American Pit Bull Terrier

[mallory mae]

are apbt's impartial to swimming? piper pretty much hates the water! is it a breed thing, or just her?

[puppies rule]

are apbt's impartial to swimming? piper pretty much hates the water! is it a breed thing, or just her?

i would not know, my dog loves water

[lalamcgoo]

Wow- I am not sure, I have a labbie/pit and she is not interested in our pool at all as well, she turns her back to us and sits in the corner when we are in it.

[Phyrie]

While certain breeds "tend" to have certain traits, individual dogs are individual. Still, expecting your Lab to like water is reasonable, simply because he's bred for it. A terrier ("earth dog") isn't bred for water, but for digging in the earth. So it wouldn't surprise me if they don't like water, generally. But I'm sure there's many exceptions out there...

It's difficult to generalize dogs, when you're really only asking about one specific dog. You might be able to entice your dog to enjoy water by throwing a toy a few feet out and letting her go get it, and gradually increase the distance. But if she REALLY hates it, I wouldn't force her. You could end up causing a water phobia, and why cause that kind of stress in your dog?

Phyrie

[mallory mae]

yeah, that's what i figured. she enjoys chasing us around the pool, which is all i can ask for my step-dad had said something about it possibly being a 'breed thing' so i was curious. my poop IS very unique and quirky i'm sure she's an exception in tons of cases, lol.

i never knew terriers were earth dogs, very interesting! what other breeds are bred for special reasons? (i'm obviously not a dog person in this way, just love mine and the dog park )

[Deerie me]

Most dogs had a specific purpose when they were first bred. Terriers were bred to go to earth to dig out rabbits etc and as ratters. Toy dogs such as cavaliers, shih tzus and such were bred to keep ladies warm when sitting about in draughty castles, palaces or stately homes. Labradors, field spaniels, pointers etc were bred to bring back game after shooting. Hounds were bred to hunt various animals by either following a scent until they find the prey or by sight (spotting prey and chasing). Rough collies, border collies, german shepherds, aussies and the like were kept to guard or control livestock. What have I missed?

[Phyrie]

A peek at the dog groups give us a clue:

Sporting: gun dogs, bird dogs, water dogs, retrievers
Hounds: trackers, flushers, group hunting (hunting from horseback i.e.)
Working: guard dogs, draft animals, search and rescue, lifeguards, river dogs, war dogs
Terriers: earth dogs (digging out prey from burrows) ratters, vermin catching
Toys: comfort dogs, status symbols (Pekingese i.e.) flea magnets (yes, for real!)
Non-Sporting: carriage dogs, exotic breeds
Herding: headers, heelers, guarding, protection

I'm sure I've left out some too, but that's what I can come up with for now.

Phyrie

[mallory mae]

very interesting! in hindsight i feel silly because some are so obvious, i just never went aqbout thinking them as specifically designed or used for such things. i just think of them as puppies lol

[Phyrie]

It's a topic near and dear to my heart (could you tell?!). I find it fascinating how easily dog's bodies and characters have been manipulated to produce the animals we know and love today. Proper breeding can produce a recognized, reproducible breed in only ten generations or so, taking less than 50 years! In any other species, it takes thousands of years to make the kind of body modifications we humans can wreak on dogs! It's amazing. It's not always wise (witness the pug's and the bulldog's too short nose, the impracticality of the Maltese and Pekingese coats, the sun sensitivity of the Chinese Crested etc...) but it's fascinating.

And all of this from a friendly wolf cub brought near the fire by a primitive man less than ten thousand years ago! Astounding!!

Phyrie

[Kathryn T]

My pibble mix HATES water. She refuses to go potty outside if she even smells rain. LOL! I like to take her hiking and she refuses to get her feet wet in streams or go for a swim even when it's blistering hot outside. She has horrible skin issues, allergies, atopic dermatitis(?), and gets yeasty so I thought maybe that was the reason for her not wanting to get wet, that it may irritate her skin, but who knows? Maybe it's a breed thing.

[TriciE8]

I used to work at a shelter and we got a few pits who loved the water, a few who didn't care, and a few who hated water so
I would say that it depends on the dog and not the breed.

[kdcrazy]

are apbt's impartial to swimming? piper pretty much hates the water! is it a breed thing, or just her?

My dog Kd is exactly the same way. Even though she is mixed with the Vizsla, a hunting dog who loves to go in water, she is terrified.

[redcowboyboots]

My dog (who may have some pit bull in her but is mostly lab) loves swimming in lakes, streams, ponds, any natural body of water, but she's not at all a fan of pools. She's never been around a chlorinated, below ground pool, but she is extremely wary of the kiddy pool I got her.

So I'd suggest maybe trying a small calm natural body of water because you don't know how strong a swimmer she is, and try playing some fetch with her. Now that I think on it, my dog never joins us swimming, but is always eager to dive in and retrieve a stick.

[macy_moo]

I thought i'd throw a question n here to all pit bull owners, are they really as aggressive as they are made out to be? Here in Australia they are illegal in two states and restricted in most others. I like pit bulls and if my husband ever let me i'd like to get one, but they are made out here to be these horrible aggressive dogs that if let out will kill either a person or another animal. Only a few days ago we had a pit bull attack i think in the eastern states where a loose pit bull attacked a man and his two little dogs (one was killed). the pit bull was attached to the owner of the small dogs hand, paramedics had to euthanasia the pit bull on the spot to get the mans hand free. Its things like this that make people in Australia more scared of these dogs, but is it just the way the dogs are raised with their owners? can they be gentle and unaggressive dogs?

[lynners]

I've never owned a pit bull, but I volunteer for a rescue that was/is very active in reversing the legislation in Ontario that banned pitbulls (back in 2005). There are A LOT of good websites out there regarding pit bull bans. The good ones are honest. They love pitbulls for what they are, flaws and all. They recognize that it isn't solely in how they are raised, but it can and does have a large impact.

Am I allowed to post links? I'm going to...if they get removed...oh well!

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/
http://www.bulliesinneed.ca/
http://www.pitbullproject.ca/