When I first read about the Pitty Post Day on I Still Want More Puppies blog, I thought that’s a really great idea and I’d love to participate, but…..
My dogs aren’t Pit Bulls and I’m not sure what I would write about.
Truthfully, I don’t have a lot of experience with Pit Bulls except for the two next door to my tenant house, and they are both really sweet dogs. I asked myself, what in the world do you think you could contribute that a number of fabulous bloggers haven’t already said?
And I got nothing.
At least nothing that others haven’t already said far better than I and nothing I haven’t already said before on this blog.
Pit Bulls get a bad rap.
Let’s face it, any dog can bite, and you probably never hear about it. But if a Pit Bull bites, it makes national news and all of a sudden people are calling for a ban of the breed.
We need to punish the deed, not the breed.
I googled “which breed of dog bites the most?” Not surprising the two websites I would have trusted with statistics, American Humane Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were website where I couldn’t find information regarding breed specific bites.
There was however a lot of information about preventing dog bites, which is something I believe everyone should read before they bring a dog into their home.
So which breed of dog DOES bite the most?
Well back in July of 2008, the Poodle and the Dog Blog reported that according to a study published by Applied Animal Behavior Science, Dachshunds were the breed of dog most likely to bite.
How can you help?
Education is of course key and the more people we can educate about the proper ways to raise and train dogs, the safer our world and our dogs will be.
Breed specific legislation is no different than racial profiling, and racial profiling is unacceptable in our society, so why isn’t BSL unacceptable as well?
This is a blog hop, you can get your linky code here.
Being a Dachshund… I gotta say that there ARE some of US who DO bite… BUTT you are totally correct… if I (Frankie Furter) ever bit somebuddy… NOBUDDY would EVER hear about THAT… butt you let a Pittie or a Rottie or a Shepard bite and you hear about it fur WEEKS!!! I think this was a VERY GOOD Post and I am glad that you helped Corbin to get the word out….
You know we here in Blogville do NOT Discriminate.. the way Silly Peeps do. WE KNOW that it isn’t what you Look Like… it is what is in your heart that counts.
YOU are one wise pup Frankie. I couldn’t have said it any better!! Thank you for that comment, I know what’s in your heart. 🙂
Sure wish people would wake up to what the truths are – and are not. You’re so right, education and proper (sane?) legislation would make such a difference!
It makes me really sad, but I just keep talking one on one, sometimes slow and steady wins the race. 🙂
In all fairness, I think if a Dachshund bite someone, there would be far less damage than if a pit bull, (or any large dog) bit someone. I don’t think I have ever heard of a Dachshund killing someone. But you are right, “the press” seems to play up bites and attacks by pit bulls. It is like the shark attacks you hear about sometimes, which are really quite rare, but the press make out to be an all the time occurrence. As with most things, the good get lumped in with the bad and then there is over government regulation.
I totally agree, the bigger dogs can obviously do more damage than a Dachshund, but the post was supposed to be positive, so I down-played it. 😉
Didn’t realize it was Pitty Post day, I’ve been behind. I do agree they get a bad rap, they are meant to be family dogs. I’ve never met one yet that’s been aggressive towards people, although I know any dog can be, even our beloved Labs. 🙂
I missed pittie post day but glad so many great blogs participated. Of all the dogs I interact with in my grooming, training, and rescuing, the only ones that scare me just a little bit are the shih tzus…OK and maybe the bichons 🙂
If you ask me it’s not about size, or looks, but about the dog’s intention and inhibition. The pitties I’ve met have on the whole been confident dogs (another generalization, I know), and confident dogs are much less worrisome than insecure ones…
Hi Jodi,
I have to agree education is the key – it’s way better to try to avoid ALL Dog bites rather than to focus on Dog bites from a particular breed!!
Wags to all
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
I don’t have a “pit bull” either but enough people have told me on the street that my dog looks like one that the issues surrounding the breed have become personal. I worry about BSL a lot as the laws often include all dogs who “look like they could be ____”. If even one person thinks Shiva qualifies, it puts her at risk. For that reason I won’t set foot in the county to the north of us as it is the only municipality in the province that has such legislation.
Not that it’s worth visiting anyway. 😛
I think you provided a great summary of the issues. I do have hope things will change with more awareness. But that doesn’t stop me from getting frustrated at times!
Great post Jodi. Education is the key. As far as I can tell there is very little of that here and consequently a lot of dog bites. But there are also a lot of street dogs, which doesn’t help. Surprisingly, the most aggressive dog I have come across on the street was a Chihuahua cross.
Hi Jodi! It’s great to meet you and in what a special way! Thank you so much for joining in on Pitty Post Day! I hope all of these posts can reach people who may have thought negatively towards pit bulls. Your post surely helps spread postive, correct information!
-Corbin
i missed pittie day, myself, but i’m so glad that you joined in. there’s nothing i love more than seeing non-pit owners standing side-by-side in the cause with pit owners. i hope that your readers are inspired to learn more from your post. thank you!