Facts/History/Questions

[Vinnie]

You might also want to post this question over at GoPitbull.com (one of our sister boards). They might also have some good leads/info for you.

[DCluver33]

pitbull-chat.com is a good forum to go check out as well too. They should be able to help you with any questions you may have

[selzer]

As for pit bulls guarding, well, my brother's neighbor's home was broken into. The shep was in a crate. The pit was left free in the house. When he got home his pit was outside in his yard. There was blood everywhere, inside on the couch, and a trail outside. The dog DID guard the home.

I think that what a dog is originally bred to do, will play a part in what they will be likely to do if they become extremely popular, bred poorly and raised by incompetent or abusive owners.

For example, Labs have been at the top of the list in popularity for years, every month, they may have three times the litters/dogs registerred than the next runner up, say GSDs. And while bites from labs have increased with their popularity, I doubt they will ever catch up with GSDs and other breeds whose orginal purposes and current purpose includes an element of aggression.

Labs are used for hunting. But they are never expected to actually KILL anything. In fact, bird dogs in general are often bred for their "soft mouth" which allows them to retrieve a living bird and deliver it still alive to its handler. Not sure if labs have the soft mouth, but how different is this than breeding for a dog who is "game" in the pit or who will go go go against the sleeve?

Anything with teeth can bite. Larger dogs are more likely to have more power in their bites, even if they may not be as likely to bite. And questionable breeding practices will cause instability with nerve and possibly other problems that can increase aggression and possibly cause rage disorders.

By and far the most biting occurs when an animal is afraid, not dominant, or stubborn, or bad. So when dogs are produced with weak nerves, fearfulness, severe shyness, phobias, etc., these dogs are going to be very likely to bite people. I would imagine that dogs whose breeding makes their skulls mishapen or too small, would increase in aggression as the brain is affected.

For dogs that have been bred away from aggression for centuries such as bird dogs, to be increasing in aggression due to bad breeding practices, people should stand up and take notice.

For dogs that have been bred for aggressiveness of any type, their breeders should be all the more careful where they are letting their pups go.

The host of breeds that people lump together as pit bulls, and other dogs bred specifically for blood sports like dog fighting and bull baiting, these dogs have several marks against them. 1, they have been bred for aggression and persistance -- they mixed the terrier with the bull dog to make a dog that would not stop. 2, they are extremely popular and have been bred unscroupulously. 3, they have gotten a reputation for being strong, fearsome dogs, and have been trained to guard, and protect as well as being highly desired by people who want BAD dogs. And 4, people call anything with four legs and teeth a pit bull, so sometimes they are blamed for bites that did not come from any bully breed.

At the same time, you could probably put GSDs in all of those categories as well. GSDs are sometimes blamed for bites committed by anything with pointy ears and teeth.

And yes, once your munincipality has success with getting a breed or breeds banned, they may go to town on other interesting breeds. Or, they may start out with trying to ban pit bulls and their mixes and look alikes, and before they have the bill through, it includes many more breeds.

I think that all people who own dogs should be aware and fight the banning of breeds. Because it affects us all. But I also think that dog owners need to do something to curb the number of incidents. Because in your place you have two incidents and people want to ban a bunch of dogs. Unfortunately, I have no answers on how we can curb the incidents. We ourselves, socialize and train our dogs, and keep them contained. But we cannot force others to do the same.

Another tactic is to do a tally of deaths and serious injuries from other things like bicycles or swimming pools and ask if they are going to ban these next week. Actually, dogs seriously injuring or killing people is still very rare.