We haven't had a pit bull thread in a long time

[DougDubya1970]

Neglect and lack of teaching the pit bull its place in the pecking order account for the "negligent discharges" of pit bulls in otherwise good neighborhoods.

A pit bull owner definitely has to follow the concept of being the alpha of the family. Once that's done, the pit will take its cues from the owner. If the pit doesn't have the right socialization, then it assumes that the world it's in is out to get it, and the dog retaliates with its natural defensive mechanisms.

It's a creature that doesn't have the same language mechanisms that we do, and is not the same species as we are. Behaviors which parents would understand of children (a shrill scream, a soft slap, then running away giggling) is something that an animal (albeit an relatively intelligent one) would likely understand, or in a play experience, the pit doesn't realize its strength compared to humans. When puppies play fight, it looks more ferocious than it really is, and they play in proportion to their strength level. When that comes down to children, or small dogs assuming that a pit bull is a threat to their territory, that becomes a problem only because the pit is so strong for its size, that even a play bite breaks skin. Considering that pit bulls have comparative jaw strength to a hyena and can splinter big soup bones with ease, if the pit bulls were actually going into attack mode, we'd be looking at dismemberment.

As for a Yorkie inciting a pit bull, you haven't seen many small dogs confronted by animals multiple times their size. I had a toy poodle who was less than a fifth the size of the next door neighbor's (abused and neglected and downright mean) collie. When that dog came out and started in on Duchess, she was ready to throw down, and only a seven foot-tall chain link fence kept the blood from flying. It's a territory thing if the dog has not been socialized to other dogs, and the littlest dog assumes that it's a Cane Corso raised on a diet of Kryptonite and Steve Rogers' super soldier serum against bigger animals.

BTW - looking at that Cane Corso - it's love at first sight. Wow.