He had to be quarantined once because he bit a neighbor’s fifteen-year-old and we sent our dog to live with our in-laws, but today he escaped when he lunged for their mailman. He ran around their neighborhood and tried to enter a UPS truck, and he scared my mother-in-law by his unpredictable behavior to the point that she doesn’t feel they can keep him. She wants to send him to the animal shelter, but is there any way we can train him not to chase and bite? Is there any hope for him? How would we correct a behavior that happens only rarely?

My mom was a part time dog trainer for many years and both of my parents ran a dog boarding business full time, so I was around dogs every single day growing up. Many of those dogs were pit bulls and I don’t recall ever having problems with any of them. In fact, I would say overall they were some of the sweetest and most fun dogs to be around.

It’s actually kind of strange that I came across this post just now because earlier today I was watching a show on the history channel, and they said an average of 1000 people in the United States go to the hospital every day because of dog attacks. That got me thinking how I never hear about any of them even though they are apparently happening all the time. But the other day I saw a relatively minor pit bull attack that was being talked about all over the news. You would have thought it was the end of the world.

You are definitely right about the media blowing it out of proportion. I’m not sure why they only tell us about the few incidents where it’s a pit bull involved and not the rest of the other dogs all over the country doing the same thing. Makes no sense to me!