Norm
Wizard
Ali made that phrase famous long ago. A nice internet article by an army canine trainer explains that while the Pit Bull is all the rage now they are by far not the most dangerous dog out there. They are relatively slow, short legged, all mouth, and fight toe to toe, so to speak. On his list of 10 more badass dogs he lists the Doberman, the Rottweiler, the Bull Mastiff, and some dogs I never even heard of before his article. He points out that the size of these dogs, their uniform build, and their use of several tactics, including Ali's bob and weave and the ability to use their powerful, and snakelike quickness of their long necks would take the pitbulls in heartbeat.
I want to make it perfectly clear that I wanted Yogi because of my childhood memory of Abbey, our Doberman. I should have read a little further because it turns out female Dobermans are perfectly protectors of home and family but feel no need to square off with aggressive dogs in the street.
So I meet this woman in Petco, my age, but huge, holding onto a 9 month old 65 pound male neutered Pit Bull. I don't have Yogi with me. The dog seems sweet enough. He washes my face with kisses and the woman tells me she got the dog "from a man" who didn't want him anymore. She also tells me that she lives with her 85 year old dad who loves the dog but is too feeble to play with him. She, herself, works a million hours. She says, as he's licking me, he loves men and really could use a playmate but no one wants to let their dog play with a pit bull, "even though he's so gentle."
My mom is listening to all this and very skeptical when I offer to let her dog, Blueboy, meet Yogi at Petco to see how it goes. Yogi is now 6 months old, closing in on 80 pounds and has his big dog teeth. So I give it a try the next day. As soon as Yogi sees Blueboy he starts growling. He's not like this with most dogs. Mostly he just wants to get to them so he can play, no growling. Like two idiots we let the dogs get closer until both she and I lose control of the dogs. Her dog lunges straight at Yogi's face, he darts the thrust and quickly grabs the pit bulls neck and throws him down with his tremendous rear feet strength. I grab the leash and yank Yogi off the dog while a Petco employee helps pull her dog away. Yogi snaps at me grazing my fingers in frustration and then once removed from the situation from the store becomes his normal happy self.
Because I'm that stupid and my mom's 8 year old lab mix just runs out of energy after half a day I run into a guy with a 1 year old Pit Bull. Same song and dance, nobody to play with and his dog's in the car. He claims to have paid $3000 for him because he is the son of a multiple champion dog and that he's a show dog, not a fighter. We're in a big open field. I say: "take him out of the car, let's see what happens." He is about 70 pounds, doesn't move a muscle but Yogi is growling again. He turns his dog around to let Yogi "sniff him." I ease Yogi over and the pit bull quickly turns and snaps at Yogi's head. Once again, in a flash, Yogi dodges his lunge, goes under his head and body slams him into the man's car. We pull the dogs away. Either Yogi has a 6th sense of aggressive dogs or he just plain out hates pit bulls. He loves the neighbor's big lab and he treats my mom's dog like she's his mother. Thankfully Yogi has shown no aggression to people, no matter what size or color.
I'm a little slow but I've learned when Yogi does his big dog growl, keep away. I can't even imagine what he'll be capable of when full grown. But with me, my mom, and her dog Brandy he's the sweetest dog. He even licked the trainer (I've been taking him to private lessons). The trainer loves him too. I told him about those two experiences and that everything I read says to socialize him at a young age. He says there's a female Akita that he believes Yogi would like. I'll leave it to his judgement I guess, with a close eye on the situation.
I want to make it perfectly clear that I wanted Yogi because of my childhood memory of Abbey, our Doberman. I should have read a little further because it turns out female Dobermans are perfectly protectors of home and family but feel no need to square off with aggressive dogs in the street.
So I meet this woman in Petco, my age, but huge, holding onto a 9 month old 65 pound male neutered Pit Bull. I don't have Yogi with me. The dog seems sweet enough. He washes my face with kisses and the woman tells me she got the dog "from a man" who didn't want him anymore. She also tells me that she lives with her 85 year old dad who loves the dog but is too feeble to play with him. She, herself, works a million hours. She says, as he's licking me, he loves men and really could use a playmate but no one wants to let their dog play with a pit bull, "even though he's so gentle."
My mom is listening to all this and very skeptical when I offer to let her dog, Blueboy, meet Yogi at Petco to see how it goes. Yogi is now 6 months old, closing in on 80 pounds and has his big dog teeth. So I give it a try the next day. As soon as Yogi sees Blueboy he starts growling. He's not like this with most dogs. Mostly he just wants to get to them so he can play, no growling. Like two idiots we let the dogs get closer until both she and I lose control of the dogs. Her dog lunges straight at Yogi's face, he darts the thrust and quickly grabs the pit bulls neck and throws him down with his tremendous rear feet strength. I grab the leash and yank Yogi off the dog while a Petco employee helps pull her dog away. Yogi snaps at me grazing my fingers in frustration and then once removed from the situation from the store becomes his normal happy self.
Because I'm that stupid and my mom's 8 year old lab mix just runs out of energy after half a day I run into a guy with a 1 year old Pit Bull. Same song and dance, nobody to play with and his dog's in the car. He claims to have paid $3000 for him because he is the son of a multiple champion dog and that he's a show dog, not a fighter. We're in a big open field. I say: "take him out of the car, let's see what happens." He is about 70 pounds, doesn't move a muscle but Yogi is growling again. He turns his dog around to let Yogi "sniff him." I ease Yogi over and the pit bull quickly turns and snaps at Yogi's head. Once again, in a flash, Yogi dodges his lunge, goes under his head and body slams him into the man's car. We pull the dogs away. Either Yogi has a 6th sense of aggressive dogs or he just plain out hates pit bulls. He loves the neighbor's big lab and he treats my mom's dog like she's his mother. Thankfully Yogi has shown no aggression to people, no matter what size or color.
I'm a little slow but I've learned when Yogi does his big dog growl, keep away. I can't even imagine what he'll be capable of when full grown. But with me, my mom, and her dog Brandy he's the sweetest dog. He even licked the trainer (I've been taking him to private lessons). The trainer loves him too. I told him about those two experiences and that everything I read says to socialize him at a young age. He says there's a female Akita that he believes Yogi would like. I'll leave it to his judgement I guess, with a close eye on the situation.
:cheers: