Man Eaters Gary J. Hammonds (Pit Bull Gazette, May 1982)

I totally agree. This is not a temperment trait in this breed and so I don't see why anyone who fancies pits would support this. There are many reasons why ANY breed of dog will bite, but who cares why unless you have the dog for that purpose? Get a couple dobies for your yard if you need some protection. A dog who bites because it is territorial is mental imo. There is protection against the threat of an intruder or theft, but territoriality has little if any boundries in a dog's mind and is the result of confinement (such as kennel madness when a dog is in the shelter too long). Any pit that wants to bite someone for walking up the the fence or entering a house does not have a proper pit temperment... period. This is not a security animal it is a sporting animal. I can see tolerating a dog who accidently bites out of excitement. That makes sense to me, you just need to be a good handler of a dog that sporty. I think breeding has very little to do with why biters bite. I do think some dogs are born a little loopy, but VERY rarely, it is almost always conditional. I am confused as to why any fancier of this breed would support man biters (other than excitement) unless they were breeding them, which I don't think you should. I would never breed a doberman that was fearful or skiddish around people so why breed an apbt that bites? Sure, there are great occassions, GREAT occassions, where a dog may have saved the owners life, but how often do these scinarios come around? For a dog to be a man biter, it has to have bitten a few times and I doubt the dog was saving the owners life each time. I'm sorry to make this so long, but I really don't like seeing pits that bite, I especially don't like seeing them bred and one of the reasons I love this breed is because they work so well with people and are so loving, loyal and trusting.

 

Excellent Post!

 

I've been encouraged by a lot of the post on this thread. I also don't see in this day and age with the breed under so much pressure any good reason to keep a man-biter alive.


Real deal dog men who know what they are doing might be an exception, but even they (IMO) should not breed to a dog like that.

 

"Back In The Ole Bulldog Days These Manbiters Were Eliminated Immediately."

I hear this over and over again, so let me just ask who, specifically, ever culled a game "man-biter" back in "The Ole Bulldog Days?"
Earl T never minded feeding man-biters, even though his wife's legs were covered with bite scars.
Some of Tant's dogs would just as soon eat you as look at you. I understand Burns' dogs were even worse.
I'd like to see someone step foot on V Jackson's yard if he wasn't around.
Carver kept his share of "man-biters," as did many many other famed dogmen.
In most cases, if a dog was good enough to win, it was good enough to live, regardless of who it wanted to have for dinner.

If I had to cull every dog that bit me for one reason or another, I'd probably just give up and become a goldfish fancier. I dunno...maybe I just taste better than y'all

I say we add up the collective bite scars of the members of this site, divide that by the total of dogs we've all culled for being "manbiters," and see what number we come up with.

Ya know why you never hear about gamedogs maiming children? It's because gamedoggers tend to be responsible folks. If you own gamedogs for very long, you either learn to correct your inefficiencies as a dog owner, or you give up altogether and buy a cat.

I'm not defending "man-biters." I'm not about that at all. However, I am fully opposed to the notion that gamedogs are above the territorial and protective instincts shared by 100% of all other domestic canine breeds. It's a concept that is far more dangerous than that of allowing a human-aggressive dog to exist if responsibly contained. A "Pit Bull" is a dog first and foremost...

...and dogs will be dogs.

 

"Ya know why you never hear about gamedogs maiming children? It's because gamedoggers tend to be responsible folks. If you own gamedogs for very long, you either learn to correct your inefficiencies as a dog owner, or you give up altogether and buy a cat".

 

Great read and great post!

 

YOU ARE SPLITTING HAIRS WITH ME NOW. YOU WANT EXACT NAMES?? MY OVERALL POINT IS THAT FOR THE MOST PART THE BITING TENDENCIES OF THE DOG SHOULD BE BRED OUT. I DIDNT SAY THAT BULLDOGS ARE ABOVE TERRITORIAL AGRESSION AND PROTECTIVE INSTICTS. BY THE WAY THE REASON YOU HEAR THIS "OVER AND OVER" IS PROBABLY BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE!! ALSO I DONT CARE WHETHER OR NOT CARVER HAD MANEATERS IN HIS YARD OR ANY OF THE OTHERS. WHY ARE CARVER GAME DOGS 97% HUMAN FRIENDLY.YOU JUSTIFY THE BITING WITH "EARL Ts WIFEs LEGS WERE COVERED WITH BITE SCARS". WAY TO GO EARL T!!! I STICK TO MY ORIGINAL POST. THE OVERALL PRODUCT OF DECADES AND CENTURIES IS A HUMAN FRIENDLY GAME BULLDOG REGARDLESS OF WHETHER EARL Ts WIFES LEGS WERE COVERED WITH SCARS.

 

No...I'm not attempting to justify biting in any form. I'm only trying to point out that the idea of man-biters always being culled is, for the most part, a myth.
"THE OVERALL PRODUCT OF DECADES AND CENTURIES IS A HUMAN FRIENDLY GAME BULLDOG..."
The same can be said of any domestic breed of canine, can it not? Safe interaction with humans is a standard for every breed. Yet any dog, regardless of its breed, can harbor the potential to bite a human for one reason or another. When one believes that this potential doesn't exist in a well bred bulldog, bad things can happen.

 

Of Course The Potential Exists.

 

IMO breeding a man biting pit just because it is game is just as bad as breeding a show dog with known genetic defects just because it is a champion and has outstanding conformation.

I personally have NEVER kept a dog that will bite me and can garauntee you I never would. The types of dogs who do maul humans show warning signs long before an attack takes place.

I don't see why so many dogmen and dogwomen are so quick to cull a dog with a genetic defect but tolerate something I would consider much worse.

If you really do breed the "total package" you don't breed dogs like these. I don't care which famus dogmen bred what dogs. Most of those famous dogs were passed around and probably picked up some mental issues along the way. Real dogmen take good care of their dogs, they socialize them with people (especially themselves! who should never be bitten) they keep them from going chain crazy and lets hope they cull dogs that leave scars on their wives legs! I think the reason kids aren't being eaten by apbt's on a regular basis is because APBT ARE NOT HUMAN AGGRESSIVE! being responsible keeps the neighbors cats and dogs alive.

 

I think the difference is,,what u do with your dogs,,do u keep them contained? are they house dog/s? do ya go for walks? there is nothing wrong with having/keeping an agressive dog if u know it and take precautions with that dog/s. I am not much into rehabilitating a human aggressive dog,,but,,if the owner is aware and knows what they are doing then not a big deal,,the problem is there are fewer dogmen then there are stupid ppl.

 

That's awsome, funniest thing I've heard or read all day...LOL

Mind you folks this artical dates back to 82.but it makes for interesting reading.

 

The origin of all dogs is the wolve. Exactly 2 things are very importand for wolves 1. Packaggressiveness (to clear things) and Terretorialagressiveness (against strange Packs) ..I think that explains much.And last not least Mr. Hammond sayd that the perentage of malicous manbiters in the Pitbull family extrem low is.....but a dog is not a rag doll...even a Pitdog not.

 

percentage...lol

 

Pretty good post. Back in the old days old timers would keep a man biter only if he was game and worth a bet, good thing most man biters were curs. Also manbiters in the game bred APBT is very rare and not the norm but like with every breed there will be a few. Some of the great bloodlines of today came off of famous manbiters like Bullyson and Zebo just to name a few.

 

Would I one Man-biter bulldogs? It would depend I guess (changed my hard headed mind)....It would depend on the environment where I lived. If I have an enclosed yard, I would have it. If I live in a urban setting, I would not have an active man-biter (one that will bite at any chance without need of provocation). Conversely, I prefer a bulldog that will be a dog first, meaning, if I am in danger of physical harm, it better protect or it will be fed O'l Roy.LOL

 

I really do want to clarify that I have owned and currently own dogs that will bite strangers if a situation were to become heated. One very big reason I love dobermans is because they are sufficient security without any training needed. You do have to be responsible and recognize this quality and handler your animals and property, company and whatever in a good manner. You should also be able to call your dog in an iffy situation and know what triggers your dogs behavior so that you can avoid it.

However, for my dog to bite me, or anyone who lives in my house is 100% unnacceptable and I don't see how anyone in their right mind would tolerate that even if the dog was GAME as hell.

 

Excellent article. True to the fullest.

 

one question: how the heezy would one control a man-biting game-bred hypothetically in the pit when you break them up for a scratch? roe sham boe for each turn?

 

July-August 1978

4th Match XXXXXXX vs. XXXXXXX M65 Ref. XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX's red and white handled by XXXXXXX. XXXXXXX
handling a black. At the scales, while weighing the
red and white, who is a bad man-eater, XXXXXXX lost
control of the dog and he headed right for XXXXXXX
and bit him in the chest. XXXXXXX kicked him loose
and was bitten himself, very bad, just above the rib
cage. That big crazy dog then headed for the crowd
with his mouth wide open. Some one could have been
seriously hurt if XXXXXXX hadn't intercepted him again
this time getting bit on the leg, through his boot.
They finally got the dog under control and the match
was on.
...............................

This incident involved well-known and well-respected dogmen no less.