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One of the listed dogs is a chocolate lab, which is one of the sweetest dogs out there. Don't know how anyone could confuse a lab for a pitt bull. Plus a boxer? Come on they don't look like pitt bulls either.
It took me a few clicks to find the pitt bull. Looked like a terrier mix to me.
I think one of the worst things I saw, was when a newspaper out in Colorado, I think, ran a story about a dog bite. They showed a picture of a snarling Rottweiler, but if you read the story you would have found out that the dog in question was a husky/lab mix. It was irritating, because you know that most people, even if they had read the story, would still have the image of a rottie when they heard about it later.
I'm sure what most people come across that they think are pit bulls are actually pit bulls.
considering the fact that "pit bull" is not a breed, i'd say you're wrong.
and the odds that the dogs people identify as "pit bulls" are purebred american pit bull terriers or even staffordshire terriers are miniscule. the average "pit bull" you run across is a mix of any number of breeds.
people identify pretty much any big-headed, short-haired muscular dog as a "pit bull". to posit that all of the breeds & mixes that fit that description share any significant number of temperament traits is laughable. you might as well say all shaggy dogs have the same kind of temperament.
miu - you know what's a very strong, muscular dog? a greyhound. omg, who would want to own a dog that strong? ditto for whippets (granted they're small), huskies, malamutes, boxers, cattle dogs, german shepherds, etc. and of course any number of mixes. do you shun those breeds too? if it's just about being strong, you must, right?
also, chicagomichauds, there are actually several documented instances i can think of in the last few years where a boxer was mistaken for a pit bull. i remember hearing not that long about about a purebred boxer who was actually taken from his owner by the authorities in an area with a pit bull ban, because they thought he was a pit. not everyone has the same level of breed knowledge as the dog lovers on this board. that includes animal control workers and people in the media (hence the uselessness of dog bite stats by breed).
I'll plead guilty. If it's not a gun dog (spaniel, setter, retriever or pointer), which are all I have or probably will ever own, I don't really care what you call it, just keep it well behaved and on a leash.
that's cool, CAVA. there are just lots of misconceptions out there about the pit bull "breed", the primary one being that it even is a breed. i think the link glitch posted illustrates that perfectly. the actual american pit bull terrier doesn't even look like what most people think of when they think "pit bull".
you should check out my dog pictures (in the pet picture thread) and give me your theories on what kind of mix my dog is! i am pretty sure she has some kind of hunting heritage, possibly wire haired pointer. she has all kinds of hunting dog behaviors like a soft mouth with soft toys, quiet swimming, retrieving, pointing, etc.
It has been my experience that the vast majority of people could not identify a pit bull if it bit them.
To prove my point, the following web site has 25 photographs of different breeds of dogs, only one of them is an American Pit bull Terrier. On your honor, who can identify the pit bull on their first try? (I couldn't)
At the very least, I hope this thread makes people think twice before blurting out emphatically that "it is a pit bull," when in reality that may not be the case.
i remember seeing this before and it took me 3-4 tries before i got the right dog......
and fwiw .... when bailey was a pup, i had several people tell me that they thought she had some pit bull in her....... she's pretty muscular through her chest and shoulders, so i guess that's where THAT came from .....
pit bulls have hearing problems and are near sighted and it seems to be in their gene pool; therefore, they'll react first and look later. Crossing them may or may not work.
One pit I know went absolutely ballistic as another dog came down the city sidewalk, only to FINALLY see that it was his dog pal. that "attitude" is the last thing I need particularly if there are children around. And we're in a busy downtown, where there are lots of variables coming at us.
I've rescued a few pits in my moving company days but their natural paranoia is like trusting a union business agent with your money: you can never stop watching them.
Cross bred or not, they were bred for a purpose: If you don't manage them, they'll manage you.
The words "pit bull" to me is just....ugly. If folks ask me "is that a pit bull"? in regards to my Peter, I tell them nope. He is a American Staffordshire Terrier or AMStaff. If they ask what Gunnar is, he is an Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog. I try to never use the term pit bull if I can help it. My dog Peter is an AMStaff and he is an athlete, and athletes are well muscled.
A large portion of what people have today, unless they are papered UKC or AKC dogs, are not APBT, AMStaff, Staffordshire or anything remotely like them. These are dogs bred to have heavy bone, heavy bodies, thick necks, short winded, with most all of their natural drives bred out of them. American Bully (not Bull Dog - thats different all together) is what they are calling them. american bully - Google Search
Last edited by freesiia; 06-15-2010 at 12:55 PM..
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