of the time that the couple left the apartment, the infant began to cry out loud. Shortly after that, the crying stopped and growling was heard. The infant was never seen alive again and the dog was put down the next day. The owner of the dog swore that the dog had never acted in such an unpredictable, irrational manner before. After all, the dog had lived with him, and if anyone was in a position to evaluate the temperament of the dog, that someone would have to be him. Furthermore, he said, the dog had been trained!
Would any breed of dog be appropriate for the situation I just described? Was that particular dog to blame for having murdered a child? Should the Pit Bull breed be held responsible in a situation like this? Is this breed a problem or does this breed currently suffer from the problem of irresponsible, and indeed downright stupid, ownership? Well, this is now for you to decide.
In any event, this was possibly the absolute worst environment for any Pit Bull to find itself living in. Again, the absolute best environment for the Pit Bull is with an adult family with grown children. Another fine situation for a Pit Bull is an adult couple with no children or a retired adult in need of some serious companionship.
Pit Bull owners often engage their dogs in games that utilize the dog’s agility and strong jaws.
OWNER SUITABILITY
Being the perfect Pit Bull owner involves understanding your dog and complying with certain breed demands, but it also involves selecting this breed because it fits into your own lifestyle. For example, if you own another dog and you know that your dogs will be unattended for a few hours each day, the Pit Bull may simply be the wrong breed for you. After all, fighting between your Pit Bull and other dogs you may meet on the street is easily discouraged. However, leaving two dogs alone for hours at a time, on a regular basis, with one of the two being a pup with the full knowledge that within a few years their lifestyles will be completely different than it is when they acquire the dog. Pit Bull, may be too much to ask of this breed. We must understand that when all is said and done, the Pit Bull is a fighting dog.
THE WRONG OWNER
The Pit Bull breed is not high on the list of dogs to be recommended for a family expecting children or for a situation in which the dog will be left alone for extended periods of time on a regular basis. Other than that, this is a fine family dog.
For example, if you are a young man who knows that within a few years you will be married and maybe have a child, this would be the wrong time to buy yourself a Pit Bull pup. This is an unfortunately common mistake. Too many young people make the decision to obtain a Pit Bull
If you are a working person or half of a working couple, and you desire a pet that you can leave alone all day, almost every day, a dog of any breed is really the wrong pet for you. There will be other times in your life for a dog, but this would seem not to be the right time.
Even if you are a person who simply hates to take a walk on a regular basis, the Pit Bull will be the wrong breed for you. There are other breeds that can live in such an environment. You would be doing both yourself and the Pit Bull breed a favor if you would select one of those breeds instead.
The perfect owner for a Pit Bull Terrier is one who will return the devotion the dog will provide him. This owner will want the dog primarily for the fantastic companionship it will afford and not for the image it will exude. This owner will enjoy the exercise the breed demands as much as his dog itself will. This owner will understand the reputation by which the breed has become victimized and work to improve it. This owner will be in a position to take on a dog that may be with him for 15 years, without expecting the dog to deal with excessive change in its life. This owner will be one who can provide a very regular routine in all respects.
If properly introduced, socialized and supervised, American Pit Bull Terriers can get along with other family pets.
If you are this person, the Pit Bull may be a better choice from among pure-bred dogs than you may formerly have thought.
HIP DYSPLASIA IN PIT BULLS
The Pit Bull is a generally healthy breed and the closer a dog is to working stock, the healthier it will be. One situation that deserves special mention here is the condition of hip dysplasia as it relates to the working Pit Bull. While there is no doubt that this is a serious condition for many breeds, and selecting a pup should generally include questions about the condition of the breeding stock’s hips, in some situations this concern can become overdone. In the case of the working-stock Pit Bull, overemphasized concern is often the case.
Shortly after the United Kennel Club became very involved in showing their registered Pit Bulls in conformation shows, show Pit Bull breeders began having their breeding stock tested for hip dysplasia. An alarm was sounded throughout the United States because the vast majority of the Pit Bulls being tested were found to be very dysplastic. None of these dysplastic dogs showed any outward evidence of suffering from this condition, and all of the breeding stock from which these dogs had been produced had been hard- working, long-lived, super-athletic fighting dogs!
Hip dysplasia is a genetic fault that has been found in Pit Bulls. It can only be verified through radiographic observation.
There is a difference between what we can think of as “actual” dysplasia and “theoretical” dysplasia. If you will be selecting your pup from proven, highly game-bred, long-lived working stock, questions about medical evidence that the hips are tightly formed are not as imperative as they might be in other, especially larger, breeds.
VARIATIONS IN THE BREED
Earlier, we began to discuss the first divergence in type between the Pit Bull in its working form, as represented by dogs registered with the United Kennel Club and the American Dog Breeders Association, and the breed in its show form, as represented by dogs registered as American Staffordshire Terriers with the American Kennel Club. This divergence in type is common among breeds that are registered by show organizations but that remain in use in the field elsewhere, such as sporting breeds like the Labrador Retriever and English Setter. Rarely are successful show dogs also successful field or “working” dogs, especially in the US, where working ability does not affect a dog’s earning a championship. In the UK, on the other hand, the working and gundog breeds, for example, must qualify in the field before they can be considered full champions.
Although the pet Pit Bull is not used for working, his working instinct makes him a naturally active dog.
In the case of the Pit Bull, the situation has become even more complicated in recent years. Today we see at least three forms of the Pit Bull breed; these three forms can be labeled as the working (fighting) form, the show form and the “backyard-bred” form.
There
