Like I said in a earlyer post I have had pits for 20 years. They are great dogs! But they are not for everyone. They need a strong firm owner. There are a lot of people out there that have no idea how to train a dog. Short story my first pit I got at 16 years old she was a great dog. She was good with kids. Almost to good she did not like when anyone upset a kid. I credit that to my training I was very firm with her she was not too put her teeth on me or a child for any reason. She knew the rules about garbage and the couch but every six months or so she would try her luck and had to be put in her place. That is how pit bulls are they are very stong willed. She lived to be 13 years old and that never changed. I also spend a lot of time at the shelter and do know that some of the dogs that come from there have issues. Most can be over come with a owner that is willing to put in the time. I see small dogs all the time that will not potty train. I got one from the shelter and had it trained in a week. Because I treated it just the same as I do a big dog. Unforchanatly it was sick and died after having it for 2 1/2 weeks. There are some dogs that can not be with kids,dogs ect. The shelter should know something about the dog and if you are honest with them they can help make a good match. I have 8 dogs here right now and all are good with kids. But I am not stupid enough to leave them all out with the kids with out being right there. The only dog I trust almost 100% is my 7 year old male neutered pit bull. And still I watch his mood. I know my dogs well and I am boss and they know it. There are no bad dogs just bad owners.

***Edited By: karma88 on 2/12/2010 8:51:52 AM***
Reason: spelling

OMG... I did not realize til after I read Pope's post, that what I said to NDY might have been misconstrued as condemning her for her decision on returning the greyhound. I just wanted to say that that is not the case, at all, and I hope that no one reading this may have thought that.

As far as Salty's owner being deployed, salty was left in the care of his wife, who became his ex-wife while he was away. She did not want Salty so she boarded her and never came back for her. Salty was 9 when we took her in, and a year after we had her, her male owner came home and immediately went to the place where Salty had been boarded and inquired about her. He loved her, and when he found out she was in a decent home he told the girls there that he was not in a position to take her back, he just wanted to make sure she was OK.

I used her and Max as two examples of just how different situations can be regarding any dog in a shelter. One not so perfect and oneperfect. Of course Salty is no longer perfect because we have "messed her up in our own special way" lol.