I will admit, that my previous support of pits was based on my general love
and acceptance of all dog breeds... I do not agree with random
stereotyping. I had not researched the breed, or any bite statistics, as
I simply didn't feel the need to.
The animal control officer who came out, shared an interesting tidbit of
information with us. Within our county, 55% of all dog aggression calls animal
control recieves and investigates, involves pit bulls.
Which may also be because you live in an area
where the breed is popular. You should
also realize that calls are made on Pits even for normal behavior, because
people are so afraid of them.
That prompted me to look a little further, to see how other breeds relate..
and in my searching I found this, from dogsbite.org:
"In the 3-year period from 2006 to 2008, pit bull type dogs
killed 52 Americans and accounted for 59% of all attacks."
Pit Bull "types" accounts for a lot of dogs that are
not Pits. For example, originally it was
thought that the two dogs that killed the woman in California were Pits - turns out they were
Cane Corsos.
From edgarsnyder.com:
- Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and American
Bulldogs were responsible for 77% of all deaths.
- Pit Bulls were responsible for 59% of
all deaths.
- Pit Bulls killed more adults than
children
from ehow.com:
The top 10 most dangerous breeds
include 10. Dalmatians, 9.boxers, 8. Presa Canarios, 7. chows, 6. Doberman
pinschers, 5. Alaskan malamutes, 4. Siberian huskies, 3. German shepherds, 2.
Rottweilers and 1. pit bulls. According to PetPlace.com, pit bulls account for
two-thirds of human fatalities resulting from dog attacks.
My question is who owns
them? Families with kids? Little old ladies? No, most
dogs that get into trouble are adolescent dogs with testicles that are owned by
"adolescent" humans with testicles. The
human factor in dog bite stats is almost completely overlooked and is the most
variable. When we change human behavior,
we change dog behavior.
As I think about, I admit that my support of the breed was based on
lack of knowledge and uneducated. The more I read, the more concerned I
become.
What should concern you is the mismanagement of any large breed of dog that is capable
of doing damage. I'm concerned that I am
seeing more field Labs and Golden Retrievers with aggression problems. But, at least many of the owners are calling
for help because they see the behavior as uncharacteristic for those breeds,
which it was.
I almost never see Pit Bull puppies in puppy class!!!!! WHY? If
I could get them there, I could educate the owners. Right now I have one in class, and his owner
is wonderful and responsible. She
already has a Pit-proof back yard, is extensively socializing him, and he can
already sit and down on verbal cues (week 2 of class).
Am I saying ALL pits are bad. Absolutely not. But I do think
it's important that we understand and keep in mind what the dogs are/were bred
for... and sometimes you just can not train a dog to not follow it's instincts.
Exactly right - which is why I HATE the mantra of "it's
all how you raise them" - because it's NOT.
It's how you raise, socialize, manage, train and contain them.
I have a great respect for the breed... I am in no way trying to bash the
entire breed. But I do believe this is a dog that has the potential to be
extremely dangerous.. and it's not a dog for everyone... and if you're going to
own one, you should have to meet tougher restrictions and the owners need to be
held accountable. And should the rottweiler or corso or GSD start showing such
staggering statistics, then they too, should be included in those restrictions.
And ANY dog, be it chihuahua or great dane or pit bull, that bites or attacks
any animal or human, should be faced with those same restrictions.
This is why dangerous dog laws should be based on
behavior of the individual dogs. A
Pomeranian killed a child - that's in the stats, too. But you don't hear anyone calling for the
eradication, muzzling, labeling, or restriction of Pomeranians. Any dog can bite, or kill, and people should
be held accountable to manage their dogs appropriately.
I know any dog is capable of attacking.... I'm not trying to single the pit
out... but statistic show that they are responsible for nearly half of all
attacks.. and when you take into consideration the number of breeds there are
out there, seeing those statistics should be sobering.
Any time any dog gets into trouble, it's
sobering. But, the popularity of a "tough"
breed skews the stats somewhat, in addition to who owns them - usually macho males with little education in dog behavior - we've all seen the spiked collars, or the heavy chains around those poor dogs necks, as they walk down city streets with their pals, pants slung low and hats turned backward.
In the 70's and 80's practically
no one had heard of Pits. It was all about getting rid of those nasty
Dobermans. Well, a lot the good Doberman
breeders stepped up to the plate to help eliminate the problem, but the other thing that helped was
that the breed's popularity dipped while that happened. Now, despite the fact that insurers still
hate them, you don't hear as much horrible stuff.
If you look at the top 15 most popular breeds,
Rotts, Boxers, AmStaffs (AKC version of Pits), Chichuahuas, Dachshunds, and
German Shepherds are all there. They are
also some of the breeds that have the most problem with aggression issues. Siberian Huskies are at #18, but they are the
most frequently cited among the dog breeds that kill other dogs and cats.
People who buy guardian or working breeds should never assume that the dog can make a correct judgment about who is friend or foe and what is prey and not prey. That's the problem in a nutshell. And, as my video of Sequoyah, posted here a few months ago, proves, you can train a herding dog, on cue, not to herd. And police departments prove, every day, that you can train a guardian or working dog not to attack except on cue. If you aren't capable of managing or training a dog to an exquisite level of control, you should NOT own these breeds.