Well hiya Archie!!
Thanks. I was hoping my post didn't come off as snobby or with any 'know-it-all' kind of undertones.
This subject is one which I speak publicly about, addressing all size audiences and people from all walks of life. People need to be educated so understanding will begin to replace the knee jerk responses that seem to be attached to this breed. Hopefully arming the masses with facts, will decrease the stigma of the breed.
I'm sorry your precious Gus is hurting. Seems he ended up in very good hands when he became part of your family! They try hard to hide it, but hey, if someone hits my sore spot, I'm liable to take a nip at them too! LOL
You're 100% right, any dog can have a negative reaction to any given situation. They are animals after all and given the fact they can't speak to let us know when they are not feeling well, it's up to us to really know our pets.
They all have their little 'tells'. Mocha's tell would go unnoticed by everyone else, but she's mine and I see it immediately. Whenever she is overly excited or if she is thinking about doing something wrong her pupils dialate.. LOL
Knowing that helps me to redirect her BEFORE she exhibits the behavior. Mocha has been battling congestive heart failure for over a year and a half. It's costing a pretty penny but, she has defied all the odds. My vet still can't believe she's continuing to thrive. She is the office favorite, every staff member has a different nickname for her. Nobody thought she would be alive this long after the diagnosis. But, she s still spunky and as long as she has quality of life and isn't suffering, I will continue fulfilling the promise I made to her 11 years ago.
I don't have a bone yard, I have the ashes of all my dogs though and when my time comes I will have my ashes mixed with theirs and set free. I have been extremely fortunate regarding the longevity all my animals seem to have. I rescued 2 chinchillas, one I had for 18 years, I have no idea gow old he really was but the vet guesstimated his age to be about 21 or so. The other I have had for 13 years now. I guess I'm really lucky cause Lord knows I don't follow all the rules.. lol

I'm a bit bothered by this. I have a pit bull. I have no idea how old she actually is, all I can tell you is I have had her for 11 years. I wasn't looking for a dog at the time Mocha, a 'red nose' pit bull, happened along. I already had a rescued Shepherd/Malamute/Wolf mix, at home. Gemini was 18 years old. I was where I needed to be to change the direction her life was about to take. She was going to be drowned by some drug addicts looking for a thrill. Sick bastards. In any even, she was approximately 4 weeks old when I acquired her, nowhere near old enough to be away from her mom or litter mates. When she was about 6 months old, we rescued a German Shepherd puppy approximately 10 weeks old. Lady. I had to put her down when she was 14 years old, due to an aggressive cancer. Gemini had a companion in Lady for 14 years and was good with all other animals, large and small. But when I was asked to take a look at a dog that was on her way to be euthanized, I was hesitant. Not for the reason many may be thinking. Sure, the breed had been making headlines and breaking news. They were viscous. They were k**lers. They were blood thirsty. Their jaws 'locked'. We were being told they had 3000+ lbs. of pressure behind their bite. They would k**l you in your sleep. They were not to be trusted. They were being shed in a terrible light. However, it was not her breed that gave me pause for thought. I knew most of the things being said were lies. The wolf has the most pressure behind their bite, the breed that falls right under the wolf.. the German Shepherd. Shepherds have 700+ lbs. of pressure to go along with their bite. So how is it, I am to believe 3000+ lbs. exists in a dog? Not possible. Oh, and jaws 'locking'.. laughable. Yes, their jaws are strong. Yes, they can hold on while being swung around by a towel they hold in their mouth. But there is a HUGE difference between a strong jaw holding to something and a jaw 'locking'. Almost everyone was buying into the hype concerning pit bulls. I was hesitant because Gemini was 18 years old and had spent the last 4 years as an only dog. I didn't want her 'Golden Years' to be disrupted. However, there was another animal in need of a good home. I was put there for a reason. So, I took Mocha with one condition. If Gemini did not take to her, I would have to return her. Gemini had earned the right to make the decision on this one. So, it was agreed. I would take Mocha and let Gemini decide. Well, the Queen decided to keep the pit bull. Weeks went by. Months went by. All was well. Then, three months before Gemini's 19th birthday, I had to have her put down. She was suffering from strokes/seizures. They took a toll on her mind, body and spirit. Now during that time Mocha and Gemini shared, I never had ONE incident. Oh and guess what? I wasn't k**led in my sleep! Mocha never attempted to bite anyone. She was/is very strong, so it was imperative that she be very well trained. I socialized her with other dogs, small animals, adults & children. She also knew and respected that I was the Alpha, and if she got any notion to challenge me for that position, she was immediately corrected and put in her place. The fact is, the monster is not the four legged one in the collar, but the two legged on on the other end of the leash. The HUMAN. That's who is at fault for the bad rap any dog takes. For many years the German Shepherds & Doberman Pinschers were 'those dogs'. These breeds were the 'pit bulls' of the 70', 80' and even the 90's. By the 90's you can add the Rottweiler to that list. Well, I have always had German Shepherd or mixes of. But in the 70's I had a purebred Alaskan Malamute. Now there's a dog! Not dog friendly at all. People, well, they choose ONE person that they will 'allow' to be the Alpha. They are very smart, but, notoriously stubborn. Let's face it, ANY dog can be 'THAT' dog. The flavor of the day. Yesterday it was the German Shepherd, Doberman Pinscher and the Rottweiler. Today it happens to be the Pit Bull. Tomorrow it could be YOUR dog. The real t***h is, far too many people are incapable of correctly identifying a Pit Bull. Why? Because too many breeds get lumped into this category. The Pit Bull falls into the group of dogs known as Molossers. Pit bull is the common name for a type of dog. Formal breeds often considered in North America to be of the pit bull type include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The American Bulldog is also sometimes included. The term pit bull is often used loosely to describe dogs with similar physical characteristics, and the morphological (physical) variation amongst "bully breed" dogs makes it difficult for anyone, even experts, to visually identify them as distinct from "non-pit bulls". While mixed breed dogs are often labeled as "pit bulls" if they have certain physical characteristics such as a square shaped head or bulky body type, visual identification of mixed breed dogs is not as easy as it may seem. Controlled studies do not show pit bulls to be disproportionately dangerous. More often than not, people can not correctly identify a Pit Bull. Not without c***ting anyway.