>
>
>
>
Dana Bounds Boss wrote the introductory letter:
Dear Dr. Armstrong:
Hi! Your page is very informative. We're doing some research on dog bite statistics and wanted to know if you might have some info on the types of dogs that typically bite and/or attack.
Dana is working on a project for her Texoma American Pit Bull Club to gather real information about dog attacks. Pits get a lot of bad press, even though the well-bred and socialized ones make great family pets.
Becky works with a pet rescue organization here in North Texas, and the only unrepentant biters we've run across have been dalmatians. In the rescue organization, we see a lot of pit and rotweiler mixes that people have tried to make into "junk yard dogs" through various forms of abuse or neglect. Also, many years ago, I worked as a vet assistant. I noticed that the little dogs were more likely to bite than the big ones, and the damage was minimal. Do you think bites from smaller dogs (cockers, poodles, chihuahuas) go unreported because the damage is minor?
Any stats you have or thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.
Thanks,
for Dana Bounds
The most recent statistics released by the Texas Department of Health that I have seen indicated that the No. 1 dog breed in causing serious (damaging) animal bites was the Chow, followed closely by the Pit Bull. (I have a theory as to why this is, but I won't bore you with it.) It is important to understand that the TDH classified dog bites as serious and not serious by their own classification system which was based on the amount of damage caused to the victim. You hit the nail on the head, though, when you realized that a hundred savage chihuahuas are no match for one slightly pissed off bengal tiger.
That's why keeping statistics is a waste of time. Most people manipulate the statistics to prove what they want to prove. Your assertion that a "well-bred and socialized pit" makes a wonderful family pet is so funny. These dogs, more often than not, tear up some poor child or little old lady, who is not a member of the family. It's their lack of warning, and their high pain threshhold that turns them into a killer, coupled with their size and their genetic tendencies to bite and not let go. The dalmation, of course, is another situation. Again, heredity controls its destiny, and they do inherit some CNS anomalies.
A good reference for you is the book, CANINE AND FELINE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY by Drs Hart and Hart of the University of California. The pit bull is not mentioned because it was not one of the 56 most popular registered breeds as defined by the investigators. However the doctors catigorized 56 dog breeds into 7 behavioral profiles based on combinations of Reactivity, Trainability, and Aggression. The breeds found in each of these 7 groupings might surprise you.
In the Air Force we used to say that opinions and commendation medals are like "rectal sphinctors," everybody has One! My opinion is that I'd much prefer meeting three rabid, sixty-pound Basset Hounds in a dark alley any day, as to run into one well-bred and socialized, thirty-pound pit bull with a slight headache. I'm old now, and I don't run so fast.
I commend you for your effort, but when somebody admits to being a member of a pit bull club and is looking into the subject of dog bites with the stated intention of exonerating the pit bull, then objectivity must be questioned. Good luck.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert E. Armstrong
Have you ever owned a Pit or even known somebody with one? It seems to
me that you have'nt. I have owned them all my life and I have raised
them with my children.
I find nothing "funny" about the fact that you if you have a well bred
Pit that is treated with love and not ignorance he will be the best dog
you can own. I have NEVER had one attack any child or an old lady. It
would certainly take more provocation than a "slight headache" to make
that happen. I have even had my dogs stolen by total strangers right
out of my back yard with out a single noise. It is very obvious that I
asked the wrong person for advice.
I understand that you are a retired vet, I suppose you were one that
refused to treat pits because of YOUR ignorance. It is my opinion and
the opinion of several other family's with these great dogs that you
are more likely to run into 3 rabid Basset hounds than one slightly
pissed off Pit, and I hope you do.
Thanks for nothing,
Dana Bounds
Proud member of:
The Texoma American Pit Bull Terrier Club
