Yes, you’re scoffing at this preposterous question, but given the dreck that passes for prime-time TV these days, is it really that reprehensible?
Let go, relax, indulge in this fantasy confrontation. You won’t feel that bad in the morning. Promise.
The setup: a bad-ass hate-filled “urban” pit bull versus an alpha-male wolf in his prime and in the wild.
As I don’t want to bias you, you make the call. I’ll weigh in as a tie-breaker.
My money is on the pit bull, if he’s an alpha male and knows tai-kwon-do, jui-jitsu, kung-fu and can use nun chucks. All bets are of if the wolf studied at a shaolin temple.
I would say that it depends on the ‘pit bull’ you are talking about since that term is used to cover a whole range of dogs. A large grey wolf would outweigh a normal pit bull by quite a bit, but a bull mastiff? Different story.
Plus where the fight occured matters. Wolves are skittish. If this was in the wild, the wolf might run away after a few, it’s all about survival, not pride, y’know. In a caged inclosure to the death? Hmmm…Probably the pit bull.
-Tcat
Would it be that hard to find out? Wolves can’t be THAT hard to find.
I’m betting on the wolf. The pit bull might be pissed off, but he’s still on the wrong side of a lot of domestication.
Wolves do not live up to their reputations when it comes to aggressiveness. Also, just as their are several kinds of pit bulls, there are also differences in the breeds of wolves.
pitbulls have locking jaws. ANYTHING that the bull bites is going to be torn off that wolf.
I vote for the pitbull.
While they are indeed related, pit bulls, bullmastiffs and for that matter, English mastiffs, are three different breeds of dogs, the English mastiffs being the heaviest.
Like bullmastiffs, pit bulls have bulldog in them. They are brave and stubborn.
I agree that if this encounter took place in the wild, the wolf might not even bother. In a caged enclosure, it all depends on who gets to the throat first.
I’ve read (no cite, of course) that one of the things that makes pit bulls so aggressive is they don’t recognize the social signals other dogs (and wolves) use to avoid fights. Wolves rarely fight to the death, if a wolf is losing a fight he rolls over on his back in a submissive posture. Most wolves and other dogs would take this as a victory, but a pit bull might continue to attack.
Pit bulls were bred to fight… they have small ears, locking jaws and a compact dense frame to help them win.
Wolves on the other hand are social pack hunters, they’re pretty lanky really… not very agressive outside of determining social pecking order.
The Pit Bull would eat the wolf alive in a one on one fight… now… a PACK of wolves versus a handfull of pit bulls would be a different story. The wolves would pick off the pit bulls one by one.
I don’t have a cite either, but I was told by a knowledgeable (well, I consider him to be!) dog trainer that pit bulls fight in prey drive, whereas most dogs fight in defence drive. This means that a pit bull will fight to the death given the chance. Apparently, the other dog recognises that its attacker is fighting in prey drive, and usually rapidly goes into shock, and this is what kills it rather than any substantial injury.
As for the size difference between pit bulls and wolves, I don’t think it would be too much of an issue - after seeing my pit bull cross take down both a Newfoundland and a big German Shepherd by the throat with little effort, I don’t think a wolf would be too much of a problem. (Before you all think that I’m some weirdo who wants my dog to fight, he became aggressive towards other dogs very suddenly, and both attacks occurred on the same day. There were no serious injuries, thankfully, and he is now leashed and muzzled when out.)
I agree with most that the pit bull would win, however between an alpha male wolf and a mama wolf guarding cubs, I would take the mama.
I assume you mean an American Staffordshire Terrier when you refer to a “pit bull.” They don’t “have small ears” - they are cropped at a young age so as to offer less chance of injury.
Country Squire, even the SUGGESTION of dog fighting IS and ALWAYS WILL BE reprehensible and disgusting.
Hypothetically, I believe the AmStaff would win - the PSI they can produce with their jaws is more than a panther’s. (IIRC, no site.)
Or you could be referring to the American Pit Bull Terrier.
Either way, it’s a horrifying and barbaric “sport.”
Well, I know the answer. When I lived in So CA, my freind had a large Malamute, with some wolf blood. He used to walk it. There was a Pit bull, that was always trying to get out at the malamute- in fact the dog’s owner would egg the pit bull on (there was a chainlink fence though, so…)- and also talk trash about what woudl happen if his “killer” dog got out and got to the Husky.
Well, one day the Pit Bull did get out, and charged the malamute- and my freind had the leash yanked out of his hand my the extremly powerful malamute. The PB got the husky by the throat- or rather some skin & a lot of hair. The Malamute proceeded to basicly eat the PB alive while the PB hung on to a worthless hold. Result- one dead PB, one malalmute that needed a few stitches. The owner of the PB actually want to sue my freind- and even called Animal Control on him. Animal control pointed out that the PB owner had let a dangerous dog get free, and he should be quiet unless he wanted some criminal charges filed.
Note that the Malamute did weigh about 200#, more than twice the PB, and Malamutes are very strong dogs. However, they are very wolf-like, and this one was something like 25% wolf. so- there ya go.
Of course- in the wild, the PACK of wolves would just eat the poor PB. And, if it wasn’t a type of canid with all that long hair & extra skin on it’s neck- they could be in serious trouble.
My vote goes whole heartedly with the Wolf. Pit Bulls are extremely viscious but not a very good match for a full grown, 180 pound Alpha Male wolf. Sorry pit bull lovers, if Dog fighting were legal, I’d want the Wolf plain and simple. Reference DrDeth that story seems quite credible in principle at very least.
Well, he told me the story, and I saw the stitches on the neck of the malamute- and one time I had been out with him, walking the dog, and that PB had come out and acted all crazy against the fence. So- I beleive him.
No, they’re not. If poorly socialized, they’re often very animal-aggressive (as are members of the “wolfy” breeds like Malamutes, Huskies, and Samoyeds) but that does NOT equal vicious. Pit bulls are almost never (in my personal and professional experience) people aggressive. Those who are generally have either been trained as attack dogs or poorly socialized so that they’re afraid of strangers.
Of course, as with any breed, the occasional individual can be a right bastard.
Thank you, CCL. I owned a pit bull (actually some obvious mix of the common “pit bull”-identified breeds), and she was perhaps the sweetest and gentlest dog I’ve ever owned.
It is always a bad idea to make blanket temperament statements about dog breeds–a poorly socialized and oft-tormented Lab can be just as “viscious” as a a poorly socialized and oft-tormented pit bull. Maybe not as “dangerous”–generally slower, less powerful jaws, etc. The fact that the PB’s possess these certain characteristics (originally bred to fight bears, IIRC) makes them ideal fighting dogs, so unfortunately they are chosen by the societal scum who wish to abuse and provoke them to the point of “viciousness.” Same goes for Dobermans and Rottweilers (both of which I or my family have also owned–a particular Doberman bitch liked coddling and treating me like one of her puppies when I was a small child).
As CCL said, any breed can produce the occasional dog with temperament problems.
Personally, I doubt the identification of the animals in this story as “wolves,” but it’s as close as I know to the postulated event:
My brother has a very sweet pit bull named Linus, which was passed off as a “half beagle-half boxer” when he adopted it as a puppy. Linus loves to play with other dogs, and is very good about ignoring my psychotic dalmatian’s aggressive nervousness. He’s even been known to let a Jack Russell Terrier hang from his cheek by its teeth without becoming irritated.
One day, he was at the dog park and a gentleman there had a pair of what he claimed were pure blood timber wolves. Whatever they were, they were huge and impressive. The gentleman warned my brother that he’d better keep his dog from acting aggressive around them or they’d rip him up, which my brother readily agreed to.
The “wolves,” however, decided that they’d harrass poor Linus, nip at him, and so forth, until he became agitated. He’s a sweet dog, so it came as a surprise to my brother when he saw the first of the “wolves” go down, yelping. He raced in (stupidly–you don’t break up a dogfight by hand unless you want to lose a finger) in an attempt to control his dog, but Linus was too fast and the second “wolf” went down.
Luckily, despite being a “killer pitbull,” Linus was more than happy to accept surrender from other dogs once he’d mashed them into the dirt, and he didn’t seriously hurt them.
Unluckily, he decided that would be a good day to extract said surrender from every other dog in the dog park and racked up quite a few before my brother got him back under control (Linus is about 75-80 pounds of pure muscle, he’s probably a bit large for a traditional pitbull).
Needless to say, my brother is not allowed to bring Linus to that dog park anymore.