Break the Stigma: Pit Bulls and the Truth

Surrounding the breed of the American Pit Bull Terrier is a lot of fear and a negative connotation about it and it’s history of aggressive behaviors. A lot of people are terrified by the breed purely based on what they’ve heard in the news reports and social media about dog attacks and what not, but I am here to tell you that in those cases most of the time the fault isn’t on the dog, it is on the owner.

The American Pit Bull Terrier is a descendant of the British Isles where they were used to “bait” bulls and eventually evolved into an all-around farm dog. Once known as “nanny” dogs, the pit bull is outwardly friendly to most humans, yet protective over their own family. Though they can be territorial, if properly socialized they get along well with other dogs. This breed is also highly intelligent and easy to train, but has a high sensitivity level so they do not handle negative reinforcement or chaotic noisy households well. Exceedingly playful, they tend to be giant cuddle monsters in their own right and are very high energy. This is why the owner of this breed is to blame, because the breed itself is behaviorally sound as a baseline, but based on how it is treated or how negligent the owner is decides overall what the dogs temperament will be.

Another factor that comes into play here is when breeders begin mixing breeds without doing proper research on the characteristics of both breeds leading to clashing temperaments in the puppies. Some mixes can be more high energy and tolerant and some can be more sensitive and cautious. These are all easily manageable difference though, if the owner is proactive in training and positively reinforcing good behavior.

Another kind of fear/stigma is that a previously abused pit bull, or one used for dog fighting before being surrendered to a shelter, is almost un-adoptable because it will be violent or aggressive towards humans and/or other dogs purely based on the previous living environment and cannot be trained to behave like it should. I personally own an American Pit Bull Terrier/American Bulldog mix, who came from an abusive home and after some work with him, he is a magnificent little guy. We adopted him at two years old and at first he was afraid of everything. I’m talking loud noises, boxes, the broom, any real unknown item in the house, he was terrified of it. For example, when we first brought him home he accidentally knocked over the little gate we had to divide the house and he was so scared that he peed in the middle of the floor. We have had him for about four months now and he is a fully functioning, lovable, super playful dog, and he gets along perfect with my other two dogs, even dials back his playfulness with our smaller dog so he doesn’t hurt him. His presence in the house has made such a positive impact on my life, due to my struggles with anxiety and depression and insomnia due to nightmares, that I got him registered as my emotional support animal, and he loves his cool guy vest/harness.

There are hundreds of pit bulls, if not thousands across the nation in shelters, most of which get put down because people are so afraid of them that they refuse to adopt them. I am here to tell you that needs to change. I’m not gonna tell you if you aren’t ready for a dog to go adopt a pit bull, but don’t skip over one just because of its breed, you are probably missing out on one of the best dogs you’ve ever gotten.