Pit bulls are more dangerous than other dogs.
While some studies have presented reliable data that suggests pit bulls bite and attack more frequently than other dogs, other reputable studies have contradicted this finding by determining that a dog’s breed doesn’t determine its propensity for aggression and that pit bulls are not significantly more aggressive than other dogs. Any dog, including beloved golden retrievers and lap dogs can bite if provoked by the right circumstances. That said, pit bull attacks can cause a lot of damage due to their size, strength, and determination. Pit bulls also have an incredibly strong jaw that allows them to clamp down on their target, leading many victims of pit bull bites to say the dog would not let go. Therefore, pit bulls attacks may be reported more often because victims are more severely injured and need medical help. Meanwhile, if a tiny chihuahua attacked, the dog is too small to cause a lot of damage and any injuries could likely be addressed at home.
Over the years, weve heard many stories in the news about how a pit bull who behaved perfectly for his entire life suddenly snapped and turned on its owner with disastrous consequences. When these attacks are reported, its often said that the dog was unprovoked and the attack came from out of nowhere. While we cant speak for the inner workings of the minds of every pit bull out there, experts say that pit bulls are no more or less unpredictable than any other dog. If a dog is attacking, he has likely been triggered by pain or something that has made him extremely uncomfortable. In order to prevent attacks from occurring, pet owners need to be able to read their dogs’ body language to identify when he may be feeling triggered before it escalates into aggressive behavior. Pit bull attacks may seem particularly unpredictable because of an inability to understand the dogs body language and because of the force with which these dogs can use to attack or bite.
IS pit bulls good family dogs?
The Animal Foundation’s Leid animal shelter adopts out thousands of dogs a year, including many pit bull terriers and we’re happy to report that pit bulls make great family pets. Like all dogs, pit bull terriers are individuals who are just as likely to be safe and gentle as any other dog.
While a dog’s genetics may predispose it to behave in certain ways, genetics do not exist in a vacuum. Rather, behavior develops through a complex interaction between environment and genetics. This is an especially important consideration when we look at an individual dog versus a breed. Many diverse and sometimes subtle factors influence the development of behavior, including, but not limited to, early nutrition, stress levels experienced by the mother during pregnancy, and even temperature in the womb. And when it comes to influencing the behavior of an individual dog, factors such as housing conditions and the history of social interactions play pivotal roles in behavioral development. The factors that feed into the expression of behavior are so inextricably intertwined that it’s usually impossible to point to any one specific influence that accounts for a dog becoming aggressive. This is why there is such variation in behavior between individual dogs, even when they are of the same breed and bred for the same purpose. Because of the impact of experience, the pit bull specifically bred for generations to be aggressive may not fight with dogs and the Labrador retriever bred to be a service dog may be aggressive toward people.
Today’s pit bull is a descendant of the original English bull-baiting dog—a dog that was bred to bite and hold bulls, bears and other large animals around the face and head. When baiting large animals was outlawed in the 1800s, people turned instead to fighting their dogs against each other. These larger, slower bull-baiting dogs were crossed with smaller, quicker terriers to produce a more agile and athletic dog for fighting other dogs.
Dog breeds are characterized by certain physical and behavioral traits. Each breed was developed to perform a specific job, whether that job is hunting rabbits, retrieving downed birds, herding livestock or sitting on people’s laps. When developing a breed, breeders selected only those dogs that performed their job best to produce the next generation.
Some pit bulls were selected and bred for their fighting ability. That means that they may be more likely than other breeds to fight with dogs. It doesn’t mean that they can’t be around other dogs or that they’re unpredictably aggressive. Other pit bulls were specifically bred for work and companionship. These dogs have long been popular family pets, noted for their gentleness, affection and loyalty. And even those pit bulls bred to fight other animals were not prone to aggressiveness toward people. Dogs used for fighting needed to be routinely handled by people; therefore aggression toward people was not tolerated. Any dog that behaved aggressively toward a person was culled, or killed, to avoid passing on such an undesirable trait. Research on pet dogs confirms that dog aggressive dogs are no more likely to direct aggression toward people than dogs that aren’t aggressive to other dogs.
The reality is that dogs of many breeds can be selectively bred or trained to develop aggressive traits. Therefore the responsible ownership of any dog requires a commitment to proper socialization, humane training and conscientious supervision. Despite our best efforts, there will always be dogs of various breeds that are simply too dangerous to live safely in society. We can effectively address the danger posed by these dogs by supporting the passage and vigorous enforcement of laws that focus, not on breed, but on people’s responsibility for their dogs’ behavior, including measures that hold owners of all breeds accountable for properly housing, supervising and controlling their dogs. Breed neutral “dangerous dog” laws, “leash laws” that prohibit dogs from running loose off their owners’ property, and “anti chaining” laws can control the behavior of individual dogs and individual owners and thereby help reduce the risk of harm to people and other animals.