Pit Bulls
Hey friends and fiends, back again to do the research
so you don’t have to! Today I want to start by reassuring you that no breed of
dog is naturally aggressive1,2. We cannot make huge leaps of an
entire group. Every dog is an individual and environmental and biological
factors play a huge role in their psychology. There are some stereotype we can
place on them like high energy, high prey drive, strong willed, ect but
aggression does not fall into this. Individual dogs are not aggressive without
human help1,2. By human help I’m referring to training,
overbreeding, or scaring them2. The one exception to this is when
dogs are in pain they can show signs of aggression2. This is not the
type of aggression we are referring to in this post. Perception of dog breeds
have a lot to do with breeds we consider to be aggressive3,4. Dogs
traditionally used for guarding like German Shepherds, Rottweilers, and
Dobermans are often assumed to be aggressive3,4,5. These types of dogs
are people motivated and will do whatever it takes to please their owners. This
willingness to please can cause the dogs to be used by humans with bad
intentions or plain ignorance. This doesn’t make the dog evil or bad. It’s the dog
owner’s responsibility to properly socialize and train their dog. To be clear,
Pit Bulls are no more prone to aggression than a Golden Retriever1,2,5.
In order to get rid of the stereotype we need to look
at a brief history of Pit Bulls. The ‘Pit Bull’ is not a real breed of dog6.
It is a group of breeds lumped together including Bull Terriers, American
Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terriers, or anything that comes in
brindle and/or looks like a stereotype. The original ‘Pit Bull’ was bred from
an Old English Bull dog7. I am going to be referring to the group of
stereotyped dogs as pit bulls in this post because the majority of the public
sees them as such. Pit Bulls, the original, have been bred in the United
Kingdom since the 1800s, initially to hunt and herd livestock6. Soon
after people began training and breeding the dog to fight each other for sport
as well as bulls7. This atrocity was outlawed in 1835 with the Cruelty
to Animals Act7. Pit Bulls came over to America with the British
colonies and were considered frontier dogs7,6. They were also bred
to be overly friendly to humans even when they were bred to fight eachother7.
A dog that bit it’s handler was no good7. The Pit Bull became
America’s sweetheart dog during WWI and WWII7. This was the most
popular time for them even featuring in popular television like Petey in The
Little Rascals, Tige in the buster brown shoe commercials in the early 1900s,
and Grunt in the 1983 movie Flashdance. When dog fighting made a comeback in
the 1980’s the public view of these dogs started to decline and the Pit Bull
stereotype was born. That’s where we are today. Pit bulls or pit-bull-look-alikes
are put down immediately upon entrance to a high kill shelters, and sometimes
at low kill shelters3,4. Even when they aren’t put down, studies
have proven that when the name ‘pit bull’ is placed on an adoptable dog it is
less likely to be adopted3.
So what can we do about this? There’s no magical fix
that will make things go back to normal for the Pit Bull. However, educating
yourself and those around you is a great start. Breed specific legislation is
bad for all breeds. One thing you can do is to write your congressman if your
state enforces such bans. If you’re scared or nervous about this breed, please
go meet them. Go to rescues, take them for a walk. You could also find someone
who has a Pit Bull in their home. I’m sure there are many parents of pitties
who would love to introduce you in whatever way makes you most.
Our dogs Emmy (left), and Rascoe (right), and long time friend Scarlett (middle) playing tugawar!
References
1. Pierce
Jessica Ph.D., June 2012. Understanding
Aggression in Dogs. Psychology Today. Accessed 15 June 2021.
2. Salla
Mikkola, Milla Salonen, Hannes Lohi. May 2021. Aggressive behavior is affected by demographic, environmental and
behavioral factors in purebred dogs. Scientific Reports.
3. Lisa
M Gunter, Rebecca T Barber, and Clive D L Wynne. 2016. What’s in a name? Effect
of Breed Perceptions & Labeling on Attractiveness, Adoptions Length of Stay
for Pit-Bull-Type Dogs.
4. Brian
Hare and Vanessa Woods. September 2016. Pit
Bulls are Chiller Than Chihuahuas. The Atlantic
5. Sara
K Enos. June 2014. The Problem with
People, Not Pit Bulls. Time Magazine.
6. June
2021. Pit bull. The Encyclopedia
Britannica. Accessed June 24, 2021
7. Love-a-bull
Pit Bull Advocacy group. The History of
Pit Bulls. Love-a-bull.org. Accessed June 24, 2021
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