(no subject)
Pit Bulls are born to be mean. Not True! Pit Bulls like all other breeds, are not born inherently mean or bad! They can, like any other breed, become mean through lack of training, abuse, neglect and irresponsible ownership and breeding.
To start, pit bull is not a breed of dog, it’s a term typically used to group 3 breeds of dog, the American Pit Bull Terrier (ABPT), American Staffordshire Terrier (AMSTAFF) and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (STAFFIE).
The Pit Bull is probably the most misunderstood dog in the United States. People see them and cross the street out of fear and try to ban them from their cities. Why? Simply stated, lack of education on the breeds. The public only sees negative stories in the news. Pit Bulls are wonderful dogs in the hands of responsible owners just like any other breed. As with any dog, there will always be irresponsible owners and poorly bred dogs. That does NOT mean that all of these dogs are evil! The majority of domestic violence in the US is caused by men, are all men considered evil and dangerous, No. Then why would all Pit Bulls be dangerous because of a few bad owners?
For hundreds of years Pit Bulls were bred to fight dogs, certain traits were bred into the bloodlines for that purpose, high pain tolerance, high prey drive, etc. However a quality that was never bred into Pit Bulls was human aggression. Human "aggressive" dogs were undesirable as these dogs required extensive handling prior to and during their fights AND most of these dogs were also family pets so no human aggression was ever tolerated. Dogs that exhibited human aggression were typically killed, meaning that only human friendly lines were perpetuated and desired.
It has been said that a Pit Bull never met a stranger. They love and adore humans. They want so much to be apart of your family and spend time with you watching tv, walking, driving, etc. I have seen severely abused and neglected Pit Bulls who see you comeing and they can't wait to be petted and loved. Even after the abuse, they want nothing more than to be with a family of their own! As with any breed there are exceptions to the normal temperament and behavior. We see this in humans as well, there are good ones and bad ones.
ALL BREEDS OF DOGS BITE IF NOT PROPERLY TRAINED AND RAISED
Research..........
(From ACF) There is no scientific proof that Pit Bull’s, or any other breed of dog is dangerous. The Foundation's collective experience and research has found the American Pit Bull Terrier is a "terrier." All terriers have animal prey
drive, but this does not make them dangerous or vicious. The Pit Bull type dog comes from Europe and evolved from some Mastiff based breed such as with some Bulldog blood either in a pure form or to a variation of any of the many terrier and hound groups beginning with the now extinct Black and Tans Terriers and Olde English White Terriers. English and Irish immigrants imported the dogs. Unfortunately, it was discovered in the late 1800's that if trained, the dogs could be used in the inhumane sport of dog fighting. Due to federal laws passed in the 1970's prohibiting dog fighting fewer dogs are now trained for the illegal sport.
Question: Are pit bulls inherently dangerous to people? Answer: No! Pit bulls are no more inherently dangerous to people than other dog breeds. People often assume that pit bulls are human aggressive because they were bred to fight animals. This is simply not true! If that were the case then Irish Wolfhounds, Anatolian Shepard's, Great Pyrenees, etc should be considered dangerous to humans as well.
There is a common misconception regarding dog aggression! In the canine world there are many types of aggression including dog, displaced, food, fear, etc. Because a dog is aggressive with other dogs does not make them aggressive towards humans! A love and respect for Humans was specifically bred into the pit bull lines, due to the nature of Dog Fighting when it was considered a sport hundreds of years ago.
Dogs of any breed that show a tendency towards Human Aggression should be immediately seen by a qualified Behaviorist and Vet. Often this is can be a result of fear, which can be greatly reduced by taking the time to properly socialize your puppy to lots of different people, places and things! Socialization does not always prevent a fearful dog, but it’s a huge step in that direction. Human Aggression should NOT be tolerated in any breed of dog small or large!
The American Temperament Testing Society does temperament testing throughout the year at breed clubs and compiles the statistics. Their overall pass rate for breeds is 80%, and in the 2002 statistics, APBTs, AMSTAFFs, and Rottweilers were all in the 82 percentile, meaning 80+% of the dogs tested passed the temperament test. That is a very high percentage, especially when comparing to breeds which are common family dogs, such as, Golden Retrievers and Bichon Frise tested at 77%, Chihuahua at 71%, Greyhound at 81% and Lhasa Apso at 71%. These test results are available at www.atts.org
To start, pit bull is not a breed of dog, it’s a term typically used to group 3 breeds of dog, the American Pit Bull Terrier (ABPT), American Staffordshire Terrier (AMSTAFF) and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (STAFFIE).
The Pit Bull is probably the most misunderstood dog in the United States. People see them and cross the street out of fear and try to ban them from their cities. Why? Simply stated, lack of education on the breeds. The public only sees negative stories in the news. Pit Bulls are wonderful dogs in the hands of responsible owners just like any other breed. As with any dog, there will always be irresponsible owners and poorly bred dogs. That does NOT mean that all of these dogs are evil! The majority of domestic violence in the US is caused by men, are all men considered evil and dangerous, No. Then why would all Pit Bulls be dangerous because of a few bad owners?
For hundreds of years Pit Bulls were bred to fight dogs, certain traits were bred into the bloodlines for that purpose, high pain tolerance, high prey drive, etc. However a quality that was never bred into Pit Bulls was human aggression. Human "aggressive" dogs were undesirable as these dogs required extensive handling prior to and during their fights AND most of these dogs were also family pets so no human aggression was ever tolerated. Dogs that exhibited human aggression were typically killed, meaning that only human friendly lines were perpetuated and desired.
It has been said that a Pit Bull never met a stranger. They love and adore humans. They want so much to be apart of your family and spend time with you watching tv, walking, driving, etc. I have seen severely abused and neglected Pit Bulls who see you comeing and they can't wait to be petted and loved. Even after the abuse, they want nothing more than to be with a family of their own! As with any breed there are exceptions to the normal temperament and behavior. We see this in humans as well, there are good ones and bad ones.
ALL BREEDS OF DOGS BITE IF NOT PROPERLY TRAINED AND RAISED
Research..........
(From ACF) There is no scientific proof that Pit Bull’s, or any other breed of dog is dangerous. The Foundation's collective experience and research has found the American Pit Bull Terrier is a "terrier." All terriers have animal prey
drive, but this does not make them dangerous or vicious. The Pit Bull type dog comes from Europe and evolved from some Mastiff based breed such as with some Bulldog blood either in a pure form or to a variation of any of the many terrier and hound groups beginning with the now extinct Black and Tans Terriers and Olde English White Terriers. English and Irish immigrants imported the dogs. Unfortunately, it was discovered in the late 1800's that if trained, the dogs could be used in the inhumane sport of dog fighting. Due to federal laws passed in the 1970's prohibiting dog fighting fewer dogs are now trained for the illegal sport.
Question: Are pit bulls inherently dangerous to people? Answer: No! Pit bulls are no more inherently dangerous to people than other dog breeds. People often assume that pit bulls are human aggressive because they were bred to fight animals. This is simply not true! If that were the case then Irish Wolfhounds, Anatolian Shepard's, Great Pyrenees, etc should be considered dangerous to humans as well.
There is a common misconception regarding dog aggression! In the canine world there are many types of aggression including dog, displaced, food, fear, etc. Because a dog is aggressive with other dogs does not make them aggressive towards humans! A love and respect for Humans was specifically bred into the pit bull lines, due to the nature of Dog Fighting when it was considered a sport hundreds of years ago.
Dogs of any breed that show a tendency towards Human Aggression should be immediately seen by a qualified Behaviorist and Vet. Often this is can be a result of fear, which can be greatly reduced by taking the time to properly socialize your puppy to lots of different people, places and things! Socialization does not always prevent a fearful dog, but it’s a huge step in that direction. Human Aggression should NOT be tolerated in any breed of dog small or large!
The American Temperament Testing Society does temperament testing throughout the year at breed clubs and compiles the statistics. Their overall pass rate for breeds is 80%, and in the 2002 statistics, APBTs, AMSTAFFs, and Rottweilers were all in the 82 percentile, meaning 80+% of the dogs tested passed the temperament test. That is a very high percentage, especially when comparing to breeds which are common family dogs, such as, Golden Retrievers and Bichon Frise tested at 77%, Chihuahua at 71%, Greyhound at 81% and Lhasa Apso at 71%. These test results are available at www.atts.org