# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/41 "2011-10-04T16:07:57Z")
My brother and his wife had an [American Staffordshire Terrier](http://www.akc.org/breeds/american_staffordshire_terrier/), and she was the sweetest, friendliest dog I’ve ever known. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. Here’s the thing, though: Holy CRAP, she was strong! She could pop a tennis ball with one bite, or chew those solid rubber “Kong” toys to shreds in a matter of minutes. If she’d ever been inclined to bite someone, or more to the point, if she’d been _trained_ to bite people, she could have done some pretty gruesome damage in a very short time. Any strange dog might conceivably attack you, and indeed a Pit Bull is probably one of the less likely breeds to do so. The problem is,\* if \*it does, you’re in big trouble. So I can understand people being wary around them. That said, it still doesn’t warrant the kind of biased hysteria many people seem to have. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/42 "2011-10-04T16:28:15Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Ha ha ha! You ARE joking, that’s right, isn’t it?😃 Nope, not a joke: > **[Sausage dogs are the most aggressive dogs](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2254479/Sausage-dogs-are-the-most-aggressive-dogs.html)** > > Forget pit bulls, rottweilers and Rhodesian ridgebacks, it's the sausage dog that's the most aggressive breed. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/43 "2011-10-04T16:48:25Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > ETA - and of course he might have some pit in him, but he’s built nothing like a fighting dog. His body is very houndish, it’s just his square flat head people don’t like. And that he’s brindled - for some reason people seem to be afraid of brindled dogs. The brindle pattern does freak out a lot of people. My french bulldog is brindled and there have been several people in our neighborhood who’ve asked if she is a pit bull. :rolleyes: Apparently she is 17 lbs of ears and terror because of her fur pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/44 "2011-10-04T17:10:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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. Part of the reason for this is that these breeds have enjoyed vogues as attack dogs, and so have been closely associated with a higher percentage of asshole owners who aren’t interested in a dog as a pet or a companion so much as as a weapon or penis extension. If we were to successfully put it about that standard poodles were vicious, devastating killing machines, we would see a lot of reports of people being attacked by standard poodles. Part of this would be due to simple hysteria, but we would also see a significant number actual attacks, because irresponsible people would be more attracted to poodles, and their training and treatment of the animals would emphasize and encourage aggressive behaviours, rather than inhibit them. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/45 "2011-10-04T17:13:20Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > I won’t argue against that. But I’d like a bulletproof guarantee that these breeds’ instincts can distinguish between “humans” and “other animals”, not between “my pack” and “everyone else”. And since dogs are pack animals who regard their owners as their pack leaders and disregard the species difference, I’d need some pretty heavy proof that their minds are wired according to the first concept and not according to the last concept. > > In other words: Will these breeds regard an unknown human as “human - don’t attack under any circumstances” or as “not a member of my pack - may be attacked under certain, dire circumstances”? With my knowledge of canine psychology (admittedly gained from experience with other breeds), I strongly suspect the latter. Well, a “bulletproof guarantee” you won’t get with _any_ animal – they are not automatons. My sister has a miniature poodle who is registered with Animal Control as a dangerous dog. Believing that “breed tendencies” will define an individual animal’s behavior can be a trap, admittedly. But _as a generalization_, **guarding** breeds like German Shepherd Dogs, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers and so on tend to be standoffish or suspicious of strange humans because that’s what they were selected for. Pit bulls, according to many different sources I have read in print and online, were bred to fight other dogs (and descended from bulldogs bred to seize and hold bulls) but, at the same time, also bred to be submissive to human handlers. People who breed pit bulls have said they keep guarding breeds on the property to deter dog thieves, because the pit bulls will happily get into the car with total strangers. So far, all of the pit bulls and pit mixes I have known, I would describe not so much as _tolerant_ of strangers as _exuberantly attracted to_ strangers. The pit bull and pit mix in my family at the moment will stand on the sidewalk watching total strangers get out of a car 300 feet away and just shiver with the hope that “Maybe they’ll come over HERE!” This includes a particularly dog-aggressive pit mix I was once asked to evaluate. She had the worst reactivity toward other dogs I’ve yet seen – it was immediately obvious she was _completely_ unsafe around dogs – but she was every bit a relaxed, friendly, head-butting, please-touch-me goofball toward humans, even total strangers. And that’s the thing. Yes, pit bulls were selected in part for dog aggression. But we trust that a Labrador will be gentle with humans even after seeing how aggressive he is with ducks. No one seems to be afraid of rat terriers going on a rampage even after knowing they are tenacious killers of rats. My beagle of many years ago would snap a rabbit’s neck with a single shake, but nobody feared her. My pit bull is about the same weight as that beagle, and when she shakes a toy in the exact same way, people are _worried_ she can’t tell the difference between they toy, another dog, or a human. She can tell. We consider it admissible in court that dogs can sniff out drugs even in tiny parts-per-million concentrations (trivia: the single largest dog-discovered drug seizure in American history was sniffed out by a pit bull named Popsicle). We stake our lives on dogs sniffing out bombs, detecting impending seizures, and perhaps even sniffing out cancer and infection. Everyone knows the lab will be able to distinguish a duck from a dork, the beagle a bunny from Benny. My dog can tell the difference between you and a dog. But here’s another thing – like many pit bulls, she doesn’t happen to be dog aggressive. Potential reactivity in a breed does not always manifest as actual behavior in an individual. I take her to events with people and dogs and she’s great – in two weeks we will be attending our _fifth_ annual [Fairfax County K-9 Krawl](http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/topics/091411k9krawl.htm), an anti-violence awareness event for people and dogs. Typical of our experiences was the year a basset hound walking near us at the head of the pack kept grumbling and whining, and my pit bull would double back and begin licking him in encouragement, as if to say “You can do it!” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/46 "2011-10-04T17:20:08Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Part of the reason for this is that these breeds have enjoyed vogues as attack dogs, and so have been closely associated with a higher percentage of asshole owners who aren’t interested in a dog as a pet or a companion so much as as a weapon or penis extension. That, and those were just popular dogs in those decades. If all breeds have a certain amount of aggression, then we’re going to hear more about bites from the more popular breeds. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/47 "2011-10-04T21:12:24Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Part of the reason for this is that these breeds have enjoyed vogues as attack dogs, and so have been closely associated with a higher percentage of asshole owners who aren’t interested in a dog as a pet or a companion so much as as a weapon or penis extension. > > If we were to successfully put it about that standard poodles were vicious, devastating killing machines, we would see a lot of reports of people being attacked by standard poodles. > > Part of this would be due to simple hysteria, but we would also see a significant number actual attacks, because irresponsible people would be more attracted to poodles, and their training and treatment of the animals would emphasize and encourage aggressive behaviours, rather than inhibit them. Could we malign toy poodles instead? For some reason they’re the ones who always want to bite me. At least my grandmother’s did. Ever been chased and mauled by a white fluffy snarling thing with halitosis wearing a Santa Claus costume? It’s not fun. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/48 "2011-10-04T22:01:47Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > 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. I’m sorry, but this is unbelievably stupid. The OP is about how dogs are misidentified as pit bulls, and your response is “Oh yeah, how come I read about pit bulls then?” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/49 "2011-10-04T22:57:44Z")
A lot of people think [Toby](https://picasaweb.google.com/110426601802221618441/Mar152011#5584372066149689618) is a pit bull. Which is fine - because it’s as good of a guess as any for him. What pisses me off is the two idiot families who see him every single day and hoot and holler that “that pitbull has a muzzle on, it’s going to bite everyone!” 1. It’s not a muzzle, it’s a [gentle leader](http://www.premier.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/behavior/gentleleader/faq). 2. I tell you it’s a gentle leader every single day, and explain WHY he has it on (none of the reasons are because he’s aggressive) every single day. 3. If it \*was \*a muzzle, he wouldn’t be able to bite anybody - because he’d have a friggin’ muzzle on! ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/50 "2011-10-04T23:09:48Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 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. 😉 Worst dog bite I’ve suffered was from my own stinkin’ Basset hound. She had issues. We ended up rehoming her to Basset hound rescue people. She bit me more than once. That being said my dog [Georgie](http://www.flickr.com/photos/23166205@N04/5099217079/) is a Pit bull (Am Staff) and German Shepherd mix and has never bit anyone. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/51 "2011-10-04T23:29:01Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > So if I can’t tell the difference between [this](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/images21/PitBullTerrierTiggerFetch1.jpg) and [this](http://www.mydogbreed.com/images/boston-terrier.jpg), I’m stupid? I guess I’m stupid, then. Maybe not stupid, but bad enough at telling the differences between dogs that you probably shouldn’t trust your own assessment of a dog’s breed. There are a few similarities between an American Pit Bull Terrier and a Boston Terrier, but the differences are significant, including size, flatness of face and ear shape. But I bet you’d be able to tell the difference between a labrador and a pitbull, right? Or a Jack Russell and a pitbull? My JRT has been mistaken for a pitbull twice, and the labrador several times, including last night when a man was arguing with me that she was definitely was a pitbull. ‘Yeah, but she’s pretty big, right?’ Yes, significantly taller than a pitbull, actually, though nowhere near as muscly. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/52 "2011-10-04T23:46:32Z")
I have a somewhat amusing pit bull story. When I first got my dog, a miniature Australian Shepherd (she’s 12 now), she was absolutely terrified of the downstairs neighbor’s pit bulls. She was about three months old the first time she met them, she practically climbed my leg to get away from them when they came running up to meet her. Fast forward several months and with Cricket having pretty much settled into her non-puppy personality. I happened to be out at the same time as the neighbor with the pit bulls and they came running happily up to meet her, whereupon she snapped at the female one, who then ran behind her owner for “protection”. After that, they gave her a wide berth if they happened to be out at the same time. I’m sure that if push came to shove that the pit would have defended herself, but it was just really cute to see this big powerful dog cower before my much smaller one. And yeah, IME most are extremely sweet, they just SMELL so much and the hair and slobber, ICK. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/53 "2011-10-04T23:49:27Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > So if I can’t tell the difference between [this](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/images21/PitBullTerrierTiggerFetch1.jpg) and [this](http://www.mydogbreed.com/images/boston-terrier.jpg), I’m stupid? I guess I’m stupid, then. Stupid bad at identifying dog breeds, yeah. Pro tip: The black and white dog that reaches about halfway up your shin, has batwing ears with rounded tips, and is snorting horribly and farting visible clouds of stink is the Boston Terrorist. The black/brown/tan/brindle dog that reaches a bit above your knee, that has either floppy lab-type ears or very erect ears with sharp points at the tip and scar tissue down the sides, who can breath and is farting _in_visible clouds of stink at longer intervals is the pit bull. ---
**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 5, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/54 "2011-10-05T03:23:18Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I’m sorry, but this is unbelievably stupid. The OP is about how dogs are misidentified as pit bulls, and your response is “Oh yeah, how come I read about pit bulls then?” :dubious: And in the very next post I acknowledged that. So blow me. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/55 "2011-10-05T03:46:51Z")
I don’t know where I got this link but the photos are adorable. [http://www.ywgrossman.com/photoblog/?p=676](http://www.ywgrossman.com/photoblog/?p=676) ---
**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 5, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/56 "2011-10-05T03:48:57Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Ha ha ha! You ARE joking, that’s right, isn’t it?😃 > [@Norse](#): > > 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. > [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Of course. [Dachshund\* Saves!\*](http://images02.olx.com/ui/1/27/82/2402582_2.jpg) Actually I like all types of dogs. I prefer the bigger ones though. I’ve had actual bites from 3 different dogs (none of them serious, just broken skin). One was an Afghan (intentional, I jumped in time or it would have been worse), one was my own lab mix (unintentional), and the third was a dachshund who intentionally bit my ankle, and that was the bite the hurt the most. > [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Part of the reason for this is that these breeds have enjoyed vogues as attack dogs, and so have been closely associated with a higher percentage of asshole owners who aren’t interested in a dog as a pet or a companion so much as as a weapon or penis extension. > [@tdn](#): > > That, and those were just popular dogs in those decades. If all breeds have a certain amount of aggression, then we’re going to hear more about bites from the more popular breeds. Well yeah, it would be both of those things. A popular dog that looks dangerous. Standard poodles can be pretty high strung and have a high rate of bites, but people think they’re adorable when they’re all poofed up, so it doesn’t make much of a story when someone gets bit by a poodle. A Thai Ridgeback is a pretty fiercesome looking dog, but hardly anybody’s ever heard of them, so if someone was attacked by one, they would say it was, you guessed it, a pit bull. ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/57 "2011-10-05T04:30:10Z")
[Brody](http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x383/loshan1/100_0143.jpg) was one of the best dogs I’ve ever had, even though he was fairly expensive in the two years I was his human. He had a run-in with porcupine that took four people at the vet 3 hours to pull/cut out the quills (and ended up with 58 staples, poor baby). He tore his shoulder open trying to squirm under the field fence to retrieve a lost ball (that one required 27 stitches). He was bitten on the nose by a rattlesnake…twice. Oh, and he cost me a fortune in sprinklers and water hoses. Do you have any idea how fun it is to subdue a sprinkler until it’s dead? 😃 The only reaction he had to strange people was whole-body tail wagging. He was attacked by several roaming neighbor and/or visiting dogs and his only reaction was to roll over and cower. He was the injured dog every single time. Two years and appx. $3400 in vet bills and gardening equipment later, he was run over and killed by a lost hunter driving 30 miles an hour on my mountain, dirt driveway. And then there is sweet little 9 pound [Inchems](http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x383/loshan1/100_0419.jpg) (long pointless story on the name). She curls her lip, snarls, growls and snaps at anyone who isn’t me or the SO. She bit the neighbor on the back of the leg last week and has bitten several others. She’s the menace around here. Not the pit bull, or the german shepherd or the akita mix. The little bitty min pin mix from hell. I’m just glad she loves me. 😃 ---
**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 5, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/58 "2011-10-05T06:43:40Z")
I have generally found the larger breed dogs are more mellow than the small lap rats. I grew up with golden retrievers, my dad grew up with english bulldogs, and my mom grew up with german shepherds. The only times we have had issues with snarly bitey dogs is with the nasty little lap rats. It seems like their owners can’t be bothered to correct their behavior, because they are so _cute_. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/59 "2011-10-05T07:43:03Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have generally found the larger breed dogs are more mellow than the small lap rats. I grew up with golden retrievers, my dad grew up with english bulldogs, and my mom grew up with german shepherds. The only times we have had issues with snarly bitey dogs is with the nasty little lap rats. It seems like their owners can’t be bothered to correct their behavior, because they are so _cute_. I have found this to be true a lot of the time. If a dog is small enough to be picked up, they just pick it up when it’s behaving badly, instead of correcting it. All this does is reinforce the bad behaviour. The begin to identify bad behaviour with being held and given affection. ---
**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 5, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471/60 "2011-10-05T10:17:01Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I have found this to be true a lot of the time. If a dog is small enough to be picked up, they just pick it up when it’s behaving badly, instead of correcting it. All this does is reinforce the bad behaviour. The begin to identify bad behaviour with being held and given affection. Exactly. I _never_ let my wolf hybrid get away with anything. Lugh actually treated the cats and god daughters like pack members, though he was very confused at the turkey that had fixated on him and tended to follow him around. :dubious::smack: I do wish there was some way to make people actually train their dogs with at least basic obedience. It really isn’t rocket science. Dogs actually _want_ to behave and fit in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-a-pit-bull/598471.md?page=4)