totally under the control of the handler, but that control is an illusion that the human needs to make the dog believe. If you're 150lbs, maybe a 120lbs guard dog isn't right for you.
I'm scared of the people who are handling more than the breed. I don't pet dogs or approach them. In fact, I will appear to ignore them.
My boys are 75 lbs each, and they are very sweet. they have a lot of energy and left unchecked and undisciplined, like any dog, that can turn into aggression.
The only trouble we had with them so far is with the dog we started with, a lab/boxer/dachsund. She actually nipped the kids a time or two and they were literally raised next to each other. We got the pup when my youngest was about 6 months old.
So she was a nipper, and would snap at the kids if they surprised her, even incidentally, when she was sleeping.
When i wound up getting the two shepard/pits, she (the dachsund mix) kept trying to boss them around and one day they decided to stop letting her do it and they messed up her leg pretty bad. Had to get seven stitches.
I was able to rehome her though which brought us back down to the two boys and my wife's American Pit weighing in around 45.
It is hard to rehome dogs. My ex wife saddled us with all three of them because she just HAD to have a dog and then HAD to have a puppy or a baby, then HAD to get rid of the one because she nipped my daughter so we needed another to keep the first busy, jfc, anyhow she told me they were "red heeler" puppies, come to find out they were "Red nosed pit bull" puppies.
Been trying for over a year now and seriously, nobody wants your old dog, people will kill them if you are really persistent about it and ignore the guilt, giving them to a no-kill shelter is expensive as hell and isn't really an improvement.
And me, like... not really a dog person, you know.. too much work. They ran a little wild for a bit, but we've learned together and they're a little rude sometimes but super sweet and not even mean to each other. The one boy is just kind of dumb, so when he acts up the smaller one, who is a year older and a "nanny dog" American Pit will nip at his neck or grumble in his ear. When he tries to run out of the door, however, his brother gets REALLY pissed and gives him a dressing down.
The door is really our danger area. They want to go on walks so when one of them messes that up they get frustrated at him. A couple times the dumb one has tried to stand up for himself then, and that escalates a little as the smart one will just knock him down and stand over him fully demonstrating that he could end him at will.
It is a zoo, however, once that dynamic started happening we just ramped up the discipline and it's been months since it's gotten that tense.
I think the biggest hurdle was learning that you can't muscle them around. You have to elicit compliance through managing their mental and emotional state through various means. Automatic compliance through conditioning being the goal. where the thought to disobey doesn't even enter their head.
As far as my daughters go, really the best thing to do is slather them with gravy and lock them up in the crate with them when you head out to the strip club for the evening.
Otoh, if the dog's frothing at the mouth, don't believe it's friendly. The same for foxes, btw. When they're rabid, they're not like cudjo at first.