Comments on: Pit Bulls: The Matter of Genetic Causation

By: Renee

Renee — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:18:04 +0000

THANK YOU so much for writing this! the vast majority of people, including dog owners, don’t have a thimble full of factual information about dog behavior. they think their dog has “turned on them” when it bites them after they try to take a toy away, not realizing this is very common dog behavior and that they may have been unconsciously reinforcing the behavior or it’s just never been addressed. surprise! dogs aren’t people! it’s amazing to me that people can read this article and still say “well, i haven’t studied it or anything, but somehow my opinion/the media is more qualified to speak on this subject”. i have worked at my city shelter for a year and a dog rescue for 7 months and probably 60% of all of them were pit mixes. even i was duped into thinking pits had a higher incidence of dog aggression that other breeds, but the more i learn the more i think it is just due to the high volume i’ve interacted with. the more there are, the more dog aggressive ones there are. if i’ve only met 3 rottweilers and all of them have been very dog tolerant, i am going to unconsciously label that breed as “dog tolerant” but that doesn’t necessarily have any truth to it. the same goes for the “pit bull” bite hysteria: even if we were to assume that every media report of a pit bull bite was true (which so repulsively false i can hardly entertain it) it is really not that many bites if you put it into the context of estimated 5 to 10 million “pit bulls” in the U.S.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:55:06 +0000

Thank you so much for writing this! People don’t seem to understand that the nurture part of an animal is the deciding factor when it comes to their behavior.

By: David

David — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:09:08 +0000

“The fact is pit bulls are no more dangerous that any other dog.”

*snort, giggle*.

Let me know when there is a story about a rampaging Corgi that can only be stopped with a bullet to the head, ‘k?

By: Blaire Pavlik

Blaire Pavlik — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:06:36 +0000

People purchase dogs for a reason. if you want a little cute dog to keep company and prance around, get a yorkie or Pomeranian; if you want a dog you can take to the park and play fetch and throw the ball for hours outdoors, get a lab or retriever. people who want dogs for protection go towards rotts pits and german shepherds. this is why dogs that are purchased for the purpose of protection are involved in more unprovoked aggression incidents. i’m sorry, but a chihuahua won’t scare a rapist or intruder as much as a 65lbs pit bull would. perhaps this is why more pit are involved in attack incidents. THAT along with how many there are. in response to a comment above about shelters being 40%pit bull, some have over 60%. in fact, there is so much of an over population that 93% of pits are automatically euthanized when going into a shelter, mainly because they’re over run with them! NEWS FLASH- “no studies to date can be accurately used to identify what breeds of dogs are most likely to bite” (AKC, American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Animal Control Agency, and the ASPCA) these sources HAVE proven that attack incidents are in direct relation to population of breed at the time. hence, if you have 100 pits and 50 german shepherds- you will have twice the amount and pit bull aggression incidents

By: layken

layken — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:29:35 +0000

well i dont agree with whoever said a german shepherd and a golden retriever wouldd differ in behavior if raised the same. I owned a chocolate lab..”bred” to be sweet,loyal,ALL PERSON friendly….i raised her from 5wks and she would NEVER hurt a family member. She also KILLED over 7 different dogs, one even being a st.bernard. People who lived around us never kept thier dogs tied or penned or under control and theyd start the fight and shed kill them, but she has also attacked 3 people, wen she has gotten out of her pen and went after them. NOW, i would say she was bred from great parents and all, but she is her own person. I had never trained her for dog fighting, i will admit i am the problem for her stranger/dog agression, but thats wat i wanted in my dog…altho she was NEVER agressive to ANY CHILD, even stranger kids..only ADULTS she didnt know.

I also owned over 8 pitbulls…and NONE of them have attacked ANYONE! my fiance ALSO has had over 5 pitsbulls with no aggression problems.

My family members all together have owned over id say about 15 pits NO AGGRESSION PROBLEMS,none killed anyone or ever attacked ANYONE!

my friends, most of them own pits. NONE have hurt a human!

should ALL those beautiful soudn animals die bc of wat 3 pitbulls did in ONE YEAR????

NO!

any dog is aggressive, BUT just bc a pitbull attacks a mini dachshund doesnt mean hell kill a child….thats idiotic to think that

also, i will admit i am a hypocrit
and i try not to be

i have been bitten repeatedly by “AUSTRAILIAN CATTLE DOGS” who i have heard were VERY agressive…but i have met many sweet ones too

i woldnt want them all banned!

once their was a “mauling” in my town and it was a PITBULL…. supposedly

and when i finally saw the dog who attacked the guy
………………………..

dum dum dun dummmmm!!!

its WASNT A PITBULL

it was a GOLDEN RETRIEVER LAB MIX!

so there you go

mistaken identity

also many people call a dog a “pitbull” based on thier behavior! haha shows how smart people are!

people have told me about a “PITBULL” they know, come to find out its a lab or a rott or a bulldog, or even a hound dog!

i ant believe how ignorant people are!

By: Kimmisue

Kimmisue — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:45:15 +0000

I agree with most here. I am definitely not an expert of any kind, but I believe the owners and how the breed of dog is trained will determine their demeanor. I wondered if someone a little more educated on the matter could send me some words of advice regarding a pitt bull mix that I am considering bringing into our family.

He is two years old and was rescued from a homeless man/shelter when he was 6 months old. He has been with a woman, 2 other dogs, and 2 cats for the past year and a half in an apartment setting. She works for the veteranarian office that he came to originally… and has kept him and nurtered him back to health. He had mainge (sp?), his ears had been cropped with scissors and had to be fixed by the vet, and some horrible person slit his tongue down the middle to make it looks like a serpant. He was obviously very much abused as a puppy. The woman that is adopting him out must get rid of him because her apartment complex has new owners, and they have a stipulation that says the breed cannot be in her complex. She has screened very closely the people interested in adopting “Willie”, and up until she met our family, did not feel confident in their reasons for taking him.. She told me she felt that they would fight him and his abuse would start over again. He has been in a happy home with people and other animals, he is crate trained (he stays in a crate during the day while she works)… and she says he has always been a little timid, but is definitely a lover. He spend a day with our family and we fell in love with him immediately. He got along with our two cats, and was very mellow, and learned quickly to scratch at the door and cry when he wanted in or out of the backyard. We have the perfect home for him, my husband is retired and is home much of the time, daughter is 14, myself, and 2 spoiled kitty cats. We have a huge yard with plenty of room to run and excercise.

Of course my main concern is his early abuse. I am doing as much research as possible to make an educated decision on whether or not to add Willie to our family. I really want to, but I am afraid because of the early abuse he had in his life. I have no knowledge of whether he was ever used for fighting, only that it was likely to come to that before he was rescued, had he lived that long. I wondered if someone could give me some advice, or even someone that has personal experience with a rescued, or previously abused dog? Anything would be greatly appreciated.

By: Claire

Claire — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:32:58 +0000

Pitbulls were genetically “made” of you want to say to be aggressive dogs, however they were never made to be aggressive against humans. There are animals, weiner dogs for example, that are trained specifically for catching certain types of animals. If a dog is reinforced to be aggressive against humans it will be, any kind of dog will be, but they were not genetically made to do that.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:13:45 +0000

Wow. Nice article. I admit, I’m on the fence about all of this. I believe that pit bulls are predisposed toward fighting other dogs. They are, as a breed, intensely confident, bold dogs. They often have short fuses with other dogs, and they don’t back down. They were bred for generations to not back down, not when it comes to working as a catch dog, not when it comes to fighting. (Not when it comes to trying to stick their tongues in your ears, either.) That combined with that nice high prey drive puts a lot of pit bulls in bad situations when their owners aren’t prepared to deal with it.

Ok, now go back and substitute “Jack Russell Terrier” for “pit bull” and “rat dog” for “catch dog”. Heh.

While Roofy makes some good points, at the same time, if you’re looking for a working sheepdog, you’re not going to pick a terrier. If you’re looking for a go-to-ground dog you’re not going to pick a dog bred to be a lap dog. Breed matters for temperament reasons, too. That’s part of why we have breeds.

By: Roofy

Roofy — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:30:13 +0000

It makes me sick that every time Pit Bulls are discussed, someone always has to bring up the victims of “Pit Bull attacks!”, which requires the ignoring of ALL the other victims, human and animal, of all the other dog breeds. Such selective caring is repugnant to me. ALL attack victims matter! If your child needs 200 stitches, it will hurt just as much regardless of the breed that mauled your baby. And you would also have to ignore the fact that in places where Pit Bull type dogs have been banned, the number of dog attacks does NOT decrease! People and animals are still attacked and even killed by dogs, just by other breeds, and nobody seems to care about them. Sick!!

And while you can argue genetics all day, all dogs bred for a specific purpose still have to be TRAINED. Intensely and constantly. Bloodhounds have to be trained to track, herders have to be trained to herd, and fighting dogs have to be trained to fight. All dogs need proper training and socialization. The vast majority of Pit Bulls are not used for fighting, just as most Border Collies aren’t used for herding, and the vast majority of Weiner dogs aren’t used to hunt rodents/vermin. And I can safely say that NONE of the Rodesian Ridgebacks in America hunt lions….

Fact is, the AVMA, ASPCA, CDC, and even the AKC state that there is no such thing as an inherently aggressive dog. Are my Shepherd or Bully going to cause much more dmamge than a Weiner dog should they decide to attack someone? Absolutely. My job as their owner/guardian is to train/socialize them to people to help prevent this from happening. There are no 100% guarantees that any dog will not bite.

Toby, walk your dog every day, so he can see many people and experience different sights/sounds. Dogs are often nervous around unfamiliar people/situations. Whenever you see a person, put him into a sit and give him a treat. When someone approaches you on the sidewalk, step off the walk 6-8 feet, put your dog in a sit, and treat him when the person goes by. Doesn’t take long for a dog to associate people=cookies! It wouldn’t hurt to spend some money for a few hours with a trainer. The best way to combat negative stereotypes is with a positive image!! Train your dog SOON, and reinforce the training OFTEN. It’s an investment you’ll be glad you made.

By: sandy

sandy — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:34:19 +0000

“A bernese mountain dog was bred to be a draft animal with a stable temperament and ease of handling. Pitt Bulls (American Straffordshire Bull Terriors or whatever”

***correct spelling: Pit Bull (American Staffordshire Terrier)

As a vet tech I would rather have a Pit Bull in the exam room than a Bernese. Not that Bernese Mtn Dogs arent nice dogs-but I have seen many nasty Berny’s and never a nasty Pit Bull.

A Pit Bull will let us exam and manipulate while in severe pain without reaction. Yes they were bred to bait bulls and dog fight but their aggression is towards the animal, not humans. They have an intense prey drive and low defense drive and are notoriously bad guardian dogs.

The Pit Bull problem is a sign of overpopulation, irresponsible breeding, and irresponsible owners. All of this comes along with this being a fad breed. In some shelters nearly 40% of the dogs are pit bull type.

Pit Bulls were the most popular family breed in the early 1900’s for a reason-unflappable temperment towards people.

You will see the media hysteria and villan dog has changed with their popularity at the time(with idiot dog owners). The German Shepherd, Dobie, Rotweiller, and St. Bernard have all had their moments in time. Did you know that at one time the New England Journal of Medicin recommended banning St. Bernards? After the movie Cujo, the idiot owners went after St. Bernards and for a while many a kid was brought to emergency rooms with St. Bernard bites.

Its all about the owner and responsibility. Focusing on a breed is a band aid measure that only shifts the problem to another breed. Broad legislation focusing on responsible owners is the solution.