Diesel said:
Pit Bulls are an awesome breed. They get a lot of bad media, saying how aggressive they are etc. The fact is that most of the 'Pit Bull Attacks' are actually other breeds or a mixed breed. They are awesome with kids, I have 5 little sisters and the dogs are extremely patient and caring with them. If you go to the website and look at the gallery you'll see a lot of pics with them and my sisters.
And yea Knight is ridiculously ripped, I used to joke he was the only dog I know with a 6-pack
this is actually not true. dog attacks occur because of insecurity in a dogs heiarchy. Some breeds have a more dominant personality. There is a reason that German Shepards and Dobermans make for some of the greatest guard dogs. It's not just because of their physical attributes but also because of their own natural demeanor for doing those chores/jobs. You cannot get away from the fact that staffordshire terriors and pit bulls have a history of pit fighting and baiting. And there is a reason they excel in those areas.
A dog looks at the home, and the people in it, as part of his "pack". All dogs came from wolves and that heirarchy still exists in all breeds today. Every dog must understand his relationship in the "pack" and in a human family that role he must fill has to be as the omega dog. That means he should be the least important.
IMO every dog owned should be an inside dog. A dog left outside for most of his life will create his own heiarchy because he will be allowed to chase birds, squirells, hunt, bark at strangers, etc. He becomes the alpha. That is when a dog becomes dangerous. So if you are leaving your dog outside, make sure and spend a lot of time going over obedience commands and training (sit, down, stay, heel) and DO NOT play with your dog in a rough housing manner. This teaches him that it's ok to use his teeth for playing or aserting himself. ASST and pitbull owners are NOTORIOUS for putting up a rope and teaching letting their dog hang from it and shake with his jaws locked in. This is bad ownership as well. This also helps to develope the dogs aggresive behaviour. Those things are to be avoided.
So as an inside dog, alot of things have to be done in order to maintain a healthy heiarchy for the dog. Make sure your dog eats AFTER you eat. Make sure if you have kids he depends on them for his food and water. If you are doing OB training do it with your kids and when he obeys let your children give the dog the treat. Make sure and go over common exercises that will show if there is any underlying aggresion.
Push his food bowl with a broomstick while he's eating to see if he minds.
Push down on his head and neck and hold it there after you give the "down" command. If he tries to raise his head out of it, that's a sign of aggression.
Pull up his front paw and hold it away from him. This puts him in a vunerable position. If he is insecure, he will be aggresive and will immediatly try to pull his paw back or get defensive.
There are lots of other things, but the key to avoiding problems with dogs is to make the dog feel secure in his heiarchy role as omega. He will be a happy dog that way. I see far too many dog owners treating their dogs like people. They are dogs. Treat them well, but they should come last, ESPECIALLY if you have kids or others in the house with you. That also means things like the dogs sleeping in the bed with you should be out.
Sorry for such a long post, I love dogs have raised them for about 15+ years including rotts, staffordshire, and now bullmastiff's.
BTW Diesel your standard looks good from what I can see. I see way too many oversized pits these days, obviously from people inserting other breeds into the line. Your pits are what, 50 pounds or so?