Heres my TLDR rant about this...
I am by no means a professional dog trainer, but I have a way of working with dogs. I grew up around breeding bully type dogs, agility contests and dogs shows. I also used to do a ton of volunteer work at the local shelter with more "pitbulls" than I could count. Fostering, the whole bit...
I'd say 90% of the dogs down here in the shelters are some sort of pitbull/pitbull mix. There really isn't a standardized pitbull breed other than the AKC American staffordhsire terriror, and the UKC American pitbull terrior, none of which you will find in the pound. Everything is some sort of backyard mutt. Anything with a blocky head with short hair and medium size build gets labeled as a pitbull mix. Especially when it comes to bad behavior. Unfortunately, the people breeding "pitbulls" generally don't have the dog's best interest at heart or know much about breeding. And that is why so many of them end up at the shelter, or have issues IMO. As much as I personally like these types of dogs, I wish people would stop breeding them, as the dogs end up suffering the most and people/other animals can end up getting hurt.
Believe it or not, after working with so many of these dogs, many abused/neglected, the only dog I have ever been bit by was a neighbor's dalmatian. That SOB took a chunk out of the meaty part of my palm just under my thumb without any sort of warning. I was able to smack the dog in the head pretty good when it happened, just as a reflex, and that was the end of it. Bunch of stitches later, all good aside from some scars.
The problem with "pitbulls", specifically the more gamey ones, is that smack probably wouldn't have stopped the attack. The drive some of them have when they get fired up can be hard to shut down. To deny this drive is just a lie. It's like they don't even feel pain sometimes. I'm not talking about all pitbulls, but definitely some of them. If you have ever tried to break up a fight between two of them, you will know what I'm talking about. Generally need 3 people to do it.. Two holding rear legs and one with a break stick to wedge in their mouth.
I don't think pitbulls are all bad, but many aren't for the average dog owner. I dont find them to be as human aggressive as they are animal aggressive. They can require more structure, socialization, discipline and activity than your average dog owner can usually provide. The same can apply to other breeds like Malinois or many hearding breeds. I have two rescued "pitbulls". One is a complete couch potatoe who is afraid of her own shadow. My male is a different animal all together. We have to work for an hour almost everyday on bite work, basics, off leash comands with distractions, impulse control drills. And if we don't, he ends up being a total pain in my ass. But if you like a fearless, fiercely loyal working dog, it would be hard to beat him.
Even though I trust them, theybare still animals. They don't go into dog parks, they don't hang out with the neighbors kids, they don't go off leash anywhere other people's kids or pets are around, they dont get left alone with my brother in laws 5lbs shitzu when he comes over, ect...
At the end of the day, it is my responsibility to make sure they don't get put in a situation they may react negatively to. The problem is, you can't control other people or their animals. If someone's dog starts a fight, it won't end well. If a kid picks up a stick and corners my dog, it may not end well. They are very strong capable dogs. When things go bad, they can go real bad. Its better to just avoid those situations, but have the training in place so that if/when they do happen, they are without incident.
IMO, that's expecting a lot of your average dog owner who thinks the dog is just another harmless family member and should be treated like a person.
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