Why are so many pit bull owners in denial about the breed's high prey drive and animal-aggressive tendencies?

Question

If you're TRULY a pit lover, you'll respect the dog's natural breed tendencies, rather than pretending they don't exist. Denying the breed's high prey drive & gameness is irresponsible - do we really need more irresponsible dog owners?

Do some research - Pits are generally NOT good with other pets once they mature and their prey drive kicks in. They require lots of exercise and interaction with their owners to be happy, healthy dogs, and they require CAREFUL supervision around other animals.

If you have a pit & other pets without problems, you're either very responsible and train and supervise carefully, or you've been very lucky. Please don't assume all others will be so responsible or so fortunate.

Advocate for the breed if you wish, but please do it responsibly! Don't deny or minimize the breed's prey drive to promote them to people who have other pets, or you may be condemning a dog to death or a shelter after it kills the unsuspecting owner's other pets.

Peace.

I never said I thought pits were evil - they're simply high-prey dogs bred to fight other dogs. I've met many who were very sweet. Unfortunately, owners who are in denial make them dangerous.

I've worked in an emergency animal hospital for years, and saw many otherwise sweet & loveable pit bulls being brought in for euthanasia because they had killed another of the owner's pets. Simple education would prevent such tragedies.

My frustration comes from people here who will post answers recommending pits to people with other pets without making any effort to caution about supervision or handling. They will also jump all over anyone who recommends supervising a pit bull around other dogs or cats, as though all pit bulls are reliable with other pets, when the dogs were bred to have a HIGH PREY DRIVE, which makes them by nature unreliable around small animals. I'd no more leave a pit unsupervised around my cats than I would a Jack Russel - they're also notorious cat killers.

Answer 1

It is very easy to understand why owners do not understand the drives that dogs have. Owners often equate the people friendly/loving bubbly personalities that dogs, especially pits give to people will be the same towards other dogs.

Before I go into the rest of this answer, I will say I am advocate of the breed. I personally have a rescued an American Pit Bull Terrier, named Florence, who is certified in the following, AKC CGC (Cannine Good Citizen), ATT (American Temperment Tested), and is finishing her TDI (Therapy Dog International) certification. Florence was one of the many Pits stuck in a shelter in Virginia when she was rescued by a wonderful Pit Bull Rescue, Animal Farm Foundation in NY State. I adopted Florence from them. I volunteer at local rescue organization in jersey training Pit Bull type dogs to make them more attractive to suitable adopters.

Florence is a typical Pit, who is extremely people loving. She is very intilligent, easily trained, gentle and calm. She is always appropriate with other dogs while on leash, and I am always selective with which dogs she meets. We don't let our children talk to strangers and we should not let our dogs talk to strangers. Florence has always played nicely with other dogs, but play is always supervised. She and I run everyday 4-5 miles a day. We do tracking, hiking, camping, swimming, visiting friends and family all the time and go to nursing homes to greet people who can not have dogs anymore.

That being said, what makes pit bulls so easy to train is their drive and this also can make them very difficult to own. Pit bulls are working dogs and they need a job. Whether it was going in the field to wreslte a bull for the butcher, to guarding the farm, to being a great therapy dog, to being a search and rescue dog, to unfortunately being thrown into a ring and fight to the death with another dog.

There are different levels of dog-dog aggression in Pits. I have seen many with no dog-dog aggression and some with levels so high that the dog was very difficult to desensitize.

Please be aware that all breeds can have some dog-dog aggressiveness. The best way to avoid this is socialization as a puppy!! The first 14 weeks of a puppies life are so important. They must be around other dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. all the time!

My dog Florence has a high hunt drive for small animals. Pit bulls are a mix of an english terrier type dog and a real bull dog (not todays english bulldog), so they should have a hunt drive for small animals because they have terrier in them and desire to not give up on a job even if it means taking their life. I work everyday with her and i can now say after about a year of daily training she is very well behaved around critters, but I would allow her/or trust her in the same room unsupervised with my nephews new pet rabbit. Positive reinforcement and firm but fair rules must be used.

Pit bull breeds, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, and American Pit Bull Terriers, require good socialization as a puppy, daily excercise and daily training. If a person can not give this to a any dog, especially a pit bull they should not have a dog. If you have a Pit Bull or are thinking of getting a Pit Bull breed, please be informed, educated and responsible. We need dogs and owners to be good examples and to show what great dogs they can be to combat the negative press and the horrible owners that are out there.

If you have a home with multiple dogs, pits are whatever, do not leave them home alone together. Fights can happen anytime and often happen when the pack leader is not home.

Your Pit Bull might not start the fight, but they will finish the fight, and you and your dog will be blamed!! Be responsible and don't put your dog in that situation.

Pit bulls are fad breeds and are in the hands of the wrong people. Remember the most popular dog in terms of population in the US, is the pit bull.

For great information about Pit Bull type Breed dogs go to www.animalfarmfoundation.org

Answer 2

Owning a pitbull is like owning a child. loving care and attention is needed in order to produce a well behaved pet. Just because a pit was bred to fight other animals does not mean that the dog actually knows it was. Aggressivness can be controlled and dealt with just like any other trait an animal possesses. Pitbulls cause more damage when attacking than a chihuahua would, but that doesn't mean the chihuahua is any less aggressive. I myself own two full grown pitbulls and a year ago added one chihuahua puppy to the family. Each of them a loving member of the family who live in perfect harmony with each other and have never had any complications. The point I'll stress is this, a pet of any size or strength can be dangerous, but it takes a responsible owner to make the difference. By the way, anyone wishing to respond to this question as I have needs to pick up a book on pitbulls before answering. "LOCK JAW IS A FARCE!!!"

Answer 3

The breeds traits are formed from a long history of genetic selection,just as other breeds. The Breed is of Bulldog and Terrier lineage.Both groups known to be strong willed,courageous,and potentially animal aggressive.That is the breeds base.The modern APBT was selectively bred to be game.As a byproduct of and in part due to selection of animals based on the game test,animal aggression,especially dog aggression is common.As is high prey drive. This is the APBT.You either admire,accept,desire or tolerate these traits and what comes with them in some combination OR you don't really want a dog of this breed.You change these things,you have something other than an APBT.

Answer 4

I have a pit and I also have 2 other dogs and 2 cats, and my pit does great with them, but that does not mean I will not supervise. If a freak accident were to occur,and I came home to a bloodbath, then I would only have myself to blame for not being responsible with my dogs. That is why I always keep an eye on my dogs, and when I can't to that, then I crate them.

I know of a lady who does rescue work with dogs. She had 2 APBT's that were rescued from dog fighters. 1 of them was older, about 9 yrs old or so, and the other one was only a few months old. She figured that the dogs all got along great so they would be okay if she left them alone for a bit. Well, she came home to a bloodbath and the puppy was dead and the older dog was all beat up and had to be PTS. The fight started apparently over brussel sprouts and turned into a fight to the death. The problem was a lack of judgment on her part and it could have happened to almost anyone. People tend to get really comfortable with their dogs and trust them more than they should. The bottom line is that they are DOGS and you should never trust to not fight. I think this goes for all dogs though, not just pits. Dogs are dogs and they have dog instincts.

Answer 5

I once had an elderly lady for a friend. She had a wonderful little dog. A mix of some sort. She had the dog trained well and it behaved very well. Learn here https://tr.im/8mL4l

She kept an uncovered candy dish on her coffee table with candy in it. The dog was forbidden to eat the candy. When she was in the room observing the dog he did not even appear to notice the candy. One day while she was in her dinning room she happened to look in a mirror and could see her dog in the living room. He did not know he was being watched. For several minutes he was sitting in front of the candy bowl staring at the candy. Finally he reached in and took one. He placed it on the table and stared at it, he woofed at it. He stared some more, licked his chops and PUT IT BACK in the bowl and walked away. Did he want the candy, oh yeah. Did he eat it? Nope. They can be trained that well but most, I'll admit, are not trained that well. When I was a young boy, maybe 5 years old. We had a german shepherd. He was very well trained also. My mom could leave food unattended on the table, no problem. She would open the oven door and set a pan roast beef or roast chicken on the door to cool. No problem. He would not touch it, watched or not. But butter? Whole other story. You leave a stick of butter anywhere he could reach and it was gone. He was a large shepherd so there were not many places he could not reach. Really, I think the number of dogs trained to the point they will leave food alone when not being supervised is very small indeed.
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Now if we are talking obedience training, not food grubbing, that is a different story. Way back when I was first learning obedience training one of the final exercises was to put our dogs in a down/stay and not only leave the room but leave the building for 15 minutes. The only person that stayed was our trainer, not the owners. Most of the dogs in my class did not break their stay, which would be an automatic fail. I'm happy to report my dog was one of the ones that passed.

Answer 6

I don't agree with anything you say. A Pitt is not more aggressive then any other dog can be and have a prey drive. Many other breeds were bread as hunters, but not the Pitt. It depends on how they are raised. Other dogs can be more aggressive and will be more protective of their pack, family, like a German Shepard.
I currently have three dogs. A little 9 year old 20 lb Rat Terrier, A big 4 1/2 year old 40 lb Beagle and a 4 year old 55 lb APBT. Take a guess who is top dog. I have seen the little Ratty bring the Pitt to whining with her ear in his mouth because she buggered him too much.
I have seen my "terror" Pitt stand guard over my baby grandson when my daughter has come to visit. She will set him on the floor in his chair and she will sit next to him.
All dogs can be nasty, give me any dog and I can make it very vicious. It all comes to training.
Pitts have gotten a bad reputation because so many of them have been trained to be mean. It is a macho thing to have a bad dog and the Pitt has been picked as the breed of choice.
Years ago, before anyone ever heard of a Pit Bull, it was the Doberman that everyone was afraid of.
We have to get it all straight. It is the owners of the animal that is the problem not the breed.

Answer 7

I agree but there are a lot of other breeds with the same issues, however the PIt Bulls takes the most of the negativity. As with any breed you need to know what you are getting. I would not leave any dog and child unsupervised, CDC stats state regardles of breed the number one factor of dog attacks is human negliegence in that circumstance. Our Pit is 5 years old and has never once shown any aggression toward any animal. Actually my Lab is more dog aggressive than the Pit. BUT wirh that said he has always been raised with a firm hand, proper training and tons of socializing,

Answer 8

I'm curious to where this outburst came from! ;]

I'm a pit lover, but I understand that they can be aggressive in the wrong hands, as with any dog with an overactive mind. Which is very easy to do. Most of the dogs that are aggressive are very willful, high-energy breeds that need loads of mental and physical exercise, but have weak, lazy owners - gangster guys that want a 'tough' looking breed to look cool to their friends, but those are the weakest type of people that couldn't be LESS informed on the breed! THOSE are the dogs that attack people. Dogs like this need a very firm and patient owner who is even more stubborn than they are.

Having said that, if you train and socialize your puppy from the moment you get them, and you continue to do that and give them mental challenges, they can be amazing pets. They're amazingly clever and have the goofiest personalities. I wouldn't let my pit around my cat without being there with them [of course, I wouldn't do that with any of my dogs that I've owned anyway], but I would trust him with my cat when I'm there because he knows what would happen if he even looked at her the wrong way. haha

I personally haven't been met a pit that displayed any aggression towards me or other pets, and I've learned to dislike german shepards because EVERY SINGLE one has displayed abnormal aggressive tendancies. I've been bitten by two of them, chased in a house by one, and another had to be put away when we arrived at our friends house because he 'bites everyone'. The most aggressive dog I've met was a golden retriever for crying out loud. In any case, I understand that the media hypes up anything to do with pit bulls, so it seems that every single one is automatically a danger.

My point is, we have to ALL think for ourselves. Not every pit is going to be dangerous, and there are going to be dogs that are 'known' to be great family pets that are more aggressive than a pit!

EDIT:
puppyluv has my vote. :]

Answer 9

We have 2 pitbulls, and have had no problems with them. We also have a cockerspainel/sheepdog mix. she's the mean one. Our male is a character, he likes to pull what we call the flying marmaduke on our friends. There is nothing wrong with this breed except the fools that want them for fighting. All dogs have prey drive, it's in their blood. Pit's just don't need the extra push. Our are treated as members of the family, that's the way we like it. And if they do get a bit out of control, Mom's belt works nicley on their backend. let's just say when they see the belt, they go lay down and stay.

Answer 10

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_pitbull

sorry you feel that way. i do not own a pit, but any unsocialized dog is a terror. i certianly hope you strive to higher standards for yourself, by educating yourself before you slander an entire breed. If you socialize the dog, and treat it with the respect it desrves you will get a well balanced dog. Unless it has a medical problem or poor breeding. Also, there are ways to reduce prey drive.