The Truth about Pitbull Aggression

Here it is folks. Some Pitbulls are aggressive!

But so are some Labradors. And so are some poodles. In fact if you research Dog Bite Statistics, you’ll probably notice that the Pitbull Terrier isn’t listed as the top rated bite incident breed. And remember Monday October 9th 2000, a 6 week old baby was killed by a Pomeranian. Pomeranians are not thought of as aggressive dogs, but they were breed and raised as, you guessed it, watchdogs!

Just because your dog is aggressive, does not mean it was abused.

Dogs have their limitations and some just need more personal space than other dogs. Some dogs can not handle kids climbing on them and tugging on their ears or are naturally too dominate for regular dog play especially with other unfamiliar or un-neutered dogs. Other dogs could care less. There are pitbulls that have been living in extremely poor living conditions that may have been neglected or abused that are just carefree and happy in their new homes without an ounce of aggressive behavior. Other dogs can be set off by very subtle triggers, are not good with other dogs, and are wary of strangers. These behaviors can be genetic. Genetic behavior can be managed but often times never goes away.

Pitbulls are known to be “Dog Aggressive”. Is it true?

Perhaps to a point, but take a trip over to your nearest dog park and you are guaranteed to find more than one Pitbull owner that never has confrontations or has to break up their pup from a dog fight. These same people drop their Pitbull off at daycare. When they pick them up at the end of the day the staff will rave about how playful their dog was with the other dogs and employees. These owners may have never taken a dog obedience class in their life! Some of us are a bit jealous right now.

Other Pitbull owners have been through top dollar professional dog training courses, muzzle their dog in public, cross the sidewalk when they see on coming dogs, and might have to cage their dog at family gatherings. These people have never abused, raised their voice, or intimidated their dog. They have also put an intense emphasis on fixing the problem, and may have become very good at handling dogs or even accidentally became a dog trainer in the process! These people understand this: a dog is just a dog. They are not robots and sometimes all we can do is learn how to manage the difficulties that we find with our dog. That is what Dog Training is all about. Not all situations can be “fixed”, but you should be able to set up a management system that will give you the ability to enjoy the time with your dog in a safe manner.

Below is a video of a Sit Means Sit Trainer gaining control of an extremely aggressive Pitbull. It is obvious how imperative it is for the owners to gain control of their dog and teach him when and how to use his mouth. Consistency is key. The Sit Means Sit Training system is a non-confrontational attention based system that allows us to establish communication even in heightened uncontrolled environments. Sit Means Sit does not incorporate any type of intimidation or dominance exercises in any portion of their training programs.