Opions on Pitbulls

[ThePiffle]

Yes, the term pit bull is thrown around a lot. Shelters either don't have enough money or don't bother to do DNA tests on dogs. The pitties blocky head is a main factor in people determining whether a dog is a pit bull. To many, as you said @Ravensong every dog with a muscular body and short hair is a pit bull. Thanks your for digging up your research and answering my question.


Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) is a heavily debated and complicated topic. Banning an entire dog breed seems, well stupid, bias and unfair. What will the government do? Round up all the beloved house hold pets and shelter dogs and euthanize them? Surely dogs will slip through the cracks. BSL need to apply to all dogs. Such as this type of dog needs this, this type of dog needs this etc. It should be specific and humane.

Another problem is that pitties are more likely to be abused. Pit bulls are chained outside, along with other large breeds. (Waffle in a Dog's purpose, I cried.) While lap dogs dwell inside, to be truthful while dogs may enjoy the outdoors there is a line you can't cross.

[WarriorzFan]

Originally Posted by InsertCoolNameHere

Thanks, sorry for the unprofessional intro, you have amazing points.

Np! I love dogs. I love warrior cats which is why I r it but I love dogs more than cats.

[WarriorzFan]

Originally Posted by Ravensong

I agree it is difficult to find any sources that are not either pro or con since pits are such a controversial topics so it can easily skew research. The trick is to learn how to vet sources and do research into how certain numbers and statistics were developed. Anything that includes "less warning" is generally biased. The reason you see headlines like "attacked without warning" or "just turned" it has nothing to do with the dog and everything to do with the owner not being able to understand their dog's excessive body language (very apparent with how many animal videos are out there of people blatantly disregarding their dog's warning signs).

The fighting argument: Pit bull-type dogs tend to be naturally dog aggressive with a high prey drive exactly for their history in being bred as fighting dogs, they also tend to have a very high pain tolerance. On the flip side, since they were being bred to be strong and deadly, the last thing a handler wanted was a dog that would bite them. A dog that bit its owner was generally killed and thus their bloodline had less opportunity to be passed down. The other practice of note, these handlers would reach in between two fighting dogs to pull them apart, all the while expecting to not get bit (very few dog fights were ever actually to the death). All of this has actually made a dog today that is far LESS likely to show human aggression and even less so any owner-directed aggression.

They can be sweet and lovable dogs just as any breed can in the proper environments (*proper environments* is exactly why I disagree with any sort of legislation being breed specific, all dogs have the same capability of being "bad" and all have the same capability of being "good" if put in the appropriate environment with appropriate expectations). Yes, dog bite statistics are incredibly unreliable for exactly what you mentions. Many studies have been done that show basically every medium to large dog with short hair who bites somebody is labeled a pit bull by the media because of their unfair reputation. Even shelters frequently mislabel dog breeds. Lab mixes and boxer mixes(along with a few other breeds but those two are the most common)also develop that thick, wide skull that is often associate with bully breeds, even if the dog has NO bully in it. And as you mentioned, "pit bull" includes a few different breeds including APBT, Staffy, American bull dog. Those are all distinctly different breeds. If you were to take German Shepherds, Rottweillers, and Dobermans and count all of their recorded bites and make the statistics as though they were one breed then they would have an insanely high bite rate as well (probably even far more than "pit bull"). And yes, large dogs are more likely to have their bites reported as they do more damage.

I'll dig up my research and link it
@WarriorzFan
Chihuahuas are not naturally aggressive dogs and their size has little to do with their temperament (other than it being a factor in how humans treat them). Chihuahuas are a naturally fearful breed (as is the German Shepherd) and they are CONSTANTLY having their warning signs ignored because a snarling Chihuahua is much less intimidating than a snarling pit/rottie/GSD. If you're constantly being ignored then you will continue to become more adamant until you're listened to. Perpetually ignoring a dog while they tell you they're uncomfortable also leads to developed high anxiety which perpetuates their fear. Chihuahuas actually don't have a higher rate of aggression than German Shepherds, GSDs are just given less opportunity to act on that aggression as they can do real damage. Actually Chihuahuas are rather intelligent dogs and one of the most naturally loyal breeds of dogs. They just suffer from the same infliction as pits and GSDs in that they are common breeds with too many owners who are not meeting that specific dog's needs.

Probably true. This is just from my experience.

[Pitou]

More likely to be abused or neglected is not necessarily true. You're just more likely to hear about a large dog who's been abused when they lash out than a small dog. I'd almost argue that it's the opposite actually (though I have no actual stats for that) as little dogs are too often chosen by people who are not ready to have a dog which is why they chose a small one, not realizing that no matter the size a dog is still a dog with dog needs. The shelters are full of all sizes of dogs. I'd also argue that even the small dogs that are in not necessarily neglectful homes are very often in homes where they are mistreated by humans who refuse to learn better because when their small dog bites they can laugh it off and post it as a funny video (this is also true of all sizes of dogs, just most prevalent in the small breeds). Personally the worst negelct/abuse case I've ever seen personally was a little maltese mix. After that there were a handful of chihuahuas and a pit bull. @InsertCoolNameHere

[ThePiffle]

The problem with smaller dogs is that when they attack people call it normal, but with a larger dog they call it dangerous. To be perfectly honest I think that many chihuahuas are mistreated if not abused. I've seen people get up in their face, and just generally do all the big no-no's in dog care.
@Ravensong

[JackHunt_17]

A dogs breed has little to nothing to do with their temperament. Just because pitties are bred to be strong and fighting dogs doesn't define their personality at all. Think of it this way. If your parents are both wrestlers, there's a good chance you'd have the body of a wrestler, but your personaliy won't be the exact same as them. Or this, if your father and his father and his father, etc, were all serial killers, no ones saying you will be too. Does that make sense? @InsertCoolNameHere

[ThePiffle]

Originally Posted by Hawkice

A dogs breed has little to nothing to do with their temperament. Just because pitties are bred to be strong and fighting dogs doesn't define their personality at all. Think of it this way. If your parents are both wrestlers, there's a good chance you'd have the body of a wrestler, but your personaliy won't be the exact same as them. Or this, if your father and his father and his father, etc, were all serial killers, no ones saying you will be too. Does that make sense? @InsertCoolNameHere

It does, pitties can be amazing family pets.

[WhitesilverQueen]

Originally Posted by WarriorzFan

Oh, and lastly, Pitbulls have nothing on one of the smallest breeds of all time, the Chihuahua, in terms of agressiveness. In Legally Blonde, Bruiser, Ell's dog, is named that for a reason, dontcha think? I'll let you dwell on that. Honestly, It's easy to see why, and I sympathize with the little guys/gals. Being one of the smallest breeds out there means we as humans are monstrously tall, the dog at full height probably not reaching the knee if we were sitting on a couch. This means that everything else is bigger. That's really scary. Imagine a hand the size of your upper torso plus head going towards you.

{I was in my schools play of legally blonde jr this year}
I agree, I escpecially think its mean to rule out a breed, dog or not, and make rules for them because of a stereotype. And try to find an article that isn't anti-pitbull because its better to hear the whole story before you make your decision
@InsertCoolNameHere

[WarriorzFan]

Originally Posted by Hawkice

A dogs breed has little to nothing to do with their temperament. Just because pitties are bred to be strong and fighting dogs doesn't define their personality at all. Think of it this way. If your parents are both wrestlers, there's a good chance you'd have the body of a wrestler, but your personaliy won't be the exact same as them. Or this, if your father and his father and his father, etc, were all serial killers, no ones saying you will be too. Does that make sense? @InsertCoolNameHere

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