[ARridgerunner]

Not to argue with the "experts" but this is very wrong: The American Pit Bull Terrier has been "selectively" bred for hundreds of years to fight other dogs.

First, APBTs were bred for gameness, and that gameness then tested against other game dogs in the pit. This may seem, at first, hairsplitting on my part but it is not. Pitbulls were *trained* for the pit, and the old breeders of APBTs never really knew if their pitbull would fight another game dog until tested in the pit.

At any rate, the very qualities that makes a true pitbull fight will also make it unexcelled in search and rescue and other jobs that require tenacity and intelligence. And Pitbulls have both.

Second, Pitbulls have courageous ancestors, yes, but the breed itself hasn't been around hundreds of years.

Third, it always seems those who spout off about Pitbull genetics fail to comprehend what it means that those dogs who showed a tendency toward human aggression were killed. They had to be handled in the pit by very cruel human beings as master, after all.

Btw, I do not understand those who get (or got) their jollies this way. It would be far better had they tested their own genetic willingness to fight to the death rather than cowardly using their dogs as substitutes.

I know you are off the thread, but this should be said.

[PleaseNoMore]

I found a really disturbing documentary on youtube.com in which the dog fighters themselves explained that not all pit bulls would fight. There was some very disturbing video included detailing what happened to those who didn't fight. In one segment, a 17 mo old pup was put in a room with another much older and experienced dog to be "schooled". While the older dog had "been around the pit" and was eager to fight, the younger pup would not fight. No matter what they did to that poor pup he just wouldn't fight. Instead he ran to the humans for help but none was given. Because he would NOT fight, he was summarily executed. The dog fighter then went on to explain how only a small percentage of dogs born would actually fight and how those who wouldn't were "worthless" and had to be "put down" because they wouldn't make money.

People always talk about how the hip hop culture glorifies these animals as ruthless bad ass killers, I have to say hip hop mogul Russel Simmons is doing an excellent job of trying to reverse that image through education about the breed and advocacy for them.