# Pitbull Reputation..



## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

Here is an article on the reputation of the "Pitbull" by the one and only 
Richard F. Stratton.

I have had almost 60 years experience with the breed, so I did not start to write out of ignorance. The articles that are included here were written after my last book, so they are all new inasmuch as they have not been included in a book. The reader who is new to the breed may not know much about it-except the blurbs from an hysterical media-so let me give a few facts about it to fill in the neophyte on information that is needed to fully understand the articles. 
*Grand Champion 
White Rock*
circa 1950 
*Nala on a treadmill* First, the reason the Pit Bull has become so infamous is the old psychological phenomenon of high visibility in the media. As an analogy, a car was hit by a heavy rock in my town, dropped from an overpass by malignant children. The coverage of the event was so extensive that it probably caused accidents because drivers were very much aware of overpasses. Yet, the danger was remote. In fact, a similar incident has yet to be reported here. The same is true of car jackings and school shootings. The danger is remote, and school shootings have actually gone down, but that is not what the public thinks. Same principle here. The few legitimate attacks that were actually made by Pit Bulls were covered world wide. We all remember the one on the poor animal control person. It was shown around the world over and over. "Experts" described the Pit Bull as a "ticking timebomb." That so frightened some Pit Bull owners that they got rid of their own dogs-even though they had been perfectly gentle and nothing but joy. This was truly a case when ignorance on the part of "experts" was downright criminal-at least, in my eyes!

In reality, the Pit Bull has such a good disposition with people that it really is not a good watch dog. It likes everyone, and it seldom barks. Although I don't advocate raising infant children with any grown dogs, Pit Bulls usually thrive on the abuse the children heap upon them. People-mean Pit Bulls are rare to the vanishing point. So where did the horrific reputation come from? Well, the media caters to the salacious, but I don't think there was any conspiracy involved. It is just the nature of the beast (the media). But I have known many cases where reporters were there to cover a "Pit Bull attack" and left when they discovered it was some other breed. Even worse, some reporters have been known to cover any dog bite as a "Pit Bull attack." When challenged about such things, they have replied, "Well, it could have been a Pit Bull." Again, these are not bad people. They are simply catering to the public fascination with a sort of Frankenstein monster (as the Pit Bull is so often perceived).


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

With the Pit Bull's reputation being what it is, any loose member of the breed that takes a single step toward a police officer is shot on the spot. Such shootings are always reported as the policeman shooting a "charging Pit Bull." The police are not at fault here. The dog should not have been loose, and police officers can't be expected to be above the headline mentality of the public on all matters. But the point is that every such incident adds to the unsavory reputation of what I think is the most noble of breeds.

Is it true that where there is some smoke, there must be a little fire? I don't think that it always is, but there is a little fire in this case. The Pit Bull, known formally as the American Pit Bull Terrier, has, for countless generations, been used for fighting other dogs in monied contests. That is the main rub. But the breed has also been used for hunting huge wild animals, such as bear and Russian boar. There are paintings depicting such hunts dating back 300 years. Other depictions date back over a thousand years. Finally, the breed has also been used for ranch work, catching rough stock, such as a wild bull or a pig, by the ear or nose so that a hand can get a rope on the beast. It has been estimated that this notorious breed, infamous for killing people, has actually saved many hundreds of lives by doing the dirty and downright hazardous work with dangerous large animals.

The fighting reputation is what created the public attention. Although most Pit Bulls are smaller than a German Shepherd, and some of them are no bigger than Cocker Spaniels, they are capable of roundly whipping any other breed irrespective of size. Such a statement makes the breed sound savage, and it certainly does have a certain intensity to it when fighting, even though it fights silently. But the correct term is enthusiasm. It is descended from countless ancestors that were the best at what they did, which was, in most cases, pit fighting. The dogs that were good at that enjoyed it. For that reason, a Pit Bull can be a danger to other dogs. They are not a dog for everyone. Only the responsible people who keep them on leash should own them. Unfortunately, they have a certain appeal to the macho types who tend to be irresponsible. That, too, is a source of "fire."

The fact that the breed has been used for fighting makes people think that they are automatically vicious with people. But there has been a selective factor away from that in this case. Dogs which cooperated in their medical treatment were the ones that survived to beget progeny. Also, a dog that attacked a person, rather than concentrating on the other dog, would be a liability. In the pit, there were always two handlers and a referee. It wasn't a matter of throwing two dogs into a cage and watching them from the outside. All these things have factored into producing a breed that has a quite amicable disposition with people. The ultimate irony is that the infamous Pit Bull has perhaps the best disposition of all breed with people. Even its encounters with animals are not from anger or viciousness. No, it is simply unreal enthusiasm that is embodied in the stark warrior spirit of the breed.

Pit Bulls can be kept as pets, and their enthusiasm, which normally would be for fighting, spills over into nearly any activity its owner wants, from swimming to retrieving a ball. They can be raised with a house cat and will always be friends with it. Because of the hunting history of the breed, strange cats may not be safe from it, however. Dogs are a different situation. Although occasional dogs can be kept together, especially of the opposite sex, it is a little risky keeping two Pit Bulls unsupervised together. The rough play can get more and more intense until it turns into a real fight. However, Pit Bulls can often be kept with dogs of other breeds.

To repeat myself, the Pit Bull is not for everyone. But for those who admire pure courage and unbelievable athleticism, it may be the only breed.

*Richard F. Stratton*


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

ericschevy said:


> The fighting reputation is what created the public attention. Although most Pit Bulls are smaller than a German Shepherd, and some of them are no bigger than Cocker Spaniels, they are capable of roundly whipping any other breed irrespective of size. Such a statement makes the breed sound savage, and it certainly does have a certain intensity to it when fighting, even though it fights silently.


I like that comment as it was *ACTUALLY*strAtton who brought the breed to the mainstream publics consious in the release of his first book in 1976"this is the american pitbull terrier" creating fans like Carl semencic who further exploted the breeds image and actually had his first book"the world of fighting dogs" used against the breed in the first initial bsl in england[u.k] on national t.v.Possably the breed would be better off if those books were never even writen,despite your[my] feelings on the info or if you or i would even own the breed hadnt they been writen,jmo.....
Also as a side note,if they had never been writen the modern bandog may never exsist or be so misused as a term, as it was those books that brought that to the mainstream also[minor mention in strattons book]
Major misinformation in semencic's book by the way,mostly opinion with little substance,jmo,jmo...


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

p.s,
i like the old thrash avitar,when metalica didnt suck,*jmo!!!*heheh.


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

cane76 said:


> I like that comment as it was *ACTUALLY*strAtton who brought the breed to the mainstream publics consious in the release of his first book in 1976"this is the american pitbull terrier" creating fans like Carl semencic who further exploted the breeds image and actually had his first book"the world of fighting dogs" used against the breed in the first initial bsl in england[u.k] on national t.v.Possably the breed would be better off if those books were never even writen,despite your[my] feelings on the info or if you or i would even own the breed hadnt they been writen,jmo.....
> Also as a side note,if they had never been writen the modern bandog may never exsist or be so misused as a term, as it was those books that brought that to the mainstream also[minor mention in strattons book]
> Major misinformation in semencic's book by the way,mostly opinion with little substance,jmo,jmo...


Yeah, I agree. Between his book being used against the breed and later the fact that every joe shmoe could obtain a pit I consider these part of the initial cause..


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## Sadie (Jun 18, 2008)

I really like stratton reading through he has a wealth of knowledge about the breed.


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

cane76 said:


> p.s,
> i like the old thrash avitar,when metalica didnt suck,*jmo!!!*heheh.


Lol yeah the last few weren't the greatest. This newest one just released ain't to bad..


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## Bully Mama (Nov 4, 2008)

This is awsome information! the problem with the recent "Pitbull Attacks" is in almost all cases this is an owner issue. As a pitbull community, how do we reverse this trend? AS a rescue, I go into shelters all over central texas and find that usually over half are pits and bully breeds! Over Half! This makes it a pitbull commmunity problem....I have wracked my brain to figure out solutions to these issues without it becoming a BSL issue, but it is not the Poodle community, or the Boston Terrier community, or the GDS community mishandeling their dogs, it is our own Pitbull community....I am so ANTI- BSL but I can see where it seems to be our issue.....

Sorry for the rant, I love this breed and in Texas we are about to be hit with these issues!


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

Bully Mama said:


> This is awsome information! the problem with the recent "Pitbull Attacks" is in almost all cases this is an owner issue.


I have to respectfully disagree. The problem is the majority of the cases aren't even pits and the ones that actually are pits are mostly product of poor breeding practices. IMHO that leaves a small percentage to human error..JMHO
Have you ever wondered why Pitbull attacks were almost unheard of back when only true dogmen owned them? Food for thought..


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

Its a breeding problem,people breeding for everything but stability and soundness,and the public's desire for extremes in temperament and aesthetic that were once abnormal to the breed,The breed has a massive image problem and many people have bought into it,and breeders capitalize off this image.


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

ericschevy said:


> Have you ever wondered why Pitbull attacks were almost unheard of back when only true dogmen owned them?


*Because a lot of the story's from the past are clearly romaticized Lie's,dogs of every breed have bit people,this breed is no different,but "NOW" this breed is encouraged to be and many times expected to be human aggressive and that mixed in with it's fighting history "a dog that was bred to kill,and never stop" has created instability,because clearly many of these dogs are bred for everything but stable temperment,some byb won't cull a pup they can make a buck off and continue the trend of over breeding generation after generation.
people need to cull hard,and yes i also believe that many of the dogs have bulldog and mastiff mixed into them,but whatever,the registry's choose to register them as pure so what are you gonna do?*


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

cane76 said:


> *Because a lot of the story's from the past are clearly romaticized Lie's,dogs of every breed have bit people,this breed is no different,but "NOW" this breed is encouraged to be and many times expected to be human aggressive and that mixed in with it's fighting history "a dog that was bred to kill,and never stop" has created instability,because clearly many of these dogs are bred for everything but stable temperment,some byb won't cull a pup they can make a buck off and continue the trend of over breeding generation after generation.*
> *people need to cull hard,and yes i also believe that many of the dogs have bulldog and mastiff mixed into them,but whatever,the registry's choose to register them as pure so what are you gonna do?*


Of course all breeds bite but it's a known fact that temperament was a major cause for concern back then. Then in the same token I believe many were bred regardless if they were manfighters or not simply cause they were game. Keep in mind though the population has quad droopled++ and many of them aint in the hands of true doggers..


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

that's true,but I'm not sure what the definition of a true dog man is nowadays.
The dog fighter of today is a low life 9 times out of ten and dog fighters of the past
fought what ever would win.Thats why many of the all time greats were also man bitters,jmo.These people where not breeding for a therapy dog,they where breeding for a dog that killed other animals,It was it's only reason for being created,jmo.
Plus the apbt also proved to be very smart and trainable and can easily be made into a attack on comand dog,more so than most every other breed that is as popular as this one.
The breed is aggresive smart and trainable by nature,take away the training and couple it with poor breeding pactices and it's popularity it's a wonder there hasnt been more issues,this breed really cant take anymore bad press before it is systematicaly eliminated from the majority of the this country.
although it will always exsist somewhere doing what its been created for.
"JMO"...


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

cane76 said:


> that's true,but I'm not sure what the definition of a true dog man is nowadays.
> The dog fighter of today is a low life 9 times out of ten and dog fighters of the past
> fought what ever would win.Thats why many of the all time greats were also man bitters,jmo.These people where not breeding for a therapy dog,they where breeding for a dog that killed other animals,It was it's only reason for being created,jmo.


Man biters or excite biters (biting out of excitement in the heat of a match)?


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

Good question,but a dog that bites out of excitement is very dangerous in my opinion.


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

cane76 said:


> Good question,but a dog that bites out of excitement is very dangerous in my opinion.


Very true but me personally I think of a man biter as being the stereotypical "mean ass dog" and a excite biter being just that..


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## Bully Mama (Nov 4, 2008)

ericschevy said:


> I have to respectfully disagree. The problem is the majority of the cases aren't even pits and the ones that actually are pits are mostly product of poor breeding practices. IMHO that leaves a small percentage to human error..JMHO
> Have you ever wondered why Pitbull attacks were almost unheard of back when only true dogmen owned them? Food for thought..


 I agree,I understand what you are saying, buit "real dogmen" do not make up the majority of the pitty owners these days. And it is the others that are the problem. Many of those breeding in backyards, to unregistered dogs. And yes although there are many mixed breeds and mis classified bully types, they are still called pits when it comes to the news papers. It is these owners that I think cause the human error. We have irresponsible owners breeding dogs and not taking the responsibility to home them properly. I am well aware that it is not fair, but in our day and time anything that resembles a Pit in the media's eyes becomes a pit. I'm all for a solution. The BSL laws want to ban our dogs and anything resembeling our dogs, I as a rescue want to decrease the numbers of bully breeds being sheltered in the US, without using BSL tactics. These dogs are coming from somewhere...this is a great forum to come up with ways to make change within the bully community. All you "Dogmen" out there, put your heads together, how do we fix this problem?


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## Bully Mama (Nov 4, 2008)

cane76 said:


> Good question,but a dog that bites out of excitement is very dangerous in my opinion.


What Angus does could not constitute actual biting, he snaps at her to let him go, of coarse she doesn't, and he knows he is really introuble, but he doesn't turn on her it is different.


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

Um,for one People need to stop breeding dogs that shouldn't be bred,people need to stop looking at the dog as a potential profit,this is the only breed that people are so determined to breed,its a image thing,not as many folks are dead set on breeding there lab or mutt mix,people with pit bulls are,many of these are bred without having even a basic pedigree,I'm not saying the only dogs that should be bred should be dogs with pedigrees,there are exceptions to the rule,but generally they are the dogs that "should" be bred after accomplishing some sort of title at least.
Also cull hard if not by euthanasia at least by spay/neuter,any undisireable temperament flaws,nervousness, human aggression etc should be eliminated from the gene pool.
Now how do you inforce this?


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## chic4pits (Aug 25, 2008)

hey eric where did you get this from? it's interestering...i'd like to read more if there is .....thnkx for the post! good one!


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## chic4pits (Aug 25, 2008)

Originally Posted by ericschevy 
I have to respectfully disagree. The problem is the majority of the cases aren't even pits and the ones that actually are pits are mostly product of poor breeding practices. IMHO that leaves a small percentage to human error..JMHO
Have you ever wondered why Pitbull attacks were almost unheard of back when only true dogmen owned them? Food for thought..


i figured it was b/c they would put any dog down when it turned on a human, given it's not human error being the reason the dog bit. but b/c these dogs work and fought so closely to humans true dogmen wanted to insure you had a very human friendly dog w/o loosing the 'game' in the dog. 
idk, just my thought...please someone if i'm wrong correct me..


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

Bully Mama said:


> These dogs are coming from somewhere...this is a great forum to come up with ways to make change within the bully community. All you "Dogmen" out there, put your heads together, how do we fix this problem?


Well, there is no simple answer but a start would be like Cane76 said, Cull and cull hard. Be it by spay/neuter or euthanasia..


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

chic4pits said:


> i figured it was b/c they would put any dog down when it turned on a human, given it's not human error being the reason the dog bit. but b/c these dogs work and fought so closely to humans true dogmen wanted to insure you had a very human friendly dog w/o loosing the 'game' in the dog.
> idk, just my thought...please someone if i'm wrong correct me..


That is a ligitemate thought but was not always the case.
It was practiced by some but not all, most "Dogmen" were not only in the sport for the sport but for money too. With that being said it's only logical that a dogman who wasn't SO keen on temperament would breed and continue to based on the fact that his product was as "Game" as they come..JMHO
If you have ever seen Off The Chain then you would here it from a dogfighters own mouth that you would never hear of his dogs mauling a neighborhood kid, so temperament is/was a major contributing factor for some..


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## ericschevy (Nov 10, 2006)

chic4pits said:


> hey eric where did you get this from? it's interestering...i'd like to read more if there is .....thnkx for the post! good one!


That was it as far as that subject but there is more reading..
Richard F. Stratton.com - The American Pit Bull Terrier - Home


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## Bully Mama (Nov 4, 2008)

cane76 said:


> Um,for one People need to stop breeding dogs that shouldn't be bred,people need to stop looking at the dog as a potential profit,this is the only breed that people are so determined to breed,its a image thing,not as many folks are dead set on breeding there lab or mutt mix,people with pit bulls are,many of these are bred without having even a basic pedigree,I'm not saying the only dogs that should be bred should be dogs with pedigrees,there are exceptions to the rule,but generally they are the dogs that "should" be bred after accomplishing some sort of title at least.
> Also cull hard if not by euthanasia at least by spay/neuter,any undisireable temperament flaws,nervousness, human aggression etc should be eliminated from the gene pool.
> Now how do you inforce this?


Great post! I agree totally!


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## Bully Mama (Nov 4, 2008)

I think our true dogmen might be able to make a difference. We in rescue agree with the fact that people are breeding for the wrong reasons, not choosing to insure the breed, and selling to anyone who will make them a profit. Although we so not agree on many issues I believe you do respect the breed and if you all band together and make it know that these practices are not acceptable then maybe some of these fly by night breeders will get the message.


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## chic4pits (Aug 25, 2008)

ericschevy said:


> That was it as far as that subject but there is more reading..
> Richard F. Stratton.com - The American Pit Bull Terrier - Home


thank ya eric...


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

I think it's up to the rescue people first and foremost to spread the word,and do there part through the legal system if need be,and im not talking about b.s.l.
But some type of ethical code of some sort needs to be adhered to and followed by potential breeders.This breed needs a governing body that looks over it and keeps it healthy.jmo


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## Bully Mama (Nov 4, 2008)

cane76 said:


> I think it's up to the rescue people first and foremost to spread the word,and do there part through the legal system if need be,and im not talking about b.s.l.
> But some type of ethical code of some sort needs to be adhered to and followed by potential breeders.This breed needs a governing body that looks over it and keeps it healthy.jmo


That is one of the most intelegent things I have heard on any forum. So as a rescue, what would you suggest. Everything i can come up with sounds so much like BSL...I am afraid if we bring something to the attention of the governing bodies they will single out our dogs and it will be like a runaway fraight train, no stopping it.


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## cane76 (Aug 16, 2006)

I'm talking about establishing a governing body that works with the state and local governments made up of "pit bull'' people,a organization that is slightly different than the ukc or adba, a non profit org that runs off of donations so $ isn't the driving force behind decisions,the breed is the driving force.Bad rap from the bay area of northern California already does this,and of course random individuals work vigilantly and individually taking little to no credit for the actions.If there can be more orginizations like bad-rap set up in each state with a issue comprised of folks who are already working individually i think it would be a step in the right direction,but i don't believe there to be a quick or immediate fix to the breeds issues.jmo


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## Bully Mama (Nov 4, 2008)

I think you are dead on!


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