I own a beautiful and gentle pitbull, his name is BLUE. Blue lives inside my home with 3 daughters, my wife and (1) male teacup Yorkie and (2) female teacup Yorkie. As of right now i can not be so thankful for the love this pitbull has. He is a attention seeker, lots of energy and very loving with all. I unfortunately live in Mimai_dade County where Pitbull are illegal.
Those who like to bash the pitbull race get the facts. First they are not born like that its the owners fault for abusing the animal. Would you attack or bite if your were abused. National Geographic look it up... they tested 3 dogs with the strongest bite... Rottwiler, German Sherpard and a Pitbull.. the Rottwiler has the strongest bite at 328 pounds of pressure, German Sherpard came in 2nd place with 228 and the most hated dog the Pitbull came in 3rd... So if we can ban the pitbull then why not the Rott or the german sheppard. I was reading an article on Pitbull boy are people just plain stupid to say those who own Pitbull are mostly drug dealers, thugs or convicted felons... wow, im neither... Pitbulls are great pets... and this stupid ban against pitbulls must be lifted...

Jen- yes- pit bulls have amazing noggins! Here is a description of the breed standard for American Staffordshire Terriers from the American Kennel Club:

American Staffordshire Terrier Head
"Medium length, deep through, broad skull, very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop; and ears are set high.
Ears - Cropped or uncropped, the latter preferred. Uncropped ears should be short and held rose or half prick. Full
drop to be penalized. Eyes - Dark and round, low down in skull and set far apart. No pink eyelids. Muzzle - Medium
length, rounded on upper side to fall away abruptly below eyes. Jaws well defined. Underjaw to be strong and
have biting power. Lips close and even, no looseness. Upper teeth to meet tightly outside lower teeth in front.
Nose definitely black."
and...

Staffordshire Bull Terrier Head
"Short, deep through, broad skull, very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop, short foreface, black nose. Pink (Dudley) nose to be considered a serious fault. Eyes--Dark preferable, but may bear some relation to coat color. Round, of medium size, and set to look straight ahead. Light eyes or pink eye rims to be considered a fault, except that where the coat surrounding the eye is white the eye rim may be pink. Ears--Rose or half-pricked and not large. Full drop or full prick to be considered a serious fault. Mouth--A bite in which the outer side of the lower incisors touches the inner side of the upper incisors. The lips should be tight and clean. The badly undershot or overshot bite is a serious fault."

Of course, a lot of the pit bulls that we see in shelters are mixes, but retain a lot of these characteristics. Must be dominant genes...

Hi Liz- the American Temperament Testing Society developed this test in 1977 to have a benchmark evaluation of dog behavior. It focuses on measuring stability, shyness, aggressiveness and friendliness while encountering various visual, auditory and tactile stimuli. Three evaluators observe the dog over about 12 minutes. The ATTS will give provide feedback on the aspects of the dog's reaction, but the test itself is pass/fail. The test has been administered to over 28,000 dogs with an 81.6% pass rate. You can check here if you want ot have your dog evaluated http://www.atts.org/about.html

To the dude that wrote this:

"Every pit bull owner thinks their dog is so wonderful and sweet and loving, until it rips the throat out of a 3-year-old. Anyone who owns a pit bull has serious problems of their own."

Wow. Judgmental much?

Every pit bull owner thinks their dog is so wonderful and sweet and loving, until it rips the throat out of a 3-year-old. Anyone who owns a pit bull has serious problems of their own.

Can someone explain the American Temperment Test?

RACISM IS THE PITS!!!

I have a wonderful pit bull, she is my registered companion dog to help me with my anxiety disorder. She gets along with my three cats and all people but she is leash agressive towards dogs. when she is off leash she is fine with dogs but the problem is people who have their dogs off leash in places that they should'nt.
I found a pit bull last year standing in the middle of the road. i took her to the closest house and asked if she was thier dog, they pulled a shot gun on me (nice people, I'm a 20 year old female). i took her home with me and she got along with my pit, and my ex-boyfriends rottie, and my cats. she was the ultimate cuddle bug. my landlord wouldnt let me keep her, so i was forced to bring her to the sonoma county animal care and control. they said she had to pass a test with cats, dogs, and people before going up for adoption. i called to check the results of the test and to my dismay she had not passed. this dog lived in a one bedroom apartment with 2 cats and 2 other dogs and played with the neighbors kids. they test them with cats by essentially teasing them, putting them in a cage and letting the cat run around it. this does not seem fair to me. Ginger, a sweet, cat,dog,and people lover, was euthanized 3 days later. i don't think the test is fair, i think the system is racist against the breed. i also think the spay/ neuter pit bull law should apply to all breeds. there are too many dogs in the world and people who breed them are sick and selfish.
R.I.P. Ginnie, i blame myself everyday for taknig you to that awful place. and the worst part? they keep these death row doggies in awful conditions sometimes for over a year!

My sister's Pit, Apple, is the happiest, funniest dog I know. She climbs up into bed with me when I stay over and likes to be spooned!

One thing that I love about Pitties are their giant heads. Why do they have such giant heads and such tiny little eyeballs? And how about that dent in the middle of their foreheads?

I have a beautiful pit bull and she is such a love. We take her to the off leash dog park every week where she plays and frolics with all dogs large and small. She has been bitten by two small dogs and has never bitten back we just get her out of the situation and back out and playing as soon as possible so she isn't fearful.

Pit bulls used to be referred to as the "Nanny" dog... they are fantastic with families and are true cuddle bugs. There is nothing more that ours prefers to do than be snuggled up on the couch with her family. Our pit plays beautifully with children and our cat.

I am sad that people are so close minded and agree... it is absolutely the owners and how the owners train the dogs to behave. All the dog wants to do is please their owner.

We are pleased by having a kind and loving dog that is a integral part of our family... and that is exactly what we have.

The question isn't necessarily the likelihood that a dog will bite, but the severity of the bite once it does bite. A bite from a chihuahua is usually not very damaging. A bite from a pit bull can be lethal, and if not is usually very damaging.

*yourselves

My pitbull has been bit by a pomeranian, chihuahua and more severely attacked by great dane and a boxer. Educate yourselved people- its the owner not the dog. Open your minds, there is a great big world out there.

Great article!!

My dog was bitten by a pit bull mix last week and had to be taken tithe vet because of the deep gash. The person in the waiting room had told me of how his dog was also bitten once by one. When the vet saw me she mentioned that two weeks ago a dog also had been bitten by one. Hmmm..

OK, I'll bite (sic!). I like the ATTS data. What's wrong with it? IS there better way of evaluating the temper of dogs?

There are certainly questions about the statistical validity of the data developed by the American Temperament Test Society.