| The Misunderstood Pitbull | |||||||
| by BUDDY AMATO | |||||||
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The American Pit Bull Terrier is one of the most misunderstood breeds of dogs in the US today. First of all, people must realize that throughout history, dogs of all breeds have been bred, at one time or another, to fight. The Pit in particular descends from its cousin, the Stafford Bull Terrier, and was bred with other fighting dogs such as the extinct Fighting Bull Dog that is directly related to the well-loved English Bull Dog. The big difference between the Pit and the Stafford Bull Terrier is just that, BIG! The Stafford Bull Terrier looks like a Pit but can be up to 3 times as big, and resembles a cross between a Pit, a Mastiff and the well-loved Boxer. The fact is that many people, when they see the Stafford Bull Terrier, think it's a Pit. Two of the main characteristics that make the Pit so dangerous-looking include the cropped and cut ears and the extremely large muzzle. Also, the Pit has a massively powerful jaw and cheek muscles that can produce a significant bite. The American Pit Bull is misunderstood, especially in regards to its biting incidents. It must be understood that the Pit is, even when trained to fight, more animal-aggressive and not human-aggressive. This means that the dog goes into "fighting mode" ONLY when it is put in with another dog or animal. When examined carefully, the biting history of the Pit occurs mainly when people try to break up fights between a Pit and another dog. The human simply gets in the way and suffers a bite. If you compare a Pit's biting history with, say, that of the poodle, the difference would be insignificant. Granted, I would rather be bitten by a poodle than by a Pit, but the fact still remains - The Pit is the victim of media hysteria about history breeding to fight other dogs. The hysteria that goes along with the reputation of the Pit is so great that in Sweden, the breed was banned, muzzled and neutered. The reasoning is that when neutered the breed is considered undesirable for fighting and when done it does tend to calm the breed down to a degree. Grandmaster Buddy Amato operates Amato's Karate and Weapons Academy, 589 Palmer Avenue, West Keansburg and is the author of Buddys Animal Kingdom. For more information, call (732) 671-9555.
Copyright Buddy Amato Amato's Goju-ryu Karate, Nunchaku, Bo-staff, Aikido, Sword, Kendo, Sais, Kick-boxing, Tai-Chi and more 589 Palmer Ave, Keansburg and is the author of Buddys Animal Kingdom, NJ 07734 (732) 671-9555 |
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