Triple Hinged Jaws of Doom, and Other Myths About the Pit Bull

"It is true that Pit Bulls grab and hold on. But what they most often grab and refuse to let go of is your heart, not your arm." -Vicki Hearne

I was reading an online message board one day, and this caught my attention:

"but, i do think that pit bulls are bred to be especially aggressive. it is their powerful bite that does the damage. they bite, grab on and do not let go."

Upon reading this post, I was reminded of Lita, a sweet dog I had to find a home for when a friend became too ill to care for her any longer.

Her mother had been a short-haired mixed breed dog, and daddy was a traveling man, so no one quite knew what she was, but she certainly looked like she had one of the breeds we call the pit bull in her. She was a docile, happy, well-trained dog, with a sunny disposition and not a bit of dog or people aggression, and I did find her a wonderful home, but never in my life have I had such trouble placing a dog.

It's that whole myth of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, that the loving, well-trained pet could change at any moment into a ravening beast with triple-hinged jaws of death. Well, folks, it just isn't so. If there is any kind of dog with more myths out there about it than the pit bull, I have no idea what it is.

Let's start here: There really is no single breed known as the pit bull.

"Pit bull" is a category of dog, and which dogs belong in that category is a matter of some contention and dispute. Some would place the English bulldog there; certainly these dogs were bred originally to fight bulls. But there is perhaps no breed of dog on earth so sweet, calm, gentle and non-aggressive as today's English bulldog.

Some would place the American Staffordshire Terrier there, and most dogs for sale in the newspaper classifieds in the US identified as "pit bulls" are in fact AmStaffs. This is the breed, too, which in Britain is known as the "pit bull," while their own version of the breed, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, is known as the Children's Nursemaid. Go figure.

"Pit bulls" are any dogs of the breeds used to fight other dogs in pits. They were usually, but not always, created from some mix of terriers and bulldogs. The American Pit Bull Terrier, a breed recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) but not the American Kennel Club (AKC), is perhaps the truest representation of this type of dog: bred in this country to fight other dogs, and a combination of bulldogs and terriers. (The only catch is that there are dogs who are registered as APBTs with the UKC and as AmStaffs with the AKC.)

There are a number of dog breeds that are often called pit bulls, most with no more claim to the name than having a short coat. Bullmastiffs, boxers, shar peis, Boston terriers, even many square-headed Labrador retrievers or greyhound mixes are often mistaken for pit bulls. A dog was killed a few years ago in England under its pit bull laws, all expert testimony and the dog's owner as well holding the dog to be a Great Dane/greyhound cross. So looks are indeed deceiving.

Nor is there any scientific method for determining breed, which makes the whole concept of a "pit bull ban" pretty hard to implement, though it doesn't stop people from trying. Genetically, there is no difference between the tiniest Chihuahua and the tallest Irish wolfhound, nor indeed,  the wolf itself. Nor does the pit bull have a triple-hinged jaw capable of extraordinary feats of strength. As any owner of a ball-crazy Golden retriever will tell you, the clamp of the jaw is as much a function of psychology as physiology, and any medium-size or larger dog can clamp down beyond the capability of a human to pry open.

Are there rotten, mean, unpredictable dogs who would as soon eat your pet as look at it? You bet. Are there fearful, cringing, fear-biting dogs who can tear a toddler's face off? Sure are. Are all these dogs pit bulls? Not a chance.

Any strange dog has the potential to bite or to be dog-aggressive, and it's best to have the same rules with the fluffiest cocker as with the most prepossessing mastiff: Don't run up to or touch a strange dog. Keep your own pet on a leash and don't let it run up to strange dogs in uncontrolled circumstances. Don't pet a strange dog without the owner's permission. Don't let your children play unsupervised with a dog, most especially a strange dog or a dog not used to kids.

Sure, we all know the placid Newfoundland who lets all the kids play pony. We all also know the neighborhood bully who pokes the dog in the eye with a stick while giving a war whoop. So use your common sense and be cautious, whatever the breed of dog. Dogs don't need triple-hinged jaws to do damage to human flesh.

Once I was in the park with my dog, and a Latino teenage boy came in with his AmStaff on a heavy chain. The dog run emptied fast, even though the boy kept his dog on a leash. She had a scabbed and mottled nose, and as he passed me,  I said, in the way of dog people everywhere, "What's wrong with your dog's nose?" He looked at me and said, "I don't know. The vet can't figure it out. He said it's not infected, and she doesn't have a fungus or nothing. He thought she was rubbing it, but she never does. And it doesn't itch her or nothing. It just won't clear up."

"Did you ever have her checked for lupus?" I asked. "It's an immune system problem, and it's hard to treat, but a friend of mine has a dog with it, and it looks just like that."

He went to his car and got a notebook and wrote it down. In the meantime his dog and mine were sniffing each other, while he and I talked dog food. He was giving his dog canned meats and tuna, but not a balanced diet. He wanted to give her something better then dog food, but didn't know dogs need more than just meat. As we sat there, a police car cruised by, and then stopped. It seems one of the dog run regulars had called the cops, and since Latino boys and pit bulls have about the same reputation with some people, the cops had headed right over.

Was there a problem? Nope. Just a couple of dogs smelling each other and chasing a ball while their owners talked about them. The officer came in and said, "Everything OK here?" I asked if they had a call, and he said someone had reported dog fighting in the dog run. My dog was off leash (it was a fenced, leash-free dog area), and the Am Staff was still on her leash. The officer went over and crouched next to her, and she promptly rolled over for a belly rub. The officer just as promptly complied with her order. When she finally jumped up and shook herself off, she gave his hand a quick lick and went back to her sniffing.

"Goodnight folks," said the police officer. "Nice dog," he added to the young man. He smiled and nodded as the cop left the dog run. "Why don't you let her off?" I said. He smiled bigger and let her loose. She never got more than ten feet away from him the whole time, though, except to race after the ball, which she promptly brought back and dropped at his feet, even when I had thrown it.

Are pit bulls more dangerous than other breeds of dog? To other dogs and to small animals, yes, they can be. Many terrier breeds and most pit bulls are dog aggressive to varying degrees, and I wouldn't have stayed in the dog run with the dog in my story above if she'd seemed to have an iota of dog aggressiveness in her. Many AmStaffs, especially those being bred for the AKC show ring, have been selectively bred to not be hard to house with other dogs and have very little of their ancestral fight left in them. This is certainly not true of all pit bulls, and I would generalize that nearly all of them are dog aggressive, but there are many exceptions to this rule.

Are pit bulls dangerous to people? They historically were bred to be tough as hell on other animals, but quite docile with people. Pit fighting is, after all, a spectator sport, and none of these guys wanted mankillers. They wanted dog killers. So a well-bred pit bull might have been death on other dogs and death on your cats, but would have usually been quite trustworthy with you and your family members, and people in general.

Of course, as has happened with many other breeds, assholes have deliberately sought to create a dog in their own image, and ended up with badly bred, mistreated, mishandled dogs who are extremely dangerous. This is not a problem unique to the pit bull; in fact, this is really a problem of people. It's the deed, not the breed, has long been the mantra of pit bull defenders, which is not to say that there aren't many pit bulls who are pretty dangerous. There are. But this is not because of something intrinsic in the pit bull, nor is it something that can be wiped out with a breed ban. Get rid of pits, as many people want to do, and the assholes will just go find some other breed to ruin.

If you want to support a ban on assholes, well, I'm willing to talk about that.

Comments

[Gil.]

You've seen the news stories about the proposed pitbull ban in New South Wales,Australia, I suppose.

Pitbulls do require an owner who knows what's what. That said, I would love to see a ban on assholes. Some areas of the country would empty out fast.

[ol cranky]

People don't understand a lot of things about dogs, in particular the difference between aggression and viciousness.

The problem with the "dangerous breeds" is that the way too many dog owners are irresponsible and don't train the dog how to live in the human world where the rules are different and bodies more tender. Young dogs don't fail obedience training & socialization, their owners do. Any breed has the potential to be dangerous, it's not limited to certain breeds and bad owners aren't limited to those who search out a breed to exploit their strength and create a dangerous dog. Dogs from breeds with the most docile reputations can and do attack; dogs from breeds with the nastiest of reputations can be quite well trained and safe, and even a dog you know with the best breeding and behavior can get overly aggressive/react violently out of character or due to provocation.

[gina]

I'm up for the ban on idiots, Christie. Gosh, you do love an underdog, though.

[Melanie]

Where is the dotted line??

[Shari]

I loved it of course. Just one thing I can't believe: you left sweet Maizey, that beautiful, charming, dog-friendly, people-friendly Bull Terrier out; not a mention of the breed most often confused.

Judith Brecca and I used to stand side by side at Ft. Fun, as people passed, pointing at my Bull Terriers, saying "oh look out, there are pit bulls." She'd point at hers and say, "no, folks; *those* are the pit bulls."

And, if it was a good day, we could have a discussion, and the people could pet all the nice doggies.

Owning a bull breed is instructive into people think. Example: Innocent bystander says "is that a pit bull", and when I respond in the negative, they reach down and lovingly pat whoever it is.

Wanna help me with Bully rescue, Christie? It's a challenge!

Shari

[carla]

Would that we could actually have a ban on assholes....

I'm a dog person. A few years ago I rescued a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix from a shelter in Northern California. She has clearly been horribly abused. She's afraid of her own shadow and practically has a fit when anyone new comes to the house.

She also has canine epilepsy..perhaps brought on by being hit about the head when she was young. It's been difficult for my kids to see the seizures...but they're middle schoolers so I haven't shielded them. She had a bad seizure on Sunday (she is on phenobarbitol..they're upping the dosage) and it was excruciating for us all.

I know this isn't about Pitbulls...but it's just what is on my mind.