Pit Bulls and Parolees (2009– ) User Reviews

A Reality show that really feels like reality

[paradisek · 9/10 · 20 November 2010]

I really feel for this family. They are full of good intentions. Giving Parolees jobs & rescuing dogs that are not easy to place in good homes that understand the breed. But this was set up by a husband that has been (back) in jail for 3 years. They were married a short time before a stolen motorcycle is found on the property. It is not his, but it's his property therefore he's responsible. He is facing 3 strikes, a life sentence.

Unlike most "Reality" shows, this one seems the least scripted. This woman is in deep pain, worried sick about her, her husband & her children's future & it comes through strong. She's an animal lover in the true sense.The parolees sympathize with her & try very hard to help out. It comes through strong. It's hard to watch & not feel sympathy for them, wanting them succeed. It's well shot, the narration is kept to a minimum. The words are coming from their mouths. This is reality at it's best

One of the few reality shows worth watching..good luck to "Creature"..

[MarieGabrielle · 9/10 · 21 April 2011]

Personally, as a writer, I view reality TV is mostly trash for cash. It needs to serve a purpose to warrant watching it. A helpful purpose. Other than Animal Planet channel, most channels do not offer a "helpful" reality show.

This show does that. Pit bulls have gotten a bad rap. As a shar pei owner, I've seen people are often afraid and think the dogs are vicious. Only if they are mistreated. Eventually some of the dogs are adopted. It's not an easy job.

I am giving Tia Torres a 10 for running the dog shelter Villa Lobos. One episode she visits New Orleans and rescues several of the abandoned dogs there. Also, thanks to the financial meltdown/foreclosure crisis in 2008, there are a lot of homeless dogs in need of help, people have lost their homes all across the U.S.

At Villa Lobos, the dogs are maintained by parolees who help clean, walk the dogs, and maybe learn to like a dog in the process too.

It is sad that in 2011 dog abuse and pit fighting still happens. This show has good factors to it in that it gives the dogs a second chance, most would be unadaptable or sent to a kill shelter, where the dogs are usually only kept for 2 weeks before euthanasia.

Thanks to producers of a productive show like this, which maybe helps some of the parolees, and the dogs. That's not so for 99 percent of the other reality contests, and celebrity rehabs (yawn). Hope to see some rehabilitative animal shelter shows, and less celebrity trash for cash sensationalism in the future. Eventually, people tire of the same old thing.

Learning about saving animals

[angeleyes786 · 9/10 · 4 March 2018]

I have always been an animal lover, cats and dogs for the most. I will try and keep this brief. I didn't want to watch this show when it premiered, I didn't like or understand the concept. The pit bull coverage was so negative. Then a few years ago I did, I got caught up on all the episodes (except those that Animal Planet will not air) and I fell in love with the show. Some things are edited for production purposes but all "reality shows" are edited that way. The bottom line is this rescue is awesome, as are most rescues in this country. I wish Animal Planet could pull more of their rescues together, showing the truly compassionate side of humanity. Pit Bulls and Parolees is a great show, some may find it difficult to watch with the rescues of dogs in horrible situations and....yes cats and other animals. But incorporating other Animal Planet shows, like Dr Dee, Vet Life and Dr Jeff and of course Pit Bulls and Parolees I pray people will find their inner love of animals and these shows exude it.

Excellent show for animal lovers.

[girldevl · 10/10 · 25 November 2013]

I have a hard time understanding how anyone could give this show low ratings.

Tia herself, has several decades of animal training under her belt. She trained large exotic animals as well as dogs, and has tons of experience and training related to the behavior of dogs. When you watch her rescue even the most terrified dog, she does it with such care and compassion, you can't help but envy her.

She moved her operation to New Orleans and has really taken on a huge challenge. The city itself is just FULL of pit bull breeds, it is practically overrun, and it seems as though the majority of the residents are incapable of taking care of the dogs they bring into the world. Tia and her group go to such extremes to help these dogs, I really admire her.

Sure, her daughters are full of tats and have different colored hair daily, but how does that take away from the amazing people that they are? I could care less WHAT image they want to have, these people are awesome and so is their show.

Great show!

[cfranke80 · 10/10 · 17 January 2012]

Love this show! Tia and those at Villalobos deal with daily discrimination because of the dogs they care for, and because of their past. You who haven't seen the show would be amazed on how many uneducated biased people are out there to smear the name and reputation of the "pit bull." A LOT of dogs can be rehabilitated while some cannot and I am glad Tia is giving those dogs a second chance. they are safe at dealing with dogs who can act aggressive :)

I really hope this show can open up people's minds, breed discrimination is a form of racial profiling, any dog has the ability to be aggressive, and "pit bulls" do not have locking jaws, nor are their bite pressures greater than all dogs. "Pit bulls" that i have come across have been very loyal and goofy dogs. They do not have a unique bite style (many have seen on youtube the various breeds "killing" their toys), "pit bulls" are genetically bred for loyalty and companionship so this is how ppl get them to fight, their drive to please their master and to protect their masters even when beaten and starved can cause them to fight. Even with fighting dogs, they have to be starved, strangled, beaten, etc to even fight another dog and even then that doesn't work so those dogs who do not fight are turned into bait dogs, or killed :(

I hope this show delves into dog fighting more and the outcomes of those who can be rehabilitated!

Love it!

[jasminefranchesca · 10/10 · 25 November 2018]

Love this show. Tia and her family members truly care for dogs. Thank you for saving these poor pups. You guys are amazing.... Love, Jasmine

I love this show

[Carlie64 · 10/10 · 16 November 2019]

God bless these beautiful people for giving a second chance to both misunderstood pit bulls and parodies. Both have such awful reputations, some completely unwarranted. As an owner of the most loving, charming pit bull, I love this show and how they show how gentle these dogs are. I love you guys for educating people. I hope you are around for years. These dogs need all the help they can get,

Love

[onlylovedeath · 10/10 · 28 May 2019]

The only show on TV I watch and actually keep the tv connection going for

Great show

[ehh253 · 9/10 · 6 August 2018]

I have been watching this show off and on and I like how she and her kids care for the Bit Bulls and helping parolees. I hope they resucue animals for a long time

Good intentions! Horrific dog handling!

[bellab1972 · 1/10 · 13 December 2012]

Before I criticize this show I think that the intentions of the people are good regarding pits! I am horrified with the lack of knowledge this family has concerning dogs! I can't believe this show is aired because it may influence unsespecting dog owners how not to handle dogs! I am just watching an episode where 2 pit bulls are put together and end up fighting! I am horrified that the so called expert, the red headed mother, let 2 out of control dominant dogs interact with absolutely no control by their handlers! I. The same show the red head said that blue pits are the worst and most troublesome pit bulls and can not be controlled! What an idiotic statement! All I see with the dogs are caged frustrated out of control dogs! There is no training to make balanced pit bulls as every dog that is walked pulls and doesn't even walk on the lead in a submissive manner! I am horrified that these pits are placed in homes without any real knowledge to create balanced dogs! All I see is excited dominate dogs with stupid excited people that have no idea what they are doing! All of the dogs in this show are caged separately and if given the chance would probably kill each other as their is no real interaction and training given! There Are 200 dogs that are bored! This woman should look into serious training to learn how to create balanced dogs because at the moment she has no idea! I am horrified with this show and the lack of knowledge this family has concerning dogs!

This show is detrimental to dog owners because there no one on the show knows what they are doing! No one should handle dogs like these people do! They are all idiots!

My favorite show!

[momsofar · 10/10 · 9 January 2019]

I love Pitbulls and parolees. I laugh, cry, pray, etc. while watching. I would love to meet Tia someday. She is an amazing woman. We have a boxer and boxer Pittbull mix. Our pit is deaf but so much fun. And very vocal.lol. I learn a lot from the show. I look forward to seeing the new episodes.

Everyone's an expert apparently.

[dilloncamp · 10/10 · 9 February 2021]

This show literally makes me cry everytime I watch it. Such a moving and amazing show. Not just about giving a second chance to the extremely misunderstood pitbull, but also misunderstood humans. Seeing these parolee's give so much love and respect into caring and rehabilitating these dogs really warms my cold little heart. As a Louisiana native I have SO MUCH respect for Tia, her family, and all the parolees that help out.

Ignore the reviews from the know it all so called dog "experts"

I just keep watching to see who gets killed first

[FiendishDramaturgy · 4/10 · 23 October 2010]

I watch Pit Boss, which this follows, and got roped into watching this as a by-product of being busy at work at my desk and unable to bestow enough attention to the set to change the station. But this show kind of grows on you. Like a fungus, yes, but one which grows quickly enough to enable you to actually SEE it grow, so it captures your attention a bit better than maybe it should.

The premise is a lonely prison-widow (an ex-con, herself, I think?), saving pit bulls to the detriment of her own children (she talks about what hideous sacrifices the children had to make in order for her to have her kennel), while employing parolees to house and work around her two impressionable (and by all accounts very available) young daughters.

I cannot stop watching, simply because I MUST KNOW who dies first? A dog attacking one of the workers? A worker by the hand of a dog or another con? A worker by virtue of knocking up one of the daughters? One of the daughters by virtue of one of the dogs? the Mom jealous over a one night stand? or a con out on parole for rape/homicide? The possibilities are limitless.

While the initial premise may have been a worthy one (saving dogs and giving cons a second chance), this thing is an absolute train wreck. If you're not already hooked, leave it alone. Do what Nancy Reagan taught us, and Just Say "NO!"

It rates a 3.8/10 from...

the Fiend :.

bad tel U Y

[kbohna · 10 March 2019]

Let's get something straight, we're not here to talk about Parolees and pitbulls that only gives them a worse name, why do we have to attach a parolee to a pitbull. I've owned several Terriers that happened to be pitbulls, in people's eyes and yet in my eyes, they're just beautiful dogs. I've never crop their ears or their tails and tried to make them mean, I've only treated them like they were the most beautiful creatures on Earth. Why is it that we label these poor animals who have fewer bites on their record than any Golden Retriever? The simple fact is the people that own them are the ones to be judged. What doesn't make sense is why do we take a TV show and put a pitbull in the same category as a parolee? Does it make any sense does it unless we are trying to degrade a beautiful animal to the same degree as someone who broke the law. We've got so far away from where does actually happening when it comes to a beautiful terrier dog that we are mixing it with someone who broke a crime how does that make any sense? We live in this weird day and age where men are now female and female are no men and if you say anything against it your belittled. This is a really strange place in time to be living in. Pitbulls are not pitbulls their carriers. Terriers are some of the most beautiful race of dogs or breed of dogs out there you can get them with long coats short coats with the main thing is they're very intelligent. So why are we going to descriptions on an animal who has nothing to do with fighting only the owner and now we're going to place it with an actual criminal and make a TV show about it? Let's use our minds for one people and just think about how silly all this stuff is. For the first time in North America we have a president who calls it like it is. We can say Merry Christmas again and happy Halloween cuz they were surely going to take that away soon cuz it offended someone. Donald Trump is definitely the best president this nation and even though I'm Canadian I still consider it our nation has ever had. We don't need to label everything and then say these labels are bad. Let's make labels for everything hypothetically and now let's go all these labels hypothetically are really bad so these people are being hurt by them. For one step back and decide for yourself which was better the old way that the Romans and the Greeks and all different societies had perfected that we take for granted. Or the new way that we take all that information throw it in a box . For some reason I lost my train of thought but what I was trying to say is that we cannot just basically take something that God or the universe has made a beautiful something put it in your house with crazy people and take it out say it's vicious change its name to a bowl and then also put the word it so now we've got a pit in a bowl in an arena and call this an evil animal. Let's think to ourselves carefully and realize the simple fact remains that was arguing Karma we don't have to do that type of stuff we could have a simple beautiful terrier and they are so many breeds of terrier that are fabulous it's really good. One of my favorite comedians in the whole world said it best don't call someone crazy it's belittling it's it's awful and don't say that what they have created isn't true or is injust or whatnot maybe the environment that they're living in is a little sick and that's what's creating these things that were calling crazy. How can you take a flower and call it crazy unless you take that same flower and genetically or overtime manipulated into a Venus flytrap.

family friendly dogs that cause 72+% "hugs and kisses"

[ThunderKing6 · 1/10 · 5 July 2021]

Towers "fall", go to "war".

"Covid" strikes wear a face mask.

Hit by drunk driver and they lose their licenses.

Ship "sinks", add more life boats.

Killed by a pit bull look the other way and make another TV show that puts these "family friendly" dogs on a throne. PBAP is Another show about worshiping the "family friendly" dog.

This show reinforces that the Pit bulls are known to be deadly to little tots to even their own owners. This show teaches that its okay for these family friendly dogs to blip people away because its all how you train them, which is obviously so true.

Furthermore, Pit bulls and parolees is about "clean" and classy looking people rescuing mutts that look like they want be degraded and want to fight. The characters on the show, they invade ghettos and slums to save the ungrateful pit bull from what it loves to do.

Last words: This show is inappropriate for all viewers unless you enjoy living in the lie then continue to worship the pit bull. Then again, Its obviously how you train them.