Pit Bull News, Forum, Facts & Myths, Rescues, & so much more!

This page is about the Pit Bull Facts and Pit Bull Myths that surround this Most Spectacular Canine.  First, I would like to explain to you about the term "Pit Bull".  "Pit Bull" is used as a general term or an "umbrella" term that groups together a few different breeds... American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier,  Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the Bull Terrier and even the American Bulldog.  "Pit Bull" used by itself is NOT a Breed. 

As for the media, they have their own definition of what "Pit Bulls" are...They include a list of more than two dozen different breeds.  To the media, "Pit Bull" headlines sell $$$.  Many times when the media does a story on a "Pit Bull", rarely is it an American Pit Bull Terrier.  Unfortunately, the general public buys into these news stories and accepts the news stories as facts.  Fact is, "Pit Bulls" are being demonized and in most cases falsely blamed.  The media and Irresponsible Dog Owners make a great tag team in demonizing what is one of the most loyal, human friendly, and most spectacular canines of them all.

The Good News is... is that the more I explore in the world wide web and in real life...the more I realize that we seemingly have more and more people and groups of people taking a stand and doing our darnedest to spread the Pit Bull Truths which amazes me and makes me very appreciated to all the people fighting the Good Fight to return the name "Pit Bull" back to its Glory Days as "America's Family Dog" of Choice.

Okay, now let's get to the Pit Bull Facts & Pit Bull Myths...

note: if you know the History of this most spectacular canine, you'll have a better understanding and knowledge of the following facts.The History and Facts go hand in hand.

• "Pit Bulls have locking jaws." - This is Absolutely NOT True.  Their is Absolutely No Evidence, scientifically or otherwise that shows any "locking mechanicism" within the jaw structure of a "Pit Bull".  "Pit Bulls" jaw structure is no different than any other breed, period.  Nobody can supply you with any legitimate evidence that suggests other wise.
• "Pit Bulls don't feel any pain." - again this is False!  "Pit Bulls" do, can, and will feel pain.  In Fact, they have the same nervous system as any other dog. The reason for this misconception is because Historically, these dogs were bred and trained to finish the job at task, no matter the pain or circumstances.  They are extremely eager to please their owner and extremely loyal.  They were bred to Succeed at the task they were given by their owner and succeeding superbly, they do.
• "Pit Bulls have the highest bite pressure per square inch (PSI) than any other breed." - This is Absolutely False! If somebody claims they do or gives you an actual number of PSI, I'll guarantee you that they don't have any supporting evidence to the claim,whatsoever, and if they site a news article as a fact to back them up, well, I hope we don't consider the media as "experts" The fact is their is way too many technical reasons why their isn't any published scientific reports in regards to breed biting PSI.  For starters, a dog canNOT be instructed to bite down on whatever at the full capacity of his/her bite.  The various sizes of the breeds, what you use as a drive to get the breed to bite, the breeds age, and so forth are all logical reasons as to why their is NO published scientific reports.  Not to mention, to claim "the highest bite PSI" you would have to test ALL Breeds.
• "Pit Bulls attack more humans than any other breed and are born to be human aggressive" - False! Dog bite statistics are extremely hard to obtain especially in an accurate sense.  The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has conducted a study of fatal dog bites over a 20 year period. The media and others use this as evidence and these same people leave out what the CDC says about that same report.  This is from their website, speaking about that report. "There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill."  Here's the link to their web page: CDC: Dog Bite Facts   The CDC also says clearly on their website that, "It (the report) does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved in dog bites."  As for being born human aggressive...that is just absurd.  Historically, they were bred and trained to assist the farmers with controlling larger out of control animals, such as bulls, wild hogs, among others.  These dogs were bred to be powerful animals.  They had frequent human encounters.  If one of these dogs were found to be human aggressive they were immediately killed for they didn't serve their purpose.  The "Pit Bull" was to be Powerful, Loyal, and Human Friendly.  They were given a certain job to do and needed to obey their owner. The same for the idiots who bred them to fight other dogs.  A human aggressive dog didn't serve it's purpose and were normally killed immediately.  Dog Fighters frequently were in the pits/rings with the dogs so they could do whatever he had to do with the dogs therefore a Human Aggressive Dog was unacceptable and were specificly bred to be Naturally Human-Friendly. Any Human Aggressive "Pit Bull" is NOT the Ambassador of the breed and does NOT represent the American Pit Bull Terrier.
• "Pit Bulls that are aggressive towards other dogs are aggressive towards humans too" - False!  A lot of people are confused with "Dog Aggression" and "Human Aggression"  They are completely different. Yes, "Pit Bulls" do have the Potential for being Dog Aggressive.  This is the reason why they should ALWAYS be Supervised.  To deny this fact is not being Responsible. (I learned this the hard way and will make a blog of my experience to better explain.)  If you can't Supervise them then separate them in crates or different rooms.  As for "Human Aggression" it is NOT the standard for the American Pit Bull Terrier.  American Pit Bull Terriers are Naturally Human-Friendly and any aggression towards humans is not a true representative of the breed.

This section is from the American Temperament Testing Society's website

found here -> ATTS

"The ATTS Temperament Test focuses on and measures different aspects of temperament such as stability, shyness, aggressiveness, and friendliness as well as the dog's instinct for protectiveness towards its handler and/or self-preservation in the face of a threat."

 Here are some statistics:

•  American Pit Bull Terrier  passes at 85.3%
• American Staffordshire Terrier passes at 83.9%
• Staffordshire Bull Terrier passes at 88.0%
• Bull Terrier passes at 91.2%
  
• American Bulldog passes at 84.7%
• German Shephard passes at 83.7%
• Border Collie passes at 80.6%
• Chihuaha passes at 71.1%
• Collie passes at 79.4%
• Portuguese Water Dog passes at 77.0%