Most pit bulls that are agressive, are not necessarily “bad dogs.” I have seen incidences of German sheperds, rotweilers, Dobermans, and other medium to large breeds of dog who have bitten, maimed and/or killed people.
PBs that are bred to fight, are only aggressive to other dogs because they associate humans with food and affection.
Some dogs are loyal and protective to a fault...these are the ones that attack and often kill. There ARE warning signs, however, and owners who ignore the signs are the very ones who claim the “dog was a real sweetie, until he suddenly went berserk.”
Behavior can be bred in or bred out, depending on the breeder and the type of dog in question. Each dog, just like people, should be judged on its own merit and not that of a few stories that make the news.
I never said they couldn’t be bred for aggressive behavior. ANY dog can be aggressive, especially one who has been abused. And if a person likes that kind of dog, they can be sure that they will make the dog that way.
Dogs, like people, are born innocent.
We're just never going to agree on this. Some animals are far more likely to attack than others, and there's ample evidence that PBs fall into this category.
The two most dangerous animals on the North American continent are the the grizzly bear and the bison. Their aggressive nature is genetic. Either one raised by people is just as dangerous as one in the wild.
Likewise the large number of PB attacks tell me that this breed is more aggressive than most others. Of the 88 dog bite fatalities in the last three years 59% were committed by pit bulls. To support the hypothesis that it is how they were raised, not only do you have to assume that a far larger fraction of PB owners train their dogs to be vicious, but you also have to assume that virtually none of the other MILLIONS of dog owners EVER train their dogs to be vicious. Occam's razor leaves us with the conclusion that AS A BREED, pbs are much more dangerous than other breeds
Both are born ignorant, but neither are born innocent, as everything is born inherently self-centered - otherwise in their helpless state they might not get the attention they need to get milk and other neccesities. Left to their own devices without discipline and instruction they would only grow more selfish and even dangerous, not less so, with age. Once physically able to act on their aggression both human and dog would do so, until stopped by a firm loving hand or by another more powerful aggressor. You know how to bite instinctively but you learn not to bite by getting bitten in response. Born innocent? Absolutely not. The belief that creatures are 'born innnocent' is what leads to problems in the first place, because it leads people to think discipline is uneccessary so long as things superficially seem to be OK- if little Johnny is kept apart from bad people he won't learn to be bad, and all that BS. Problem is, people and dogs are born to bite.
Dogs are by nature predators. They kill whatever they can catch and are allowed to kill. The sweet disposition of the poorly trained neighbor's golden retriever or lab is not so sweet to people who own rabbits or chickens or other small animals, because dogs are designed to kill animals and eat meat. People often assume their dog is sweet and innocent and forgo training because they don't see their dog's behavior when they aren't present and forget their dog is a natural predator, or worse- a bored untrained natural predator looking for stimulation or fun. An untrained dog is a dog that if he is trusted at all, is trusted blindly because he has been protected from temptation and has thus never been tested.
That their dog is sweet to them is well and good, until their dog slips out one day like a feral teenager and rampages through the neighborhood, or worse finds companions which lead to exponential trouble for the undisciplined. Coming home to find a neighbor's otherwise "sweet" dog who "would never hurt a fly" has killed not one, not two, but every single bird you owned just because it could, and is happily rolling in feathers in the henyard it tunneled into, is not a pleasant sight and not even all that uncommon, esp. for young energetic dogs that haven't been taught that nothing (however tasty it might look) is a target unless the human says it is.
Raccoons cause a lot of slaughter but sweet friendly dogs cause far more, quickly killing EVERYTHING in the pen because they aren't really there trying to get food, they just like to kill because it is fun. And sure enough, while you survey the damage and the blood, your neighbor insists the dog is innocent, because they have never witnessed what untrained dogs naturally do when they are not in sight of their owner. "He was such a fine, quiet boy who loved his mother, etc."