Do you think dog breeds like pitbulls and rottweilers get unfairly stereotyped?

[Alma 37:37]

Any dog can turn vicious if they are raised by the wrong owners, not just those breeds. I have seen very friendly pitbulls and rottweilers, because they were raised by the right owners.

[scout]

Yes. For sure.

[Dollofvoodoo]

As with people, you have good and bad. Same things with animals. While I do believe well trained dogs and loving owners make a huge difference, there is a natural instinct there particularly in dogs that are more aggressive. Take a beagle for example. A breed well known for hunting. He can be the best trained dog in the world, but let a fox, bird, etc. cross it's path and that instinct kicks in.

[Sil]

I feel they are treated like criminals, when they are pretty much no different from any other dog. If a dog is raised and treated properly typically they will be a fantastic dog, but there are some dogs out there who are just simply aggressive. Not all these are pitbulls.

I have known Chihuahuas that were aggressive, yet they were treated right and loved, they were socialized but they still were aggressive. I have also known Pitbulls who were like this as well as Rotts.

[Fearlessbushes821]

Yes of course. These dogs are far from the man-eating baby killers they are portrayed to be and if raised properly and carefully in the right hands, they can make superb and excellent pets.

These dogs are though, innately and instinctively aggressive in their own rights and while they aren't the man-eating killers people portray them to be, they do have traits that make them dangerous if placed in the wrong hands and both breeds CAN BE DANGEROUS. * In fact* ANY dog can be dangerous or aggressive.

The Rottweiler is a natural guarding breed, and is by nature aggressive towards strangers and weary of newcomers. The Rott was bred to guard and a good guard dog doesn't just let any stranger roam their territory without investigation.

The Pit Bull Terrier, on the other hand, was bred as a "fighting" or "combat" animal, and because these dogs were bred for "dog on dog combat" this bred was bred to be "dog aggressive". A naturally "dog aggressive" animal willing to fight it's opponent is much better then one who is super social and loving.

When you educate yourself about the breed, and learn the breeds innate instincts and nature, you learn how to appropriately handle the breed so that issues don't arise, sadly, many of the punks, idiots and hard-core dog owner wannabes get these dogs just so they can jog up and down the street or show off their fierce monster. Some people, sadly, don't have much self esteem or balls for that matter and need to supplement both with a big strong scary looking beast at the end of a leash.

Bad ownership, bad handing, misunderstanding of both breeds, as well as bad and indiscriminate breeding has destroyed both of the breeds, and the media has tarnished both breeds reputations.

Contrary to popular belief, the Pit Bull Terrier, although a fighting dog by nature, and dog aggressive is extremely human friendly, affectionate and loving and many people who handle fighting dogs are amazed by their friendly disposition. Fighting dogs need to be handled in the ring, those who bit were immediately killed/culled.

Rottweilers, while guard dogs with an instinct to protect and ward of strangers are by nature, very devoted, caring and submissive towards their family and those they are assigned to protect and will go faithfully to any length to protect those they consider dearest or your live-stock and possessions.

[felicia]

Rottweilers, Pitbulls, Dobermans, and a few other breeds get a very bad stereotype bacause of what people "think" they know when really it all depends on how you train the dog. You could train everyones favorite breed of dog the Labrador Retriever to be just as mean as a Pitbull or Rottweiler. Ive met MANY sweet Pitbulls and Rottweilers my dad actually has two Rottweilers and their the biggest sweethearts i know all they wanna do is lick you and jump on you and love you. The meanest dog i ever met was a miniature pincher it tried to eat me , ive actually NEVER even met a mean Pitbull. These dogs are very unfairly sterotyped because of the many ignorant people who get these dogs just to make them mean, its absolutly HORRIBLE. And more people need to realize how much love these dogs really do have for humans (:

[Richard S]

Hogwash!

[Dayna]

yes i do I've had both of them with my kids growing up and they never hurt my kids or any other children or adult. I believe its the owners who give them the bad name by using them as fighting dogs and when they no longer serve a purpose they put them out, they only know how to survive since that's what they've been taught. A dog is what a dog learns. its a dam shame too.

[⋆ Claire M⋆]

Definitely.

What really matters, is how they're raised. I've met many beautiful, friendly Rottweilers - they're truly a breed to honor. As I live in the UK, and Pit Bulls are illegal, I can only say I've met 2 or 3, and two of them were very friendly towards me, but wanted to kill my dog straight off (these two are registered on the Dangerous Dogs register & are allowed to be in the UK, ruled by the court as long as they follow strict rules). The other one was incredibly aggressive toward me & my dog, and was later put down as far as I'm aware, for another reason.

Whilst these dogs can be & are generally friendly, loving dogs - you have to remember the physical power they possess, and the aggressive instinct that they were initially created for. First of all, APBTs weren't bred to be aggressive to other people - in fact, they were bred to be super friendly with people so that they could be handled during fights without biting their handler. These dogs were bred to be ''game'' dogs & have ''gameness'', which in term, means ''willingness to fight''. They were bred to bait bulls, bears, kill hogs and be ratters & later on, still early in their creation, they were used to fight other dogs - they were bred for strength and agility, too. Because of this, although you can bring them up to be perfectly stable dogs, they still posses that ''terrier'' attitude that ALL terriers possess. With Rottweilers, they were bred to be the most powerful guard dog & protector - they were bred to have the strongest jaw, and utmost loyalty - because of this & their protective nature, they have the ability to become very aggressive toward another human - should they, or their human feel under threat.

As you say, any dog can be vicious - a Labrador, for example, can become incredibly vicious - but the reason you don't hear about these attacks, is because a Labrador can't do half as much physical damage as a Rottweiler or Pit Bull can do. Sure, a Labrador can bite, but a Labrador doesn't have the gameness, willingness, strength and agility to keep going, and doesn't have the jaw strength.

So, any dog can be aggressive - but only a handful of breeds have the ability to do a dangerous amount of damage.

Whilst I love all breeds & especially Rottweilers and those most wrongly judged, I do agree that, without a proper confident, responsible, experienced owner, things are likely to get out of control.

[ⱺ😻ⱺ🐶ⱺ]

They get unfairly stereotyped by lovers of the breeds.

To them EVERY Pitbull and Rottweiler is the most kind and gentle animal on this planet regardless of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.