Thursday, April 7, 2011

Pit Bull myths

Here is a list of a bunch of common myths about pit bulls and why they are not true:



Pit Bulls have locking jaws. 

 Pit bulls have the same general jaw structure as any other dogs. Their jaws cannot lock in any way.

Pit Bulls brains swell and that makes them insane/aggressive.

This myth started out as a rumor about Dobermans. No one was able to prove it. The above statement has no merit. However, there is a type of disease in canines where a lining on the brain swells, (I don't remember the name), but it is very rare and could occur in all dogs.

A pit bull's bite has more pounds of pressure per square inch than any other dog.

This myth could not be proven true or false until some test were done. Results show that while pit bulls do have a strong bite, it is not actually the strongest compared to some other breeds. The results showed that the most pressure a pit bull could exert would be about 250 pounds of pressure, but Rottweilers far exceeded the pit bull with a pressure of over three hundred pounds. It has been said that pit bulls can exert over 1,600 pounds of pressure but that would be one amazing pit bull! As I said before the highest pressure a pit bull was shown to exert was about two hundred and fifty pounds and many pit bulls were much lower.


Pit bulls don't feel pain.

This is incorrect. Pit bulls, like any dog, can feel pain. They do have a higher level of tolerance too it, but they can feel it.

Pit bulls attack people more than any other breed.

This myth is an easy one to believe, mainly because of the news media. A lot of the media gets quite confused about dog breeds, and a lot of dogs are mistakenly taken for pit bulls. The media tends to focus on the pit bull attacks more than other dogs. There is no statistical proof for this myth and in a lot of cities other dog breeds such as Chihuahuas are actually listed highest on the bite record.

Pit bulls 'turn' on their owners.

Pit bulls like any other dog may become aggressive without the proper guidance and outlet for their energy. Without daily exercise pit bulls can become very frustrated and the pent up energy has to let itself out some how. They are not however intentionally 'turning' on their owners.

The only thing pit bulls are good at is fighting.

A lot of attention has been focused on how pit bulls are used by some for illegal dog fighting. The main reason that pit bulls are good at this is that they are loyal and highly trainable. The pit bull is not born a fighting dog, it is trained to be a fighting dog. This loyalty and trainability that some use to teach pit bulls to fight can instead be used to create an amazingly well balanced family type dog. In fact pit bulls generally get very high scores on canine good citizen tests and in general pit bulls score higher than a lot of other breeds. In fact in the 1800s they were very popular as a family dog. Have you ever seen the old tv show "little rascals"? Well it is about a bunch of kids and there is also this dog in it named Petey, I believe. Petey was a pit bull and got along wonderfully with kids.

Pit bulls never get along with other animals of any kind.

Almost every single pit bull that I have ever known gets along with all kinds of other animals. A great example of a pit bull that gets along amazingly with other animals is a pit bull who has become fairly popular on youtube. His name is Sharky. He especially loves to be with baby chicks. He lets them walk all over them and he gives them kisses. He also gets along with cats, guinea pigs, etc. Some pit bulls or any other breed for that matter can have dog aggression or a high prey drive. A high prey drive means that they see small pets and animals as prey. That is only natural as dogs are predators. Dog aggression between dogs is something that can happen to any dog, and it can be addressed.

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