Do Savage Dog Breeds Really Exist?
Okay this post is apparently not going to win me many friends but I feel an obligation to put it out there anyway! Recently I just read about another unprovoked dog-related death and surprise surprise the dog breed involved was a Pit Bull or some kinda pit bull mix.
Now here is why I feel obliged to touch on this subject; lately I have written a series of articles entitled Powerdogs featuring…well powerdogs! I will be the first to admit that this list is highly subjective and the criterion to make the list lies solely at my discretion (hey it is my list after all). For example I am not sure that the Great Dane will necessarily make the list but that is really of little relevance here.
I bring up this subject of Powerdogs because about 4 of those dog breeds on that list are what I consider dangerous dog breeds and I think it is only fair to point this out to those folks who might be excited by the prospect of getting a powerdog breed. It is also noteworthy that the dogs that fit my criteria as dangerous breeds were developed to fight (in other words fighting is inherent in their genetic legacy). The list by the way is not complete and will most certainly include the Pit Bull and the Rottweiler, the two dog breeds responsible for the most mauling-related human fatalities each year (not to mention the dog-on-dog attacks).
Clearing Up A Few Issues First
Under the right circumstances even the sweetest dog can lash out! Undoubtedly if a dog is raised cruelly in a harsh environment it is no big surprise when that dog turns out to be a menace, no matter the dog breed! But for purposes of this article we are going to assume that the dogs were raised in a loving environment and treated well!
Understanding Genetic Heritage And Individual Dog Temperament
Dr. Michael Fox said in his book Understanding Your Dog “Genetic factors are transmitted by inheritance, but the traits themselves are modified by interacting genetic and environmental factors. Training and early experience greatly influence these traits…”
In essence what is being said is that with training and early socialization it is possible to counteract to an extent the genetic traits inherently bred into any dog breed. However please note the operative phrase “to an extent!”
These days it is well understood by dog experts and authorities (but unfortunately not widely acknowledged by the common public) that by the 7th week of its life the temperament that a puppy possesses is the same temperament it will exhibit as an adult dog. It is in fact possible to determine the individual and different temperaments of puppies from the same litter.
Thus when (as so often happens) owners of Pit Bulls exclaim in outrage that the breed is being unfairly singled out and vilified by ignorant oafs (such as myself), they proffer as proof of their justified outrage the fact that they so happen to be the proud owners of the sweetest loving pit bull that there ever was! Well as previously noted, much like human family members possess and display totally different personalities, so will puppies from the same litter.
Now going back to the case of those owners with the sweetest pit bull there ever was there is a high likelihood that their dog exhibited high passive defense reflexes, high inhibitability levels and measured low on the dominance scale (for the breed at least). A dog with high passive defense reflexes requires a lot of stress and stimuli to be induced to bite. Some breeds have inherently higher levels than others, and even within the same breed different individual dogs display different levels.
The Pit Bull
There’s a very good reason why the Pit Bull is by far and away the leader in both human and dog maulings as well as fatalities and that is because the pit bull was selectively bred for those traits that predispose it to enhanced aggression; a trait that is very valuable in the fighting arena.
Touch Insensitivity Trait
One of the traits that was selectively bred for in the pit bull in order to make this dog breed into a more efficient fighter is what is known as touch insensitivity. This trait of touch insensitivity is common to dogs bred for fighting so that despite being severely wounded they would continue fighting. A dog high in this trait would be pretty much impervious to a might yank on its chain which goes a long way in explaining why it is so difficult to call off and disengage a pit bull engaged in an attack.
Other traits that were bred into the pit bull that enhance its violent nature are a tendency towards dominance and excitability; both excellent traits if you’re designing the ultimate fighter. Other features that the pit bull was selectively bred for all in the name of the “ultimate canine fighter” were enormous jaw strength, unparallel tenacity and extreme resilience!
In fact the Pit Bull is unique amongst dogs in exhibiting the unusual behavioral trait of being unfazed or undeterred in attacking opponents far larger than themselves. This would account for the unusual pattern of their attacks in that they are just as likely to attack an adult as they would a child! The Pit Bull is also notorious for attacking without warning or apparent provocation (that’s where that excitability trait comes into play).
The Rottweiler on the other hand (which is next on the list for most maulings and fatalities after the pit bull) displays a more normal child/adult attack ratio. All said and done, even though the Rottwieler is a bigger and more powerful dog than the pit bull, one has a better chance of surviving a Rottweiler attack than that of a Pit Bull, if for nothing else than that the Rottweiler does not possess the unrelenting tenacity or resilience of the Pitbull.
But Other Dog Breeds Bite Too!
This is the most often quipped disclaimer whenever the statistics for dog bites, maimings and fatalities are compiled and made public. True other dog breeds are involved in attacks but of all the breeds involved two especially stand out (yeah I know I’ve listed 3 dog types):
Pit Bull: 1110 Attacks; 608 Severe Maimings; 104 Deaths.
Rottweiler: 409 Attacks; 223 Severe Maimings; 58 Deaths.
Wolf Hybrid: 71 Attacks; 43 Severe Maimings; 18 Deaths.
These figures alone do not tell the whole story because they do not take into account the prevalence of a particular dog breed in society. For example there are far fewer wolf hybrid dogs than there are the other two breeds which means that proportionally many more fatalities resulted from wolf hybrid attacks than they did from the Pit Bull or Rottweiler.
That PDF report is excellent save for the small error where the author listed the Bullmastiff as the Presa Canario which is an entirely different dog breed altogether. The Presa Canario makes my list of dangerous breeds (unlike the Bullmastiff) and has indeed been banned in many countries.
On a final note concerning the aspect of Powerdogs that I have listed (and those which I haven’t but will eventually ) the following make my list of dangerous dog breeds:
- Tosa Inu
- Presa Canario
- Pit Bull
- Rottweiler
Of those four dog breeds on the list the only one that wasn’t singularly developed as a fighter is the Rottweiler. In Scandinavia breeders for some time have been trying to reduce the tendency of the Rottweiler to displaying unprovoked aggression through a program of selective breeding much in the same way that the Great Dane was converted into the lovable giant of today!
All the other breeds on my short list of dangerous dogs were developed as fighters and even though the Pit Bull is better known, the Presa Canario is probably a more dangerous dog for the fact it has all the fighting abilities of the Pit Bull except in a bigger and more powerful package.
The Japanese Tosa Inu is not as long-legged and heavy weight as its American cousin (200 lbs) and is yet another dog breed like the Presa Canario that has been banned in many countries (not surprisingly because this dog is typically heavier than 150 lbs and when in a rage would be truly difficult to bring under control).
It is of note that some other large and formidable Powerdog breeds with excellent fighting skills have not made it onto my list of dangerous dog breeds.
For example the Boerboel, a large Mastiff descendant, has been known to kill a leopard single-handedly! The formidable Kangal dog is a proven wolf slayer while the Caucasian Mountain dog is another huge powerful livestock protection dog that can easily best a Rottweiler!
So why aren’t these dogs on my list of dangerous dog breeds?
Simple! They were never bred as fighters but rather flock guardians and protector dogs; thus they do not display the overt aggression characteristic of dogs that were bred to fight!
Article on savage dogs by Kayye Nynne
Nice blog, am about to get a new puppy and can't wait to try out your puppy guide. Thanks. 
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We have 2 of them and they are not only great with our kids ...
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I love your blog! your article on the boerboel is awesome. I'm thinking of getting one. 
Pingback by Do Savage Dog Breeds Really Exist? : Dog Breeds Spot | doglore.net on 1 February 2010:
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Comment by Pat Gray on 1 February 2010:
I don’t know where to start with this – every time I referred back to your article I found even more specious argument, irrational logic and misleading conclusions.
There are NO dangerous breeds, only dangerous owners and potentially dangerous “individual” dogs.
“But for purposes of this article we are going to assume that the dogs were raised in a loving environment and treated well!” unless you can show that those 1110 Pit Bull attacks came from loving homes, or at least a mix of environments/histories, you aren’t playing fair.
Your article refuses to take into account an INDIVIDUAL DOG’S owner, home environment or history (chained, trained, roaming, abused, socialized). Nor does it take into account different bloodlines within breeds, bad breeding, poor socialization or physical condition.
Grouping wolf-hybrids in statistics with domesticated dogs is specious – wolves are wild animals. Please don’t confuse the issue further.
Like most bashing articles, you’ve built your argument against entire breeds based on the behavior/actions/history of a few. Others have used similar tactics – all Blacks are ignorant, all Irish are drunks, all Jews are usurers….
There are as many stupid whites (if not more) as blacks, Germans love their beer too and there a lot of WASP bankers and stock brokers who will rip you off as soon as look at you.
I agree dangerous INDIVIDUAL dogs are a problem, but dangerous dogs are in truth a symptom of greater problems that breed-bashing and BSL will NOT solve.
Finally, working with and living with a mixed group of dogs on a daily basis, I can only say: Give me a kennel full of Pit Bulls, Mastiffs and Rottweilers any day – you can keep your little dogs and Labradors!
Comment by selwyn marock on 2 February 2010:
Powerdogs,Weapon Dogs,Dangerous Dogs the list is growing.Whenever stats are given on the dogs it is to be noted that longer and longer periods are used for obvious reasons,here we have a 24 year period.
Let use 2008 in the whole USA
Fatalities caused by dogs(all breeds)………………………………………………….16
info supplied by CDC(Canine Disease Centre)
Murder caused by Humans upon other Humans………………….16000
info provided by the FBI
Pat You have covered in your posting the point re what some rate as
Racist it is an anology I like using although on many sites it is not liked but it is so true.All Muslims are Terrorists,All blacks are Rapists and all Pitbulls are serial -killers–All Garbage.
My view is that BSL is a Law that failing politicos like bringing in as they can show results,just send the cops and animal-control out collecting Family-Pets from the Law-Abiding,mostly they do not have to search for anyone just go through municipal records under dog licences.”Look Voters I have saved you from those Marauding packs of Pitbulls that are Killing our little children and little old ladies” What a Crock!!!!!!!!
Finally another little stat Bee-Stings kill more humans in the USA than the dogs.PowerBees.
Comment by Kayye Nynne on 4 February 2010:
Rebuttal To Pat Gray’s Post:
I’d like to attack…ahem…I mean address the salient points of the comment by Pat Gray:
POINT 1. “There are NO dangerous breeds, only dangerous owners and potentially dangerous “individual” dogs.”
Arrrghhh! I really do find this comment ever so irksome! It seems to be the mantra of well-meaning but msiguided dog lovers.
It is almost as irritating as that of the modern day urban gunslinger who shamelessly preaches “guns don’t kill…people kill” in justification of his ever growing home arsenal of weapons!
Anyway back to Gray’s ambitious statement that there are no dangerous dog breeds; with this in mind let us take a careful look at the genetic heritage of the Pit Bull:
• Bred and developed to be the ultimate dog pit fighter!
• Selectively bred for extreme dog-on-dog aggression!
• Selectively bred for enormous jaw strength!
• Carefully bred to display exaggerated “touch insensitivity”!
• Selectively bred for extreme excitability!
• Bred to be completely fearless with huge resilience and tenacity!
All in all the above ingredients made/make for a highly volatile and explosive dog breed.
Okay let’s go ahead and look at some of those selectively bred traits in a little more detail:
1. Dog-On-Dog Aggression. This sounded good in theory (at least for a fighting dog) because it wouldn’t have done the dog’s handlers much good to have their wards projecting their aggression onto them as well!
But that is almost precisely what has been happening. The Pit Bull’s so-called dog-on-dog aggression may have worked in theory but in real life…well let’s just say way too much of that aggression has leaked over to involve people; often with fatal results!
A lot of Pit Bull fatalities, maulings and attacks on people are a result of good Samaritans trying to save some hapless canine victim from the unleashed savagery of an unprovoked attack by a Pit Bull.
2. Enormous Jaw Strength. Well this is pretty self-explanatory…the ultimate dog fighter needs huge jaw-crushing strength to quickly dispatch its victims!
3. Extreme Touch Insensitivity. Okay this trait is not quite so well known or obvious as the rest so let me flesh it out a little more. A decreased sensitivity to touch or in other words an exaggerated touch insensitivity trait ensures that the dog is extra impervious to pain. Possessing this trait explains why pit bulls are able to continue fighting under extreme duress and when they have sustained impossible wounds that would stay most any other dog breed!
Pit bulls are relentless in their attack which is why it is so hard even for their owners to call of the dog once it’s fury is unleashed!
4. Aggravated Excitability. The pit bull was bred to be super-excitable, a trait that is extremely useful in a gladiator (ever notice how wrestlers, boxers and other ring-fighters pump themselves up before a fight…it’s all to do with that adrenaline rush thing!)
Unfortunately this excitability trait so characteristic of the pitbull also predisposes it to sudden and unprovoked outbursts of aggression.
5. Bred And Developed To Fight. Oh and while other dog breeds were bred to look after livestock, pull sleighs, protect property, guide the blind (naming but just a few doggie professions) the Pit Bull was…well bred to fight!
Is it really necessary to say more about what constitutes a dangerous dog breed or not?
On a parting note let me ask you this: Ever wonder why professional big cat trainers never work with leopards? I mean the tiger and lion are much bigger and more powerful cats but both are commonly trained by people in the profession.
Truth is there’s a good reason why nobody ever trains and works with leopards.
It all boils down to the animal’s nature and temperament…which in a word is explosive and unpredicatable! Put simply it is far too dangerous to work with leopards.
That said, dangerous as a leopard is, it is tsill not as strong as a male lion or tiger; even the female of both species is stronger than the leopard yet they are safer animals around people!
Comment by wolfdogged on 5 February 2010:
Merritt Clifton’s statistics are bogus & invalid. He’s done no real research. His stats come from newspaper articles.
part 1
http://lassiegethelp.blogspot.com/2009/03/merritt-clifton-list-updated-still-with.html
part 2
http://lassiegethelp.blogspot.com/2007/08/pit-bulls-dog-bite-statistics-and.html
AND the majority of the so-called wolf hybrid attacks actually were from mixed breed dogs with no recent wolf heritage. Misrepresentation is RAMPANT in breeding hybrids.
The “average” REAL Wolf Hybrid would rather run and hide then attack – these are very shy animals by nature.
“Wolves” without wolf
http://www.wolfpark.org/wolfdogs/Poster_section3.html
Misrepresentation and Responsible Breeding
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/wolfdogs/a/wolfhybridstorm_2.htm
Comment by Kayye Nynne on 6 February 2010:
Here’s the link to a particularly vicious pit bull attack on a poor Labrador. I wanted to insert this video in the post but the owner of the video disabled embedding. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtu24Gh0_VY.
Watching that video made me really angry and I sincerely hope the pit bull involved was destroyed (actually I believe it was a Pit Bull mix since it looked rather sizable for a pit)!
You can find hundreds more videos of pit bull attacks some of those attacks on the dogs’ owners themselves out of the blue!
Many pit bull attacks tend to be unprovoked on innocent dogs minding their own business and enjoying what was up to that point nothing but a pleasant walk. So word to the wise…if you are walking your dog and see a pit bull (even on a leash) give it an extremely wide berth or if possible cross the street. When a pit bull attacks even their owners find it very difficult to halt the attack even when the attempt to stop the attack involves kicking or hitting their vicious dog with heavy objects!
Bottom line…it is time to stop pretending the pit bull is not a dangerous dog breed. It’s not the dog’s fault it was genetically selected and bred to be that way!
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Comment by Ivanika on 9 April 2010:
While I believe you cannot judge an entire breed on a select few I do agree with you that a dog’s genetics plays a huge factor in their temperament, not their environment. This past, sometimes present, selective breeding towards high endurance and fighting dog aggression follows and haunts a breed.
Personally this article hit really close to home, my mom’s friend’s chihuahua was recently killed by a stray pit bull and that was the second attack! By the very same pit bull, and all she was doing was taking a walk around the block.
Comment by Dog Breeds on 10 April 2010:
I’m sorry to hear about that poor chihuahua.
Lately I have noticed dog owners whilst walking their dogs either picking up their own dogs (if it is small enough) when a pit bull is in the vicinity (whether it is on a leash or not) or giving the pit bull a very wide berth (crossing the street if possible).