Why so much stereotyping on pit bulls? Any dog can be mean.?

Question

It is all in how they are raised. Any dog can attack. Why just nag on the pits? My pit tessa is the biggest baby ever. I have never been attached to a dog. Yes, i was scared of pits, until i owned one, and really got to know them. they are good natured if treated right.

i mean, i have never been attached to another dog like my american pit bull terrier

Answer 1

You are so right. People who think all of a certain breed of dog are mean aren't thinking clearly and have probably never actually gotten to know one. Like I've said in previous answers, that's like saying all white people are in the KKK or that all hispanics steal cars or that all African Americans are in gangs shooting people in drive by shootings! You can't logically dislike all of one breed because there have been a couple bad eggs. Otherwise you shouldn't trust ANY dog! I've owned a whole bunch of different breeds and the American Pit Bull Terrier is the biggest baby. It's sad really, how many of them are killed just for what breed they are and not for anything that they themselves ever did. I also was never as bonded with a dog as I am with my Pittie Kady. She's wonderful with my 1 1/2 year old nephew and has been ever since he was born. I can tell her to drop meat and she will and I can take it away from her. She trusts me to give it back. My nephew plays in her food dish and she just watches. She is very smart and very affectionate and loves to play soccer with the neighborhood kids. I wish more people would take the time to actually get to know a Pittie being raised my a responsible owners, rather than judging them on reputation. I also wish less of the human monsters that abuse these dogs and breed them for fighting were alive!

As for them not being "wired right" or being prone to "snap" at any given moment, that is a load of malarkey. No dog is the sweetest dog ever and then just magically one day bites someone for no reason. That is the silliest notion I've ever heard. EVERY dog I've ever met that has bitten someone showed some sign of aggression long before the incident. Unfortunately most of the time the owner did not recognize the behavior and find the source to correct the problem. Then a few months later we have a supposedly sweet dog who magically just up and bit someone one day.

I agree with the statement that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners. Or ignorant owners. Or lazy ones...

P.S. I see some dingleberry trying to say pits have locking jaws. Right, and they have laser beam eyes too. That is stupid and false. No dogs jaws "lock." They may grab and hold on where some breeds bite repeatedly, but the jaws do not lock. You can look it up on the internet, read a book, or ask anyone who has raised them.

P.P.S. AMac below has a very intelligent answer. Nicely summed up. :)

Answer 2

I think people associate aggression with this breed because when they attack they clamp their jaw down and don't let go. Other breeds that bite will usually just snap at you or bite and release. A pit bull digs in and doesn't let go. It does not mean they are all bad though. In my experiance they are unpredictable and that is why they scare me. One of my friends who runs a kennel was boarding a Pit bull (a family pet) she never had any problems with the dog until one day she went in it's kennel I think to get it's empty food bowl and the dog grabbed her leg and would not let go. No one was around to help her and she managed to grab a stool that was out side the dog's run and hit him with it and got free, but she has hardly any calf muscle left after the attack. The dog's owners had the dog put down because they had small children imagine if the dog had done that to one of the babies. I believe that it is bad breeding that produces mentally unstable dogs. This can be in any breed however, not just pit bulls. I see sweet pit bulls all the time but deep down I would never trust one. Raising a dog in a loving home is a good way to have a sweet pit bull but how can you be certain that something inside of there brain isn't wired wrong and one day they could turn on you. I have had so many of my friends attacked by this breed. Their own dog turned on them and every time they always say "it was the sweetest loving wouldn't harm a fly dog". A breeder I know says he has never had an agressive pit bull though. So I don't know what it is that causes this behaivor but I believe in most cases it is the overbreeding of this breed that is the source.

Answer 3

According to a Pit Bull breeder I know Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and a few other breeds want to know their place in the pack. So eventually they will test the members of the pack i.e.your family. The adults in the house may not even realize the "test" is happening but anyone small or timid may be injured or even killed. It does NOT matter how the dog was raised. This is not the same behavior as a "bad dog" that terrorizes, mauls and kills people although the end result may be the same and the statistics are usually lumped into one.

Answer 4

Every dog was bred for a purpose, labs and retrievers for hunting, collies and german shepards for herding, gray hounds for racing, and pit bulls and sharpas for fighting. Pit bulls have a lock jaw so when they bite they lock on until the other animal is dead. So when pit bulls attack a person they rip and tear flesh. They can do ten times as much damage as almost any other breed of dog out there.

Dog fighting is illegal her in North America, therefore there is no need for any breed of dog designed for this purpose to be in North America.

Sorry but that is why most people believe the breed should be put down. The chances of a pit bull attacking compared to another is alot.

Answer 5

Pits have the weight to do more damage than a chihuahua. Chihuahuas are the number one biting dog in America, but they can do so little harm. But pits can do so much more damage in one bite! And so many people breed pits to be mean and don't try to breed them for the many great qualities that they have. Consider your baby, Tessa a good example for other people.

Answer 6

True, any dog can attack. But peopel sayt hat pit bulls have a more agressive nature than others. But that's not always exatly the case. Many pit bulls I know aree extremely nice, but they are great guard dogs. Pit bulls are just as greatas any other dog, and people should treat them respectfullly and lovingly.

Answer 7

With you on that one. When they were bred to be in the fighting pits way back when, one of the desirable traits was to have a "soft mouth" with humans...so the owners could put their hands in the pit during the middle of a fight (makes my stomach turn to think of them fighting these wonderful dogs) and grab the dog(s) without fear of being bitten. For many years they were not even recommended as attack dogs, as they would pin someone, but rarely bite, as many other dogs could be trained to do. Of course, people had to screw with that and started doing incredibly cruel, inhumane (I won't go into it here, but it would make your blood curdle) things to these dogs to make them insanely aggressive and mean. They took the fighting trait and aggression toward other dogs and turned it toward human beings. Of course, this is only a small subset of people and pits, but unfortunately those are the stories that stick. Because of that, many good dogs have been put down and people hurt. My dog Tommy is half pit and half german shepherd and has all the wonderful pittie qualities. I worked with him since he was a baby to socialize him around people and other dogs. Pits or part pits should be watched around other dogs and fully socialized around them, as they do have that aggession toward other dogs bred into them from long ago. I will always have a dog that is part pittie...they are the best...smart, sweet, devoted, loyal and FUNNY!

Answer 8

Pits were not first breed for fighting they were bred for bull baiting just like the bull dog. They were also used as "butchers" dogs, they would grab a hold of the nose of a steer and hold on so the butcher could kill it. After bull baiting was out lawed breeders then turned to dog fighting. As the symbol of the US for WWI1 and known in England and rural areas as the nanny dog it seems hard to believe how far their image as fallen so low. But the a$$holes who take any dog and turn them into a killer.

Answer 9

you are right they are the best loving dogs, it is all in how they are raised and treated. I think people are the problem not the pit.

Answer 10

There is no bad dog.Only bad owners.Years ago it was the rottweiler and doberman who got a bad wrap now its the pits turn.Some ppl just don't know how to train their dogs right.