Statistics

Part of the reason people are so against pit bulls is that they hear about bites on the news and from friends, etc. I think the pit bull leads in number of attacks as well. The thing is...theres a whole heck of a lot more pit bulls out there than there are...say...pomeranians. Now if there were the same amount of pomeranians....they would probably be high up there on the bite list.

Im wondering if there are any actual decent places to get real statistics...such as bites compared to the number of registered dogs of that particular breed. Of course I think that we'd run into the issue that there are probably less registered pit bulls out of the group of them than there are say...chinese crested dogs. Same goes for other larger dogs....some of those little rarer toy breeds and others are most likely registered more often. ANYWAYS....back to the original point..are there any GOOD sources of information out there? Dog attacks and bites? Are dog fights recorded either?

 

Oh im just looking to get some accurate information for the less informed =)

 

This is true the news does capitalize on dogs bites, especially when its a Pit Bull and usually when its some large breed like a Rott, Mastiff, ect. But you must also be under this influence (partially although you dont have a biased opinion against pits either) but just because they are on the news doesnt mean they lead in dog attacks. They dont lead in bites/attacks. I think some other breed like the Cocker Spaniel might? They are one of the least likely breeds to ever bite, let alone attack. But they have a bad reputation and when they do bite they can also do a lot of damage (and so can other breeds) but Pit Bulls and a few others specifically have been sought out for the wrong reasons and they are very powerful determined dogs, have a bad one or train one wrong and you really do have a "killer" that will take the life of some one and when this all started going on the news media dove right in. Killer pit bulls, drug guards, gang dogs, ect, ect. Now there are so, so many pits, more then people care to realize Some wont admit they are a popular breed, I've looked at some online classified ads and Pit Bulls had the most ads let alone all the bybs here and tons of owners. There are also other popular breeds like Labs who bite far more, again not becuase they are vicious or evil but too many bybs the more breeders the more pups and the more bad hands for them to get in and on top of that bybs dont breed for correct temp. They dont even have an idea of what a breeds temp is supposed to be like. Pit Bulls should be friendly, but if their dog doesn't like strangers they will call it protective and intellegent and breed it. If it snaps at people even bites them they will just say she's scared of strangers and of course I want to breed her can I use your male as a stud? I have seen Labs do some very horrible damage but none of the attacks I knew about ever made the news, not one! One was near fatal to a small child but that wasnt in the news because it wasn't a dog that was known to have a bad rep its known to be the perfect family dog.
I dont think you can find a place really dedicated to true statistics they report what they think is true. If some one reports a bite and names the breed or dumb AC does it could be the wrong breed. Sometimes people are bit by strays and when the dogs are picked up the AC will say the breed they choose and here when you are bit you report the breed to the health department/doctor who put it into a statistics data base. Most people can't recognize Pit Bulls to save their life, you can put a dog in front of them thats "bully" looking or a brindle colored dog or something like that and they will say its a Pit Bull, if a dog like that bites them (say American Bulldog or Mastiff mix) they will say it was a Pit Bull. Believe me and sometimes its not just this breed. On another board some one has an Anotolian Shepherd most people ask what kind of mix this is because its not a breed you see a lot, the owner said it may kind of appear to look like a Lab/Shep mix well if some one was bit by this dog they'd probably report it as a shep mix or lab mix. Malanios people report them as GSD (I know from experience where this has happened) and Beaucerons people would most likely say Rott/Shep mix or something like that. But with Pit Bulls its the worse and this is how stats are entered and I can't believe all the different breeds people see and think "thats a pit bull".
I also agree with reg dog being a waste of time because a lot of dogs of all breeds are not reg, esp popular ones with a lot of bybs. I also think toy and smaller breeds are more likely to bite on a reg basis. A lot are scared or spoiled and believe they are alpha and most get away with it, until they do serious damage which has happened. I was attacked by a Yorkie and I'm sure they owners dont think big deal the dog cant really hurt anyone.

So I dont think there is really a good source since the reported breed to have bitten is never investigated in a lot of cases to prove it, unless it comes straight from the owners mouth or in a court case. I do think the Temp Test site is a good source because Pit Bulls are one of the highest ranking breeds above the perfect pet breeds and it shows something good about their character. But dog attacks/bites probably not. Dog fights (the accidental kind) are not usually recorded because its usually not something seen as important. And another reason is because its not "as serious" when you get bitten and you go for medical treatment thas whenthe bite is reported or if you have a police report (another reason why small dogs dont seem to lead dog bites most people dont think enough to get med attention) when dogs fight its usually take care of your dog and it gets better you only need to report if you have to sue and go through the legal stuff if you sue them for vet bills and I still dont think its be reported and kept record of sense its not the normal thing. its just a whole different scenario then a human being hospitalized so they dont record it.

 

I think one of the reasons that Pit Bulls have a bad rep is because WHEN they do bite, they can do a lot more harm that a small dog can do. I have not done research from dog bites but from what everybody on here posts, I am sure that there are other breeds that bite more often than Pit Bulls.

My brother has 3 females and 1 male Pit Bull. His girlfriend has a mini Dachshund. All of his dogs have great temperments. But Reese (the dachshund) is mean. She has never bitten but she barks and growls at everybody. I have never seen a dog bite, by a dachshund, on the news. If she bit someone, they would not make a news story about it. But if one of the Pit Bulls bit someone, they would. Probably because a Pit Bull or any larger dog would do a lot more damage but this doesnt help the rep of the breed any. All it does is give every other Pit Bull a bad name, when it should pin the blame on the bad OWNER!!!!!

Also, when idiots have dog fights, this always makes the news. (If the people get caught.) I think when people that don't know about the breed see this on the news, it makes them terrified of the breed and it makes them have a negitave attitude toward the breed. If only they saw good things, I think it would help out a lot. I don't see any news about any other breed fighting, other than Pit Bulls. And it makes me sick that bad owners train this wonderful breed to be so vicious and aggressive. :x

I have been looking for an apartment for a while now. Almost every single place that I read about or call, have specific breed restrictions.
(PIT BULLS) :x
And the ones that don't, have a dog weight limit of 20-25 lbs. I don't know anybody that has a Pit Bull that is less than 25 lbs. Only small dogs.
Shianne weights a little over 60 lbs.
Every place I call, the first thing they ask... What breed? :roll:
What is a person to do?

 

Angie, my parents have shitzu that is mean and oes bite. ithnk you are right pb can do more harm in a bite than a small dog. My parents also used to have a big mutt that weighed 100# and was an angel, they traveled a lot and so many motels and rv parks had the weight restrictions, but it was the small dogs that were the worse in these places because of their yapps.

As for statistics, it was posted here awhile back, you might try and do a search on theh old site with bite statistics, it was pretty good info, but as Angie said smaller dogs have smaller bites therefore may not be reported because they dont seek medical attention

honeybear

 

This is a link to an artice liked - be sure that you click on the "Statistics" tab at the top of the page. I think they did a good job with the breakdown and percentages by making it easy to understand.
[url=http://www.fataldogattacks.com/]http://www.fataldogattacks.com/

 

Its not exactly like that, Pit Bulls can be naturally dog aggressive (and so can other breeds) but Pit Bulls are very determined and can do a lot of damage. It has nothing to do with training them or making them that way, when they get older (and in some rare cases yong ones) they may start to get intolerant of other dogs (usually the same sex), in some cases you can have one and another dog and they could break out into a fight seemingly over nothing. But its something you should realize and except before you get one. A neighbor has a dog that they think should get to roam free, it is an inside dog, but when they let it out they don't bother to tie it out. Well sometimes it feels the need to run, sniff and wonder all over. It won't always stay on its property, once it came here and one of my dogs got it. I realized and went right out and broke my dog (or tried rather in between the other dog trying to bite my fingures off). The owner finally comes and I do break my dog and he crabs his, the damage was done, the dog needed vet care and got stitches but lived. I didn't train my dog to be mean or vicious this is just normal, dog aggression and people aggression dont have anything to do with eachother. When someone does hear about a pit fighting I know that it does scare them or make them not like the breed, BUT we as owners should help spread the truth about the dogs. They dont have to be trained to act this way is a very important piece of info because newbies to the breed need to know of this possibility. And that dog aggression and human aggression dont have anything in common so their is no need to fear them, Pit Bulls are so friendly to people even if they hate other dogs, game dogs are friendly and have very good temperaments such as Petey could help prove this when game dogs are bred for fighting. Dog fights hear dont usually make the news and my dog and the neighbors wasn't reported breed statistically. We did have a rott attack that made the news when it attacked (and was loose from its yard) another neighborhood dog. What upsets me is that we have had a couple Pit attacks (on people) running on the news. I was actually pit mixes and one wasn't even a pit but of course they didn't mention its breed so they could capitalize its yard mate the pit mix part in the attack. Its so irritating. I do remember a dachhund (sp?) making the news when one killed a baby.

 

True_Pits, I was not talking about a dog running lose and gets in a fight.
I was talking about people that try to make their dogs mean so that they can have a dog fight. I have heard about people feeding their Pit Bulls gun powder, raw, bloody meat, hitting them with sticks and other horrifing stuff like that. It is so ignorant what those people do. I hope you understand what I am talking about.

Ok, so you have seen a Dachshund on the news. I have never.
Still, that specific breed is not banned from all these places that I read about. And my point was that most people don't get in a big up roar (?) when little dogs attack. Which I guess I can understand in SOME cases because lil dogs dont do much harm. Not in others, like with the baby you were talking about. BUT I think that the emphisis of attacks from Pit Bulls is way too much. And like You said, some cases are Pit mixes. People just understand.

 

Yeah I understand about people abusing their dogs to make them mean and fight eachother or guard, thats all bad too. But I was using the OP reference to dog fights being kept statistically (b/c they asked) and its not kept on record like with bites on humans. You know I would feel the same way about people who do those things to dogs as you do. But the way the HS and other groups portray fighting dogs like they are dangerous or dog aggressive dogs and they talk about bait dogs and things its only spreading lies. It causes dogs to be tortured, some dont believe this but I personally had a neighbor who wanted their dog to be more dog aggressive and they watched animal cops and thought all those bad things the HS said those people do was a good idea to try and make their dog more aggressive. But it still didn't work on their dog and luckily I could talk some form of sense into them after they had already tried getting it to attack loose/stray dogs and let their other more aggressive dog get pretty rough with it while it layed on its back with its tail tucked. So they really shouldn't say that type of stuff b/c it gives people bad ideas that they might not otherwise think of. Instead they should tell the truth instead of talking about how dogs have to be trained to fight and how Pit Bulls are only dog aggressive when TRAINED to be that way. Instead they should openly say dog aggression and human aggression are not related (to help remove general fear of the breed and of fighting dogs and ones who are just dog aggressive), they should say that some people do abuse their dogs in order to make them mean (w/o all the gruesome details and ideas) and that this needs to be stopped and encourage people to report others they know are doing these things. They should say although this is true Pit Bulls are also naturally proned to dog aggression and may enjoy fighting without having been abused or trained. They should say that this DOESN'T make them dangerous to humans. Other breeds can also be prone to dog aggression and that some other dogs just dont like other dogs, but they are not considered dangerous and for the Pit its no different. They should talk about them being friendly loving dogs. That only in the wrong hands or poorly bred they can be bad dogs. That real fighting gamebred dogs have very good temperaments and are the dogs originally behind all Pit Bulls. That these dogs were bred for GENERATIONS and CENTURIES to fight one another in combat. This required no abuse or training, its a naturally tendency in the dog, yet they were bred to respect and love their owners and all people. They had to be mentally stable, wouldn't bite a handler, wouldn't bite when given medical treatment after a fight and were socialble part of towns and communities. Also using Petey as an example. That back then you didn't have a problem with Pit Bulls attacking because most dogmen would be quick to cull a human aggressive dog instead of risk injury and some dogmen even believed any man biter to be currs so thats just one more reason to cull them. That in good breeding programs this same temperament still exist and is being passed on, couragous, loyal, friendly, intellegent, stable with or without dog aggression. And even bybs, abused fighting dogs and tortured guard dogs are sometimes rescued from their miserable lives only to turn around and love people, but instead they focus on street fighters with all the details and only NEGATIVE things about Pits. Like the episode I watched where there was a stray pit bull and they kept stressing how it could be dangerous and its probably hungry and when pits get hungry they are likely to bite and snap without warning. Yeah right thats why almost starved to death and scared rescues lick the people coming to save them. They probably lick and try to be friends with their abusive owners except when they are cowering with their tales tucked out of fear.
I was talking to a wacko, I had a female in heat and he didn't know what was "wrong" with her "back end"..lol I'm like nothing is wrong with her. Then when I said she's in heat, he's like you better find a male to breed her with. So I said I WASN'T breeding her yet, don't know if I ever will and she is too young. He aked her age and I said 18 months old, he tried to say thats old enough and hell I let them do it when they are pups, as long they can do it they can breed. I can't believe how stupid some people are, but to make matters worse he ask if feeding dogs gunpowder really makes them mean-well duh its killing them slowly and painfully it sure will- then he says his S-dad used to breed Rotts and fed them gunpowder to make them mean and he had to shoot some because they turned on the kids. People get more stupid by the minute, shouldn't own dogs, shouldn't breed dogs and shouldn't breed/have kids themselves.
These are people giving all those "vicious breeds" bad reps and enforcing BSL everywhere. I also forgot to say a couple weeks ago in town there was a Rott jump a 6ft kennel and attack some one. The people have the Rott and Pit Bulls so sad when they keep their dogs vicious for the wrong purposes.

I never said everyone heard about the baby incident I was only mentioning it and it has nothing to do with you really, small dogs attack and can kill, Ialso heard of a Pom and a Chi both killing babies doesn't mean everyone else has. So yes it does happen but people dont report it. I already thought I made that point (maybe not I'm not re-reading my post to find out) but most small dog bites are not even REPORTED let alone make the news, only because it was something tragic like a baby death is the only reason why it did. I knows tons of people bit by small dogs(including myself), even their own dogs, some were fairly serious but only a few were ever reported b/c they went to the hospital. One had a huge gash on the palm of their hand but didn't seek medical attention even though tech they should have b/c of the severity of the bite and need for antibiotics so thats another unreported small dog bite. Bites stats are just crap and thats all I have to say about it...lol

 

Bite stats are CRAP! I personally know from experience how inaccurate they can be. Just recently I got attacked by a neighbors "Bird" dog on my property when I tried to pry my Pekingese out of it's mouth. Anyhow so when I went to the hospital the police had already at this point made out the report and so IM sitting there getting stitched up when the Nurse says so you got attacked by a Pit Bull? I was dumbfounded? I said NO! Who told you I was bitten by a Pit Bull? She says oh well it was in the police report that was faxed to us. OK so I was HIGHLY PISSED OFF! The police had somehow gotten the word Pit Bull stuck in their heads because I just happen to own five of them! When in actuality it was a freaking BIRD DOG who had attacked me. IF the nurse had not been nosy and said what she said it would have been a reported Pit Bull attack. I demanded before they did anything else that they get the police over to the hospital and get that stupid report changed. That would have been something huh? My dogs would have most likely been taken away if in fact it had been one of them who attacked me. But the stupid bird dog who attacked me is still living happily at home. The ironic thing is this dog also bit a 4 year old girl in the face, killed a neighbors small dog and also came onto my back porch and killed our cat. BUT nothing is being done about the dog! We have a law suit against the owners of the dog and also the City for allowing this dog to remain in the home even after several reports on the dog including the attack on the 4 year old girl.

 

GinaH, I am sorry to hear about the attack. I hope that you are ok and that you win this law suit. It just amazes me that nothing is being done with this dog yet if it were a Pit Bull, it would have been taken away already.

One of our friend's had a Pit named Kane that was such a sweet heart. From the moment I met him, I was never afraid of him and he was so loveable.
Well, anyway, when these people played with Kane, Kane would put their ankles in his mouth. Thats just one way he played. NO BIG DEAL.... RIGHT??

Well, one day they had Kane in the car because they just came back from the Lake and this little boy came up the the car and was teasing Kane. Because he thought Kane couldnt get out of the car, and so NOW Kane wanted to play. Kane then jumped out of the car to play. The little boy started running and so Kane chased him. Kane went for the ankle and the boy fell. That was all that happened, no bite, no nothing. The boy just had a broken bone from the fall and the parents went on the news saying the dog did it. The DOCTOR said the broken bone was not from the dog but from the fall. Yet Kane was still taken away and put to sleep.
Do you think that any other dog would have been taken away and killed if it were a different breed? I highly dout it.

 

Good luck with the lawsuit GinaH.



That is so not fair, its not right at all. To have a dog put to sleep for PLAYING?! He did break a bone from the fall, not from the dog attacking him or something. 1 of the golden rules of Pit Bulls should know not to stick their mouths on people, if they start this play as a pup it carries over to adulthood, they should be taught to keep their mouths to themselves. I really think it goes for all breeds. Maybe the owners could file some type of law suit though, their dog didn't do anything which should have caused it to be put to sleep.

 

Everybody plays with their dogs in different ways. Everybody has their own opinion. The dog did nothing wrong. The kid should have kept to himself in the first place. The kid fell before the dog even got to him. They were just being jerks because they never liked this family in their neighborhood because they had 4 Pit Bulls. The family did nothing but LIE. These people went on the news and said that they didnt know why the dog was in the car... "They probably just came from a dog fight and the dog was rowled up"
NOTHING BUT LIES.

Those people were wrong for what they did to that sweet dog.

 

I'm sure the dog was sweet and I don't doubt he did nothing wrong, this is one reason why they need to be taught from a young age (when/if) they begin mouthing you. It can lead in some cases to dominance problems and in others the dog is just its normal sweet self but people dont understand that, especially coming from a Pit Bull. I had one that wasn't even mouthy but for some reason got really excited upon meeting a family member (very rare, she is happy to see people but she was REALLY happy to see this person still not even sure why), so she wanted to mouth her when my fam member went to pet her, which freaked my family member out saying dont bite me I was just wanting to pet you and thats why I only pet the puppies (speaking of pit bulls, just pets the innocent cute pups usually). I dont allow my dogs to put their mouths on me or other people, but she WASNT trying to bite, but sense she's supposed to be some killer pit bull and she went to mouth on the rare occasion my fam member actually went to pet an adult that made her not like them all the more. Even if it isn't fair or right of the neighbors to lie and they are very wrong in my opinion teaching better play habits could prevent this, you have to practically walk on eggshells with this breed. Now their beloved pet is gone and people like the neighbors make me sick, but the dogs are not generally intellegent enough to know that the way they play with their family might not be okay to play with other people like that. It can be offensense or down right scarey if its a pit bull and a strange one you dont know. I know some people that let their dogs jump on them upon coming home and when they play, its okay for the families but strangers, friends or other family members are probably not going to be receptive to it. They might think the dog has no manners or is mean you just never know. I'm kind of glad the kid broke his bone though, shouldn't have been teasing the dog any breed any size and he got whats coming to him.

If they choose to play with their dogs that way, its their choice, but when something happens like this, well its always a possibility. Thats why most breeders will tell you that pit bulls should know better or be taught not to put their mouths on you. Most dont consider it okay play even though the dog isn't being bad or mean, its just not a good idea. So I hope you see what I mean, I've had a couple I've had to break from it, one guy was really hard headed and his whole litter loved to mouth you. I was never trying to justify the neighbors, if the dont like the breed or the owners they were probably already looking for some way to get rid of the dog. Any little thing to make up a big story about how bad the dog is, the worse kind of people.

 

I just want to add that I wasn't trying to villify what your friends/their actions. I'm sure we're all guilty of doing something we "shouldnt" do with our dogs or have gone against recommendations or the norm. I know that I'm not alone in this. I have a house dog and she must have thought it was funny or something to grab my sock and rip it off my foot. I dont let my dogs put their mouths on me or anyone else and this is getting pretty close to that, she would take one off walk a few feet and drop it then come back for my other one. I thought it was funny and cute in a way. Well one day I had a relative over and he took off his shoes and sat in the recliner, with his feet at the end, kind of moving them. Well she comes up and thought she could grab his sock and he said "No dog, what are you doing!" I just laughed. She was going to grab his other one but since he was upset she was confused and probably hurt. Now I don't let her do it anymore at all and she doesn't try anymore. He likes her (and the rest of my dogs) sometimes he even babies her and he was just wondering why she taking my sock. On the other hand it could have been some one else (most people keep their shoes on when they come to visit) but hypothetically if some one's child was here who didn't like my dogs or who was always secretly looking for a reason to say my dogs were bad or get them in trouble. If the kid took off their shoes and the dog thought it might be fun to grab their socks they could say the dog was trying to attack them or bite them, the child might really think the dog was biting them and get scared making the parent irrate or the child would understand the dog was just playing but still tell their parent who could blow up about it because she is a pit bull and it must have been trying to eat him. I wasn't saying they are bad owners. Anything can happen to anyone, it doesn't make it right for people to be this way, but its something to be avoided because a lot of people are just looking at your dogs as evil and going to turn one day no matter how nice they are now.

 

Well, maybe where they moved from, the people there were a bit more friendly. They are not from here. They moved here from New Mexico.
I wouldnt have any experience with that bc Shianne doesnt do anything like that. She just climbs on you to be pet and get attention and licks. Licks, licks, and wags the tail.