Myth 39: The serious to fatal damage the aggressive breeds inflict when they attack isn’t due to their genes, but rather due to having the wrong kind of owners.
We’ve seen that the killing bite and unpredictable, uncontrolled aggression are genetically anchored in these dogs, and that they can’t be taught not to execute killing behaviour. They inevitably reach a certain age when they start to do it, looking for opportunities and excuses to do what we have bred them to do (see Myth 38). If you’re lucky, the first attack will be on your cat or another dog, and not on your child. This killing behaviour is not caused by the owner in individual cases; it’s just part of what the dog is. However, the killing behaviour is caused by certain people’s consumer behaviour. By buying these dogs, these people are responsible for making it economically profitable to breed for the killing bite and the hair trigger. Are these people all “the wrong kind of owners”?
The answer to this question lies in the kind of person who wants a dog with the killing bite in the first place. So who are they?
Well, in fact, they are the wrong kind of owners. Take a look around you. It’s mostly a group of people who – for some reason related to their personal psychology – specifically want a dog whose breed standard explicitly states that the breed has been selected for extreme aggression. Often these are people with an inferiority complex of some kind. They want something that will finally enable them to intimidate other people. They have an ego problem, and need to prove something to the world. Many are men who are (perhaps unconsciously) worried about their masculinity, that maybe the world won’t see it. Others are adolescents who watch too much MTV and learn that an aggressive dog is an essential consumer item, just like the Nikes, if he wants to keep up his macho hip-hop or skater’s image. Sometimes they are naïve people, who think all dogs are cuddly plush toys. None of these people have any idea of behavioural conformation (see Myth 38), of the unity of mind and body Nature gives to all creatures, and they are all, in their own way, consumed by vanity.
Experience (of which this author has a lot, alas) teaches that the owners of aggressive breeds can be divided broadly into three categories.
1) We all know there are people who try to conceal their inner feelings of inadequacy by acting extra tough outwardly. Many of them nowadays go buy a “tough” dog. These people, who are struggling with an inferiority complex or an ego problem, then try to force their pit bull/Am Staff (or Presa, or Dogo, etc.) on you because they feel the world owes them recognition. Many of us have experienced this. You try to avoid these people (and their dog) on the street or in a park, but they follow you, determined to inflict the dog upon you. (After all, what’s the use of having this proof of Manliness around if no one will look at it?) They cross the street to follow you so you can’t avoid a confrontation. Their dog runs up to yours in a park, and they refuse to call it when you ask them to. Usually, the dog wouldn’t obey anyway, and they don’t want this embarrassing fact revealed to you. But above all, they enjoy your worry about what their aggressive dog will do. They shout at you to stop acting so weird about their dog. They get angry, and they often get verbally aggressive. It is of extreme importance to these people to force their dog on you, because their need is so great to show the world they know better than everyone else. The dog is the way they can seek arguments and win for a change, since they never succeed in doing this on their own strength. When their dog does attack another dog and try to kill him, they are dumbfounded, because they really are too stupid to understand what these dogs are all about. Their cowardice surfaces – they don’t dare interfere with their attacking dog, and once it’s over, they disappear as quick as they can. Often you never see them in the park again, which is great, except for the fact that someone’s normal, peace seeking dog had to pay with his life first. But some of them don’t disappear for good. Some of them actually enjoy watching their dog’s aggression, and just make sure they’re gone before the police arrive. Tomorrow they’re back again, and blaming you for having called the police. There have been cases in which the owner of the attacked dog was terrorized as punishment for reporting the attack to the police, to the extent that the owner of the horribly wounded dog had to move to a different neighbourhood. Finally, many of the people in this category of aggressive dog lovers enter their dogs in illegal pit fights, a phenomenon which has resurfaced in many of our cities since these dogs became so widespread. Some of these specifically go to places where other dogs come, in the hope that if their aggressive-breed dog practices on your cocker spaniel, he’ll do better in the pit.
2) These are young adolescent male humans, who have reached the brink of adulthood but aren’t there yet. The adolescent male is searching for his identity and trying to get himself a satisfying spot in his peer group. The adolescent doesn’t always have bad intentions, but his brain isn’t ripe yet, and he isn’t yet capable of understanding the consequences of his actions (which is also the reason he has to pay so much more for car insurance than the rest of us). He sees the macho rapper on television, accompanied by the aggressive dog, and he wants one, too. After he’s finished saving up for Nikes, he saves up for a dog. He has no idea what he’s bought once he has the dog, thinking it’s just another consumer item. To him the dog isn’t any different than his other fashion accessories, to him the dog is a thing that will – just like his Portable Play Station – turn on and off if you press the button. The adolescent is, by virtue of his age, a bit rebellious. He is exploring various boundaries, sometimes pushing the envelope in his search for an identity. He just loves to show adults that he won’t do what they ask him to do, but that he makes his own decisions. Of course he won’t leash his dog just because some grown-up makes the request, are you kidding, what a loss of face! He isn’t prepared for it when his dog attacks a person or another dog, and he doesn’t know what to do. His toy is suddenly acting up. So he does nothing, offers no help, doesn’t dare interfere with his dog, and most probably just gets the hell out of Dodge as quick as his little adolescent legs will carry him. Adolescence is an age of natural egotism, and a time when even sympathetic boys often lose their ability to empathize with others for a while. So this kid isn’t capable of imagining the suffering the attacked dog goes through, nor the grief of the dog’s owner. He’s just glad his parents didn’t find out about what happened, otherwise they might take his dog away. “Tomorrow’s another day, hey, don’t be so serious about life, and besides, what could I do about it? The dog did it, not me.”
3) These are the Egotistical Innocents. They are members of animal protection clubs and humane societies. They read lots of sentimental stories about animals, and they watch lots of programs on Discovery Channel. They believe that all animals are sweet-natured cuddly toys. These people’s egocentricity is different from the adolescent’s. These people think they are the measure of all things, and they therefore believe that if a dog is nice to them, well, it means he’s nice, period. How the dog behaves towards others isn’t so important. The Egotistical Innocent lives in a fairy tale, failing to see that a dog is a living being with a will and personality of his own, and that the dog hasn’t been informed of the fairy tale. The Innocent is reinforced in the fairy tale by breeders who agree that the stories about these dogs are all lies, after all, look how sweet he is to the prospective buyer. The Innocent doesn’t understand what “fierce protector of home and hearth, averse to strangers” means, doesn’t know a secret language has been developed since these breeds started causing so much tragedy. She likes the idea of proving to all the world that even these dogs fit her fairy tale, and that they are the poor victims of vicious anti-animal propaganda. The Egotistical Innocent is delighted with her puppy and sees him as a sort of four-legged human baby. She doesn’t see that the pup is playing in an abnormally aggressive way at the age of eight weeks already. She is dumbfounded on the day when her “puppy,” who meantime is actually a young dog, suddenly, out of the blue (because the warning phase has been bred out of these dogs), launches an unbridled attack on another dog and seriously wounds or kills the other dog. She is stricken and disillusioned – not only about the suffering of the attacked dog, but also because her fairy tale has caved in. But not to worry. It only takes her a few days to restore her view of the world. She decides her dog is as sweet as she’d thought after all. After thinking awhile, she realizes the whole thing was the other dog’s fault. After all, the other dog growled at her sweetie, so what else could her sweetie do but defend himself? Sometimes the Egotistical Innocent will cry out that German shepherds bite too, or that even a dachshund can be dangerous under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, there is always a way for people who don’t want to face realities. The great tragedy is that the Egotistical Innocent’s dog will harm or kill many other dogs, because she continues to take him to dog parks, in the belief that it’s up to the other dogs to make sure they don’t get killed.
Fact: This Myth is true in the sense that these dogs always have the wrong owners, people who shouldn’t have a dog in the first place. However, this Myth is false because it’s the genetics of the dog that make him a killer, regardless of what kind of owner he has. In other words, these dogs aren’t killers because they have the wrong owners, rather they attract the wrong owners because they are killers.
Brown, S-E, The human-animal bond and self-psychology: Toward a new understanding, Society & Animals, electronic version, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2003.
Burrows, TJ, Fielding, WJ, Views of college students on pit bull “ownership”: New Providend, The Bahamas, Society & Animals, Vol. 13, No. 2, 139-152, 2005.
Frommer, SS, Arluke, A, Loving them to death: blame-displacing strategies of animal shelter workers and surrenderers, Society & Animals, Volume 7, Number 1, 1999.
Peremans, K, Functional brain imaging of the dog; single photon emission tomography as a research and clinical tool for the investigation of canine brain physiology and pathophysiology, Universiteit Gent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Gent, 2002. http://www.uznuclear.ugent.be/research/phd_dissertations/Functional_Brain_LowRes.pdf
Oral history collected from dog owners in The Hague, 1994-2009.
From: Semyonova, A, The 100 Silliest Things People Say About Dogs, The Hastings Press, England, 2009, pages 125 – 127. (Check side bar for purchasing options)
Recommended reading to enhance your understanding of this serious problem:
On pit bulls and their owners. Kenneth Phillips, 17 Barks, September 5, 2013
Personality and Behavioral Characteristics of Owners of Vicious Breeds of Dog. Kenneth Phillips, dogbitelaw.com
Vicious dogs: the antisocial behaviors and psychological characteristics of owners. Ragatz L1, Fremouw W, Thomas T, McCoy K., Journal of Forensic Sciences. 2009 May; 54(3):699-703.
Vicious Dogs Part 2: Criminal Thinking, Callousness, and Personality Styles of Their Owners. Allison M. Schenk B.A., Laurie L. Ragatz M.S., William J. Fremouw Ph.D, A.B.P.P, Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume 57, Issue 1, pages 152–159, January 2012
Ownership of high-risk ("vicious") dogs as a marker for deviant behaviors: implications for risk assessment. Barnes JE1, Boat BW, Putnam FW, Dates HF, Mahlman AR. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2006 Dec; 21(12):1616-34.
Psychological Characteristics Owners of High Risk for Aggression Dog Breeds. Stanley Coren. Psychology Today, March 16, 2009
Do Owners and Their Dogs Have Similar Personalities? Stanley Coren. Psychology Today, August 20, 2013
What an Aggressive Dog Says About its Owner. Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience, May 24, 2012
Owners of Aggressive Dog Breeds Are More Hostile. Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience, August 09, 2012
2015 World Dog Show – Turmoil Amongst American Staffordshire Terrier Crowd, The Canine Chronicle, June 19, 2015
28 comments:
speak of the devil.
Marshall County Man Shot In The Neck During Argument Over Pitbull
(Marshall County, MS) A Marshall County man is in critical condition at the MED after being shot in the neck.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department is investigating Monday night’s shooting.
The names of those involved aren’t being released because the investigation is ongoing.
Neighbors are wondering what happened in this usually quiet part of Marshall County.
At the house on Wall Hill Farms Road, where the reported shooting happened Monday night, no one wanted to talk.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department said two men got into an argument over a pit bull sometime between 7 and 7:30.
The argument escalated, and a 27-year-old man was shot in the neck with a 25-caliber automatic pistol.
The altercation was loud enough that Danielle Geeslin’s two daughters could hear it from inside their home, all the way across the road.
“They were in the house and they heard the screaming and yelling an carrying on and went to the window and looked out and didn’t see anything. But they knew it was coming from over in that direction,” said Geeslin.
She said her daughters then saw two vehicles speed off and recognized the vehicles as belonging to people who live at the house.
Investigators wouldn’t release the names of the people involved, but said the argument was between the 27-year-old and his mother’s boyfriend and say it appears the shooting was accidental.
Deputies say no ambulance was called because the victim was taken to the hospital by a relative.
Danielle Geeslin was shocked by what happened Monday night on the normally quiet Marshall County Road.
She said the people involved, including the mother’s boyfriend, have always been sociable neighbors.
“We do cookouts and stuff, bonfire type things and he’ll come over. We’ll all talk, chit-chat, but everything always seems normal,” said Geeslin.
Kelly McMillen, chief investigator with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, said no charges have been filed so far, and that information has also been handed over to the District Attorney’s office.
EXCELLENT article!
This is so very true, and the last part is the take away: "In other words, these dogs aren’t killers because they have the wrong owners, rather they attract the wrong owners because they are killers."
When I was a PB owner, I was the second one, even in my mid 20's. (SO awful, I KNOW. I am ashamed now.)
Risk taking in the extreme, check! Rebel without a cause? Check!
Ignores advice that comes from authority regardless if its factual. Check!
I did know danger was possible, I just did not think it was probable if I did the right stuff. I am lucky no child was killed, the dog was headed in that direction when I took his life…
My favorite quote is: ONLY Pits need SO much training, just so they MIGHT not kill you.
SO TRUE.
But they "make great family pets! And are grrrreat with kids of any age" WHY WHY WHY must people spread this kind of deadly treatment?
Very true I have witnessed the whole no warning sighn myself. My retriever has been attacked several times in his whole 1 year life. One owner actually said "shes always such a good pittie I thaught she was friendly" with this dumbfounded look after pulling his monster off my 4 month old pup who was shaking and even peed himself. His "wonderful pibble" was still going nuts trying to get at him. My dog has never even tried to defend himself only hide behind me and I would love to at least see this breed under heavy restrictions. They are not normal. And as always they where always quick to disapear even leaving me with a grand in vet bills and my dog with drainage tubes and stitches one time. Anyways love to see someone trying to make a difference and stand up against these people. Its nice to see as I am surrounded by pit nutters and now carry a taser mace and a knife just to enjoy a simple walk with my dog who despite all this is still friendly with everyone and every animal he comes in contact with.
Slynn, yes comments are regulated here. but they are not regulated HERE
your right that these type of dogs tend to have the wrong owners 90% of the time. But you are wrong about aggression being a genetic trait in dogs. It has been proven in studies done all over the world most recently by Bristol University in the UK. That aggression had nothing to do with genetics or the breed of a dog rather it was a learnt behaviour and the result of rearing.
steve119, here's your chance to dazzle us all with science. how about you write up a synopsis of all of those unnamed scientific articles and post them here. please include the article titles and authors.
I know what my pit bull is and the breed is not for the lazy or timid. You have to be very interactive and know boundaries. I have several breed of dogs all rescues. Depending on the situation depends on who might go off.
One day i heard a commotion outside, dogs fighting. I opened the door to my pit ivy in the middle of the street fighting another pit. I came running with a baseball bat. As i was screaming my pit stopped as i ran up. The Stray dog took advantage and locked onto ivy's neck. I realized I ivy was standing over the family cat bilbo who was hurt really bad. I clocked the dog with bat and it went running. Ivy did not run after the other dog just laid down and started whining over bilbo. The neighbors told me that saw everything. The moment that bilbo got attacked Ivy jumped a six foot fence to protect her kitty. They both survived.
The pitbull breed has been destroyed and to tell the truth both most of them do need to be put down along with the breeders This is coming from a pitbull owner who has had great success with her dog.They are an expert level dog owned by idiots.
Pit bulls may have "killing genes" but it is because the human race has put it there. You have to remember that every single dog breed on this planet is a descendant of the wolf that was specifically bred by humans to carry out various task. Like a blood hound was made to be a better tracker or a golden retriever was made to hunt ducks and other such game pit bulls were bred to go after large and strong animals like bears and bulls. The tendency for them to bite and not let go was a trait we bred into them and should not be a mark for instant execution. If a pit bull attacks a person and has had a past history of aggressive behavior I do think it should be put down but to damn the whole type-which includes up five different dog breeds and mixed breeds-is not only unfair but opens up other breeds of dogs to similar discrimination. Punish the deed not the breed!
"Like a blood hound was made to be a better tracker or a golden retriever was made to hunt ducks and other such game pit bulls were bred to go after large and strong animals like bears and bulls. The tendency for them to bite and not let go was a trait we bred into them and should not be a mark for instant execution."
it's a trait that serves no purpose in civilized society and should selected away from. if that is not possible, they should be spayed and neutered into extinction.
"If a pit bull attacks a person and has had a past history of aggressive behavior I do think it should be put down..."
they should be euthanized whether they bite a person, a poodle or a pony.
"but to damn the whole type-which includes up five different dog breeds and mixed breeds-is not only unfair but opens up other breeds of dogs to similar discrimination."
you just admitted that they were bred for violence and mayhem. that means the trait can predictably be found throughout the breed. that means the breed should either cease to exist or cease to exist in its present form. and you just made the argument in favor of it.
Uh, just going to point out that goldens where bred to retrieve ALREADY DEAD GAME, not hunt it. I have seen many goldens and other retrievers have no idea what to do with a live duck and showed no aggression. Also if it wasn't for blood sport you wouldn't even have pit bulls so really they should have never been bred to begin with so stop breeding the k -9 serial killers already.
Actually, temperament is mostly genetic. If you buy a puppy with a fear biting mother, regardless of breed and how it's raised, it will possibly be a fear biter. It's how the temperament of a breed can be ruined. The more popular the breed, the more chances for people to breed dogs that shouldn't be bred. Then we end up with evil little cocker spaniels (guess when they became known as biters? Right after "Lady and the Tramp came out!!) It caused fearful skittish Dobermans and GSD's, and why as a Vet tech, I get snapped at regularly by goldens and Labradors. Watched a 3 year old lab rip off half of a Drs face last week. She sat on a chair next to his owner, about 4 feet away from him. Wasn't looking at him, had finished his exam 25 minutes before. He just launched at her. Does it mean all goldens and labs will fear bite? No, but you'll see a lot more of them. They will account for more bites, but unlikely fatal because fear bites bite and run. And it's what's happened to the APBT. When the breed originated, those dog fighters culled biters, most had another breed as a guard dog. The fighting gene hasn't really changed much, they attacks started as dog fighting became a thug thing, a status thing. Kids fighting dogs on the street. Aggression towards anything was encouraged. And we end up with fatal pit bull attacks. But not all pit bulls attack or we'd all be dead. Some wouldn't put a tooth on a human. Some will bite if provoked, but they don't maul, and some will attack. To many questionable dogs breeding. It's why the owners of these dogs will say the dog attacked for no reason, etc. Because it's knowledge that makes the difference. I am a pit bull advocate, adore them and have owned 3, fostered 13. Not one bite from any of them. But I'm not so stupid as to say its all the owners fault, or the victims. There are vicious pit bulls who should be killed before they get a chance to hurt someone. I've put 2 down because of possible temperament issues. One was a 9 month old foster dog who growled at me if I came near him while he was eating. He only got 2 days with me. I'm sure I could have trained him not to, but I'm not giving any questionable dog a chance. The 2nd was a personal dog. Adopted him from a rescue and did everything I always do with my puppies. Socialized the crap out of him, took him everywhere. But I noticed that despite intense exposure to kids, at 11 months he started acting nervous around kids. No sign of aggression, no growing or anything, but he just didn't act like a pit bull should around kids, never totally relaxed and happy. I adored that dog, he was a great dog who may have never touched a child, but I would never give him he chance to, euthanized him 2 weeks after I noticed it. I cried for days, still sometimes wonder if he would have been ok, but I know I did the right thing. It's why BSL won't get rid of the problem. The people doing this to the breed don't care. You think the drug dealers and dog fighters pay attention to the law?? They'll still create just as many dogs, still do whatever is needed to make them maul innocent people, they'll just be dumped on the street. BSL won't stop the idiots who think if you love anything enough, andt kinda train them, the 200 pound guard dog type breed would never hurt your kids, no matter what they did. BSL will only affect the good dogs.
I just wish that APBT didn't get so much hatred. I have 4 APBT and every one of them are great. Not one is aggressive. They are the sweetest dogs. My 5 yr old niece is best friends with my 85 lb APBT male. They go every where together. They are inseparable. So not all APBT's will attack kids. Wouldn't have any other kind of breed. I love my pitties!! :-)
"So not all APBT's will attack kids."
no one claimed that every each and every pit bull would attack kids.
"Wouldn't have any other kind of breed."
thanks for sharing your own breed discriminatory opinion.
I would like to respectfully add a fourth type of pit owner: The careless ignorant. This owner maybe wasn't even looking for a dog, or perhaps got one on a whim. They stumbled upon the pit they ended up with (there are a lot of pits needing homes out there). Very little consideration is given to the fact that this is a potentially dangerous breed that requires special handling. And, as we have heard over and over, they can be sweet and loving pets. This type of owner is not big on research and preparation. And probably doesn't have a lot of money. They are likely to have kids and got the dog as a puppy because it was so darned cute. So, no fence, no vaccination or registration. The dog runs around the neighborhood unchecked. The owner is befuddled when neighbors complain or ask them to keep the dog home. They are even more confused when told that their animal has attacked and killed someone's pet (or child). They were not present at the attack because they pay little attention to the dog. But they will defend it without question because it has always been such a good dog, and their dog would never do that.
Good luck getting money to pay medical or vet bills from them. And, of course, the dog must have been provoked to attack, because he has always been such a sweetie.
Keep up the good work! I commend you for being responsible and putting down dogs with temperament issues. It is a difficult thing to do,
My german shepherd and I were recently charged and attacked unprovoked by a pitbull. In the 18 months I've had my gsd the three dogs that have shown true aggression to him Ave been pitbulls. Unfortunately, 4 days ago my neighbor had no control, no pinch/prong collar to contain the pitbull I didn't know she was "dogsitting". It broke it collar as it lunged and charged us. Luckily, praise God, our injuries were minor. But the terror of the horrific experience will never leave me
Finally, someone who knows. Just do like me people. Carry your gun and use it. And if the owner looks like he wants some, give him some too. That's the way to send the proper message to them crotch holdin' thugs. Don't be afraid to use your gun. They are wielding a deadly, commandable weapon and trying to use it for terrorism. And don't forget that last sentence when you get your lawyer to the courtroom. If thugs are going to be allowed to walk around wielding deadly, commandable weapons, then you, as an American, should have the right to defend yourself with deadly force. Court adjourned.
I am only now becoming aware of this and wondering why the general public is in the dark about a lot of this. Message has to be clear to these pitbull advocates that if they claim the problem is with dog owners then they should come up with a solution for the problem. Saying over and over again its "the owners" is not doing anything to stop the attacks on children ect. If not then they should expect some others from the public to come up with a solution. Children dying or getting maimed is sickening and it makes us American adults look like cowards in ketting this happen.The pitbull is banned all over Europe and many other countries . Seems they care more about their children safety than Americans do. This has to stop now. The uncaring attitude towards the safety of our kids is really appalling. Why are we worried about overseas terrorists if we got this happening in our backyard? We need to develop some sort of united front and protect our vulnerable citizens and let the public become aware of whats going on.
I've never read a study like this. I just thought pit bulls were an aggressive breed. I guess with this I'll have to change my thinking. Maybe they just need better owners or better training. Either way I'll have to start rethinking my opinion of pit bulls. http://ironkingkennels.com
I am absolutely amazed at the sheer insight this author has on the type of owner. These are all the thoughts swirling in my head and Ibe never seen them laid out in such a cohesive way. Thank you so much for writing this. I am sharing it with my family. We live in Memphis Tn and these dogs are everywhere and always fall under one if these categories.
The family of a new friend of my 6yo daughter's owns a pit, so now I'm researching these dogs more closely. I can only assume the wife is #3 and the hubby is either #1 or 3. They have a pro-pit bull bumper sticker on their door. This dog regardless of its breed is what I consider not fully trained from what I understand that to mean (I've never owned a dog but we're researching breeds to get one, and so I've read some things about training, particularly the "alpha" concept). It jumps and begs at the table. And it is hyper and acts like a puppy even though it is 8. When I was bending over to tie my shoes after visiting at their house it jumped and knocked me in the chin so hard it hurt for a few hours. Its tail is like a whip on your legs. This is one VERY strong dog. One thing it won't do is get on the couch when people are sitting there, so it's obviously not just untrained at all. Just not as well trained as I am comfortable with for ANY dog but especially for one whose attack is much more often fatal than other breeds.
From all the comments I've read so far on this site (like the Nanny Dog article, on which I read all the comments), one thing stands out to me very clearly: the fact that 90% of the pro-pit commenters cannot write to save their life. There were several I could barely understand. Is that maybe an indication that they lack common sense about these dogs because they lack the education required to think critically? As soon as I saw commenter "steve119" start out his sentence with "your right" on this article, I knew he was pro-pit. That's scary in itself!!
Anyway... my daughter attended a sleepover at their house, but I will not be allowing that anymore. When they want to play they can come to our house or we can meet somewhere! I'll just arrange it that way for each instance, and if the mom catches on and wants to ask me about our avoidance of their house, I'll try to explain to her my concerns as tactfully as possible!
"Is that maybe an indication that they lack common sense about these dogs because they lack the education required to think critically?"
I think you are on to something.
And good for you for not allowing your kids to play at the homes with a pit bull.
Anyway... ? Shouldn't that be a comma? Auto correct doesn't even getbthatv wrong.
Generalizing about the people who happen to care for pit bulls isn't really helpful. We are normal, educated, working people who happen to have found a stray pitbull puppy. (American Staph 50%, American Bull 25% and Staphie 25% through Wisdom Panel DNA testing). We took her to the shelter, but her owners didn't claim her. We live near an area where there is known pit fighting. We couldn't bear the thought of her being put down, so we decided to foster and rehome her. She seemed like a nice dog and got along with our dogs and cat.
She is not adoptable, we have found. This is due to some dog aggression, high energy, and numerous food allergies. So now we're stuck with her. I am a biologist, and understand the genetics of artificial selection. I know why she behaves the way she does, and am not "an idiot". I am just a compassionate human being, stuck with a pitbull that I will not allow to be killed.
Her dog aggression comes out when walking or when she's at the dog beach. We are extremely wary and watch her like a hawk. She responds well to fetch games and we can distract her from any mischief she might get into with treats and play. We certainly don't allow her out of our sight, or any even slightly aggressive behavior.
I hope people understand that there is not one or three or five types of pitbull caregivers. There are many. Perhaps as many as people who care for these overbred and difficult dogs.
you take a dog that you admit is dog aggressive and is not adoptable to a "dog beach" and you state that you are not an idiot.
compassion and idiocy are not mutually exclusive traits. i don't care how many degrees you have acquired in biology. so you understand genetics, goody for you. how about sharpening your skills in the areas of logic, reasoning, ethics and public policy. and yes, you could very well be a compassionate human being, in some situations and towards some targets that you deem worthy, like that particular dog but you are completely lacking in compassion for the potential threat that your dog poses to the normal dogs out there. that makes you a reckless idiot.
but please do keep us posted about your dog aggressive, high energy, numerous food allergies pit bull.
Compassion for an animal that puts others at risk is not compassion. It's favoritism. You favor the dog over the safety of others.
Just because you "watch him like a hawk" and seek to distract him with treats (which btw does not work when they are set on an attack) is not at all comforting to the general public, your neighbors, your friends etc. In fact, most owners all have said the very same thing about their taking precaution.
In summary, you are just like all the rest.
One of the biggest problems this breed has is low skill, low knowledge owners-who somehow know all the propaganda and call everyone else ignorant when they don't even know a pit bull is supposed to come with a break stick. Pit owners have little chance of NOT setting their dog up to fail if they can't even admit what is was designed for.
I have to wonder if there isn't a category four: The animal profiteer. These people are real knowers of the breed and realize they can be dangerous, but also realize there is a lot of money to be made on rescuing, 'rehabilitating', and adopting out these dogs. They're also smart enough to realize if they were honest this couldn't work. So they stick to the propaganda talking points, and accept NO responsibility for placing dangerous dogs with delusional, ill informed owners.
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