Originally Posted by catatonic
Thing is pit bulls had little crossbreeding at all.
Go look at the english staffordshire terrier...that is the same dog as a pit bull minus a few centuries of abuse. Seriously. Those adaptations the pit bull (aka american staffordshire terrier) have are the result of the natural adaptations that evolved from the pit fighting they were subjected to.
They were never bred to attack humans...they were bred to pit fight...which is kill rats...lots of rats. What they did was put a lone staffordshire terrier in a pit in a tavern, then open up a sack full of rats into the pit...whis could be 40 or more rats easily. What happens is beyond disgusting.
The rats proceed to attack the dog, as the dog struggles for it's life, charging at rats, crushing them against the wall, trying to snap their necks, and shrug off as much of the damage that the rats have done to the poor creature. The truly sick part is people gambled on that, based on what number of rats the dog could kill in a set period of time, or if the dog would die in there.
That is what made a pit bull what it is...basically they are a poster child as proof that abuse over many generations of a species can force evolution.
By the way...a lot of people keep mistaking Rottweilers for pit bulls....rottweilers are totally different dogs.
Great history lesson.
I used to train dogs for obediance trials as a kid and then as an adult for avy, urban and wilderness search and rescue.
Temperment can be bred. The American Staffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull) can be a docile animal. Any dog has the genetic predisposition to be aggresive. In the case of the "Pit Bull" it's jaws are the most lethal. They are very scary animals in today's society. The same aweful thing happened to German Shepherds, Dobermans and Rottweillers after the 2nd world war. They sufffered the same miserable fate of bad breeding and mis-handling.
For what it's worth, one of my German Shepherds (Choo-choo) was credited with 3 wilderness search and rescue finds during his career. He was a lovable cur and well know around Boulder, CO 15 years ago.