-=> ROGER NELSON wrote to WAYNE CHIRNSIDE <=-

 RN> [...]
 WC> Did your veteranarian suggest dexamethasone?

 RN> No, but then again, it may not have been available at that time.  It
 RN> was 20 years ago.

On that I can offer no opinion, all I know was it was available in late 2002.

 WC> Despite being an intact Pit Bull on steroids I still walked him off lead
 WC> and never had the least problem with him.

 RN> A lot of people are afraid of them, but if that breed is raised

Yeah, due to certain infirmaties I've got I tried to find him a good
home at age 6 however all the people I talked to about it either wanted
him for the wrong reasons or were too dense to understand the rather simple
requirements of keeping him a safe and reliable dog.

So I toughed walking him twice a day until the end.

 RN> properly, they become an extension of whoever raised them.  

Precisely RIGHT.

One must make it clear to the animal that you are the alpha leader of the pack.
The original owner had attack trained the dog for the first two years.

I got rid of that with myself giving the animal exactly ONE bath
where I assumed alpha status.

After that he walked into the bath on his own after my request.
Not even a harshly issued command but a simple request.

Thereafter I simply made the dog QUICKLY respond to various commands while
being walked off lead on a regular but sparce basis, say I paid attention to
this 
perhaps ten minutes a month or less.

 RN> A lot of
 RN> TLC and time must be spent with them or they will follow their
 RN> instincts instead of their human owner.  

Once again precisely correct.

I saw this animal bare it's teeth and snarl precisely TWICE in its lifetime.
The first when I gained alpha status giving him his bath and once again
when we came across a woman with her child while I was walking him off lead
as she STRUCK the child.

Spanky had picked up on my nature and as such first sat down, then bared his 
teeth and snarled at the woman.

While she'd had her arm back to strike I'm guessing 5 Y.O. a second time
she arrested striking the kid instead threatening to report my dog.

Well my reply to that was my dog despite being off lead had done nothing 
wrong but express his displeasure at seeing you strike your helpless child.

Go ahead and call the police and I'll report your child abuse.

Spanky had done nothing to be ashamed off and I was particularly impressed
with his sitting down first before expressing his opinion so effectively it 
spared the kid another rather vicious blow.

Once the woman and child had passed I sat down with the dog lavishing praise
upon
him for his outstanding judgement.

I had the somewhat unusual experience of watching my Pit Bull beaten up
by a feral CAT one day while wagging his tail.

Another time a Chihuahua attacked him at the ankle and he didn't appear 
to notice while I doubled over in laughter knowing the tiny dog was in no
danger nor was my tough skinned Pit.

Another approximately ten pound dog routinely attacked Spanky by the
throat, again no damage no foul but it was I once again who had
to get the little dog off my animals throat.

Spanky paid it no mind at all.

On other occassions I had to DEFEND the Pit Bull from other dogs attacking him
as he
never once responded as was my training.

Protecting him as pack leader was MY responsibility.

When a 90 pound American Staffordshire Pit raised by a skinhead
attacked Spanky tearing him to pieces it once again fell upon me to 
protect him.

I baited the other dog by annoying him to hit my hand so I could
retrieve my dog from its powerfull jaws.

I lost the use of my left hand for 5 1/2 months and I'm left handed!
No regrets as I had him another 2 years.
Had I done nothing at all Spanky would have been dead in another 20 seconds.

 RN> I was advised to get another
 RN> dog immediately after putting my shepherd down, but I believed then as
 RN> I do now, that that would have been a betrayal to her memory.  She was
 RN> a once in a lifetime dog.

 WC> I guess I did a fair job of training him though it wasn't
 WC> at all difficult.

 RN> It sounds like you did.

Hey he was absolutely the most trustworthy and reliable dog I've ever had the
pleasure
of knowing.

He could get obstinent now and again and dig his heels in on
a small issue making demands of me but as the issues were small
I generally aceeded to them.
It gave him personality.

 WC> He got into the kitchen trash five times in the 12 years I had him.

 RN> My shepherd didn't do that or anything else except by my command.  I
 RN> trained her to do things in English, German and by silent command (hand
 RN> motions).

Well I never went over the top getting Spanky to be absolutely obedient
as he exercised good judgement on all occassions.
Getting into the trash five times excepted.

Like I said, he was a companion dog for the disabled

 RN> Roger

Roger I guess we're just both dog lovers who realize they can be 
incredibly loyal, obedient and trustworthy.

I used to take Spanky down to the preschool to let the kids pet him.

The attendents were anything but happy the first few weeks
until they understood the animal was safe and I always took the time to
explain to the kids do NOT approach a similar looking dog as most are dangerous
due to the wrong sort of owners

I think the day the attendants accepted Spanky was the day one kid poked him 
right in the eye.

Spanky's response to that was to back away two feet for about 15 seconds
then come back for some more attention from the SAME kid!

Well now, this is the FIRST time since I lost him in 06
I've not broken down into tears describing him and now just barely.

I could NEVER want nor desire to replace him with another dog
and it would not would it be fair of me to do so as I'd expect the same degree
of perfection I felt I had with Spanky.

As a final note as far as I can tell there's absolutely no difference
between Pit Bulls and other breeds of dog except humans bred them to
be incredibly TOUGH in the extreme and that any dog (and owner) greatly 
benefits from the proper sort of training.

A very intelligent breed though.
His command for crossing the street was "Spanky, cross the street."

The single most annoying thing was Spanky's habit of looking at me
like I was some sort of retard when I didn't immediately understand what he
wanted via making eye contact.

OTOH his understanding of English astonished me on numerous occassion
when he complied to my requests I'd never trained him to! 

An out of control Chihuahua is hardly a threat.
An out of control Pit Bull can maim or kill with relative ease.

Mine presented a good deal less of a threat than a Chihuahua :-)

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