Pitbull Puppies and the Responsibility it Takes to Properly Raise Them
No one wants pitbull puppies or adults. They’re dangerous, aggressive, and they have a propensity to attack unprovoked and injure innocent people, potentially killing small children and other animals. This is what the media tells you. This is what your friends tell you; this is the information that is readily available to the general public. However, pitbull owners and those with puppies they want to get rid of will tell you just the opposite; these are not dogs aggressive by nature. They’re the product of improper breeding and bad owners. These are sweet dogs who love their families and will protect them unless their owners raised them in an aggressive environment.
It makes you wonder; what’s the real truth? Are pitbull puppies safe to adopt or purchase because they’ve never had a bad owner or because they’re a clean slate on which you can create the type of kind and gentle pet you’ve always wanted? What is the deal?
The deal is that pitbull puppies are likely a safer bet that grown pitbulls raised by someone else and left for adoption. However, it’s just not always the case. You don’t know what a dog has been through in its life. You don’t know if a dog has been raised in an aggressive home – though it’s fairly easy to tell and most animal shelters work carefully to vet out dogs of this nature to keep them from being adopted and potentially injuring people because they’ve been raised in a bad home.
There’s no reason not to adopt a pitbull from a shelter, but the only way you can be certain that t his particular breed does not attack you is not to adopt it. We are going to be very honest here; pitbulls are the dogs that bred for fighting, for battle and for aggression. It’s in their blood. They can, however, be taught to suppress their natural tendency for aggression and behave properly and without malice. It takes a good owner, proper leadership and a lot of love to raise a good dog – and that goes for any breed.
If you’re going to adopt or purchase pitbull puppies, you need to know that it’s up to you to make sure that dog is properly trained and brought up. Otherwise, this dog’s actions are on your shoulders. The good news is that while you do see a lot of media attention surrounding the misbehavior and dangers of pitbulls, you don’t see it every single day. You don’t see it all the time. You also don’t see the millions of wonderful pitbulls that families have had since they were puppies that have been trained correctly and love, protect and honor their families and would never hurt them. That’s not interesting news.
At the end of the day, more pitbulls than not are absolutely wonderful dogs; and a few are bad apples. For the most part, they’re bad apples because they were not fortunate enough to have a good owner or even a good breeder. With that in mind, you need to know a few things before you start looking at pitbull pups. You, as the owner of a dog, have a job to do and a role to play in the upbringing of your pitbull. You have to pull through, be responsible enough to do the job well, and you have to ensure that you can handle these responsibilities before you buy or adopt a dog. If you can’t, the pitbull is not the right breed for you.
Spay or Neuter Your Pit
Not only is it considered socially responsible to do this with a dog if you don’t want more of those dogs, it’s also a great way to curb some aggression. Dogs that are not fixed are more territorial than dogs that are fixed. This means that you might find your dog becomes very aggressive when other animals or people are near your home or family, and your dog could last out. Getting the dog fixed is a simple way to curb this natural aggression and raise a much gentler animal.
Invest in Obedience Training
Whether you train your dog yourself or you hire a professional to do it for you, do not skip this step. The most important role in raising a pitbull is obedience training. This is a dog that must be taught to obey, or it will not. If this dog does not obey, it could be very dangerous. You need a dog that will respect people and treat them with that respect from the start. You need a dog that understands basic commands and obedience, or you will have issues.
It’s also important for you to teach these commands because you might need them. This is a dog that is very protective, which means that you want it to keep your family safe. If danger is lurking, your dog needs to learn that it’s okay to attack on your command. Most dogs are very intuitive and know instinctively when harm is coming your way or the way of your child, and they will do whatever necessary to protect. However, you also need to teach your dog to wait for your command in many situations.
Learn to Recognize Your Dog’s Body Language
This is very important. If you are to own a pitbull, you must learn to pay attention to the dog’s feelings and language. Since he cannot speak, you need to know what makes your dog tick. You need to pay attention to how your dog behaves around people, animals and in public. You also need to know that your dog has a sixth sense for danger, and you might want to take into consideration that dogs are excellent judges of character, and that if your dog seems upset, worried or on guard around someone, it might be for a good reason. Don’t discount your dog’s animal instinct, but do learn to recognize it. This can help you to ward off aggression that is not warranted at any given moment.
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