Broad-chested, stern-faced, and a body weighing up to 80 pounds, the pit bull can seem frightening. Pit bulls are stereotyped as aggressive and violent.
Mass communication freshman and pit bull owner Chaz Davis said, “I feel as though that stereotype is false because, just as humans, dogs are a direct reflection of their environment. If they’re surrounded by aggressive behaviors all of the time, then they’re going to be aggressive, and end up being like the stereotype. If you raise it up right and show it love, then it’ll show love back for its whole life.”
Cheryl Miller, director of the Humane Society of Wichita County, said, however, those characteristics go beyond pit bulls. “I believe any dog can be dangerous, anywhere from a Chihuahua to a pit bull. I think the problem lies with inner breeding. Backyard breeders don’t necessarily know what they’re doing. I like pit bulls, and I don’t have a problem with them personally. They’re not a highly sought after dog at shelters, so unfortunately they have the highest euthanization. Same with the Chihuahua.”
An animal shelter’s euthanization rate has to be under 10 percent to be considered a no-kill. According to Miller, the Humane Society’s euthanization rate is at about 3 percent.
Davis said, “People see a pit bull and then immediately think that it’s aggressive. The stereotype is already ingrained into people’s heads, and they don’t want to give them a chance.”
Miller said, “[Aggressiveness] comes naturally to them too. A long time ago they put them in pits for fighting, and that’s where they got their name from. Before that they were babysitters for children. It’s just what society has done to them and turned them into. It’s our fault, it’s not the dog’s fault.”
Rosco, a pit bull mix, and Homer, a bulldog and pit bull mix, are both available for adoption at the Humane Society.
Davis said, “It’s definitely something that’s taught, the fighting part. From the time they’re born to the time they start fighting. When the puppy comes out, it’s happy, it’s prancing around, it’s licking on folks. Once you start putting it into that training to make it aggressive and fight, that’s when it starts becoming dangerous. When they’re training them, they’re choking them and then throwing them in with other dogs. They go into a fight or flight stage and feel like that especially around another dog or people.”
Miller said the Humane Society only euthanizes dogs if they become aggressive or sick, regardless of the breed. They will also euthanize older dogs at the request of their owner
“If there’s not a need to euthanize them then we sure don’t,” Miller said. “It kind of goes along with the times. For a while, Dalmatians had a really bad rap, like when the movie ‘101 Dalmatians’ came out. They’re known for biting, but you don’t hear that as often as you do a pit bull. Chihuahuas are horrible biters. They’re like little piranhas, and will come after you in a heartbeat. It goes in stages, but unfortunately the pit bull carries that around with them more than other breeds.”
Miller said English springer spaniels and Rottweilers have also had bad reputations for biting.
Davis said, “I’ve had a Pomeranian which was more aggressive than any pit bull that I ever had. It has been in fights with just about every breed; it fought Rottweilers, boxers, and even a pit bull.”
Davis said he has had two or three pit bulls himself. He has recently adopted another pit bull named Bonita, and described her as a high dollar dog. However, he decided not to put a price tag on her after seeing her dark blue eyes.
“She was too cute to be sold,” Davis said. “Every time I saw her I thought that she was so beautiful. I didn’t want to name her beautiful, so I used the Spanish word. It kinda stuck, and I feel like it fits her. I’ve realized by being around [pit bulls] that they are real cute, they’re real loving, especially if you raise them right.”
Kenny • Mar 29, 2017 at 1:42 PM
Wow the people commenting on here, have no idea what they’re talking about. “The internet and people told me that pitbull bad.” I’ve owned and still do own several of the “fighting breeds” mentioned and not a single one ever harmed anyone, even in to ripe old age. I’ve known so many people that’ve raised pitbulls to not be aggressive, even after pitbull fighters stole their dog, took it to Oklahoma, tortured it, got busted, they got it back and was still sweet as can be, just afraid of strangers for a while…naturally after a tramatic experience. White supremacists used to and still so say that black people are “genetically prone to aggression.” If you still think like a white supremacist towards pits then maybe they’re right to be aggressive towards you. They sense you would have them killed at a seconds notice and it scares them.
Concerned_Citizen • Mar 1, 2017 at 10:11 PM
This article is so full of inaccuracies it’s astounding. Pit bulls were NEVER babysitters for children! That old “nanny dog” myth started with a breeder in the 1970s.
Their negative reputation is deserved as they kill more than any other dogs (they kill other dogs, cats, horses, humans–you name it). Sure, some are sweet. But unfortunately many that were well-raised from puppyhood and formerly-sweet have killed a human, even at the age of 8 or 10 after never showing a single sign of aggression in their entire lives.
Dog fighters don’t train them to fight; it comes naturally through centuries of selective breeding for that very purpose. I’ve seen YouTube videos of very young pit bull puppies fighting each other.
Please stop repeating these lies that are getting people and their pets killed daily!
KaD • Feb 22, 2017 at 4:27 PM
WRONG. Pit bull are mostly a reflection of their centuries of BREEDING to be the ultimate canine killing machine. That’s where the name comes from- they were thrown in a PIT with a BULL and expected to kill it. For the past 30 years the number ONE determinant of a dogs propensity to do serious or FATAL damage has been BREED, not how the dog was raised or treated. In almost every pit bull attack, the dog was lovingly raised from a puppy, never abused or mistreated, and the owners were SO shocked because up until that moment they swore their dog was different, their dog would NEVER.
In the words of one of the FOUNDERS of pit bull advocacy: DIANE JESSUP, pit bull expert, breeder, former ACO
“Jessup, the animal control officer in Olympia, uses two pit bulls to train police and animal control officers on surviving dogs attacks.
Unlike dogs who are nippers and rippers, her pit bulls are typically “grippers” who bite down and hang onto their victims.”
Jessup believes that much of dog behavior comes from their genes. “I truly believe that a dog is about 90% genetics,” says Jessup.
on protection sports
This difference in “sheepdog versus bulldog” mentality in a trainer is best understood when training the “out!” or release command. It is common practice for those training shepherds and sheepdog types to use force such as hard leash corrections or electric shock to get the dog to release the sleeve. Sadly, I had one young man come to me because a club trainer was slugging his little Am Staff bitch in the nose, till she bled, trying to get her to release the sleeve. She would not! And of course she would not! She was a good little bulldog, hanging on for dear life, just as her bull and bear baiting ancestors of old did. She was a super little gripping dog, who took the pain she experienced as just “part of the job” once her owner set her upon the sleeve. And this is the response from well bred pit bulldogs—to ignore pain while gripping.
A PITBULL OWNER • Apr 1, 2017 at 10:23 AM
You have no idea what you are talking about, you can’t judge a breed especially if you never had A Pitbull. First off they were breed to hunt which is where they got their strong jaws to hold on till their owner came, so the aggressive nature comes from years of back breeeding to get the right bloodline. And you are saying Pitbulls are the only breed that attack, Any dog will attack if they feel threatened.