Pit Bull Facts

[MeSheLL]

What Can You Expect
From a Pit Bull?

One of the most amazing things about this breed is their ability to adapt to almost any situation. They serve in a wide variety of professional fields as well as making outstanding companions.

Their attitude, courage, and never say die approach to life makes them exceptional dogs for such fields as search and rescue, therapy dogs, guide dogs, and police and military drug and bomb sniffers.

So what can you expect from an American Pit Bull Terrier? Let's take a look below.

Common Traits and things to expect from the breed are:

* High levels of exercise EVERY DAY


* A wonderful family dog


* A very "people loving" dog


* A dog that can be destructive to furniture or other objects if left alone


* An easy to train dog that can make a wonderful partner in agility, jogging, or other activities


* May not get along with other dogs, especially of the same sex


* A dog that you cannot leave unattended with other dogs, no matter how well they get along


* A pet that you may be unable to take to off-leash dog parks


* A poor guard dog; it is not a breed trait to be defensive of car, home, etc.


* A social dog; most pit bulls greet strangers like long lost friends


* A healthy dog that is not especially prone to many genetic diseases


* A 12 + year commitment


* A dog that you may be unable to travel with due to breed specific restrictions


* Criticism from friends/family members that are misinformed about the breed


* A dog that requires high quality food to maintain health


* Vet bills for regular check ups, spay/neuter, vaccinations, and flea and other parasite treatments


* A dog that is safe with people. Human aggression, severe shyness, and instability are not traits typically found in Pit bulls.

As a whole the breed is one of the most stable and safe dogs around today. Far to many news stories are blown out of proportion (go figure huh?) to sell newspapers and get people to tune into the 6 o'clock news.

While we do understand that yes, some of these dogs do indeed bite and attack people. They are not representatives of an entire breed of canine. In other words, while 20 dogs out of 5,000 will bite, that doesn't mean the other 4,980 will.