What Should I Know Before Adopting a Pit Bull? We Asked Hundreds of Real Pit Bull Owners, and Here’s What They Said:
Special thanks to the members of our I Love My Pitbull Facebook community for providing these great responses!
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Obedience training for your dog your puppy. It’s worth every minute you put into it. Also no matter what breed anybody is considering adopting please research that breed so you pick a breed that will fit your lifestyle that way you don’t end up taking them to the shelter because you can’t handle a dog that is super super high energy and you’re working 8-9 hours a day and the dog is home alone being destructive.
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Either create a large pet emergency savings account, or invest in pet insurance. It can literally save your dog’s life! iHeartDogs has a pet insurance comparison tool that shops all the companies at once and compares prices.
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They need to exercise, socialization and vet visits. If you give them those things, you will have the best most loyal friend you have ever had.
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Treat them like they’re your child. We crate trained at first, eventually he’s good being out all day and never has accidents. Also trained to not be aggressive with his food or towards people but to protect. Never reprimand with your hand, rolled up newspaper or fly swatter, don’t need to be fearful of us…Our boy is spoiled but, if he acts up we just merely hold fly swatter or paper and he immediately gets still…it’s his house but we are the alpha’s
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Patience and understanding. Had our boy for 12+ years, just lost him last week. If you can’t afford insurance Care Credit has been a literal life saver for our pups, 6 months interest free and many vets accept it, worth checking out.
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Forget about what people say About them being evil dogs it depends on the way you raised them they are the most precious Loyal loving kind dog I’ve ever owned we had ours for over 13 to 15 years and he never did get viscous with anybody And they are highly intelligent dogs you can say they are a man’s best friend we still miss ours terribly today
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Get lots of stuffed babies! All my bullies love their stuffed babies. They carry them all over the place! Pitties are such amazing and loving dogs with the right owners. The crap that media and the uneducated social media jerks spew out about them shows how little they really know about the actual breed! They judge the many because of the few! I’ve worked in Animal Control for over 16 years and we get more bite reports from German Shepherds and small breed dogs under 30 lbs than any other breed! Every time some uneducated person calls in saying there’s a vicious pitbull running loose in my neighborhood the dogs just walking down the street doing nothing and we just walk up with a leash and grab them while they’re wagging their tails and trying to give us kisses!
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Raise them to be lovable. All 3 of my children were raised with a pit bull. They’re 28, 23 and 14 now. 3 different dogs. Not once did any of them hurt my children or anybody that came to our house. We are now on our 4th Pitty! He’s the most lovable dog I have ever encountered. I will always be there voice. It’s how you raise them!
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They are more like human beings than any other dog breed! If you disrespect them, they’ll disrespect you! If you respect them and love them? You’ll get it back 10 fold!!!!
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LOVE, patience, but stern confidence and respect. They are a reflection of their family. NEVER reinforce aggression. They will happily protect you without the training to do so. Positive reinforcement is key! They are the Absolute best dogs! Like EVER!
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Teach your children to respect the dog (and any animal.) Do not allow them to ride on the dog, pull his ears or tail, or otherwise poke and prod the dog, no matter how tolerant the dog may seem. Teach them to give the dog space and become aware of its limits—and they do have limits. Always treat the dog with kindness and never hit the dog. Same advice for adults.
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Be aware that you will be judged and sadly, your dog will always be the one to be blamed, so put them environments where you can make sure they stay safe.
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Spay and neuter…and on the same note…adopt dont shop! Flop dont crop! Be ready to be judged. Advocate for them…work to end BSL, dog fighting, high euthanasia. Most of all love them.
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Be ready for other dog walkers to cross the street and other patients at the vets off to move to the other side, or go outside when you walk in with your pitty.
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Training, especially if you are new to this particular ownership, and training done proper, makes for a much better dog, and a far less stressful life for both of you. I have known some mighty fine Pitbulls.
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Amazing dogs but need to be properly socialized from a young age and taught obedience training from a young age. Socialize them with your friends and family also. They can be a stubborn breed. Not all but some. Don’t be aggressive with them. They are amazing dogs if treated right. We had ours for 13 years and he was the biggest baby ever. Loved all animals, kids and people. He was protective of his kids but never aggressive.
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Beware the happy tail, get the insurance, spay & neuter, socialize, did I mention Beware of the happy tail. Love them like they’ll love you unconditionally .
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Best dogs I’ve ever had have been pitbulls. They are easy to train and so full of love. People will be biased, but my pitbull has literally changed so many minds about the breed. They expect him to be mean and are shocked with how friendly he and calm he is. He’s lived with two yorkies before as well, one of which would chase him out of his own food dish and he’d run away scared.
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Love them with positive and socializing training, positive reinforcement and start young if possible you need to let them know you run the show. Love them and they will love you back. 7 years old
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Spay and neuter we need to help this breed out! Too many are stuck in rescues and shelters. Many are neglected and abused but yet still love humans unconditionally. Everyone here said perfect things! They are very loyal and they provide a bond beyond imagine!
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My Pitty is the best dog I’ve ever owned! Friendly, lovable, smart. They are given a bad reputation but it’s how you raise them.. I rescued him when he was about 2 and brought him into my home with 3 young grandchildren and he was awesome with them and still is..We all fight who he’s going to sleep with. He has the run of my house and I trust him with everyone! He’s my boy and wouldn’t trade him for the world
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Toledo, United States.
