Originally posted by: ThePresence
Originally posted by: Josh
The American Temperament Test Society seeks to evaluate the temperaments of dogs using a standardized test. They have a description of the test that details the situations that they put dogs in. Now, there are obviously some issues with the tests, such as judgment of the judges, the relative excitability of each dog when undergoing a test (they know something is going on), and the type of person to submit their dog to such a test probably thinks that their dog is fairly well-behaved.
They also list the percentage of dogs that pass and fail the tests based on breed. Well, your friendly neighborhood SayUncle compiled the data (available by clicking the more link below) and discovered that based on relative temperament as percentage of pass or fail, pit bulls came in 116th out 202 breeds for having bad temperaments. A Dachshund has a worse temperament according to ATTS than a pit bull. In fact, a pit bull is comparable (scoring slightly better) in temperament to a golden retriever.
http://www.atts.org/statistics.html
Here's the difference: When a Golden Retriever DOES go crazy, it might bark loudly and or make some aggressive moves in extreme cases. A pitbull will maul someone. I'm not saying they are prone to flipping out, but when they do it's dangerous.
And, that's where the owner's responsbility comes in. An owner should have ENOUGH control over the dog and have taught the dog well enough for it to know that harming a human being is WRONG. My pitbull lived in a fraternity house for 2 years and never once acted aggressive towards ANYBODY that came through our doors. You could play it with, roughhouse with it, take its toys, go near its food, go near its cage--ANYTHING and it NEVER would even come close to showing signs of aggression AND to top it off this pitbull was taken from a house that neglected it.