[icecream]

I know that pit bulls are banned in Winnipeg and Ontario Canada but are Bull Terrier pit bulls? Are they banned as well in Winnipeg? (where I live)

[ChihuahuaMomma]

Those are banned as well.

Here is an article that I found for you, It's a must read...

ANIMAL PEOPLE INFO SERVICES

[icecream]

Those are banned as well.

Here is an article that I found for you, It's a must read....

ANIMAL PEOPLE INFO SERVICES

Man that sux! I really wanted one DAMN!

[icecream]

Can anyone recemmend a dog. Between the size of small- med. That isn't banned in canada. Must be good with my 9 month old daughter

[labman]

There are any number of suitable breeds. One of the fallacies of the Pit Bull ban and other breed specific legislation is that all members of a breed are alike. If all Pit Bull were dangerous, why would somebody with a 9 month old daughter want one?

If you want a nice dog, don't worry about eh breed. Consider the animal shelter. There are many nice dogs, and you can see how they look with little or no grooming. You can also see how they behave. Look for dogs that want your attention, but are not going wild. Leave the ones that retreat to the back of their cage. Look at their teeth. Look for ones that still show a 3 lobed, clove like pattern on the front ones. Leave the ones that fight letting you look at their teeth too much. If the points are worn off the teeth, it is an older dog that may break your heart by dying too soon. Pinch the web between its toes. It hurts. It is OK for the dog to pull away or whine, but it shouldn't growl, snap or show its teeth. Think about size. In a small apartment, a Golden might knock over the lamps when it walks
Through wagging its tail. Since the shelter likely will kill most of the dogs, you may as well pick out a nice one.

Finding a good breeder and purchasing a puppy that will make a good pet is very difficult. Almost nobody is intentionally breeding dogs to be nice pets. Most of your so called reputable breeders are breeding for show or something. They may say the puppies they don't keep for their purpose make great pets, but the truth is that the parents were selected for other than health and temperament. Often they keep the puppies in the kennel too long and they miss the important early socialization puppies need to live in the house with people.

Next are the disreputable breeders. They breed any 2 registered dogs they can lay a hold of looking only at the money they can make selling them to pet stores. Pet store puppies are easy to find, but difficult to socialize into nice pets, perhaps difficult to even keep alive. You will not get what you pay for at a pet store.

One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue
Dogs. These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home
To be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them. You may
Find a rescue near you starting at American Kennel Club - Breed Rescue The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year.


American Kennel Club - akc.org and Pet Food: Premium, Healthy Pet Food | Purina.com have breed selector pages on their site. You
Might try them. Don't take a recommendation for some obscure, hard to find
Breed too seriously. Even if your puppy doesn't grow up like you expected,
How you raise it helps make it what you need. The first 12 weeks of a dog's
Life greatly affect its adult personality. Expose it to your lifestyle, and
It will be comfortable with you. Gretchen, my little German Shepherd will
Not grow up suspicious of strangers. She knows no life except being out and
Petted by strangers from the night we picked her up at 7 weeks old.

[ChihuahuaMomma]

CHIHUAHUA--they are the most loving dogs... My dog never leaves my side, she IS my daughter. Your daughter will love one. And the reason that those dogs are banned is because they are dangerous, they are banned in every country accept the U.S. FOR A REASON. If I had a 9 month old child, I would not want my child within a mile of one of those... I'm sorry if you think my response is ignorant (which its not). My elementary school best friend was killed by a pit bull and I have two friends and my step dad that were bitten by them. They are dangerous animals and people get them just to train them to be more dangerous...

[icecream]

I been reading since I posted this thread and found that bull terrier are not pitbulls. I called the local pet store here and they said bull terriers are legal but obviously not pit bulls.

Bull terriers are GREAt with children and are loyal. From the stuff I have been reading they are wonderful dogs.

Thanks for all your posts

[froggy7]

CHIHUAHUA--they are the most loving dogs...My dog never leaves my side, she IS my daughter. Your daughter will love one.

The vast majority of the chihuahua FAQs state that the dog is not at all suitable for families with small children. They are too small and fragile to be able to handle toddlers attempts to play with them, and can find small children's activity level and noises threatening, resulting in defensive biting.

[labman]

''They are dangerous animals and people get them just to train them to be more dangerous... '' Well ChihuahuaMomma I think your next step is to apologize to RubyPitbull. You said the only reason she has her dog is to train it to become more vicious. That is a mean, nasty thing to say about anybody. You are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! When it comes to mean, nasty dogs, it is hard to beat a Chihuahua. They are one of the few breeds I have ever been bitten by. The only reason they are not at the top of the list to be banned is that they are small enough they usually do little more than draw blood. I would be very careful about having one near a small child.

I knew this thread would bring out the regular anti Pit Bull nonsense. While I was walking Aster this afternoon I was thinking about it. Since so often Asiatics hassle and even deny entrance to people with service dogs, perhaps we should ban them from working in restaurants. They are a major problem. It is bad enough being disabled and needing a dog to go about ordinary tasks without running into idiots that give you a hard time. It is just plain outrageous to be turned away from a public place because you have a service dog. I was recently asked to keep my friend's dog guide. Her and her mother were going to a Thai restaurant. They wanted to be able to eat without risking a big confrontation despite the law clearly requiring the accommodation of the handicapped. I can hear the screams of outrage if we banned them from working in restaurants. And it would be justified. Just as it is not justified to ban Pit Bulls.

[bushg]

icecream... I just want to say that no matter what type of dog you buy. You have to supervise your daughter around it at all times. What may be fun for your daughter may not be fun for the dog resulting in nips/bites or vice versa. So often dogs end up in shelters because the little ones do not know how to treat dogs, through no fault of their on, just because they are to young to realize.
I personally did not have animals when my children were young. But I did have 3 little ones close together and I knew it would be much to hard to train a dog, teach the children how to treat it etc..
It is not my intention to offend you but, I really hope you do a lot of research before you bring a dog into your home. It will be a lot of work with your daughter being so young.

[labman]

I standardly refer people to Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss They have a link from that page to one on children and dogs. Whether you choose an Irish Wolf hound, a Pit bull, or a Chihuahua, you can't just throw them together and go away.

[RubyPitbull]

Ice cream, I hope you take the time to read this prior to going out and buying a bull terrier or any dog.

You are right. A bull terrier is not considered a pit bull and they are not banned in your area or any area that I know of. With that said, if you haven't trained a dog in a while, it is not a breed that I would recommend being around your young child. They are wonderful dogs when trained properly. But, bull terriers are very strong and need a lot of hands on training. They are high energy dogs that need an outlet for that energy. They require a great deal of exercise. Bushg has brought up some very valid issues and concerns here with regard to children. Considering your daughter is only 9 months old, she won't be able to be a part of the training process. She will however as she starts walking and getting into all the things babies get into -- poke a dog, pull it's tail, grab it's toys, take it's food,. basically she will do things that an untrained dog will likely attack her for. An untrained bull terrier can do a lot of damage to a young child. So can a chihuahua. Both are not breeds I would recommend for young children. Both breeds, generally speaking, do not have the patience that a lab and golden retriever are known for with young children. I am not stating that a lab or a golden is the right choice either if you are looking for a smaller dog. I am completely at a loss as to why you would have considered buying a pitbull (if there wasn't a ban on them) if you were looking for a dog "that must be good" with a 9 month old. :confused: "Being good" with children isn't automatic with any dog. A dog must be trained very carefully and properly to be good with children. It is very important for you to understand that so you don't assume anything about a dog you are planning on bringing into your household.

One of the things that you need to be very aware of is a dog's pack mentality. It is how a dog perceives the world around him. Your baby will be viewed as a minor ranking individual in your pack by your dog, and if you aren't careful helping her assert her dominance, she will be fair game for any dog to dominate and the dog will correct her through biting to remind her that he/she outranks your daughter. You cannot become distracted and leave your child alone with ANY dog. I strongly advise you to read through labman's link at the top of this forum, and the "Alpha" link he has provided you here. In his sticky, aside from the great advice, he has included a recommended reading list. Go to your local library and see what books from that list you can find and take the time to go through them. Do your research regarding understanding how a dog views the world around him and how to properly train a dog through positive reinforcement. You really need to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible prior to looking for the right dog for your family. I personally believe it really is wiser to wait until children are older and are able to understand the difference between right and wrong.

If you choose not to wait, if I were you, I would follow labman's advice regarding adoption. Rescues & shelters do have puppies too and you have an assortment of breeds to choose from. The people who work at these places can help you select a dog that will fit in with your family's needs if you are willing to allow them to work with you. Usually the best family dog turns out to be the mutt from the pound. I suggest you start with the links which are in your area:
Second Chance Pet Rescue Inc - All animals deserve a Second Chance
DArcys Animal Rescue Centre - Dedicated to rescuing cats and dogs in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. - Dog adoption
Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter- Home


Labman thank you for defending my honor. :) I very much doubt ChihuahuaMomma really believes that I have a pitbull for the sole purpose to train her "to be more dangerous". As I have said before here on this forum, when someone is affected by a dog attack as a young child, there isn't much you can say to reason with them. They have a kneejerk reaction to whatever breed did the damage, and nothing I say is going to change their minds. What I will say is that it would be very wise for those people to fully educate themselves as I did. ChihuahuaMomma, there is a very valid reason why I chose to adopt a pitbull over another breed. It wasn't to train her "to be more dangerous." LOL. However, I don't feel the need to explain or defend myself here on this thread.

[bushg]

Ruby I'll finish. Hit the wrong button. It is so wonderful the effort that you take to answer questions and try to educate people about dogs. You not only have great knowledge of dogs ,your wisdom with people and the ability to educate and talk with people is a gift as well.