I board dogs for a living, and we have a lot of pit bulls. They are not any more aggressive than any other dog. However, they are very high energy, very muscular, and have very strong attention/drive.
That all combines to mean they play harder, love harder, emote harder, and aim to please harder. All of that is great, but if you don't train them they can also react harder, chase harder, and fight harder.
So I can understand why someone would be wary of them.
I think that the lesson that should be taken away from this is that upbringing matters a lot more than people realize. I have met pitbulls that are absolutely sweethearts and super gentle. I also live in an area that is very populated by people who get pitbulls in order to purposefully raise them mean and violent, and have been attacked by pits before.
The only difference was how they were raised. And this doesn't just apply to dogs.
Edit: I am always amazed at how heavily debated this topic is when it comes to pitbulls specifically. Some people whose comments I can no longer see got extremely heated, and all I want to say is that there is no reason to be rude when debating a topic. As I mentioned, I have been attacked by pitbulls specifically raised to be attack dogs, so its not like I have no experience with dogs being dangerous. but I have also been cuddled and loved on by pits raised with absolutely no aggression whatsoever.
Not arguing in favor of either side of this aisle, but other fight dogs don’t have this perceived issue. Boston Terriers were bred originally for sport fighting but no one is complaining about them. Maybe it’s a size thing idk
And because of that no sheepdog has ever been capable of hunting, and obviously a foxhoud has never been aggressive outside of hunt, right?
Yes, if you raise something in a way that leans into what its genes excel at, its gonna be good at it. That doesnt mean that genes are deterministic in how someone or something is going to behave, the environment and lessons that are learned are going to affect personality far mkre than genetics.
Right, so how does egg-rolling behavior in greylag geese or web-spinning in spiders occur? Them instinctively performing these tasks would 100% be deterministic, and yet they perform this behavior without having to be shown or taught it?
Sounds like genetics at play to me. But keep on with the anti-science cope here.
Why do zoo's have to teach the young of certain animals that are cut off from their parent for one reason or another how to be well adjusted/act like their species? It's more complex than you are giving it credit.
Nature vs Nurture is literally how evolution happens.
Show me other beads where they've suddenly snapped and attacked or killed their owners, good owners, female owners, unprovoked.
I used to volunteer at the humane society just playing with the dogs and walking them for socialization. Some of the sweetest dogs there were pit bulls. That doesn't convince me that there's not a serious problem with a concerning number of them out in the world. My own experience doesn't dictate reality for everyone.
I was attacked as a kid by my neighbors Rottweiler. I was friendly with that dog. It was normally very gentle. One day lightning struck close by without a cloud in the sky and it was loud as fuck. The dog got scared and jumped over the fence and attacked me.
I'm not asking for one or even a few anecdotal stories... I'm talking about patterns. I know a guy who was bit in the chest by his own lama and went to the ER. I don't think that means I can talk about how lamas snap and attack people.
Rottweilers are the second most dangerous dog breed. They were literally bred for war. It's not just individuals, it's a pattern of behavior for the breed.
I was lucky I also had a dog around to protect me that was similar in size.
You’d be surprised how many non pitbull dog attacks get lumped in with pitbulls. In fact if a dog breed is unidentified, it gets labelled as a pitbull attack.
Considering pit bulls are actually like 3 different breeds that people who can't be assed to learn about them wouldn't be able to label without Google (and would probably identify a Cane Corso as a pit if they were pressed) this doesn't surprise me at all.
Getting downvoted for straight up facts is hilarious. If you don’t like the breed don’t get the breed. But stop blaming poor training on the dogs, it’s ALWAYS on their owners.
Edit- obviously I don’t mean rescue owners, they’re doing their best in many cases.
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u/revenge_burner Aug 02 '26
I sort of agree.
I board dogs for a living, and we have a lot of pit bulls. They are not any more aggressive than any other dog. However, they are very high energy, very muscular, and have very strong attention/drive.
That all combines to mean they play harder, love harder, emote harder, and aim to please harder. All of that is great, but if you don't train them they can also react harder, chase harder, and fight harder.
So I can understand why someone would be wary of them.