Pitbulls? Don't want to have an incorrect understanding of the breed

[chickentrains]

https://adbadog.com/

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

I have been DEEPLY enjoying learning about dogs and dog breeds, but I haven't been able to find anything consistent on pitbulls.
There is a lot of controversy on pitbulls, because of many stories of their aggressiveness. My understanding was that they were bred to be DOG aggressive, but not at all aggressive toward humans. This agrees with the claim that if you 'treat them right' they are loving and sweet dogs, because if human aggressiveness was bred out, the only reason for aggressiveness toward humans would be improper handling. Is this an accurate understanding? I wouldn't own one anyway (I'm not a huge fan of bully breeds, the only one I have a particular affinity for is boxers (nothing wrong with the breed, just don't like the look or temperament) but I want to make sure that I'm not misinformed and by extent can't spread misinformation.

@Overo Mare You have some knowledge on this, if I recall correctly?
Thank you!

They aren't naturally aggressive. You cant exactly breed temperament into a dog. They were used for fighting dogs for awhile and thats how that rumor came about. You will see cases with mean pitbulls, because the people that have them got them to be aggressive and defensive. It just depends how the dog has been trained. Along with the rumor of naturally aggression, they do not have a "lock jaw". That was completely made up, they have a strong jaw but there is no mechanism to actually lock their jaw onto something it bites. They are wonderful, sweet sweet dogs that have just been given a bad name.

 

[chickentrains]

They aren't naturally aggressive. You cant exactly breed temperament into a dog. They were used for fighting dogs for awhile and thats how that rumor came about. You will see cases with mean pitbulls, because the people that have them got them to be aggressive and defensive. It just depends how the dog has been trained. Along with the rumor of naturally aggression, they do not have a "lock jaw". That was completely made up, they have a strong jaw but there is no mechanism to actually lock their jaw onto something it bites. They are wonderful, sweet sweet dogs that have just been given a bad name.

Yes.. yes you can. Look at every breed of dog out there. They all have breed traits, including temperament traits. Like how Siberian huskies are generally stubborn dogs.

Its debated if they where bred for fighting, or not. but the general consenus is that they where bred for baiting wether thats other dogs, bulls, or rats. They where bred to hunt and as a result, they may have dog aggression

the APBT breed standard even writes this out

https://www.ukcdogs.com/american-pit-bull-terrier

"Because most APBTs exhibit some level of dog aggression and because of its powerful physique, the APBT requires an owner who will carefully socialize and obedience train the dog"

 

[Cecisflock]

please adopt, don't shop. There are countless shelters full of nothing but pits because of overbreeding. You don't have to find a breeder, you can save a life.

Mmmkay clearly you don't understand certain breeds are bred for certain things, we chose to BUY a collie because we need a good farm dog, mot a bully mix breed who's going to kill the cats.

You can find a wonderful dog with a good temperament whether you choose to shop or adopt. And I've seen Great dogs come from bad situations.

Yes! this!

I think this is more of an issue where I live bc dog fighting is still a thing around here. And the idiots who do it don't really worry if the dogs are people aggressive as well.... It's hard to find a bully mix around here that is several generation removed from fighting dogs.

Holy crap! that's horrible!

I do recommend feeding your dogs, for what it's worth.

me too, good plan

Just like how collies herd and pointers point.

Yes! genetics!

They call every dog with a blocky head a pit bull, then whine about how everybody thinks pit bulls are awful, when in reality if they just said they had BULLY BREED MIXES (which is what they are), people would be like oh yeah the neighbors shelter mutt attacked somebody, not the neighbors pit bull attacked somebody.

I had never thought of it this way you opened my eyes

Like if you let a collie loose in a field with sheep, its gonna try and gather the sheep.

Unless they are poorly bred

AKC doesn't register APBTS

Wait, why? it is a breed, is it not...

 

[chickentrains]

The united kennel club accepts the APBT, and the AKC accepts an ancestor of the APBT, the American staffordshire terrier. ADBA registers the APBT,

 

[Cecisflock]

they do not have a "lock jaw". That was completely made up, they have a strong jaw but there is no mechanism to actually lock their jaw onto something it bites.

All dogs have a lockable jaw, if you were to look at any dog jaw you can see it with a trained eye! cool yeah?

 

[chickentrains]

Wait, why? it is a breed, is it not...

There are plenty of breeds not accepted by the AKC. The AKC just chose not to accept them. off the top of my head, Carolina dogs, not accepted by the AKC. Doesn't mean they are not a breed, and other kennel clubs accept them.

 

[Cecisflock]

There are plenty of breeds not accepted by the AKC. The AKC just chose not to accept them. off the top of my head, Carolina dogs, not accepted by the AKC. Doesn't mean they are not a breed, and other kennel clubs accept them.

that's dumb, shouldn't they accept all established breeds?

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

Yes.. yes you can. Look at every breed of dog out there. They all have breed traits, including temperament traits. Like how Siberian huskies are generally stubborn dogs.

Its debated if they where bred for fighting, or not. but the general consenus is that they where bred for baiting wether thats other dogs, bulls, or rats. They where bred to hunt and as a result, they may have dog aggression

the APBT breed standard even writes this out

https://www.ukcdogs.com/american-pit-bull-terrier

"Because most APBTs exhibit some level of dog aggression and because of its powerful physique, the APBT requires an owner who will carefully socialize and obedience train the dog"

Okay, this may be true, but I think the point is that your not gonna bring a puppy home, and it will immediately start trying to kill things. You may get a rescue dog that has a bad past and has been trained (whether intentional or just from its past environment) to attack. As long as you don't let it see itself as the alpha, which you must avoid with all dogs, they are wonderful dogs. Even dogs bred for certain things must have specific training for such. When I go take my labs out to play fetch, they walk right by my ducks without a second thought. They are bred to retrieve them. I swear my dogs are half cat though

 

[chickentrains]

that's dumb, shouldn't they accept all established breeds?

AKC is a crappy registry anyways. I don't care what they are up to, honestly. I prefer UKC.