hall@gold.DEC (06/24/85)
Having listened to the discussion on pit bull terriers for the past few
days, I finally had to write and add my comments.
I worked for a veterinarian for ten years, and in regard to the vices
and virtues of different breeds, I think that anyone who has been around
dogs long enough can relate stories about "lovable" dogs attacking
owners, neighbors, children, and other dogs (for no apparent reason).
Now, I'm not singling out any one breed (I have two Weimaraners and a
Lab myself, and have known some very lovable pit bulls, dobes, and
shepards), but any breed of dog can turn on you given the right conditions.
A visit to the vet is one of the most stressful things a dog goes
through and is therefore a place where the true dog can be seen. Nurses
at our hospital have been bitten by labs, poodles, bull mastiffs, goldens,
dobermans, shepards, beagles, chihuahuas, ...you name it and someone can
relate a story about being bitten by most any type of dog.
Now, a great deal of a dog's everday attitude is environment ("he
wouldn't hurt anyone")...but take the dog under an environmentally
stressful situation and what you see is the genetic, innate
characteristics of the breed. Granted there are certain bloodlines in
every breed that have gentle qualities and are more adaptable to stress,
but who is to say which breeds and bloodlines these are. I guess what
I've been trying to say is that everyone trusts there own dog but that
most people only judge a dog by the stories they have heard about the
breed in general. As a veterinary nurse, you have to treat each dog as
an individual and not judge him by breed.
You asked why pit bulls are not used by police as "attack dogs". That
is because dobes and shepards have been bred for police use...they give
a good scare but seldom attack unless told to do so, they can also be
called back. Pit bulls were originally bred to fight to the death, and
in this case, once they attack I should think it would be very difficult
to stop the attack with simple commands.
Now, I'm not trying to start a major influx of letters about the vices
and virtues of specific breeds, I just wanted to add my general
comments, given my experiences working with many different types of
dogs.
Lindalarry@anasazi.UUCP (Larry Rodis) (06/26/85)
> Having listened to the discussion on pit bull terriers for the past few > days, I finally had to write and add my comments. > > I worked for a veterinarian for ten years, and in regard to the vices > and virtues of different breeds, I think that anyone who has been around > dogs long enough can relate stories about "lovable" dogs attacking > owners, neighbors, children, and other dogs (for no apparent reason). > > You asked why pit bulls are not used by police as "attack dogs". That > is because dobes and shepards have been bred for police use...they give > a good scare but seldom attack unless told to do so, they can also be > called back. Pit bulls were originally bred to fight to the death, and > in this case, once they attack I should think it would be very difficult > to stop the attack with simple commands. > Linda First things first Pit Bulls are known as either Stratfordshire Bull Terriers or American Stratfordshire Bull Terriers and they were not originally bred for fighting but for the now illegal sport of Bull Baiting. After demonstrating their prowress at this they started to be used in dog fights. My girlfriend (a vet tech.) and I are owners of a pit bull and she has never attacked another dog or any animal unless the other animal has provoked her and then I was able to call her off. My feelings on pit bulls are they are great dogs but not for everybody. They really need to be trained by/with someone who is an expert handler and during training must be delt with very firmly. I know personally of people who have had their pit bulls guard dog trained and they have worked out very well. However, with pitbulls you should definitly not have them guard dog trained until they are at least 1 1/2 years old as when thety start to mature they get more protective. Now to leave you with a true story about pit bulls: An owner of a large warehouse had a bitbull guard dog trained and would leave him at the warehouse to guard the place. A police officer received a call about a possible breakin at a warehouse next to the one the pitbull was guarding but mistakingly went into the wrong building. Well the pitbull found the cop and forced him up against the wall and kept him there until the owner showed up.(He had also had an alarm system) Well besides forcing the cop against the wall every time the cop tried to pull his gun out the dog would push his muzzle into the cops gut until the cop would take his hand away from the gun. -- Larry Rodis UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|hao}!noao!terak!anasazi!larry ucbvax!arizona!asuvax!anasazi!larry PHONE: +1 (602)275-0302