These dogs were bred to bait bulls, yes, but before that and after, they were trusted ranch hands that were used for pretty much anything, including hanging out with the family. Some of the most notorious winning fight dogs slept in the bed with their owners.
These dogs are stubborn in their work, yes, but not to their owners. They are highly trainable. The reason why they have been used for dogfights and holding large animals is because of this stubbornness, or "gameness". No larger dog could do the job, although stronger they might be. The pit bull has such a willingness to please the owner they will literally do anything for that satisfaction. This is also where the tradeoff comes. If someone wants a brutally aggressive dog, they could train a pit bull to be that way. They could also train a pit bull to be the sweetest, most obedient, most athletic certified therapy dog. However, having said that, if most of the owners of this breed are trying hard to make vicious dogs, how come there aren't more deaths? There are about four to six million of these dogs alive right now. If even a fourth of those owners are bad, why aren't they more successful at training a bad-a$$, vicious man-killing dog?
Breeding.
That's right. These dogs were bred to bite, to fight, to take punishment no human could endure, all while wagging their tails. But during this cruel bootcamp that was their existence, the one thing the dogmen did right was to simultaneously train the dogs to be extremely human friendly.
They absolutely HAD to be able to separate a dogfight without getting bit, and this includes people the dogs may have never seen before. So yes, these dogs cannot be trusted around other animals. But neither can many other breeds of dog, including most terriers. They are hard wired to want to fight other dogs, and even though many of them can be around other pets just fine their entire lives, because of their breeding, it would be wise to only let them around other animals supervised.
The pit bull is the most stolen dog. This is not only because the wrong people want them, but because it's so easy to do. A well-bred pit bull will let you in its yard even if you are a stranger. It might even show you its toys. Some people have had to get another dog to guard their pit bull. They are supposed to be friendly to every person they meet.
Here are some statistics for you, courtesy of the American Temperament Test Society, the AKC, UKC, and the CDC:
When testing different breeds of dogs for unprovoked aggression, the average passing score for all breeds was 81.2%. Here's a breakdown of some popular breeds, along with pit bull type dogs:
miniature poodle 76.2
chihuahua 71.4
doberman 76.8
collie 79.0
australian cattle dog 78.1
border collie 79.7
dalmatian 81.6
saint bernard 82.9
german shepherd 83.1
american pit bull terrier 83.5
american staffordshire terrier 83.3
boxer 84.7
golden retriever 83.7
staffordshire bull terrier 84.7
bull terrier 90.9
According to the CDC, approximately 60 pit bull type dogs are responsible for deaths in the past 20 years. They say type because their stats are taken from the media reports, and there is no way of identifying a breed that way. There have been many breeds mistaken for pit bulls, including labs, so it is very hard to say if those 60 were really pit bulls. It is doubtful, considering even today dogs are getting misidentified as pit bulls when they do something wrong. An example of this is the boxer mix that killed an elderly lady in Kansas City. It was called a pit bull over and over again, and it was obvious to anyone educated on the breed that it was not a pit bull, but for some reason, it never got corrected, and now the pit bull haters have one more death to add to their list. This happens all the time. We rarely get a picture in the news when this happens, and many times when we do, it is found that the dog is not what the reporters say it is. The CDC no longer compiles data for this reason.
Of the approximately 76 million dogs in this country right now, pit bulls represent almost 10% of their entire population. Considering there are 150 breeds recognized by the AKC and twice that much by the UKC, you can plainly see these dogs are one of the most popular right now. There are literally millions of them. Many of them have decent homes and are loved by families. Some of them are used for the wrong purposes and end up on the news. Others are with people that just don't understand how to take care of a dog, and they end up on the news sometimes too.
The last thing this can be classified as is a breed problem. This is an educational and law enforcement problem. This is painfully obvious when you see what a large percentage of attacks and deaths come from intact male dogs, (90%) and how many are from chained dogs (22%) and dogs running loose (30%), and lastly packs of dogs (64%). These stats are from the CDC and they are comprised of all breeds.
There is so much on this subject that opinionated people don't know. There is a large amount of evidence to the contrary of what the media and PETA would have you believe. All that is required is a little research, and you will see how much of the rumors about these dogs are really true, and how much is simply myth. Perhaps with a little education, we can all see the problem for what it is and take steps to appropriately dispatch it.
It is doubtful, considering even today dogs are getting misidentified as pit bulls when they do something wrongHere's an attack attributed to a 110 pound "pit bull"
Here's a picture of what historically a pit bull looked like...
They were never anywhere near 110 pounds and still aren't today.
"Desirable weight for a mature male [APBT} in good condition is between 35 and 60 pounds. Desirable weight for a mature female in good condition is between 30 and 50 pounds."
Whatever this dog being reported in the story is, I'd be willing to bet it is not a pit bull.
Maybe an American Bulldog?...or some Mastiff mix? ...or?
People don't realize that if "pit bulls' were banned,
dogs such as the one in this story wouldn't be affected.
There is no way one could say it had characteristics "substantially similar' to the pit bull type.
You, I would trust to own a Pit Bull. Most of the others on this thread.... not so much. That doesn't mean I think Pits should be banned, and I hope no one came to that conclusion. It is just that Pit's are a very specialized breed which require specialized care and training. Most of the Pit's I have had the displeasure of knowing thought they were pack leader, and were insanely stubborn about it. You can imagine the problems that engendered.