Written by Michael Thervil
Not only does the answer lie with who you ask but, it also lies with how the dog was raised. In the early 1990’s Pitbull really got a bad rep. The mainstream media had a field day covering story after story of Pitbull seeming to bite people unprovoked and then mauling people, often their owners to death. The reporting of Pitbull’s in the 1990’s was so bad, the many apartment complexes and Homeowner Associations (HOA’s) around the country started banning people from having them in their home as pets. And because of that, the banning of Pitbull's and other dogs deemed “Aggressive” goes on to this day.
But these notions are far from the truth. The truth is when it comes to Pitbull’s, just like any other dog it’s all about how you as an owner raise them and socialize them. Furthermore, we would like to say this: owning a Pitbull or any kind of working dog may not be the best bet for most people to have in their homes. There are three reasons for this and that’s because of how the dog was bred, what it’s bred for and the drive (gameness) of the dog. Many owners of Pitbull's and other working-class dogs don’t consider these three variables and more when they go out and look for a dog to own.
Many people like to choose Pitbull’s because they look “aggressive”, however, when you really examine the dog (Pitbull); you see very quickly that these dogs are more friendly than they are aggressive. Why? Because they are simply bred that way. We know that this sounds counter intuitive. But when the Pitbull was bred it was bred for the sports of “ratting” and dog fighting. In the early days Pitbull's were used for dogfighting, Pitbull's that showed aggression to humans were killed or “culled”. This was because the handlers of the Pitbull's that were used for fighting had to be in the ring with the dogs. Therefore, they couldn’t have their dogs fighting and biting them as handlers.
Overtime, the culling of Pitbull’s led to them being people friendly in general. Take our Pitbull Anna here at VEDA Magazine. She is goofy as they come – and always ready to eat. This “House Hippo” of a Pitbull love’s people. Outside of that we do use her as a guard dog and for a little bit of protection work. If you’re looking to get a dog for whatever reason, please be sure to do some homework on the breed. Things like what was it bred for, what is the character of the dog, how big does the dog get, how much to feed the dog, how much drive does the dog have and how much stimulation you must provide for the dog are some of the most basic questions you may need to ask yourself.
Remember buying a dog is like buying a car. If you can understand that metaphor, then you just might be ready to own a dog – especially a Pitbull and especially if it’s like our Anna.
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