When I was looking for my current from PetFinder, every rescue seems to be part “American Staffordshire Terrier”, you know, a pit bull. Horny dogs, I guess, or irresponsible owners who don’t get them fixed.
Pitbull apologists LOVE doing the “I’ve never heard of a pitbull / pitbulls don’t exist / it’s impossible to tell what breed a dog is / pitbulls are actually [esoteric definition of a pitbull that has nothing to do with how the English langauge works]” thing. Treat it the same as any other argument in favor of owning a genetically engineered murder machine.
Sounds harrowing. I’d be rattled. I hope you get over it soon. I assume it’s never happened to you before and that there’s no reason to think it’ll ever happen again.
I think this rant is … a little irrational.
I have know quite a few English Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers. I’ve met 2 American Pit Bull Terriers
My friend has a blend of Terrier breeds, who would certainly be classed as a pitbull.
I’m not a pitbull aplogist - I mean really, is there such a thing? - but to respond:
-
no one denies there is a breed of dogs named Pitbulls. You can find out more on the breed ar the
American Dog Breeders Association -
it is hard to tell what breed a dog is, especially a cross-breed between two similar breeds. I personally own a Weimeraner x German Shorthaired Pointer, and many people cannot identify if he is a Weimeraner or a GSP.
If a Pitbull x, I dunno, Alaskan Malamute, shows up at your local dog park, you are probably not going to identify it as a pitbull, it would be big, furry and friendly.
But if a Pitbull x Staffordshire Terrier turned up, you would. It is simple. They look similar in many ways. One is much shorter than the other and they typically have different colouration, but they are superficially similar.
I think - to address your last point - it is the anti-pitbull hysteria that labels any dog in that stocky, square headed short-coat range of dogs, be they pure-bred Pitbulls or some mongel of their related breeds.
In short, you are creating a strawman. You are assigning the term Pitbulls to a wide variety of dogs that are either real Pitbulls, Pitbull crosses, or even dogs that are no relation. I mean, would this Boerbull meet your Pitbull credentials? He’s muscular, has a square head, short coat… and he’s only slightly less tall than a Great Dane. (Note… an actual Pitbull next to him for scale)
I’m not denying that the Pitbull/Staffie/English terrier group are not dangerous, they were bred to be dangerous. But any dog can be dangerous. My Weimeraner cross has 2.5cm canines. If he bit me I’d be in shit.
It is all about the nurture and training the dog gets.
However… having lurked on this board for many years, and having been a member of it for some time after that, perhaps instead of this extremely over-argued topic we could talk about cats?
Specifically about declawing them.
When my good friend Dave was a child the family pet was a German Shepard that got overexcited and grabbed Dave’s face in it’s teeth. His mother pulled the dog off quickly and there were no serious injuries. When his father got home he was outraged, got out his gun and shot the dog dead on the spot. Then as Dave tells it, his mother was outraged because he didn’t take the dog outside first. Anyway, that’s a story from the 60s and most dog terror stories at that time were about German Shepards. Later the dogs were Dobermans, then Rottweilers, and then Pit Bulls exploded in popularity, especially among those who wanted a vicious guard dog for one reason or another. So now all the stories are about Pit Bulls, and on top of that every dog that bites, or just scares someone is now called a Pit Bull. Nobody checks on these reports, verifies the type of dog, and if they don’t result in a call to the police there’s usually no official record of any kind.
OTOH, while Dachshunds are the dog breed that had been established to be most prone to bite people from the actual recorded statistical information available, they rarely kill people, or even severely mutilate them. They are identifiable, but not that much of a threat.
Any large dog is dangerous to human beings and must be under control of a responsible person. If it bites your face off I doubt you will feel better knowing that it was one of the cute fluffy breeds.
ETA: Small dogs may not be that dangerous but they can be incredibly annoying. If you have a little dog learn how to shut it up when it thinks its going to scare someone with it’s high pitched yipping.
Friends of the family had a chow chow. Because we arrived for a visit with the family - they picked us up at the airport - he immediately accepted us. One day some friends of friends showed up to drop off a gift. That chow chow immediately went “strangers! Must attack!” through a door. He was well- trained, but had that instinct.
When I was in elementary school I was at a friends house whose mother had two Chihuahuas. One of them bit him on the face and when he stood up the dog was hanging off his cheek and it looked like his eyeball was going to pop out. Maybe 10-15 seconds before the dog let go. I don’t recall how many stitches he got, but his face was swollen like a basketball for a few days.
I can vouch for this. I did read about an incident where a woman had about half a lip bitten off by a dachshund. But there were extenuating circumstances: she was a new vet tech and approached the dog on the lap of its owner in the lobby, and immediately leaned in to do something (can’t remember now what), and the dog bit her face. She admitted it was 95% her own fault, but the city wanted to have Spork (his name) euthanized. I remember a bit Save Spork campaign (it was his first and only bite), but I don’t know what finally happened.
ETA: Googled. The tech was putting on an armband, then picking him up. He was frightened (even defecating on his owner) and bit out of fear. He was put on a six month probation, which he passed.
Reminder:
This and a few other posts are NOT dropping the subject. If this is something you’d want to discuss, TAKE IT SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Thank you! 
Because we’re on a 4 day work schedule for the summer and had Juneteenth off yesterday, I had a 4 day weekend. I’m okay now. 
Oh, Lord, what an awful experience. Thank God they didn’t kill you!
That! I loved the show “Dog Whisperer”! He was amazing, that’s why I believe the posters here who say that we shouldn’t give up on troubled dogs without making an effort.
I appreciate the thought! 
I’ve often wondered the same thing! I can only imagine it’s akin to “how can humans walk for days or weeks and not collapse?” Just evolved for a particular kind of endurance, I suppose.
I’m glad that you’re okay, Jasmine, that must have been harrowing.
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned that just having a dog loose in the car is not safe. I’ve only had one dog and I never took her in the car without putting her in her car crate. A dog loose in the car can cause accidents and, in the case of accidents, being banged around can injure them.
I also never left her at home alone without putting her in her home crate. Until she was three she was an unbelievable chewer. I had to crate her at night or she’d eat my blankets.
If New Dog is also a chewer, New Owner may have been trying to preserve her upholstery when she didn’t leave it alone in the car.
Thank you for the kind thoughts!
You sound like a very responsible dog owner! You’re “fur baby” is lucky. LOL
Agree. I once had an unhappy cat get behind the brake pedal on the way to the vet. Slowing the car down took on a 3 Stooges atmosphere of cat sounds.
“Your” … “YOUR” … !! 
It’s laughing at me and mocking me! LOL