NOW let me educate you a little more: YES - dog aggrssion USED to be a highly sought after trait in the pit bull because generation after generation was tightly bred for dog fighting AKA "game dogs". Human aggression was a quality that was highly undesireable with the pit bull because owners needed to be able to break dog apart that were fighting in the rings. IF a dog ever showed a sign of human aggression they were put down immediately. NOW - over many years - the GAME QUALITIES in MANY BLOODLINES of the pit bull have been bred out-------by carefully breeding non dog aggressive dogs to reduce the genetic trait of high dog aggression. SO now there are "game bred lines" and other lines. The dogs from tight Game Bred lines WILL have higher tendancies to show dog aggression - because they were BRED FOR THAT TRAIT. Where as other bloodlines will NOT carry a high tendancy for the dog aggressive trait. SEE - it is NOT just that the breed is a pit bull - it has ALOT to do with how the dogs were bred and the lines they have come from. You will see ALOT of pit bull lines that have been being outcrossed from bloodline to bloodline to DECREASE dog aggression traits. I have been to more UKC and ABKC dog shows then I can count AND have probably only seen 5 dogs EVER that were dog aggressive towards other dogs in the rings - and those dogs were excused from the show by the judge - the dog aggressive TRAIT is NOT a desired trait int he show rings. THEREFORE - people LIKE me and my family who show our dogs - ARE VERY careful about what lines we bred - WE do not own a dog that has ANY game blood in their 7 generation pedigree. Technically -according to UKC and ABKC - the game blood lines are considered bred out of the dog when those lines are so far back in the dogs ancestry. AND before you try and run yor mouth - I will tell you up front : THERE IS NOT A PIT BULL OUT IN THE WORLD that does not originate from Game Bred Lines - because those lines are where the breed started.
SO YES - Dog aggression USED to be a trait seen ALL the time in this breed. Also - your statement that socializtion does not have anything to do with a pit bull being dog aggressive that it is the breed: YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN! SOCIALIZATION plays a HUGE ROLE IN a dogs tendencies toward other dogs. If you have 2 pit bulls BOTH from a strong game bred line - you PROPERLY socialize and train one of them - but you don't do the same with the other: YOU WILL HAVE ! DOG THAT WILL BE DOG AGGRESSIVE GUARUNTEED and the other will have learned proper social ediquitte regarding other animals. We ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT OUR DOGS BECOME! Each owner is responsible for what their dogs become.
Quoting yourself. Yes, the possibility is DECREASED but it is not eliminated. Telling people that there is NO chance of aggression is irresponsible, which is what your daughter is trying to claim. That there is 0% possibility of a pit bull being aggressive.
Also, that dog will know how it is SUPPOSED to behave, but that doesn't mean it does not hold dog aggression. It means it was taught how to properly control itself. There is a large difference in the two. Sasha, my parents pit who IS dog aggressive and has no fighting in her lines, knows how she is supposed to behave because when my parents noticed her aggression, she was taught how to handle it. Sabbath, who does have fighting in her lines, however, has no dog aggression, and has never shown a sign of having a mean bone in her body.
I'm 21. I've been around various dogs all my life. I was bitten by an American eskimo when I was 4. Does it make me hate dogs? No. Am I wary around that breed? Not any more so than any other breed of dog. I grew up with two pit bull/rotweiler/german shepherd mixes. They were the sweetest dogs ever, but they did have aggressive tendencies with each other, despite being raised together and being litter mates due to the pit in them.
Giving people a false sense of hope is not proper education of this breed. Telling people that if you do "A,B, and C" your dog is never going to want to attack another dog is irresponsible. As I've said. You can have the best trained and socialized pit bull, and it still want to rip another dog's throat out. It's something that every pit bull owner HAS to know and has to be prepared for, and can't be given a false sense of security about, just as if a person were to own a Chow. You can't breed the digging out of smaller terrier breeds, you can just re-direct the energy. You can't breed the wanting to run out of a Vizsla, but you can re-direct the energy.
People need to have a proper expectation of the breed they are getting into when they buy the breed and that is EVERY possibility of what can happen, which means they need to know that their Pit can decide to not like other dogs, or in the case of Megan's Gavin, it can decide to dislike SELECT dogs. You can't tell people that their pit is never going to have an aggressive moment. It is a possibility they need to be prepared for.
And, just for the record. Last time I checked, 18 did make you a legal adult... So I thought I already WAS dealing with a "well-versed adult"? :hmm:
And students in classrooms. Regarding this breed the dos and don'ts, proper training, proper socilization, and all other aspects of care for these dogs. Maybe her 19 years of experience is the reason why we havn't had any issues with our dogs being dog aggressive! And its the only reason why I have learned to love this breed. and I'm trying to educate people about them too. I think I know alot more than most 18 year olds about this breed of dog and I continue to learn everyday. Which is why I'm doing a pit bull awareness walk next septmeber... Your more then welcome to come and get educated.
