Pit Bulls: The Misunderstood Dog Breed

I'm not going to sit here and say that a pit bull has never bitten or attacked anyone, because that's just not true, but for every pit bull attack theres an equal or greater amount of attacks by Golden Retrievers, German Shepards, and Labs. However for some reason it doesn't get as much attention if someones Labradoodle bites a child, but replace that Labradoodle with a Pit Bull and you've got the 8 O'clock news.

Every dog is different, just as every person is different, we don't all get along and that's that. In my honest opinion about 95% of all dog attacks, not specifically just pit bulls, are the fault of the owners. Not enough people do their research pertaining to their particular dog breed and even fewer of those owners train their dogs past the basics, that means there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of dogs that are not getting the socialization they need to be healthy, happy, functioning members of society. These dogs become neurotic and protective, which can put these unfortunate animals in situations where they are destined to fail and they become a danger to themselves and the people and other animals around them.

Pit Bulls are not the breed for everyone, but they can and very much want to be the best friend of anyone who will take the time to truly understand them and train them. I own a pit mix myself and she looks more pit than anything else even though i know for a fact she's only 1/4th pit (i saw her parents when i adopted her) but she still is judged by some non-dog educated people because of the little bit of pit that's in her. Not everyone has the luck of being able to see and interact with the parents of the dog they adopted epically if they've just adopted this dog from their local shelter or the ASPCA That's why research is so important, even if you've just adopted the mutt of all mutts effort should be put into learning about the breeds you think are in his or her mix, it might seem tedious but it could give you a lot of insight into the dogs behavior.

Say you have what you think is a pit/lab mix, you may end up with a dog who loves the water but doesn't really get along with other dogs. A Jack Russel/Yorkshire Terrier mix might be really hyper but only really warms up to one person in your family since Yorkshire Terriers are often known to be one person dogs. The key to a happy dog is a knowledgeable owner, however it is also my opinion that a small percentage of attacks are cause by people who were never taught how to react around dogs at all. If someone panics when a playful dog runs up to them a dogs playful attempt to greet you could turn into something completely different if the object of the dogs affection suddenly turns running and screaming away and becomes something to chase and possibly attack instead of something to play with and lick.

Pit Bulls get a bad reputation because of their past as dogs used to bait bulls, today's responsible breeders put a lot of effort into breeding the aggressiveness out of the breed. However there are even more backyard breeders who only care about money and will mass produce inbred puppies who will grow up to be 150lbs of possibly aggressive, neurotic, uncontrollable dog and that's not good for anybody. With the right care and knowledge you can own a happy, healthy, and well adjusted Pit Bull but its not all unicorns and rainbows, not every dog is equal if your particular pit doesn't like other people or other dogs no matter how much training you put them through a responsible owner should have the common sense not to let their dog get into situations where it could pose a threat to other humans or other animals around it, its just common sense.

The Main problem Pit Bulls have are people who like the way they look but don't bother to take the time to figure out the way they think and how their minds work. However the pit isn't the only breed that suffers from their owners lack of knowledge a lot of breeds also have a bad reputation because of owners who are not educated in their breed or even how to train and manage a dog. I believe in punishing the deed and not the breed, and before you look at someone else and judge them for owning a "dangerous" dog look at yourself and make sure your not guilty of the same thing because even if your dogs not a Pitt Bull but instead a collie doesn't make it any less capable of biting or attacking another person or dog. Instead of trying to ban and punish specific breeds of dogs we should be trying to educate people about these breeds and all other breeds so that the number of over all dog attacks would go down because there would be a fewer number of dogs put into these situations where they are dangerous to themselves and others and they would be better trained and socialized to better react in those situations.

Bad owners raise bad dogs and bad breeders are not helping the cycle by polluting the blood lines with aggressive unstable dogs. Do your research and properly train your dogs and you'll have a happy healthy friend for life regardless of their breed.