Pit Bulls – You either love them or you just don’t know enough about them…

My guess is most of you don’t know enough about them.  This is evidenced by the pit bull breed bans established not only in certain areas in the United States, but also in Europe.  Which is ironic since that is where the breed was originally developed.

So as I educate myself – let me bring you along…you’re welcome!!

In proper terms the American Pit Bull Terrier (recognized by the ADBA and the UKC), the American Staffordshire Terrier (recognized by the AKC) and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (recognized by the AKC and UKC) were an experiment in the early 19th century by breeders in the British Isles who decided to cross the English Bulldog with the Old English Terrier in hopes of finding the gameness of the terrier and the athleticism of the bulldog (please note this was a very different bulldog from the (laid back) English Bulldog we know today).

“Gameness” when referred to in dogs refers to their drive, their working ability, their determination not to give up until their task is complete.  The dog who will work until complete exhaustion.  The dog whose handler must stop him for his own well-being.  The dog who will search for the missing or the elusive until there is nothing left to give.  That is gameness and any dog can have it.  Unfortunately, for this breed it has been used against them for the profit of the unscrupulous.

From my research the term “pit bull” was given by none other than us humans once we started fighting them in – you guessed it – a PIT.  Clever, right.

So here’s the real kicker – In continuing my research I’ve found that the APBT (American Pit Bull Terrier), the AST (American Staffordshire Terrier ) and the SBT (Staffordshire Bull Terrier) were not bred to be aggressive towards humans or used for the purposes of guarding.  Rather they were bred for the purposes of working.  They were brought over from England by the founders - these dogs were used as catch dogs for semi-wild cattle and hogs, to hunt, to drive livestock, and as family companions.

So going a step further I decided to go to the American Temperament Test Society’s Standardized Temperament Test Page and view the statistics – These stats commence as of February 2012.

The American Pit Bull Terrier has an 86.8% pass rate.  Beating out the Golden Retriever and the Standard Poodle just to name a few.  How can that be?

Other bits of info I found interesting was that “responsible” and even not so “responsible” breeders have actively culled human aggression from their blood lines.  Even in the underground world of fighting, it is not useful or desirable for a dog to attack handlers or spectators… DUH!

As I moved on through my reading I found examples of how the APBT, AST and SBT are mostly bred for conformation, temperament, weight-pulling, obedience trial or therapy work.  They’re also widely used as companion dogs and police dogs.

So what have I learned from my research?  Once again, it comes down to us – you and me.  What do I mean by that?

Breeding!!  This lovely animal had a very specific purpose when first developed  - a strong dependable working dog.  That purpose became skewed by the greed of pit fighters and even worse by the negative media attention they receive.  There’s nothing better than a good pit bull attack story to throw the public into a frenzy and the media knows that!

But like all things, we do nothing about it.  We ban the breed – not the breeders.  We make these dogs “go somewhere else”, make them someone else’s problem or euthanize them.  We shut our eyes, put our fingers in our ears and hum a tune so we don’t claim responsibility.  Typical.

Humans create the problem – humans ignore the problem.

Instead, we should be shutting down these “backyard breeders” as statistically these dogs are the ones who end up in the shelters and rescues and start working with responsible breeders to maintain clean, well-balanced blood lines.  We need to spay and neuter our pets and we need to report dog abuse and dog fighting immediately.

But, really am I preaching to the choir here?

Well, maybe – maybe not.  Those who know better, do better and now that I know better – I’ll be sure to do better.  Will you?

Until next time…If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.  ~Derek Bok

Bye y’all.

Famous Pit Bulls – Fun Facts from Wikipedia

Pit Bull breeds have become famous for their roles as soldiers, police dogs, search and rescue dogs, actors, television personalities, seeing eye dogs and celebrity pets. Historically, the Bull Terrier mix Nipper and Petey from the Little Rascals, are the most well-known. Lesser known, but still historically notable pit bulls include Helen Keller’s family dog “Sir Thomas”, Buster Brown’s dog “Tige”, Horatio Jackson’s dog “Bud”, President Theodore Roosevelt’s Pit Bull terrier “Pete”, “Jack Brutus” who served for Company K, the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the civil war and Sir Walter Scott’s beloved “Wasp”.

Modernly significant pit bulls are: Weela, who saved thirty-one people, twenty-nine dogs, three horses and one cat; Popsicle, a five-month-old puppy originally found nearly dead in a freezer, who grew to become one of the nation’s most important police dogs; Norton, who was placed in the Purina Animal Hall of Fame after he rescued his owner from a severe reaction to a spider bite; Titan, who rescued his owner’s wife, who would have died from an aneurysm and D-Boy, who took three bullets to save his family from an intruder with a gun.

Notable movies and television shows that have starred pit bulls have been Flashdance, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Dog Whisperer, Pit Boss and Pit Bulls and Parolees.