The Aggressiveness Of Dogs In The United States

When James Cross was going to adopt his pit bull Daisy, his friends said things like, “They’re dangerous! That’s like bringing a cat to a chicken coop! You are asking for trouble.” Now, when James Cross walks his, “two-year-old pit bull mix, people cross the street to avoid us.” Some of his relatives stopped going to his house because they were scared. Since people are scared, news outlets report dog attacks involving pit bulls because, “they need to alert people,” of the attacks. Stubby a dog was a dog that was in the army and Mark Buchrle, a Marlins player, moved to save his pit bull are for the topic, but they are only one person and dog. If one person is smart, that doesn’t make up for the people that are not.

“If somebody is too stupid to understand the fundamental immorality of dog fighting, you’re never going to be able to explain it to him” (Kevin Hench). Most people think that pit bulls have locking jaws. This is false however; no dog breed in the whole world has locking jaws. Dogs are not always aggressive how they are raised and trained determines the behavior of a dog. Dogs have tendencies to be aggressive only if not trained properly. The discrimination against pit bulls is wrong and uncalled for. Pit bulls are not the only culprits of attacks and death to humans. Dog fighting and stray pits are the fault of the people who own them. It is man kind’s job to take care of and be responsible for their dogs. Why should the dogs be punished

So, now you have an arsenal of the most important tools to keep your dog from becoming aggressive and attacking other people and other dogs. Getting attacked by a dog is a really scary event because their bites can cause serious injuries or death. It is important to always protect yourself by carrying a dog repellent spray on your keychain for when an unexpected event happens.

206). Further research shows that Pit Bulls aren’t the most dangerous breed of dog. They are ranked higher for their tolerance than they are for their aggression (Baldwin, S. 2016). No matter what real facts and statistics say, Pit Bulls are still being discriminated against and banned all around the world. As the years, have gone on, it has been harder and harder to own a Pit Bull. Many neighborhood or apartment complexes won’t allow you to live in their facilities if you own a Pit Bull or anything that remotely looks like a Pit Bull. If that isn’t enough, most insurance agencies won’t cover you, your family or your home if you own a Pit Bull (ReidHead, J, L 2017). Because of all these regulations and limitation when owning a Pt Bull, owners and Pit Bull advocates are working harder to push their point that it’s the owner that makes the dog. With proper training and responsible owners Pit Bulls are not a threat or a danger to society. Pit Bulls are no more dangerous than any dog breed with they are trained and raised responsibly. In this paper, I be explaining how irresponsible Pit Bull owners are the cause of Pit Bulls aggression towards people and other animals by explaining the history of the breed, Pit Bulls involvement in dog fighting, gang violence and true statistics surrounding the breed. To solve this problem, I recommend that all future and

“An unneutered male pit bull is 2.6 times more likely to bite then a neutered male. In addition, male pit bulls are 6.2 times more likely to bite then female pit bills.” In a study evaluating canine temperament, 82% of dogs received a passing score, 86.8% of those dogs where American pit bull terrier (1800PetMeds.com Feb. 2012). There are ways to avoid incidents when in contact with these animals. When approached by a pit bull always remain calm, approach the dog slowly from the side not from the back. Do not provoke the dog - always ask the owners to pet the dog first. If an aggressive dog approaches you do not panic, give the dog firm commands like sit, stay, and easy, then back away slowly. When owning a pit bull socialize the dog with people and other animals, get them familiar with animals and people including children. Isolated dogs can become vicious and dangerous so be cautious when in contact with a not so friendly dog. (Skloot, R Aug 2007 Prevention Vol.59, Issue 8 Pgs. 196-198)

Pit Bulls are among the top percentage of dog bites across the nation, but it partly due to the misrepresentation. Most handlers just see a similarity to a Pit Bull’s physical appearance and then the dog is classified as such. The media always misrepresents and wrongly accuses Pit Bulls, they are always quick to name the pit bull breed as the attacking dog. The government also does the same thing if a dog has similarities to a Pit Bull, then it is automatically classified as a Pit Bull even if it’s not correct. They don’t care about

Across the world people abuse animals for sport, gambling, and pure exploitation like dog fighting, cock fighting, and breeding dogs just to be able to sell them to places such as shady pet stores and such. Dog fighting is a very lucrative illegal activity that goes largely unpunished these people take poor dogs and inbreed them with their moms, dads, and siblings to be able to create the perfect fighting dog that can make them loads of money. Some other things these groups do include giving them drugs that induce rage and make them even more lethal. These sorts of activities give other breeds such as pit bulls bad reputation; any dog regardless of type can be prone to violence, especially due to birth defects to inbreeding. In other parts

Scores of people believe that if a dog displays aggressive behavior towards other dogs, they will become aggressive towards people too. As robin rock, who works for Petfinder, clearly states in her web article

These dogs do not deserve the treatment the are being given. In 1996 the odds of dying in a dog attack was one in 11,534,087 (Delise 100). The latest statics of dying in a dog attack was in 2005 and it was one in 147,717 (Britt). The only reason the odds are up is the increase in population. Another reason is the amount of damage that happens, Dr. Sandi Sawchuk said “...If someone did the same research on Chihuahuas, they would probably find that there are more bites, but they’re less reported due to insignificant damage” (Pisani). Dr. James Serpell and friends did that exact test and found that smaller dogs tend to show more aggression towards humans. Ninety-three percent of Pit Bulls are being euthanized before even being put up for adoption,

Dogs simply need to spend time with other dogs as well as, become accustomed to different people. Pit Bulls tend to be sensitive and get their feelings hurt easily, so in essence with the proper care they tend to be very friendly, even with strangers so they don’t make the best guard dog (BadRap). They also have tendencies to excel with bomb detection, and as therapeutic aids because they are highly intelligent along with having tendencies to live playful lives (BadRap). Severe shyness, fearfulness, and directed human aggression is not desirable in any dog (BadRap). Human aggression is something that I firmly believe leads to the dog having an extreme aggressive behavior. Although, people have named these dogs as the face of an aggressive dog “problem”, they are using them for banned actions. Dogfighting has become illegal in all fifty states; Pit Bulls were put into this type of situation by their owners and the media capitalized on it through stereotypical images and myths that dragged the image of the breed down (BadRap). A well-known case of dogfighting would go back to Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels.

Education on dogs, their behavior, and proper ownership is vital for a reduction in dog bites. As the majority of those bitten by dogs are children, we need to educate them on proper dog interaction (Sacks et al. 837). A focused education on dog safety and bite prevention around dogs needs to be built into the school education system to target the largest group of victims. Programs with the main audience as adults are also imperative by promoting owners to train and socialize their dogs in order to keep them and their family safe. This can be done on a small level, where rescues and shelters require any adopting family to go through dog behavior and safety education. Or through a local level, where nonprofit organizations reach out and hold bite prevention education programs to inform not only owners but everyone who may come in contact with

If they witness any concerning behaviors such as growling, biting, food aggression, or aggressive behaviors toward other dogs they will make supervisors aware. At that point, we will assess the dog individually in as many different situations as possible (interaction with men and women, how do they act in the cage versus outside, allowing them to be near another dog in a controlled environment, can we touch tail, paws, mouth, etc.) to see if they react to any of the stimuli. We do not have anyone with a degree in Animal Behavior on our staff, so we are not able to do what is considered a full “Behavior Evaluation,” but between all the staff there are many years of experience working with animals of all types and we use this experience and best judgement to determine if the dog has aggressive tendencies to the best of our abilities. One downside to our evaluations is it is very hard to replicate some experiences a dog may be placed into in the “real world” that cannot be replicated in the shelter setting, so there is always the possibility that even though we evaluated the dog still could show aggression due to a certain unknown

They aren’t born aggressive. A dog's breed has far less to do with aggression than owner-dependent factors such as how a dog is trained. If a dog was raised to fight or was brought up in a poor home environment, the dog is more likely to be aggressive regardless of its breed. The American Temperament Test Society evaluated the temperaments of various dog breeds, 85.3% of American Pitbull Terriers passed the test whereas other breeds such as Border Collies and Old English Sheep Dogs ranked in the 70th percentile. In many cases, the influence of owners have no effect on the conduct of the dog. Take Lilly, for example. Lilly was a Pitbull gifted to an alcoholic as a method of sobering her up. As any humans can infer, living with an alcoholic is no easy vocation, even for a dog. However, Lily’s hard home life didn’t clog her judgement. One night, Lilly’s owner passed out on a pair of train tracks with a train hot in pursuit. Thanks to none other than Lilly, her owner was pulled off the tracks just in time. Although her owner escaped without scratch, Lilly wasn’t as fortunate. Even with life-threatening injuries, Lilly remained by her owner’s side until help arrived. Ultimately, Lilly had to undergo several serious surgeries and ended up losing a leg. Lilly, a pitbull, put her inattentive owner’s life above her own. Even today, Lilly and her owner remain best friends even though that commitment almost cost her her

This grab is strong and hard. There is always a large possibility that the suspect/criminal can/will be bitten if they attempt to fight off the dog but when thinking about it even the dog “gripping” onto the suspect will inflict a bite. They would not be able to hold the suspect as well if they did not apply pressure into their grip. Before any dog has to be turned loose, they try to intimidate the person first by giving them a warning that if they start to run, the dog will be released and will chase after them. A barking tactic is also used to scare the person into not running away. Even in a case where the officer and dog seem to have the upper hand, there are many situations where the tables can be completely turned. Both the officer and the dog are trained to work together as a team. They must be able to fully trust and understand one another especially when they are placed in extremely dangerous and stressful situations. It is the responsibility of the officer the dog is being handled by to only use the dog when the situation absolutely calls for it. Any other way would be very inappropriate and would be a terrible miss use of the animal. Not being responsible could also put the dog in more of harm’s way which can take a definite turn for the worst.

Dog fighting is a very cruel thing, and it is happening right under our noses. It is illegal to fight a dog in all fifty states. By being an observer at a dog fight, it is against the law in forty-seven states. So why do people continue this cruel practice? The answer seems to be money. Some people who breed dogs for fighting can sell their puppies for up to two thousand dollars. Even though fighting dogs is making money, it is cruel since pain is inflicted on the dogs; the ASPCA and the Humane Society are trying to prevent this with proper training.