[flienianO]

Okay so I am making this thread to work through a few things. I really want either a Staffordshire Bull Terrier or SBT mix or an American Pit Bull Terrier or APBT mix. Haven't truely decided between the two yet but I'm leaning more toward Staffy.
I have to decide if I am truely ready for the responsibility of one of these wonderful dogs, or if I need to wait a bit longer. I feel in love with them about a year ago when I was working as a dog bather. I met this wonderful pit that was used as a bait dog and she lost one of her back legs. She had a wonderful personality. I don't think any breed could come back from that kind of experience and still be a loving happy dog other than the Pit Bull.

Why I want an APBT or SBT:
1.They are wonderful family friendly dogs, great with kids usually.

2.They are incredibly smart

3.I love their energy level, wish I could bottle some of that up for myself. I like that they are such an athletic breed. Would love to get into some activities with this dog. I have plenty of time for exercise, I don't work and the dog would not be home alone much at all. Though I am going back to school next spring.

4.Their coat, their coat does not bother my allergies at all. Most breeds do even Poodles which are supposed to be "hypoallergenic" bother my allergies but the Bully coat does not bother my allergies at all.

There are other reasons but these are some of my top ones.


My fears and the cons of owning a Pit Bull:

1. The discrimination. I also know the majority of my extended family are pit haters who will either constantly be trying to get me to get rid of the dog or will possibly disown me for it or possibly take matters into their own hands to get rid of the dog. So I fear for the dog a bit.

2. They are known to be Dog Aggressive and I have another dog and always plan to have 2 or 3 dogs in my home at a time.

3. We travel a lot, several times a year, and almost always take our dogs with us, many places do not allow Pit Bulls and I fear more times than not I'd have to leave the dog behind when we travel. And it wouldn't be fair to take one dog and leave the other, but boarding gets expensive for multiple dogs. And traveling is our thing. Sasha has been all over the place

4. Getting the dog, getting attached and eventually losing the dog to BSL. Many places aren't even grandfathering in current pits anymore, they have to be turned over to be destroyed. Which would break my heart and my daughters, that is my biggest fear.

5. We are going to be in an apartment for atleast another 15 months, not sure if that is really the best environment for one of these dogs, granted the landlord gives us the okay.

6. Not sure we'd be the best owners. Everything I've read said these dogs need a strong Assertive owner and well we are pretty laid back, go with the flow kind of people. I don't think either one of us are that assertive. I mean our dog does respect us and sees us as the leader but we aren't real assertive.

7. I'm not very strong and I fear what if we are out walking and the dog decides to chase, granted the dog would go into training classes as soon as possible. Even Sasha as well trained as she is when her prey drive kicks in I can barely hold onto her. What happens if that happens with a dog that has the kind of strength a pit has, I'm scared I won't be able to hold onto it.

I see I have a lot of fears slash/cons. Which may mean I am not ready yet, where in a few years with some maturing, when we have our house and yard and better finances I may be more ready. My dream is to have one of these dogs and for that dog to be a good example of the breed, an ambassador so to speak.

What are some other things I need to consider. What are your thoughts on this?

---------- Post added at 09:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 AM ----------

My husband and I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of pros and cons, why we like the breed, what are fears are for owning the breed and then decide if we are truely ready for the breed. Because we don't take bringing in a special breed such as the APBT or the SBT lightly. They have a bad rep and we don't want to get one when we aren't ready and end of contributing to that rep. We don't want that at all. We want to make sure we are ready. So we will be comptemplating this list.

But I am afraid as much as we want one of these dogs, we may not be ready yet.