Thanks for your reply. But reading the information leaves too much unanswered. The next-to-the-last paragraph is too open to deliver solid information.
What I thought earlier was that these dogs were to be treated like loaded guns. I see more reason for that than not. I have had golden retreivers, a couple of Heinz 57’s, a German Shepherd and many cats; never got the pit bull thing. There are too many other breeds that can be “loveable.” Why take the risk?
A lot of people view the dogs that way, unfortunately. They have this reputation for being supernaturally strong, and just plain crazy. However, they are just another breed of dog that needs a job. Having worked with GSD and Malinois, I see the parallels between the breeds. The best working dogs are tired dogs, and the same goes for apbt, who were indeed bred for a job, however cruel it was. They were also farm dogs and catch dogs, though, as well as family dogs, but are most well-known for the period of time they were used in dog fights.
I wouldn’t recommend everyone have one, much like Malinois or Caucasian Ovcharkas, and I certainly wouldn’t say that I trust them around babies. But I don’t trust any dog around babies, or cats, or each other because they’re dogs. Call me paranoid, but I grew up with a lab that was unpredictable and vicious around certain dogs. She was very sweet and loving, but we found out the hard way just how quick a dog can decide to attack and go for it before you can even blink an eye.
I have been researching these stories for years, and when I started, I viewed them the same as you. I had a friend who had four pit bulls. I told him he was asking for it, and he calmly told me to do some research to prove it. I did, and at first, all I got was media reports which further reinforced my beliefs. Then, I started looking at the reports, and then seeing what animal control and neighbors said after the first stories aired. Many times, what happened on the news was far different from what actually happened. Sometimes, animal control would come back and say the dog involved was another breed entirely. A lot of animal control reports came back saying the dog had a history already, and nothing was done about it. Then I looked into how many of them were intact, how many were chained up, how many were in bad neighborhoods, and how many were owned by people that claimed the dogs were loved family members, yet the dog was not allowed inside (but it could run the neighborhood).
After that, I looked at the CDC study everyone always quotes from. At first, I thought the table showing how many pit bulls had taken lives was pretty good proof for my poor friend. Then I read the whole thing, and realized that they had actually stopped calculating deaths because their source information was admittedly from media reports, and they stated that the media over-reports on breeds they deem more newsworthy, and tend to call a dog a pit bull before animal control can even assess the dog’s breed. What’s worse, they have admitted to turning down people’s stories that don’t involve a breed of dog they consider “newsworthy”. It isn’t their fault, as they are a business, not a charity. But people always seem to think of them as some sort of authority.
But the CDC study went on to say that about 30% of dog related deaths could not even be used because the breed of dog was not known. That’s a pretty big chunk to be left out. One of their biggest findings, and one that really hit home for me, was that the biggest pattern they found in all the cases where the history of the care of the dog was available, was how the dog was raised. A large percentage were intact male dogs. Then there were breeding pairs and packs, then chained dogs, then dogs running loose, and this was for all dog breeds in the study. It is very rare to have a single neutered dog that is well-socialized and indoors create a problem.
After that, I found the American Temperament Test Society, an organization that tests dogs on unprovoked aggression. I found that the apbt had a higher passing score than the average for all breeds, and that certain breeds people consider very friendly didn’t do nearly as well as I thought.
And it goes on and on. I still am finding things out to this day, 14 years later, that I didn’t know about. I am always willing to listen to someone whose opinion is different than my own, because I cannot expect to grow if I refuse more information. I did apologize to my friend, and started volunteering at animal shelters. I found a lot of dogs there that I didn’t even know were pit bulls, and they were mostly very friendly, happy dogs that needed a lot of exercise. The ones that were iffy had always come from the streets, beaten up and starved. Even some of those were extremely friendly and trusting.
One day, after college and settling down, I decided to adopt one, and she turned into the dog I judge all others by. She was gentle with my cats, children, and loved everyone she met. She didn’t like pugs, but all other dogs were her friends. She was obedient, happy, and goofy, and she lived a long, normal doggy life. I now have another one that was a rescue and she is totally different. She’s very affectionate, but she’s scared of men and skateboards. She loves cats and children, and adores her beat-up basketball that she chases around with her nose. She’s a normal, happy dog. I have had labs, GSD, Dobies, chihuahua, keeshond, and boxers (all fosters) and never have I bonded so well than with my apbt. The GSD came really close, but was a little more independent, although extremely obedient.
I can understand if you personally don’t like them. No one can tell you what to like. I thought they were ugly and vicious before I started trying to prove my friend wrong. Now I really enjoy them, and can’t imagine why anyone would dislike them if they met a well-bred, responsibly-owned one.