About the
dogs...
To start, pit bull is not a breed of dog, it’s a term typically
used to group 3 breeds of dog, the American Pit Bull Terrier (ABPT), American
Staffordshire Terrier (AMSTAFF) and the
Staffordshire Bull Terrier (STAFFIE).
The Pit Bull is probably the most misunderstood dog in the United States. People
see them and cross the street out of fear and try to ban them from their cities.
Why? Simply stated, lack of education on the breeds. The public only sees
negative stories in the news. Pit Bulls are wonderful dogs in the hands of
responsible owners just like any other breed. As with any dog, there will always
be irresponsible owners and poorly bred dogs. That does NOT mean that all of
these dogs are evil! The majority of domestic violence in the US is caused by
men, are all men considered evil and dangerous, No. Then why would all Pit Bulls
be dangerous because of a few bad owners?
For hundreds of years Pit Bulls were bred to fight dogs, certain traits were
bred into the bloodlines for that purpose, high pain tolerance, high prey drive,
etc. However a quality that was never bred into Pit Bulls was human
aggression. Human "aggressive" dogs were undesirable as these
dogs required extensive handling prior to and during their fights AND most of
these dogs were also family pets so no human aggression was ever tolerated.
Dogs that exhibited human aggression were typically killed, meaning that only
human friendly lines were perpetuated and desired.
It
has been said that a Pit Bull never met a stranger. They love and adore
humans. They want so much to be apart of your family and spend time with
you watching tv, walking, driving, etc. I have seen severely abused and
neglected Pit Bulls who see you coming and they can't wait to be petted and
loved. Even after the abuse, they want nothing more than to be with a
family of their own! As with any breed there are exceptions to the normal
temperament and behavior. We see this in humans as well, there are good
ones and bad ones.