Day in and day out we have people ask us questions about certain breeds of dogs. People are most concerned with American Pit Bull Terriers, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans, Chow-Chows, Shar-peis, and Akitas.

What all of these breeds have in common is that they often attract the wrong type of people for owners. The breeds themselves are not the issue; socialization and responsible ownership are the issues. Quite often when people get dogs for intimidation, protection, fighting, etc., they deliberately do not socialize the dog properly. The dog is kept locked in a basement, an abandoned house, or left in the backyard. These dogs are often starved, taunted, and provoked. They do not have the opportunity to meet different people or other dogs. Understandably so, this often leads to wariness on their part.

When a child is neglected by its guardian and locked in a closet, and a social worker/police officer arrives on the scene and rescues the child from the situation, the expectation is that the child will lovingly run into the arms of their rescuer displaying gratitude. What really happens is that the child, being overstimulated by suddenly being thrust into an unfamiliar situation with strange sights, smells, and sounds, will lash out at the social worker--spitting, kicking, and even biting. This is similar to what happens to an unsocialized dog when it is rescued.

Take the example of the woman who lost her life in the Dan Ryan Woods recently (Chicagoland area). Dogs are pack animals. The dogs in that case were running in a pack, poorly socialized, starving, freezing, and they saw something running. Due to these conditions, they viewed the runner as prey, with tragic results. Dogs are also territorial, which can cause an unsocialized dog to feel provoked when someone enters what he perceives is "his" territory. This has nothing to do with breed.

When an unsocialized small breed dog chases and bites somebody's ankles, people laugh. When a large breed dog does it, it's not so funny. The breed of dog in the Dan Ryan Woods incident is a breed that has a 95% passing rate when tested by the American Canine Temperament Testing Association making them the 4th highest out of 122 breeds. This dog is the American Pit Bull Terrier.

How can a dog with such a high passing rate so often be accused and/or found guilty of such horrific things? Because these dogs are being bred indiscriminately by bad people.

It is estimated that there are 60,000 Pit Bull Terriers in the city of Chicago. These dogs are almost always owned by people that do not socialize them properly, resulting in a wary, guarded animal. Considering that these dogs are so frequently in the hands of the criminal element or neglectful people looking for an intimidating status symbol, and that there are so many of them in the city, the true measure of their temperament is not the occasional, well-publicized, tragic incident, but that so few negative incidents occur relative to the size of their population.

Despite being the most common victim of animal abuse/cruelty in an urban environment, they are still very loving, people oriented, highly trainable, and highly rehabilitatable dogs. If suddenly there was an increase in red cars running people over, would we assume red cars should be banned? No, common sense would dictate that red is a more popular color choice for car owners.

Will banning a breed work to alleviate the problem? No! The unsavory, criminal element will just become better at hiding their dogs and the responsible dog owners will suffer. The criminal element will also start indiscriminately breeding another breed. For example, Chakitas are all the rage now......Chow-Chows mixed with Akitas.

The Supreme Court in Alabama just ruled against breed specific legislation as proof could NOT be found that one breed is genetically more "dangerous" than another. In the city of Chicago, we also do not have Breed Specific Legislation (BSL). Chicago has "dangerous dog laws," judging each individual dog on an individual basis, instead of "dangerous breed laws" that judge dogs based on their breed.

As the owner of a 90 .lb Akita/Pit Bull Terrier mix, I often have people ask me if I am worried he'll suddenly "turn on me." My dog is a graduate of beginner, intermediate, and advanced obedience training and is just now learning how skilled he is at agility.
Is he perfect? No.
Is he the most loving, affectionate dog, who tolerates living with a whole slew of foster cats, rabbits, etc.? Yes.
Would I trade him for anything in the world?
Never!

Catherine Hedges