It’s Pit Bull Awareness Month!
Fact or Fiction: Pit Bulls are naturally aggressive and inherently dangerous.
Fiction. As of February 14, 2013, the American Temperament Test Society found that pit bulls averaged a score of 86.8%. This is the same score logged by Standard Poodles! Pit bulls were the sixth most tested breed with 839 subjects being tested. This is a VERY challenging test that takes place in unfamiliar places, and gauges the dog’s level of fear, anxiety, and aggression when placed in stressful situations. Pit bulls scored higher than Golden Retrievers, Collies, Schnauzers, and Malteses.
Many factors lead to aggression in dogs including, but not limited to, being sexually intact, having recently bred, being in the presence of puppies, being chained or tethered outdoors, living isolated from humans, inferior breeding, poor nutrition, lack of veterinary care, being born in puppy mills, lack of training and socialization, and being subject to abuse by humans. It is interesting to note that of the 51 dogs rescued from Michael Vick’s dog fighting operation. only one was euthanized for aggressive behavior. The rest were placed into loving homes, and several even work as service dogs. This is truly astonishing considering that all were subjected to the factors above, in addition to unfathomable cruelty.
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