Tumblr Thread: Where The Fear Of Pit Bulls Really Comes From

Some animals have a really strong reputation attached to them. Like cats. People think cats are jerks. And while they are… right, they do not know just how affectionate cats can be - they're just affectionate in their own ways. Pit bulls are another one of these animals that suffer from a bad reputation, but what's the reason for that? When did it start? How did it happen?

Let tumblr explain. Unsurprisingly, it seems that breeders might have been involved in the fate of pit bulls. In reality though, pit bulls are not bad dogs. Pit bulls can be awwdorable, actually. It's just that, because of their reputation, many people simply don't give them a chance. Perhaps this will change your mind - maybe not enough to adopt one yourself but at least to stop judging them so harshly. 

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Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky Mariel Ruvinsky
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    Font - screaming-mongoose asked I was reading a book about serial killer profiling, and it mentioned that dobermen were the vogue "tough dogs" of the 80s, while pitties are sort of the modern big tough guard dog. Is this true? Have any other dogs had this sort of label in a particular time period?
    via vet-and-wild

    Not going to lie, when walking down the street, we do react when we see a pit bull. There's an instinct there to walk away… just in case. And that's even though we love dogs, and we love pit bulls, and we think that any dog can be a good dog. That belief is deeply ingrained in us. 

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    Font - vet-and-wild Follow A lot of the pit bull fear is relatively new. I believe there was a TIME or Sports Illustrated article in the 80s/90s that specifically targeted pit bulls as dangerous dogs. GSDS, rotties, dobies, and even bloodhounds have all had their time as the trendy, "dangerous" breed. The dumb thing is, pit bull terriers don't even make good guard dogs. True APBTS, staffies, AmStaffs, etc were never bred to be aggressive toward people. The problem is, people get dogs that look l
    via vet-and-wild

    And that is even though we have met some lovely pit bulls - pit bulls who were little fluffy balls of joy who wanted nothing more than to be petted and loved. We have mad respect for the people who adopt them - not only for giving an unloved dog a home but also for dealing with the stereotypes that come with it. 

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    Brown - Marlon Brennan Barcroft Images
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    Dog
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    Dog
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    Font - None of those dogs are pit bulls!!! Pit bulls are energetic, powerful, and prone to small animal aggression, but they were never bred to guard. Pit bull type dogs were originally bred for bloodsports involving other animals, not people. They are not necessarily an easy dog, but they were not bred to be guard dogs. These are TERRIERS with a whole lot of athleticism and strength behind them, so I hate seeing them pushed as the perfect all around family dog for every single person, but they
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    Dog
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    Dog
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    Dog
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    Font - The point is that these bulky guard dogs are deviating a lot from the breed standard, so why do they still get lumped together as the same breed? So the big problem today with "pit bull attacks" is that a. a lot of dogs are labeled as a pit bull that are not b. pit bulls are popular with backyard breeders. Breeding a very large number of poorly bred dogs either for color (i.e. blue nose pits) or toughness (i.e. all of the dogs in the first photo set) creates a lot of really unstable/unhea
    via vet-and-wild
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    Font - dog is tested as 80% lab and 20% pit bull terrier, guess what it would get labeled as if it attacked someone? The other issue is that "pit bull" is a group, not a breed. That's like saying "setter" or "retriever". There are at least 10 breeds, plus all their mixes and anything that that remotely resembles one of them, that get labeled as a “pit bull". Of course there are more dog attacks from these dogs, we're literally comparing an entire group of breeds to the population rather than jus
    via vet-and-wild
  • 13
    Font - This is probably deviating a lot from what you actually wanted to know but yes, other breeds have had their time as the "bad dog". One thing I find interesting is to look at the "mean" dog in a movie and see how it varies by decade. That gives you kind of an idea of what breeds people thought were "tough" or "vicious" at the time. 258 notes
    via vet-and-wild

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