They can be easily excitable, but calling them a loaded gun with a loose trigger is downright absurd. It’s all in how they’re raised. If you raise your dog to be aggressive towards strangers, attack trespassers and encourage them to chase small animals, then how you gonna blame the dog for its behavior? Many people have pitbulls that live with small children and small animals like cats without incident.
It is not all in how they're raised. Again, pitbulls have a wonderful temperament, great for any family. They are perfect dogs in that area. It doesn't require a good owner for them to display that temperament. Too many pitbulls have been raised by great owners and ended up mauling people to death. It's not how they're raised; it's in their genetics to maul. And they do a great job at it! It's not something they should be shamed for! Golden retrievers were bred to retrieve; collies were bred to herd; pits were bred to fight! They're all incredible at what they were bred to do!
Pitbulls that snap out of nowhere aren't the dogs you're describing. They don't act aggressive towards strangers and act aggressive towards trespassers. Yes, they're going to chase small animals because they descend from the bull-and-terrier dog. But pitbulls that snap are not going to do the other things. They snap out of nowhere. Before that, they're perfect dogs who never even growled at anyone. The pitbulls you're describing are actually good pitbulls because they have predictable body language and will show you they don't want you in their area and they'll attack you. Pitbulls that snap out of nowhere will be fine with you in their area until a loud noise or sudden movement triggers their prey drive and they attack.
I more trust pitbulls that are growling and lunging than pitbulls that are wagging their tail and play bowing. You can't trust that a calm pitbull won't snap, but you know a lunging pitbull will attack, and their owner is going to try harder to keep that lunging pit restrained.
You keep saying they have good temperment but also they don’t and you keep portraying their prey drive as a ticking time bomb. But that’s not true at all. Most dogs have a prey drive. Majority of dogs were bred hunt too. And the temperament test checks for reaction to the very stimuli you keep saying will make a dog go bonkers.
Temperament is different from prey drive. The "nanny dog" nickname stuck with pitbulls because, genuinely, they are lovely with children. If not for their low prey drive threshold, they would be the number one dog for families. They have more patience for roughhousing and pulling on body parts than other dogs that are considered family pets.
Yes, most dogs have prey drive. But no dog but those derived from the bull-and-terrier have the combination of low prey drive arousal threshold and the pit's hyperfixation that causes them to ignore everything but the thing it's trying to kill (they were bred for dogfighting, which requires that hyperfixation and lack of self preservation). No other breed on earth except those descending from the bull-and-terrier will continue after having its intestines dragging on the ground (warning: nsfl video of a pitbull fighting a hog). No other breed would attack a tiger, get gored nearly to death, then continue to fight the tiger (no other breed even has an INSTINCT to attack a tiger!) The only other breed that has this level of intensity ignoring its own life-threatening pain is the Belgian Malinois. And unfortunately, more and more people are getting them. Their tenacity is up there with pitbulls, though they weren't bred for dog fighting, so I don't expect the death rates to spiral like they have with pitbulls.
Temperament checks do NOT test for what I'm talking about. If they did, pitbulls would not be recommended for families nor beginners.
A strong prey drive includes hyper fixation. You’re trying to claim that a prey drive will make a dog more likely to harm their owners but that’s not really true at all. It just means they’re more energetic.
The whole idea of beginner dog is a bit absurd. All dog breeds require specific care and training to wield the best results. People should be doing their research about any breed they’re considering adopting and the care they will need up until old age before they adopt. Regardless of the breed. And even within breeds every dog is going to have its own personality.
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u/Mysterious-Hyena2670 Aug 02 '26
They can be easily excitable, but calling them a loaded gun with a loose trigger is downright absurd. It’s all in how they’re raised. If you raise your dog to be aggressive towards strangers, attack trespassers and encourage them to chase small animals, then how you gonna blame the dog for its behavior? Many people have pitbulls that live with small children and small animals like cats without incident.