There has never been a dog breed that has been as vilified and attracted as much negative publicity as the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT). The question is why?
To many people the answer would seem perfectly obvious. As the stories go, these dogs are apparently extremely aggressive and unpredictable and have been bred for the sole purpose of maiming and killing other dogs. In the absence of a dog or any other animal they will simply turn their attention to the nearest human, be it man, woman or child!
No surprise therefore that the media constantly highlights the dangers of the breed and adds its weight to calls for the banning and eventual eradication of these dreadful animals. It really appears to be a simple open and shut case. Most reasonable people would agree that there is no place in society for this type of dog, with the only dissenting voices coming from thugs with vested interests in the shadowy world of dog-fighting. But are things really as simple as they appear? Consider this.
The American Pit Bull Terrier as we know it today is certainly not the new kid on the block – they have been around for at least 100 years. It seems strange then, given their reported savageness, that they were not wiped out decades ago. After all, you do not see cities and suburbs with dangerous wild animals roaming the streets. Perhaps they survived because they were kept secretly and exclusively by underground dog-fighting rings?
In fact they were the preferred dog in many American households especially on farms in the early 20th century. The reason was simple. They were found to be hardy, courageous, loyal, obedient and good with children – in short, ideal family dogs. Even President Theodore Roosevelt had one, as well as a number of other different breeds. All seemed to survive, including the President.
So if one accepts for a moment that the APBT was at one point virtually America’s national dog, how did it acquire the spectacularly bad reputation it has today? When did it suddenly turn bad?
A clue might lie in what happened to Dobermanns in the 1970s and then to Rottweilers in the 1980s when both breeds went through a terrible period of bad publicity. Two well-established, highly respected and popular breeds were suddenly attacking everything in sight, or so it appeared in the media. Then suddenly in the late ‘80s the Rotties started behaving themselves (Dobermanns had inexplicably ceased to be a threat and had long since been forgotten). Enter the ex-family dog, and new public enemy No. 1, the American Pit Bull Terrier. It doesn’t make sense unless one looks at the common factor in these cases, and that is of course the role played by the media.
But why would the media have a seeming vendetta against a particular breed of dog? The truth is that the media doesn’t specifically have an issue with any particular dog – it simply looks for a good story. Many of us are fascinated by superlatives – the highest mountain, the fastest car, the richest person, the best athlete, the biggest explosion, the worst flooding. The media is well aware of this attraction and will always seek it out where possible.
Better still, though, what if there is a hint that this ‘superlative’ has a flaw, real or imagined? For example, when we are gazing in awe at the highest paid supermodel a rumour spreads that she has a drug habit, or the best rugby player beats up his wife. In light of the above the APBT is tailor-made for media attention. It has a built in superlative (the best fighting dog in the world), as well as a supposed flaw (it is unpredictable and may turn on its owner at any time). To make matters worse, when APBT’s started appearing in the media people were largely uninformed about them. (How many people had heard about Pit Bulls before the late 80s?). So to many it seemed as though this ‘fighting super-dog’ had recently been concocted somewhere and suddenly unleashed on the world.
This caused a number of problems. It increased the hype and hysteria surrounding the breed, and because very few people really knew anything about the history and temperament of the APBT they were prepared to believe the image they were being fed by the media. But while many simply wrote the breed off, many others were immediately attracted to it, often for the wrong reasons.
Many people acquired APBT’S simply for their macho appeal. From the neighbourhood bully strutting around with his ‘Pit’ letting everybody know about the ‘baddest’ dog on the block, to criminals, especially drug dealers, wanting to keep nosey neighbours and rivals off their patch. This association of course did nothing for the breed’s already shaky reputation. It seemed a perfect match – bloodthirsty bad dogs with bloodthirsty bad people. Equally unfortunate is the fact that dogs in the hands of criminal elements are usually trained and encouraged to be aggressive. Manna from heaven for the media, as millions of people were presented with images of drug kingpins surrounded by dozens of Pit Bulls straining at their heavy chains, snarling and snapping at everything in sight.
To make matters worse still, because APBTs were originally bred for fighting very little emphasis was placed on their appearances. Consequently they come in a variety of colours and often quite a variation in their size and height. Some are heavy, squat, barrel-chested titans while others can be surprisingly lightly-built with relatively small heads. So it often happens that dogs that can’t be readily identified but have a bit of a Terrier look to them are classified as APBTs. The result has been that many attacks have been unfairly blamed on the breed simply because a particular dog ‘looked a bit like a Pit’.
No matter the breed, it is a well-known fact that the owner’s behaviour towards his dog plays a large part in determining the dog’s general disposition and behaviour. The problem with dog attacks that are reported is that often little or no information surrounding the event is available. Was the dog abused in any way? Did it attack because it was being beaten? Was it taunted, teased, chained up somewhere and left to starve? Seldom, if ever, is any attempt made to find out what actually happened.
There is usually a good reason for a serious attack, as well as warning signs. Having said that, freak events do occur and it does happen that a perfectly normal dog in a perfectly good home suddenly turns bad for no apparent reason, resulting in serious injury and worse. These are tragic cases and one’s heart goes out to the individuals and families concerned. It is also a tragedy for the breed because in the wake of these incidents, many people judge an entire breed because of the actions of one disturbed animal.Surely though, where APBTs are concerned there is never smoke without fire? What drew the media’s attention to the breed in the first place? It’s impossible to say for sure, but more than likely someone was attacked by one. The same thing probably happened with Rottweilers and Dobermanns.
The crux of the matter is that ALL breeds of dogs have been known to attack humans. This is obviously the exception rather than the rule, with fatalities due to dog attacks being surprisingly rare given the millions of dogs and humans sharing living spaces. Nevertheless, any strong dog of any breed can potentially cause severe injury and death, a fact often overlooked. If one is unlucky enough to be attacked by a dog it stands to reason that the stronger the breed, the more damage is likely to be inflicted.
A Maltese or Pomeranian snapping at one’s heels may raise a laugh, but the picture is a little different when facing a large breed such as a Pit Bull, Rottweiler or Boerboel. (By the way, Pit Bulls have never been scientifically shown to have harder bites than other powerful breeds, and they can’t ‘lock’ their jaws any more than humans can!)The obvious question – is there any breed, in terms of temperament, that stands out as being more or less likely to pose a threat to humans? There really doesn’t seem to be a clear winner or loser in this regard. No breed is perfectly good or perfectly bad (much the same as humans).
The American Temperament Testing Society (ATTS) tests dogs in a number of categories, one of which is aggression towards humans and other dogs. 82% of APBTs passed the test, with the combined average of other breeds having a pass rate of around 77% (some breeds scored higher, and some lower). These tests are not the last word on the subject but it does indicate that APBTs seem to be well within the parameters of what is considered acceptable behaviour.
Again this seems to go against the popular perception of them being unduly aggressive. But historically this makes sense. In the days when dog fighting was an abhorrent sport, the handlers were present with their dogs in the enclosure. The animals had to be separated and attended to, and despite being in fighting mode the dogs had to be able to accept human intervention in the heat of battle. Traditionally handlers would wash each other’s dogs after the fight. Human-aggressive dogs weren’t tolerated and excluded from breeding programmes.This also explains why even the most ardent APBT fans have to admit that unless specifically trained, Pit Bulls don’t make good guard dogs – they are simply too friendly. They will often happily welcome strangers on to the property. However things can change rapidly if they sense a direct threat to their owner.
The American Pit Bull Terrier quite simply does not deserve its terrible reputation, with the breed’s poor public image due largely to a sensation-seeking and uninformed media along with some poor choices of owner. Despite this, however, these dogs continue to be adored by millions of people all over the world.
Recent television programmes such as Pit Bulls and Parolees and The Dog Whisperer series with Cesar Milan have gone a long way to this end. In fact it is ironic that not only does Cesar Milan have a number of Pit Bulls in his pack of dogs, but he regularly used one of them (the famous ‘Daddy’) to help socialise unruly hounds of all breeds. As with all powerful dogs this breed isn’t for everyone. These dogs require responsible owners who will give their pets time, dedication, socialisation, training and above all tons of love and attention.
Think carefully about whatever you might hear about them, and if you have one show it off with pride!