All you ... PEOPLE who support breed bans: Let's Play FIND THE PIT BULL!!

[Scootaloo]

108. We don't ignore where the breed originated

We just point out that it's largely irrelevant to any given individual of that breed. It's a question of training and owner responsibility.

If anyone's ignoring breed histories, I'm afraid it's the advocates of breed bans. Find me a dog breed that doesn't have at least some roots in maiming other living things. Please.

The #1 most popular dog in America, the Labrador retriever is a descendant of ship mastiffs - dogs bred and trained to tear up anyone not part of he crew who came aboard. It's got gundog ancestry as well, which is where the "retriever" part comes from. Newfoundlands show the mastiff ancestry even more clearly.

The #2, Yorkshire terrier, was like most terriers bred to, well, grab other animals and shake them around until limbs fly off. In the yorkie's case, this was rats. it was also used as a pit dog against smaller "game" - rats, other small dogs, cats, whatever might bring in the money.

They also do this, which is cool, I guess.

#3, the German shepherd is one of the classic "tough" dogs; originally derived to kill the shit out of wolves and other dogs who came near its flocks, then put in top tier for police and military uses. Most dog attacks in the world probably come at the teeth of a german shepherd; but so long as someone in a uniform holds the leash, it's not added to statistics.

#4, golden retriever, large spaniel and probably the other half of the labrador's ancestry. Alright, seems this guy was only used to pick up critters that were already dead, and do so carefully.

#5, beagle, scent hound. Bred to chase foxes in large packs. Fox hunts usually ended up with the hounds ripping the animal to shreds. This was apparently "jolly good sport," or something. Probably right up there with a terrier in how much carnage they can cause to your furniture, and the amount of terror they inflict on neighborhood cats, squirrels, and whatever else.

#6, dachshund, another scent hound. Like the beagle. only with badgers. In my experience, one of the most consistently foul-tempered breeds ever. Them and the goddamned cocker spaniels.

#7, boxer, mastiff type. descended from the german "bullenbaiser" which, if my three years of High school German doesn't fail me, means "bull-baiter." Originally used as a savage-game hunter (bears, boars, that sort of thing), then brought into the fighting ring, then trained as military attack dogs. Nowadays most famous for being tough-looking cuddlywumpuses who are more likely to run away from a huffy kitten than bark at it.

#8, poodle, gun dog. If assholes who wanted to have a "tough" dog knew anything, we'd be hearing about poodle attacks and pit bulls would be counsidered frou-frou. Don't let their silly show bouffants fool you, a standard poodle is a big, strong, ill-tempered animal who should not be trusted with anything that might at any point be considered as tasting somewhat like a pork chop. The breed history doesn't point towards any particular meanness.. .but then you remember, they're french, and the idea of a foul-tempered dog with a bad haircut that is still inexplicably popular with women makes sense
(I kid, I love poodles, but seriously, they're fluffy dingos, keep your eye on 'em)

#9, shih-tzu, a non-working dog of "ancient" type. Specially bred to look oriental because, well, Victorians did stupid shit like that. Probably descended in great part from the Lhasa apso and Pekingese, two breeds that were so dangerous, so evil and maniacal, that the Ancient chinese had to breed deformities like squished heads and rickety shoulder gircles into them just ot keep them under countrol (this is joking, save that the two breeds are known to be rather agressive to strangers. Most shih tzus I've happened across were perfectly nice and not at all like a Lhasa apso nightmare-dog)

#10, Miniature Schnauzer, herding type (they look like terriers, but yup, they're more related to german shepherds). While not exactly agressive, they are hugely intelligent, which leads to a situation where thye can become the alpha animal in the houseghold if the human isn't prepared. They are also very protective and, given the high rate of training failure, this can lead to the animal becoming snappy, prone to aggression displays, and otherwise being an unworkable asshole of a dog.

If the AKC recognized the APBT, it would very likely come in at #3, and yes, its background is a breed bred to chew up other dogs in a fighting ring. So are several other breeds, from boston terriers, to pugs, to the shar pei. It's my feeling that it's this lack of recognition that leads to at least some of the problem; there's no real oversight of the breeding practices, the breed is not normalized via dog shows and the like, and as the OP shows, any dog can look vaguely like a pit bull and thus every dog that attacks can get called a pit bull by someone.