What makes a dog a fighting dog?

Question

There is a big to-do at the moment concerning Pit Bull Terriers, but I'm confused, aren't dogs as good as they're trained?
What makes these so vicious?

Answer 1

Any dog can be a fighting dog lack or training or being purposefully trained for agression, or abuse and neglect.

We have an American Pit Bull Terrier (apbt)she is a sweetheart and loves our sharpei and shih tzu and is fabulous with our 4 kids.

It's all about how they are trained or not trained whichever the case may be. We got our APBT through someone who had gotten her from a breeder who purposefully seperated them from their mother at just 3 weeks to make them aggressive, luckily she came to us where we could do all we could to train and socialize her so she won't be aggressive but what about the rest of the litter makes you wonder if they were so lucky?

People are the true problem. And it's important to remember more people attack other people in one hour than dogs do in years!

I know a chihuahua who is left to rule the home of a friend, untrained, etc... He is the leader in that household, he is much more dangerous to me than any APBT I have ever met. It's important to note that any dog can be aggessive when not properly trained.

The beloved dog of the tv series from the 50's 'little rascals' is a American Pit Bull Terrier. At that time they were one of the most popular breeds in the US, but time and people have changed that!

Answer 2

Any dog that doesn't spend enough time being socialised with other dogs between the ages of 10 - 16 weeks will fight. But with terriers this socialisation period is very intense and a lot shorter. Thats why Staffs have a reputation for being great with prople and terrible with other dogs - their owners don't know that they need to be socialised!
With terriers the critical period is 8 - 14 weeks, and they will scrap if they miss out on the early training. It takes months of dedicated training to undo the early damage.
When your dog is stocky, powerful, and has a large jaw with a very powerful bite, thats a problem. These dogs are bred to have a huge bite, the pressure per square inch is far more than other breeds.
Then the dogs are rewarded for fighting, and those that are good at it selected for breeding. Soft dogs are rejected. Over time the breed or type develops.
While other dogs enjoy playing, chasing a ball or play scrapping, these dogs are selected, bred and trained to be serious fighters.

Answer 3

The idiot owners make a dog a fighting dog.Any breed of dog would fight if trained that way.Of course, there are always going to be dogs who have bad temperaments,but it could be any breed,and i suppose some are easier to make nasty than others.Pit Bulls have a reputation, are so are consistently used in fighting. Bull terriers have been made to look like vicious, nasty dogs in the media, full stop, but all dogs have the ability to be taught bad behaviour.I had an English Bull terrier,and found people shy-ed away from him because of his breed,but he was the most loving, gentle dog i ever had, because we treated him with respect and didn't turn him into a killing machine, which is what the owners of dogs who fight do.

Answer 4

From past experience with many pits, they are not that vicious as any other dog. It is about the breeding and how they are raised. You can raise a pit to fight BUT it can also be very gentle outside of fighting. Pits have been known to get along great with other animals even their own breed, but if raised to fight, when they are put into the square, they turn on and fight, once outside the square, they are a normal dog. I know from several years of experience. Pits have taken on a lot of attention as being terrible dogs that should not be trusted especially around children. But that rule also applies to all dogs, because they have teeth and all are sucepatable to bite. So I feel it is about how they are raised and the breeding background should be checked for both parents.

Answer 5

Have a look at the answers to the question after yours - basically these dogs are breed to fight which makes them much more aggresive. Yes training has a lot to do with it, but once a pit bull attacks it takes a lot to stop them, they just keep going, unlike many other breeds who will only bite once if they do attack. Also pit bull type dogs have incredibly strong jaws so one bite does a lot more damage than other breeds.

Answer 6

Pit-bulls are highly aggressive dogs, they haven't been bred the in the same manner as similar breeds. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier for example has had much of its aggressive nature bred out of it. Pit Bulls are still being bred to be aggressive animals and in some cases trained to be aggressive. It is a sad state of affairs that these potentially wonderful pets are still be used to fight other dogs and attack people.

Answer 7

Most commonly its the owner at fault,who never bother to train or socilise which leads the dog to becoming unruly and rebellious.Some dogs also become fighters after bad expeiriences,dogs that have been attacked before can be badly shook up and then become fighters themselves,they get to the other dog before it does them.Socilisation prevents alot aggresive behaviours,the more your dog is used to different situations the less it feels of defending it self.Many people who own pittbulls or other bull breeds are young men who feel hard with there musle packed dog and they encourage bad aggresive behaviour as it increases there ego.It's a real shame that these type of dogs are beeing seen this way as many make wonderfull loyall family pets in the right hands.

Answer 8

Where I agree that it is the upbringing that makes a dog violent all the time, I disagree that a dog is NEVER violent if brought up right! I have a friend that had a pit that was the sweetest dog I've ever met until one day another dog that he didn't know walked into his yard! He broke through the front window, killed the dog and then bit the neighbor who ran over to try and help. The neighbor ended up having 160 staples in his leg and arm because of this dog!! He was sweet until one day he just snapped!! All dogs are wild in nature, regardless of upbringing! I love dogs, I have a pit, but I know the risk of her snapping one day! I also have other dogs that I worry about just as much. Its not the BREED, just the dog!!

Answer 9

One more time. Pits WERE BRED for their ability to fight. They bred the "game" in to them. It is not always the owners. Pits have the ability and the DESIRE to fight, it has been in them for a long time. They are not vicious, they are doing what they were bred to do. And they are good at it. Yes, some people train them to fight, and yes some people are idiots, but, the dogs ENJOY that activity. This is something that people need to understand and accept. The way this is going, it will be another screw up like what we had a few years ago with the shepherds and dobermans and a couple of other breeds that "breeders" have bred all the working ability out of these dogs and turned them into the crap that is masquerading out there today. They took all the working ability out of them because they too were too "aggressive" and they will do it to pits too. If you decide to own a dog that was bred to fight, you need to take responsibility for that dog and treat it like the dog it is, not take it's ability away to please you.

Answer 10

Just FYI, for the person who said Pits have locking jaws - this is a myth, and sadly one that is often repeated. It's not true at all, of any bull terrier breed.

As others have said, what makes a bad dog is bad handling.