Have to say the owner - German Shepherds and Dobermanns also had nasty reputations at one time or another. Pete from Our Gang was a pit bull, wasn’t he?
I thought that Pete was an American Bulldog.
Then why don’t we have frequent “Child mauled by Labrador” or “Springer Spaniel suddenly attacks owner” stories??
These dogs are bad news.
I grew up with male and female Dobermans. Both were loving, obediant family dogs, and gentle with children. They would do anything to protect their family from a perceived threat. Any failings of the dogs was more likely due to the owners (us).
Three lessons about raising (particularly male) Dobermans: (1) Do the training yourself with expert supervision and family members present. The “trainers” (at that time) would take the dog in for a week and beat the crap out of them to make them more docile; (2) Don’t let people walk up behind your Dobe. The dogs are always on the alert and can take a huge chunk of flesh in a flash, (3) Don’t pair a male Dobe with another male dog. The Dobe will not allow any other dog to be the alpha male and things can get bloody.
I really don’t know if pit bulls are as trainable as Dobermans, but Dobes are more lethal animals because they are incredibly quick with Pit Bull-like jaws that can crush almost anything. I suspect that people who own these types of dogs may need a special license because of the dogs’ potential lethality.