Semi graphic bite photos.

[voodoolamb]

By the way pit bulls are typically more difficult to protection train due to the fact that in their creation dogs that bit their handlers or others were culled or never used for breeding.

This is incorrect. I'm actually a huge pit bull advocate. I've been involved in breed rescue and have lived with game bred pits.

If you actually read accounts of dogmen - going all the way back to the 1800s - there were plenty of dogs in breeding programs that were man biters. Big names in early 20th century pit bull breeding - Tudor, Jones, Carver, even Colby had dogs in their programs that bit. Colby's nephew was killed in a "yard incident" by his dogs way back in 1909.

No serious dog man lculled a champion fighter for biting. I'd be very very interested in seeing a verifiable account of it being a common practice. I do believe that there was natural pressure against human aggression - the dogs that focused on the other dogs became fighters - but no culling of good fighters.

30 years of Fighting Dogs by George Armitage (published in 1935) is a fascinating read if you're interested in history of the American Pit Bull terrier.

It's not the breed of dog but irresponsible ownership that is the problem.

Pit bulls need a different kind of responsible ownership than your average dog. So not only do you have the idiots who see pit bulls in rap videos and want a big tough dog for status - you get people who you would normally consider a responsible dog owner getting pits and then accidents happen. I was speaking with someone who competes heavily in OB. They where at a competition. A pit that was actually working on a higher title was leaving the ring and it attacked another dog unprovoked. It was brutal.

The problem was that the owner trained the OB with a high energy and tug reward for flashy performances the dog was pushed into prey drive. She didn't pick up on the signs of the impending attack - because in general pit bulls have far more subdued body language then other dog breeds thanks to their gladiator ancestory. Then she wasn't carrying a break stick so the attack was prolonged.

Then you get your average owner who believes it's just how you raise them and are completely ignorant of the genetic aggression and let their pits run amok in dog parks...

Pits are zero mistake dogs.

ANY large dog can inflict significant damage.

But not every large breed have been selectively bred for bite and hold death grips.

When pit bulls bite they tend to inflict far more damage than comparable sized dogs. Genetics.

Do not use this topic to defame pit bulls, bull breeds or any other dog breed for that matter. That is the EXACT mentality anti-reptile fanatics use to wage war on our snakes and I don't want it here..

This was not an attempt on me to defame pit bulls. As I said before I LOVE them. I want the breed preserved.

However, I do believe that the "it's just a dog" mentality and spreading the positive myths such as nanny dogs and that biters were culled - is just as damaging to the breed as a whole. It puts dogs in situations where the owners are ignorant of the dog's capabilities.

Pits are sweet, loving and goofy, but they are also Tenacious, powerful, high drive fighters with a lot of inherent aggression (mostly of the dog aggression variety). Considering the popularity of the dogs we are all lucky that most tend to be fairly high threshold dogs.

Breed matters. A lot.