# It's never a pit bull! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471 "2011-10-03T19:46:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/1 "2011-10-03T19:46:02Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=626495) made me think…I’ve been in the dispatching game for over 10 years now, and I know there’s other dispatchers and cops and whatnot bouncing around the boards. Over the years I’ve taken lots of calls about dogs, and one thing I’ve noticed is, it’s ALWAYS a pit bull. “Oh my god, there’s a pit bull loose on the sidewalk, send a cop here NOW before it kills someone!” “My neighbors have a pit bull in their yard and whenever I walk by it it starts barking like it’s gonna eat me!” And my personal favorite: “I left my car windows open all night and now there’s a pit bull in my car and it won’t let me in!” In that particular case the officer arrived on scene to find a gormlessly happy yellow lab sitting in the guy’s passenger seat waiting for bellyrubs and a ride. It’s never a poodle or a beagle or a Jack Russell or a Spuds Mackenzie dog, even when it is. People even report Rotties as pit bulls, and you’d think a Rottie would be one of the most recognizable dogs on the planet. Folks that work in law enforcement or animal control, have you noticed something similar? Is it ALWAYS a pit bull, until you get there and find some random short-hair mutt? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/2 "2011-10-03T19:52:36Z")
I had a grumpy neighbor who hated my dogs. Three times over the course of a couple months he let them out of the yard and called animal control to have them picked up and every time he reported that there were two pitbulls chasing people. What finally stopped him was a keyed lock on our back gate. Both dogs are boxers. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/3 "2011-10-03T19:55:12Z")
I have a Boston Terrier that people sometimes think is a pit bull. People are dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/4 "2011-10-03T19:55:19Z")
I play a similar game a lot. I peruse CNN local news from across the country and look for the ‘Toddler killed by Dog’ stories. Before I click the link I always sit there and say to myself: Was it a poodle? Was it a schnauzer? Was it a dachsund? Was it a cocker spaniel? Nine times out of ten I get the pay-off: Pit-bull! Bingo. Imagine my chagrin when the 10th time I come up with a rottweiler. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/5 "2011-10-03T20:00:58Z")
I guess my post is contrary to the OP’s piont, but there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/6 "2011-10-03T20:03:26Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Both dogs are boxers. Send a cop here NOW before it slobbers on someone! ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/7 "2011-10-03T21:58:39Z")
I had a police officer insist that my goofy yellow lab mix was a pit bull. Tucker was admittedly a little spunkier in his youth, but even then, he didn’t look like a pit. The officer kept looking at him from across the yard and saying, “I don’t trust pit bulls…they’re unpredictable.” And I’d say, “He’s not a pit, though. That black rott mix there is his mother, and I think his dad is a yellow lab. He doesn’t look like a pit bull, does he?” and he’d just say, “Yep. Never trust a pit bull, that’s what I say.” ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/8 "2011-10-03T22:05:27Z")
How about the headline [_Man Almost Attacked By Pit Bull_?](http://www.stinkyjournalism.org/editordetail.php?id=249) It makes for great news stories if someone even says they think a dog that might have been a Pit Bull \*almost \*attacked them. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/9 "2011-10-03T22:10:33Z")
[Relevant link](http://www.understand-a-bull.com/Findthebull/findpitbull_v3.html). ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/10 "2011-10-03T22:14:45Z")
Quiz - see how you do: [Find the pit bull](http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html). ETA: The quiz I just simul-posted is a different version of **psychobunny’s** link. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/11 "2011-10-04T00:37:13Z")
It’s not just your imagination. I’m not a cop/dispatcher/etc., but I’m very interested in dog breeds and I too have noticed that when people talk about dogs with a squarish head, dogs running loose, dogs that have shown any sort of aggression, etc. they are very quick to label it a “pit bull” when often it’s clearly some other breed/mix. Lab mixes in particular seem to get mistaken for pitbulls all the time. Too bad that the news media often takes the word of some random idiot that the dog who attacked someone was a pit bull instead of having it verified by someone who knows something about dogs. That thread about the people acting like hysterical idiots over the dog in the barber shop just reinforces my opinion that a lot of times, the HUMANS are to blame for it when a dog acts badly. There are so many morons out there who really should not own or interact with dogs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/12 "2011-10-04T00:39:21Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > [Relevant link](http://www.understand-a-bull.com/Findthebull/findpitbull_v3.html). Got it right. But it was obvious if you know any Pits. In the 80’s people always insisted they were being attacked by Rottweillers. In the 70’s people always insisted they were being attacked by Dobermans. In the 60’s peope always insisted they were being attacked by German Shepherds. But the really vicious, dangerous, plain out evil dogs are those little Weiner dogs. They have sharp teeth and bite you on the ankle. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/13 "2011-10-04T00:55:22Z")
I go to dog shows and have for 50 years. I know what a Statfordshire Terrier is. I also know they have been the basic building blocks for people to breed some nasty and dangerous dogs. Those are Pitt Bulls. I have been in 6 terrifying incidents in the park where i walk my beagles. Every one has involved a Pitt. They were all off leash, while my beagles were leashed. I did not do a DNA analysis to determine what percentage of their makeup is Pitt. But I know the difference. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/14 "2011-10-04T01:01:35Z")
Well, OP, I gotta tell ya, it wouldn’t exactly make the cops run to my house if I called to say “I’m scared my neighbors basset hound is going to bite my baby!” Might as well lie, and let the Law do its thing to that damnable basset. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/15 "2011-10-04T01:06:36Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Quiz - see how you do: > [Find the pit bull](http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html). > > ETA: The quiz I just simul-posted is a different version of **psychobunny’s** link. When I click on the dogs, I get the same picture of the dog and its breed. However, #13 gives me a picture of a different dog and a breed. Anybody here a dog-knower enough to tell me if the breed given is the breed in the original pic, or the breed in the “answer” pic? ETA: Never mind… the original pic is the Presa Canario (as identified in the answer). ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/16 "2011-10-04T01:11:09Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > [URL=“[What would you have done in this pit bull situation? - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=626495)”] > > And my personal favorite: “I left my car windows open all night and now there’s a pit bull in my car and it won’t let me in!” In that particular case the officer arrived on scene to find a gormlessly happy yellow lab sitting in the guy’s passenger seat waiting for bellyrubs and a ride. ROFLMAO mrAru’s Dad has a friend, Stu who kept and trained exotics in California who had a tiger that loved going for car rides. When ever the tiger got out, the cop would putter along til they spotted him, pop open the back door and GT would hop in and enjoy his ride back to the farm. I personally always wanted to get a cute little rainbow dyed poodle trained to attack randomly, tie little bows in its hair and toss it out in some damned rich neighborhood so it could rampage. I get so damned tired of the demonizing of specific dog breeds - some of the damned nastiest vermin I have ever met were toy poodles, chihuahuas, shi tzus … nasty little lap rats. Some of the nicest dogs I have met are the larger breed dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/17 "2011-10-04T02:14:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > But the really vicious, dangerous, plain out evil dogs are those little Weiner dogs. They have sharp teeth and bite you on the ankle. Ha ha ha! You ARE joking, that’s right, isn’t it?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/18 "2011-10-04T02:21:14Z")
I am not going to deny that there are some Pits that are just mean and dangerous. But they aren’t all like that. My Mom used to have a Pit Bull named Clementine that she got as a puppy. She said it looked like Winston Churchill, but being female she had to name it after his wife instead. 🙂 She was a lousy guard dog, but she was great with kids and other pets. She hardly ever even barked. The only danger that dog posed was licking you to death. She even patiently let my cats climb all over her and shared her sleeping spots with them. But whenever any one came over, one of us had to go outside and hold her until they got in the house because they were convinced she was going to maul them all because of what she was. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/19 "2011-10-04T09:07:54Z")
I’ve been a dog lover since I was a tot – from that day to this, just about anytime anywhere I see a dog, I walk up to same and start playing with it. In all my life, I’ve never been bitten, only nipped or snapped at maybe two or three times. To be sure, some dogs are not welcoming, but they always let you know before you get too close. I just seem to have a natural-born talent for reading dog. I’ve met a few pit bulls, and they have been among the friendliest most lovable of them all. Boxers of course are also way up there on the friendly scale, as are all kinds of retrievers of course. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/20 "2011-10-04T11:58:20Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > But the really vicious, dangerous, plain out evil dogs are those little Weiner dogs. They have sharp teeth and bite you on the ankle. > > Ha ha ha! You ARE joking, that’s right, isn’t it?😃 Not necessarily. I guess Tri is thinking of the Dachshund. Those dogs were originally bred for going down into badgers’ nests and drive the badger out so the hunter could shoot it. Now, a badger is bigger than a dachshund, and can be quite aggressive when cornered. A dog bred for _loving_ to enter a smelly, narrow, dark hole in the ground and drive out an aggressive, sharp-teethed, cornered inhabitant bigger in size than itself ain’t necessarily going to be the cuddliest, mildest, softest creature on earth. That takes a certain strongness of mind. A dachshund is definitely not the ideal handbag-and-sofa dog for inexperienced dog owners and will be a handful unless properly trained. ETA: And the same reasoning is what makes me inherently suspicious to the Staffordshire bull and similar breeds. They were bred for attacking and not giving in. There’s a stubbornness there which may potentially make the animal a dangerous one if not properly trained. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471.md?page=2)