Meet Kramus.
This is my fiance's new dog. A few nights after we got him I took him with me to my puppy class for a little socialization for everyone; all the people in the class where awing over the new baby and how cute he was. Later at the end of class as one of the owners was leaving she stops and asks me, "So what kind of dog is that?""He's a Pitbull Terrier," I tell her as we continue walking toward the door.
She stops walking and turns to me looking rather startled. "Well, I just don't know about those dogs." I proceed to ask her why and help clear up any confusion on Kramus and his fellow pitbulls.
It surprises me that the general public can still be so misinformed on the nature of pitbulls another 'bully-breeds'. Any dog has the potential to be mean or aggressive. That said pitbulls and several other breeds have a higher rate of being involved in bite incidents and aggression problems. Several things feed into this: bad breeding, irresponsible ownership, or lack of socialization. But with images and over dramatized stories of horror flooding the mass media, I guess I should not be surprised of the public misconceptions.
This is not their fault. Keep in mind that we (human dog breeders) are the ones responsible for pitbulls and all they are. The term pitbull is not an actual breed but a term used to describe several breeds of a certain type: the Bull Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the American Pit Bull Terrier. One of the founding breeds that played a key role in the forming of pitbulls is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. According to AKC the breed was formed by miners in England who wanted a small, fearless, loyal, and tenacious dog that would be a reliable all purpose dog. Once they arrived in the Americas, breeders developed a leaner version that the AKC later recognized as a separate breed, the American Staffordshire Terrier. According to the UKC the American Pitbull Terrier started to developed in several European countries through terrier and bulldog crosses. These crosses accompanied their owners across the ocean and there developed into a breed. Things didn't start going badly for the modern day pitbull until it became popular for gangs, junkyard dogs, 'guard' dogs, and replaced the previously favored dog for fighting.
When pitbulls are in caring loving homes they are just like any other breed of dog. They have special considerations specific to their breed. There are many instances of Pitbulls making wonderful family and working dogs. They are often known as extremely loving and loyal dogs, especially toward children. Pitbulls are a high energy breed and are known for being stubborn. Pitbulls need basic obedience training, lots of attention, and exercise. But when given the appropriate home life they can be very rewarding companions.
For example Wallace the Pitbull is a wonderful adopted pitbull that has won many national discdog championships. Wallace is part of a team of wonderful well adjusted competing pitbulls.
Pitbulls have shown successfully in almost every sports competition there is today. They are becoming increasingly popular in extremely active sports such as agility.
There are pitbulls working as therapy dogs and service dogs.
They have also been used as search and rescue dogs, and for K9 officers for the police.
There are several famous acting pitbulls out there as well. Once of the most well known is probably Petey from The Little Rascals.
In fact in WWI the American Bull Terrier (as pits were called then) was commonly used in the USA war propaganda!
So why is it still so common for people to fear and even hate such a versatile and loyal breed of dog that was once viewed as the all-American dog?
Good job Sam! Very informative.
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