are all pitbulls aggressive?

OSL...Wouldn't that be ideal!!!!
 
Angel,
 I too LOVE that picture...that is Miss Jigsaw playing with Teddy when he first arrived. Imagine the discomfort and infection of Pio and she was still nice enough to play with the little evil French dog...No wonder I LOVE this breed huh!

Right with you Mic.

Oh Jaime, just scrolled back through some of the posts on here that I missed while posting mine.  And I have come to a very definate conclusion.  We definately do not see enough pictures of your dogs!  I think I may join the Markie Fan Club!

I'm with you too, Mic
 
Kate

It's not what you don't know that will hurt you, it's what you know for sure that just ain't so.  []

Thanks Candace!
 They make my heart pitter patter too[]
 
Yes, That Markie is one smooth character..LOL!! I'm sure you can join the club just don't try and take over Emperor Jen...ROFL!

Ok, so back on topic...are they aggressive?
 
If so why? What makes them aggressive??

I don't find them aggressive until a bad  HUMAN has had their rotton hands on them.

Pit Bulls with bad owners equals agressive dog!

Are they aggressive?  I can only speak from my limited experience. 
 
I have owned two APBT's.  Neither were aggressive with people and, if they had been, I would have adjusted their attitude, with a 158 grain hollow point to the brain stem.  I have no tolerance for dogs that are aggressive toward people.  Both my dogs were female and, although they got along well with each other, one was VERY dog aggressive and had been that way from a very young age.  The other girl was, well, just a dog.
 
So, from my personal experience I conclude that 50% of them are dog aggressive, 0% are people aggressive and 100% are "squirrel in the back yard" aggressive.
 
I am going from memory here so, please consider that and know that my memory is far from infallible.
 
If you look into the history of dog fighting, pit bulls will likely be mentioned.  They were intially used in bull baiting.  This was the practice of loosing a single dog, or a group of dogs, on a bull, with the intention of dragging the bull to the ground.  As society grew more "refined," this practice fell out of favor.
 
From the bull baiting stock, we move to dog fighting.  Contrary to popular belief, dog fighting was not an all out fight to the death.  Not by design, anyway.  There were rules and even referees.  A dog didn't have to die, or even be seriously injured, to lose the fight.  A dog lost when he refused to continue the fight or when his handler removed him.
 
The contest would be conducted in a ring, not unlike a boxing ring.  In the ring, at any one time, would be the two handlers and the referee along with, of course, the two dogs.  A handler could surrender the match and break his dog from the fight at his discretion.  Prior to the contest, each dog would be bathed, by the opposing dog's handler, for the purpose of removing anything that may aid the dog in the fight.  Also not unlike a boxing match involving people today, the contest would consist of a number of timed rounds.
 
So, let's look at this situation from the perspective of the dog.  You are in a ring, engaged in a battle with a dog who really wants to whip your butt.  In the ring with you is a man you know and two complete strangers.  What is going to happen to you if you bite one of these people?
 
There is a point to my diatribe here and it is this.  Pit bulls were bred specifically to be dog aggressive.  They could not be aggressive toward people, even strange people, and even if they were seriously injured.  Obviously, it would be common for a fighting dog to be seriously injured in the immediate vicinity of strange people.  If a dog bit a person, even in this highly stressful situation, that dog would be culled from the gene pool.  People aggressive behavior simply could not be tolerated in a fighting dog.

Mic, I'm with you, but only if we can put shock collars on the owners!
 
-Ed

I promised myself I WOULD NOT even think of touching this topic becuase i would go absolutly CRAZY and had confidence that my fellow i-doggers would handle it.....which they did. But I just had to make one comment to SYM10000
Dont place your opinions as facts so that other ignorant people can come on here and be influenced by your OPINION!!! Yes the original poster was asking for advice but I'm sure she wanted them based on fact and experiences, again not OPINIONS. I am so fuming angry right now I want to explode, SYM0000, here is a pic for you of my vicious, face eating purebred pitbull!

When my husband said he wanted to get a pitbull, I was a little leery. Not because I thought it would be vicious, (it's stupid to think that one entire breed would be vicious...they're still dogs like every other dog, they're not a different species) but because of the bad rep that we would have to deal with. But I have to say, our pit is absolutely bar none the sweetest, most obedient, loving dog I have ever known. The one and only issue we have with her is that she tends to get over excited around other dogs (not in a vicious way, but wants to meet them etc.). She also gets a little over excited around people because she loves them to death. We are working on this by putting her into a stay every time someone comes over. All the pits I've ever met have been very people friendly. Lots of other dogs I've met, have not been.

fgv425: i am not sure what your internet searching turned up in reference to pit bull aggression, but a pretty good site with a lot of info about pit bulls is..http://www.badrap.org/rescue/

and i am not sure if this has been added to the discussion, but wasnt the original intent of the pit bull's ancestors bull baiting? i think i remember reading that somewhere.

my brother and his wife took in a pit bull mix that they found that had been left for dead in a ditch near their house. she turned out to be very dog aggressive, but she had extensive medical problems and an unknown history. i think the aggression had as much to do with her medical problems as anything else. that said... no i dont think pit bulls are inherently aggressive. provide your little guy with lots of love, training, and socialization and i am sure he will turn out to be a wonderful companion. []

ORIGINAL: sheprano

 SYM10000
Dont place your opinions as facts so that other ignorant people can come on here and be influenced by your OPINION!!! Yes the original poster was asking for advice but I'm sure she wanted them based on fact and experiences, again not OPINIONS. I am so fuming angry right now I want to explode, SYM0000, here is a pic for you of my vicious, face eating purebred pitbull!

 
I have tried very hard to maintain respect for others "opinions" and their assumptions, wether it be of my opinion, or the original posters intentions (see your assumption of the original poster as well as your assumption of me). I have maintained some respectable level of decency  toward all of your differing opinions/beliefs even though I am getting hate emails, posters of this thread are emailing me telling me to F* off, they will have their dog "eat my face off", asking where I live to send their dog to my house etc.
 
I maintain this dignity because to stoop to this (seen) level is just below me. I accept your opinions, your findings, your experiences as you state them. Why is it so difficult for some to accept other peoples opinions, findings and experiences??
I don't even want the answers.
I came back here (by invitation) after I received an email from someone who originally didn't like my opinion, but I think we agreed to disagree and I even bent a little on my opposition to say I would google the breed to try to see the other side of the coin.(yours)
 
But since reading this, I just have to say, if your all trying to rally for the breed, and convince non-supporters of its nature, your going about it in a way that will never "teach" a person anything about it. You can't bully a person into seeing your views, just like I can't scare you into mine, but for the same reasons your TRYING to make me see your point, I will share MY reasoning, MY finding, MY experiencees with pitt bulls.
 
(I will assume, and hope some of your adamant ignorant and outright insane tactics ARE to show your support for the dogs and your reasoning behind it, so I will do the same in opposition, and you can bash away (again) because you ppl (some) need serious lessons in learing how to "educate" people on your beliefs. Its about the dog(s), not you or I so I will stay on topic.
 
MY findings with the 5 pittbulls througout my life;
 
1.My step sons face is scarred for life from the neighbours pitbull who attacked him after years of not showing agression toward him, or others or other dogs.
 
(so don't talk to me about fuming while you look at your dogs cute face when I look at step sons scarred face)
 
2. My friend has no ancle and foot now after his pitbull of 7 years bit into it and refused to let go. Not sure why, he just did it.
 
3. My husbands friends 2 month old baby was attacked by her pitbull. He was the cutest! pup, but she looked like a rag doll he chewed on the parents said. The baby is fine now. The pup has a new home.
 
4. My parents friends 2 pitbulls bashed thru a fence only to kill the neighbouring dogs then turn to fight eachother till one died, and the other was put down.
 
So...my "opinion" is based on experience. I grant you your opinion and findings. What is the big deal if a person is told both sides of the coin?? I don't see it.
What is so threatening about sharing these experiences?? Fear perhaps. Fear, that you might not always be right.
I'd like to believe it is not breed specific, but it is to me, it has been to me, with every pitbull case I have encountered. It is in my face, thru my step sons face, every day, and still, I agree (or did I offer?) to google the breed to try to see your points.
 
If educating is what your aiming to do, stop yelling so people can hear your words.