Pit Bull Characteristics History Safety And Legal Issues

The pit bull is an American creation, and should not be confused with the Bull Terrier or the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Pit bulls have long been considered to be an ideal family pet, and are recommended to this day by the American Kennel Club as an especially good dog for children. Famous members of this breed include Pete the Pup (or "Petey") from Our Gang, Nipper from the RCA logo, and Tige from Buster Brown shoe advertisements.

In the 1980s, a series of well-publicized attacks on humans by aggressive members of the breed occurred. Some jurisdictions responded by placing restrictions on the ownership of pit bulls, such as the Dangerous Dogs Act in the UK, an example of breed-specific legislation. In October 2004, the Canadian province of Ontario proposed a ban restricting the ownership of pit bulls.

1 Characteristics

Pit bulls are medium sized, solidly built, short coated dogs that require little grooming. They have a friendly temperamentIn psychology, Temperament is the general nature of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extraversion, it derives from the theory of the humours. In music, Temperament refers to the approximating, or tempering of the rational frequency rat and are noted for their attachment to their masters as well as for their courageCourage is the ability to confront fear in the face of pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. As a virtue, courage is covered extensively in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, its vice of deficiency being cowardice, and its vice of excess being recklessn. Although they are short, they have extremely high muscle density and are generally capable of executing a standing four foot vertical jump. Pit bulls have been bred to have an extreme tolerance for pain. For example, the United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal Service (USPS) is the United States government organization responsible for providing postal service in the United States and is generally referred to as "the post office. It was created to fulfill the mandate in the United States Con, which equips its letter carriers with a "pepper spray", notes that many capsaicinskeletal formula of the capsaicin molecule. The chemical compound capsaicin (8-methyl N-vanillyl 6-nonenamide) is the active component of chili peppers Capsicum . It is an irritant to mammalian epithelial cells and produces a burning sensation in the mout-based dog-repellent sprays can have little or no effect on an attacking pit bull.

Pit bulls, like many dog breeds, can be defensive towards their territory. Like all dog breeds, some members may display an inherent distrust of other animals (including humans) not perceived as being part of their pack, and a propensity to attack any such animals who venture into their territory. Pit bulls also, because of their dog fight history, may show unprovoked aggression towards other dogs.

Pit bulls can make very good pets, but great care must be taken should one choose to care for one. They are not recommended as a first dog for a new owner, and like many breeds they require training and socialization to become well adjusted adult canines.

The American Canine Temperament Testing Association rates pit bulls as having a 95% passing rate on temperament tests, as opposed to 77% for all breeds in general. Pit bull proponents claim that the aggressive personality traits present in some pit bulls (and many other dogs) can be subdued through proper training and owner supervision of the pit bull.

2 History

In Elizabethan EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England, the sport of bullbaiting was a popular form of entertainment. Trained mastiffMastiffs are a group of large, solidly built breeds of dogs, typically with heavy bones, pendant ears, a relatively short and well muscled neck, and a short muzzle. The English Mastiff breed is also sometimes called simply a Mastiff''. Although some mastis, a type of dog then used to hunt oxen and boar, would be set upon a tethered bull for the amusement of a paying audience. These dogs became known as bulldogs, and were the ancestors of many related modern breeds.

In 1835, bullbaiting was abolished by Parliament as cruel, and the custom died out over the following years. In its place the sport of dog fighting took hold, and it is commonly believed that breeders crossed bulldog and terrier blood to produce a better fighter.

During the mid- 1800s, immigration to the United States from Ireland and England brought an influx of these dogs to America, where the strain diverged once again as new traits were selected for by breeders.

3 Safety and legal issues

Of the 199 dog-attack fatalities in the USA between 1979 and 1996, dogs identified as pit bulls were responsible for 60 attacks—just under a third. The next most-dangerous group was Rottweilers, responsible for 29 attacks (statistics from the CDC).

According to The Age, pit bull terriers have been responsible for four of the seven dog attacks in which Australians have died between 1991 and 2002. The Endangered Dog Breeds Association of Australia, however, denies these figures, and claims that pit bull terriers have caused no known fatalities, and that only 8 of 750 investigated bitings involved this breed. Most Australian state governments have introduced new legislation specific to pit bulls.

Many jurisdictions have outlawed the possession of pit bulls, either the pit bull breed specifically, or in addition to other breeds that are regarded as dangerous. The extent to which banning a particular breed is effective in reducing dog bite fatalities, however, is contested. Some maintain that pit bull attacks are directly attributable to irresponsible owners, rather than to any inherent property of the breed itself. Others maintain that pit bulls as a breed are more unpredictable and dangerous than other dogs, even when properly trained. Still others argue that that banning particular types of dog will simply result in aggressive dog owners looking for similar characteristics in other breeds instead.

Because pit bull is an all-encompassing term used to decribe several breeds of dogs, many times the issue of determining whether a dog, especially a stray or a mixed-breed dog, is a pit bull is left to inexperienced eyes. Often, a dog need only to look stockier, more muscular, broader muzzled, or have a shorter coat than usual for it to be considered a potential pit bull cross. This causes great difficulty in determining allowable or safe dogs, and people often err on the side of caution. A study[1] for the US Department of Health and Human Services discusses some reasons why fatalities might be overstated for pit bulls, in large part because most people (including experienced dog owners) often can't distinguish a pit bull from any other stocky, broad-faced, or muscular dog.

4 Dog fights

In the United States, pit bulls are the breed of choice for dog fights, due to their incredible strength and aggressive tendencies. Although dog fighting, a sport that is usually accompanied by gambling, is illegal in the US, it is still practiced. People who train pit bulls usually prepare them for fighting by having them pull weighted sleds and run on specially designed treadmills. Often the codeword "game bred" is used to indicate that a pit bull has been bred especially to fight. Breeding aggressive pit bulls is sometimes associated with the " hip hop culture", which considers it a status symbol to own the toughest dog. [2][3]

5 Trivia

Pit Bull is the brand of 'hoverboard' used by Biff Tannen in Back to the Future Part II.

6 External links

Dog types

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