Paul, a little off topic here, but I thought of you....
Driving to the hospital the other morning, I was stopped at a light, looked over to see what had to be a 70 - 80 pound pit bull sitting on the front steps of a house, with a small child on either side of him as they were waiting for a school bus in a not so nice area of town. There he was licking their faces and wagging his tail. He easily outweighed each child by at least 30 pounds. You could just tell...he was their protector and loved them to bits.
Cute!
Reminds me of my doggie with my two 2 1/2 yr old neices.
On topic, some additional points that didn't have time to post last time:
1. "Pit Bulls" as fighting dogs...
I thought I would provide a little information about the fighting history of 'pits' to clear up some more misconceptions. Some people adhere to the ubiquitous idea that because of the fighting roots of the dog, that the breed is inherently dangerous to some degree, or "can't be trusted." This is utterly not the case.
As someone mentioned before; "Pit Bull" dogs are a type rather then a breed; like retrievers or pointers for example. It covers many breeds such as American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Terrier, and American Bulldog, and any mix of the above. They all come from the same bulldog root. It is thought by many circles that what we know as the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) today is actually the original "bulldog." Old photo's and drawings and paintings dating as far back as the 15th century show pictures of the old bulldogs from Europe and the America's; and they resemble the APBT of today. These pictures and references date back before the supposed blend of bull-mastiffs and terriers were believed to occur. But some believe that it was a larger bull type dog (mastiff) and a terrier that was mixed to create the APBT. Regardless, we'll never know for sure.
But, we do know that the APBT is what the other "pit bull" type dogs stemmed from. But, all other "pit bull" dogs besides the APBT has been far removed from the old fighting roots. Staffordshire terriers were breed to be smaller companion dogs in England (granting it the nickname of "nanny dog"), Bull-Terriers and staffordhire terriers have been bred mainly as show dogs. American Bulldogs are a fairly new breed comparitively; they were bred for those who wanted a larger dog with a APBT look. They look exactly like Pits, but they generally weight 70-85lbs. APBT generally don't exceed 60lbs. When people say they see a "large pit of 70 or 80 lbs" they are most likely seeing an Amer. Bulldog, unless they are completely mistaken all together. There are some dogs with APBT papers that have been bred really big (in the 60-80lb range), but these are very rare.
The point of me telling you all of this is that most of these "pit bulls" have been bred well outside of their fighting history. It is really only the APBT that might retain any of that. So, lets forget about the other pit bull type dogs, and discuss the APBT fighting history.
American Pit Bull Terriers were named as such with the formation of the UKC. Prior to that (and even after that through the WWII era) they were just called "bulldogs."
Bulldogs got there name from the medieval practice of "bullbaiting." This came from the idea in England and Europe that meat had to be tenderized before the bull was killed for it to be good. So, they would send small, atheletic "bulldogs" that were incredably resilient and could jump and bite, clamping on the bulls nose. The dog would shake its head from side to side (as this video had shown on the officers hand) and actually bring the bulls head down, and the body would often follow. Horse owners will know that you can render a horse motionless by pinching above the septum of the horse. This same sort of thing would happened when the "bulldog" would clamp on the bulls nose. Once the dog clamped down, the bull would be rendered motionless, and then the butcher and friends would beat the bull on the body, then execute it.
This very brutal practice became a spectator sport, and people began gambling on who would win; the dog or bull. This went on for 100's of years until through science it was confirmed that this was not neccessary, and the practice was outlawed in the 1800's. At that point, people weren't allowed to gamble with bullbaiting; so they began dog fighting. This proceeded as a very organized sport, and is still a very organized sport today where high money is at stake, even though it is now underground and illegal.
Now, I will say for the record that I dispise dog fighting and dog fighters. My lifes dream would be to take down a dog fighting ring. I think it is cruel and psychopathic.
That said, there were some good things that came out of the dog fighting era, even if these things could have been realized a different way.
Dog fighting basically went like this. There would be a ring with wooden walls about waist height. After the dogs were washed and checked by the ref., they would be brought into the ring by their handlers. The ref would stay in the middle. They would be brought to the "scratch line" and they would fight. If the activity wasn't there or for other reasons, the ref would stop, the handlers would pull the dogs off, and they would restart at the scratch line. This same practice is done today in professional illegal circles.
Now, I am telling you this for a reason. I want you to understand that fighting dogs, or dogs with fighting blood lines even, are not inclined to bite people. This is because a dog would have to be brought into a ring to fight for it's life, but was not allowed to bite the handler or ref who was also in the ring with it. This was considered a trait of a "cur" or weaker mutt dog. If the dog bit the handler or ref., the dog was not allowed to breed and was often executed. Blood lines for these people are just as important now as at was when dog fighting was legal because it is big money. A fighting dog that is considered G. champion could sell pups today for as much as $20,000. Yet, a "cur" dog who lost or gave up a fight, or bit a handler, would ruin the reputation of that breeder if he were to try to sell the pups. These people are so much into this "pure" and "high-quality" blood line that they will usually kill a dog that loses a fight or bites a person.
What this means is that fighting dogs are not inclined to bite people. They have been bred, actually, to not bite people even under high stress. This, and they have also been bred for extreme loyalty, tenacity, agility, stamina, strength, and gameness. It is these traits that makes them a great all around working and family dog. This is why so many families own APBT, and are happy with them. This is why they are used in the working dog world and the legal sport arena (flyball, shutzhund, etc.). They are one of the most versitile breeds.
But, they are not genetically inclined to bite people. So, don't think that because they were bred at one time to fight other animals that they "can't be trusted" around humans. This is a completely inaccurate idea. When you see or hear of a APBT bite a human; first of all it most likely isn't an APBT. It is likely a mix or something that resembles the breed. This happends more often then not. But if it truly is an APBT that is aggressive towards humans, then it is that way because someone made it that way through neglect, abuse, or by training it to be that way.
It isn't because of the genetics of the breed.
2.
Another misconception: dogs who are trained to bite humans must be Euthanized because they are a danger, or can never be trusted.
If this were true, then we wouldn't have police dogs and police dog programs, and shutzhund and ringsport would not be a viable sport. Dogs properly trained to do a job or protect are generally better balanced and less likely to bite a person on "accident." Also, dogs trained to bite are also trained to "out." Any dog, including yours, could bite if the circumstances were right. But, would yours "out" if you told it too? Most would not, unless previously trained. But a dog trained properly how to protect would.
So, be careful with these generalizations. There are correct and responsible ways to train protection with dogs, as our many K-9 units have demonstrated. These dogs aren't a danger to society.
Dial up sucks *)
