Reply to 1 yr old dies after being bitten by friendly pit mix

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16510617/

Seems that German Shepherds are the worst biters of children [b]in some countries[/b].  Would be good to see some decent analysis on this in the USA, but someone who understand statistics, rather than poorly collected data and headlines.[/quote]

These things are VERY dependent on breeding practices.  There was a period in the U.S. in the 20th century when German Shepherds were very in-bred, and there were a lot of problems with attacks and human bites.  Responsible breeders and the AKC really tamped down on the breeding practices, and it seems like German Shepherds sort of fell out of favor with the crazy people who breed dogs for meanness.  I still would not recommend a GS for anyone that isn't committed to careful training and committed to vetting the breeder appropriately to make sure they really breed for temperament.  A well bred and well trained German is a great dog -- smart, loyal, very trainable, and VERY CONSISTENT when trained.  But I am sure that there are other countries where Germans are still bred for meanness and aggression -- no way in h** would I take a rescue German from another country where one didn't know anything about the breeder.

The problem with Pitts is that I don't think there have been any responsible breeders for generations, or maybe ever (since they were initially bred for a purpose that I don't consider responsible).  The only people purposely breeding pitts at this point are crazy people breeding for undesirable traits, and the rescues most people get are either those dogs, who have eventually been let loose, or the offspring of those dogs mixed with other dogs that may or may not be crazy/mean.

I've seen some studies that show that other dogs bit more children -- but the question isn't really how many people a dog bites, but how many the dog really injures.  Major Biden got sent back to Delaware for "biting" but apparently he didn't even break the skin.  Soft-mouthed gun dogs may bite out of excitement or fear if they are poorly trained, but they rarely do any real damage.  A dog that bites because it gets scared -- and is trying to just back the human off -- is really different that a dog that bites because it has an impulse to hunt or go on the offense.  It seems like it's the latter problem with Pitts -- they will attack a dog or human that is just walking by, minding its own business.  Very few dogs do that.

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