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I'm wondering if the Pitbulls were watching an episode of animal planet and the kid turned the channel to "Barney"
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Thats exactly it... they're prone to snapping, seemingly out of the blue
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We've spent as much time training the kids as we have the dog. And the rott loves those kids but he does have an edge to him that labradors don't have.

We've spent thousands on formal training for him and he's a damn well trained dog, but he has a willful streak that most dogs just don't have.

I really have to get on my wife at times to not let the damn dog buffalo her because sometimes he'll give it a thought. He doesn't really lock horns with me anymore but he did until he was about 2 and a half.

Oddly, my guess is that the Pit in question here started in a semi-protective manner. I don't know if he thought he was protecting one kid from the other, or the mother from the kids, but for most dogs like that it isn't a menacing or aggressive instinct that kicks off an incident like this. It starts as a protective thing and then if someone doesn't have the personality to step in and seize the initiative, they just kinda black out and lash out at everything. No question in my mind that one of them was something of a ringleader.

This is also why I won't have 2 working dogs. I don't need one 'feeding' the other one. 1 working dog, one sporting dog. They're just going to be wired so differently that in the event a fuse gets tripped somehow, I only have one dog to deal with and in all probability, I have the 2nd one trying to help me out as best he can.

But shit man, 8 years of no incidents only to have something like that happen - that just fucking sucks. Something had to happen or there had to have been signs in the past. That just doesn't make a lot of sense.
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They went without *REPORTED* incidents. You ever go to a dog park and have some dude's dog just playing WAY too rough while he does absolutely nothing about it? I'm not trying to shit on the parents after having lost their kids mind you... they could be wonderful people and the dog just snapped.

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I honestly don't believe I've ever known a dog that went 8 years being a loving member of the family and suddenly snapping and killing people without provocation or without some sort of warning.
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That's just....horrible.
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Can only go off the report here, my man. But, it happens.

German Sheps are cool ass dogs but my wife wants another baby so there's just no way in hell there will be one in this house.
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I've owned several Rotts in the past . Used to have a Champion line from "Radio Ranch" and sold pups to soldiers at Fort Bragg.

Mine were well trained and loveable.

Pittbulls ae in a different class as Rotts as far as agressiveness towards people.
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Don't necessarily fault anyone for simply not trusting dogs with this kind of reputation - there's no NEED for them to exist; plenty of 'safe' dogs out there for anyone that wants one.

But I'll say this - that rot if mine, hard headed as he is, is the most fiercely loyal and attentive dog. He's aware of everything. If he sees someone walking down the sidewalk and the kids are in the driveway, he'll just go to the end of the driveway and watch everything.

And I don't have a good way to describe his personality apart from just being very mercurial. He's charming as fuck; everyone that visits us loves that dog because he's just an interesting and extremely affectionate little heathen.

But again - I don't fault the 'I'll never have one' crowd because they are different. Different to train, different to own.

And ultimately I think that's where people truly fail. They try to pretend like their rotty or their pit is a golden retriever. They aren't; never will be. They're working dogs and they're laser focused. If you can't direct that focus, you'll end up with a bit of a neurotic dog. And a neurotic dog with that kind of bite force is not great.
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When I worked at the Water district here in Johnson county I would get this route where every god damn time these 2 obese pit bulls would run loose in the neighborhood over near Johnson drive and Nall/Roe and those bastards would come hauling ass towards me and I had a water meter pit wrench in my hands at all times but I’d have to literally stop my walk, turn back towards them and scold them to get them to leave me alone. They’d do the swarming walk where they attempt a double attack mode and I’d point the wrench at them and come back at them with a firm and loud “NO!” And they’d eventually wander off around the neighborhood elsewhere. The owner was a total dumbass. Older lady that lived on a corner of the street and acted oblivious when I told her her dogs where loose AGAIN. I would’ve felt no remorse if I needed to go swinging Ken Griffey style on those fat mutts.
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I had a Radio Ranch Rottie back from 90-96 then lost her in the divorce. First dog I owned that wasn't a bird dog and a lot harder to train.
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I'd have offed those bastards. At least shoot their eyes out with a pellet gun. Fuckem!
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Having a Rot/Shep/pit is like having Papa John live in your house.

Sure he's doing his best to train hard to no longer say the N word and does a really good job avoiding it, but eventually he's going to be on a Zoom call and randomly drop it casually.

As the keeper, you have to decide how much risk you're willing to chance.
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Yeah - I over-research the hell out of most things and really thought I had done so with my rot. But I still hadn't really prepared myself for him.

Grand champion lines from serbia; spectacularly bred dog (Thunder Mountain actually breeds his littermate as one of their two dams). But he's the alpha from the litter and comes from REALLY high drive lines. So he's very very affectionate but it can be on his own terms sometimes. He's not a dog who, when he's laying down, you oughta walk over to him and rest your head on him like he's a pillow.

We've trained him to simply walk away in those situations where he's uncomfortable, but there's not a ton you can do to get rid of the underlying drive. And you can't come down hard on him for growling either because that's how he communicates - if you train a dog who gives those little guttural grumbles not to do it - he won't. And that doesn't mean anything other than he's simply not gonna warn you before he gets pissed off.

I spent a solid 18 months trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole with mine and it got to where myself and the dog openly loathed each other. It wasn't a path to continue down. But once I learned how to guide him and allow him to still have agency (because he's still a sentient being; free will is still a thing there), I understood better how to train him.

Now he's my freakin' shadow; dog loves the hell out of me. But it took some doing and a completely different approach than what I'd done in the past.

Gotta put the work in with dogs like those.

And I also think my Rot is different. We have a couple folks on the board with dogs from this breeder and from different lines (mine was their first european breeding) and they're evidently super sweet. Dogs have personalities of their own - it just is what it is.
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I agree with this as well, but didn't really wanna go down the rabbithole.

Our poop scooper guy comes over and he really likes the Rot. But Winston will make sure he's got the guy's attention when he shows up. And once they understand each other he's just wiggling through his legs and being his best buddy. Our cleaning lady loves him as well but he's GOING to make sure I'm aware she's there and that there's nothing to be concerned about.

I've talked with the poop guy before and he's mentioned that Rots are all pretty similar in that regard but that the pits still make him nervous because they won't stay in front of him. He sees them constantly searching angles and trying to get behind him.

I'm not a fan of pits, but I do recognize that for many it's 6 in one hand, a half dozen in the other. Aight - I'm not gonna try to tell you any different. It's something you're going to bring into your home; to each their own.
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