Pit Bulls: What's the appeal?

I'm horribly embarrassed by this, but it's fair estimate that we're spending upwards of seven hundred bucks a month on that fuckin' dog. Shoulda probably just adopted a kid.

$700?!?! Has it got horrible medical problems or something?

the maulings do add up!

(i'm only kidding at this point - i'm sure your dog is very sweet)

see-thru pitties?

Hey Oily, what happened to those blue pitties that your coworker had?

I gotta say that the rabid OMG dogs rule people suck pack is as annoying as the WEAPONS OF MASS DOGSTRUCTION cheetos but hey can't everyone bennie from a visit or two by the Cesar?

Wow, that was a couple of temp gigs ago, kingfish. I hope they found good, loving homes.

The considerable monthly bill comes from five-day-a-week doggie daycare; we got banjo when my gal was working out of the house and we agreed that we'd board her where she could run around rather than keeping her in a crate all day if gal ever got an office gig... and here we are.

GHOST DAWG

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_9180205?source=most_viewed

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site295/2008/0507/20080507__news_01~p1.jpg

Growl of an engine
Truck owner lifts hood, gets scare of his life
By Kimberly K. Fu
Article Launched: 05/07/2008 05:56:41 AM PDT

When a Vacaville man's truck engine failed to purr as usual Tuesday morning, he popped the hood to administer a routine dose of chemical healing.

And got the scare of his life when he saw the glowing eyes and fierce growl of a female pit bull nestled near the engine block.

"Once I had a cat jump out at me," said Walter Witthoeft, in regard to critters being found reclining under the hood of his Ford F-150. "I wasn't ready for this this morning. ... My daughter works for the SPCA and I didn't know what to do. So I called her and left her a voice message. She called back and I said (to her), 'you're not gonna believe this.' "

Witthoeft made the discovery around 7 a.m. as he walked to his truck, which was parked near his home at the Alamo Garden Apartments. He encountered a male pit bull circling the vehicle and continued on, shortly deciding the truck needed a little power steering fluid.

So he popped the hood, and suddenly thought he was meeting his Maker.

"I seen eyes and it was growling at me," he recalled.

The dog nestled in the engine compartment wore no identification tag and seemed a bit put out regarding the situation, Witthoeft said. He could only surmise that the male pit bull and the one under the hood were together, possibly brother and sister, and were playing.

"When the female got stuck, the male jumped on my hood," he said.

Paw prints on his hood backed up his theory.

A probe later revealed that the imbedded dog had come up from under the driver's side and got stuck.

"It got scared and started chewing," Witthoeft said. "I was really angry."

The emotion was understandable, as Witthoeft had just gotten his truck back from his mechanic, who had replaced the starter. Then the truck had an unfortunate meeting with the dog, who chewed not only through the fuel line, but also some electrical wiring. The truck is now back at the shop, and Witthoeft is wondering how slim his wallet will become.

Vacaville Police Sgt. Rick Elm described the event as unique, the first he's experienced after 20 years on the force.

"I thought I'd seen it all. I rolled on this call and, sure thing, I hadn't," he said.

Elm said officers tried offering the dog water, but it wouldn't drink. Further contact was considered risky. Eventually, though, it crawled out from the engine to freedom.

"Once it got up on the hood, we could see it was more docile," Elm said. A rope leash was placed around the dog's neck and Humane Animal Services led the dog away.

The dog appeared healthy, Elm said, and remains in the custody of Humane Animal Services.

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_9203441?source=most_viewed

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Pit bull incident leaves him dogged by publicity
By Kimberly K. Fu
Article Launched: 05/09/2008 05:53:21 AM PDT

Two days after a pit bull invaded a Vacaville man's truck and made a meal out of components under its hood, the dog has gone home, the truck is coming home and the truck's owner is at home, pondering life.

"It's pretty hectic, everyone wanting to know what's going on," said Walter Witthoeft on Thursday. "I just want this to be behind me."

On Tuesday morning, Witthoeft popped the hood of his Ford F-150 to top off the power steering fluid and came face-to-face with a scared, growling female pit bull stuck near the engine block. She had been playing with her brother, Witthoeft said, explaining that the other dog had been circling his truck upon his approach. That dog later ran off.

A probe later revealed that the female dog had come up from under the driver's side and got stuck, then chewed through his fuel line and electrical wiring in an attempt to escape. It later crawled out of its predicament.

On Wednesday, the dog's owner, who Witthoeft described as a neighbor, reportedly retrieved it after paying a $70 fee.

Witthoeft is in talks with the man to pay about $1,000 to fix his truck, which is supposed to be out of the shop this week. If the dog owner balks, Witthoeft said, the pair may find themselves in small-claims court.

At press time, Witthoeft had just fielded a call from England regarding his predicament and was waiting to hear from a New York talk show program. He already had been interviewed by media across the nation, including CNN.

Meanwhile, Witthoeft said, his life has changed in that his travels will be handled a bit differently. From now on, routine checks of his Ford will be a bit more thorough.

"I'm definitely gonna check (under the hood)," he said. "Who knows what you're gonna find up under there?"

:) :) :)

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/5528/ramzp1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/sexymollusk/ronaldunderthehood.jpg

A friend of mine adopted a cat he found the same way. It's name is Engine.

my parents met the same way, funnily enough

My dad told me some story about a friend of a friend who got bit in the crotch by a pitbull and the only way they could get the dog to let go was to stick a finger up its arse.

http://ihasahotdog.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/cute-puppy-pictures-nobody-came-birthday-party.jpg

Obama owns 5.

http://i1.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/e7/54/50c6_1.JPG

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2327/2244672294_11130ff75a.jpg%3Fv%3D0

here, then: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2327/2244672294_11130ff75a.jpg?v=0

http://www.puppies4obama.com/

My dad told me some story about a friend of a friend who got bit in the crotch by a pitbull and the only way they could get the dog to let go was to stick a finger up its arse.

The zing's just too obvious, isn't it...

here, then: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2327/2244672294_11130ff75a.jpg?v=0

Obama owns the squee vote

I understand the "Obama wants a pit bull in the white house" riff is only a half step away from "He loves fried chicken" but that idiocy aside oh my god if he got a pit bull in the white house I would be so very pleased.

My google for Obama's pitbulls comes up with nothing. Well, he promised his kids a dog, according to one search result.

http://ihasahotdog.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/cute-puppy-pictures-nobody-came-birthday-party.jpg

I hate to break it to you kingfish, but my inner pedant can't stop from noting this is a bull terrier.

An ADORABLE one.

My google for Obama's pitbulls comes up with nothing.

I've seen it on the dumber pitbull sites and youtube commentary and such.

dumber pitbull sites!!??

My girlfriend has a pit. He's the nicest dog ever. It's too bad what he's done to her furniture though.

i know. those throw pillows just don't match.

I know it's a bull terrier. 'E still has the patch on 'is eye n' shit.

damn forks your dog is cuet but i'm totally afraid of pit bulls and always will be. shits always want to jump at your neck, tho most of the really bad pitbulls are ones rescued from fighting rings and you can't ever really get that aggression out of them.

They're not going for your neck; they just want to give you kisses.

"i know. those throw pillows just don't match."

That's pretty good.

I've had more bad experiences with cocker spaniels than I have with pit bulls. but then again, my friends who own pits are dog people and have raised them well. The pits I know aren't agressive at all.

"dumber pit bull sites": Some people have fuzzy wuzzy pit bull sites, some people like to celebrate carnage.

Jordan: Banjo has some aggressive moments, but mostly when/if anyone comes in the house unannounced or if they're actively frightened or trying to agitate her. Mostly she's a sweetie. As a rescue dog, you're right; we'll never know if she's had some early bad training that could make her more inclined to be dogwacky. We're doing our best to turn her into a puffball tho'. No serious scraps yet.

Jersey is the land of the not so friendly pitbull; we sometimes walk her in shadier parts of town and dogs come flying up against fences to kill... or worse yet, you'll see strays. Part of the reason we ended up keeping her is that there was a series of particularly savage muggings in our neighborhood; a woman on our block got hospitalized. Turned out to be a handful of teenagers who were just beating the fuck out of women and taking their money. We were giving the pup a trial run when that shit happened and I have to admit that I liked the idea of my girl being able to walk around with a pit at night. She says nobody hassles her any more.

Banjo's my first dog and if I had known then what I know now, I might not have gotten a pit. They're strong, strong-willed, really attention-needy and no matter what the circumstances are, she's always going to be the bad guy. On the other hand, she's the best dog in the world. So we got that goin' for us.

You're probably right about them as rescue dogs. I live in Jersey too, but I don't necessarily agree that it's "the land of the not so friendly pitbull". But I apparently don't live where you do, based on your description of your town.

Spot the pitbull:
http://www.war-online.org/Which_dog.htm

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/434031387_5b9284016b.jpg?v=0

I'm not really in a rough part of Jersey; some sections of JC are a little shadier than others. We do see a whole lot of aggressive dogs on walks sometimes; generally behind fences.

What "qualifies" as a pitbull is an interesting line of discussion; I take the tact that if people ask if it's a pit, it's a pit.

What part of Jersey you live in, Bill? And do you know anybody who needs a friendly pit as a play partner?

http://www.war-online.org/whowants_WB.jpg

I take the tact that if people ask if it's a pit, it's a pit.

First of all, it's "tack". Like in sailing.

Second, I don't really catch your drift...? If people ask if it's a pit, and it's not, they're just not very familiar with that kind of dog, surely. How can another person's ignorance reflect on your pet?

I live in Morristown.

That test is kind of disingenuous, because while most of those dogs are not pits, a good portion are bred to be fighting/personal protection dogs (also the pics are not exactly clear ones.) I mean people uncomfortable with Pits shouldn't be exactly relieved when you tell 'em your dog is a Presa Canario (these were the dogs that killed the lady here in SF a couple of years ago.)

That's true! But any bad feeling about those dogs shouldn't be transferred to pits, and shouldn't be fueling things like a state- or city-wide ban on one breed based on people's feelings about "guard" dogs in general.

i thought maybe that was the point of the test - that the "dangerous" dogs shown, which might be mistaken for pits, aren't actually pit bulls at all. several of the breeds shown i would consid much more dangerous than pits and are still bred more for guarding/fighting than for being pets.

xpost

(oops - consider, not consid!)

"That's true! But any bad feeling about those dogs shouldn't be transferred to pits, and shouldn't be fueling things like a state- or city-wide ban on one breed based on people's feelings about "guard" dogs in general."

I totally agree. The issue here is really more function than breed, but because a large portion of fighting dogs in the US are pits, it's an easy leap for people to make.

Most of the dogs in that pic that are most pit-like are basically pits by another name and they are not terribly common here in the states outside of dog-fighting circles (not that they are common there either.)

Anybody who breeds dogs to fight, or uses a dog to look tough, should be put through the grinder they use to make dog food.