If you are looking for a dog with a good temperament, a Pit Bull just may be the dog for you and your family.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard, “Pit Bulls are so great, they just get such a bad rap,” I wouldn’t need a job.
According to the American Temperament Test Society (2010-2011), 804 American Pit Bull Terriers were tested and 695 passed. This means that 86.4% of Pit Bulls tested by the ATTS had a good temperament. Pit Bulls pass rating was above 121 other breeds of dogs, including Golden Retrievers!
So, how did some of America’s other “favorite” breeds do? Hopefully these figures will help diminish the negative stereotyping of Pit Bulls.
Golden Retriever = 84.9%
Beagle =80.6%
Bichon Frise =76.7%
Chihuahua =71.1%
Cocker Spaniel =81.9%
Labrador Retriever = 92.4%
Lhasa Apso = 70.4%
Shih Tzu = 78%
Yorkshire Terrier 82.5%
Imagine that! The American Pit Bull Terrier had a better temperament than every dog on this list except the Lab. Wow, do you think it could be the irresponsible owner and/or environment that’s the issue???
Several factors are taken into account by the American Temperament Test Society: the breed’s temperament, training, health and age. A dog must be at least 18 months old to participate.
The test is evaluated by 3 trained individuals and takes about 12 minutes. During this time, the dog is walked through a park or neighborhood where they experience visual, auditory and physical stimuli. The dog will encounter neutral, friendly and threatening situations so the test administers can see if the dog can distinguish between threatening and non-threatening events.
The dog automatically fails if it shows panic without recovery, strong avoidance or unprovoked aggression.
So, to my fellow proud Pit Bull parents, next time an owner of another breed gives you attitude or the “stink eye,” check out http://atts.org/tt-test-description/ where you can look up the passing temperament percentage of their dog. I’d be willing to make a bet your Pit Bull is either better or close to the same passing rate. A little education can go a long way!
What else can you do to tell people you’re a responsible Pit Bull parent? You can make sure your home insurance or renters insurance includes dog liability coverage.
Einhorn Insurance specializes in dog liability insurance. We can help you find Pit Bull liability insurance even if your Pit has a history of biting or has been deemed dangerous or potentially dangerous.
I believe it! When someone knocks on our door, it’s the Dachshund that goes inot the back room, not our Pit Bull, he will sit and stay while I answer the door. But, if you come in, you get a lick bath!
Omg this is so cool. We are very proud parents of an almost 2 yr old american bulldogpitbull and a 3 month old pitbull and couldnt be happier wth our choice in animal. They are so amazing.
Our Freinds have two Lhasa Apso’s. My Pit Bull’s want to be friends and play but they snip at them. Thankfully my dog’s have a awesome temperament and just walk away.(My larger Pit is 50 pounds of muscle and a ‘real’ fight between them would be short.) Living here in phoenix for 12 years I see plenty of Chihuahua’s. Thankfully they only weigh a few pounds and when they bite it is hardly felt.For such a cute little dog a percentage of them are VERY territorial & aggressive. They have absolutely no sense that they are tiny. Next door to me a chihuahua would act all tuff, walk right up the middle of the street! A real little gangster. Well the two Sheppard’s across the street got loose and that was the end of the little thug.Sadly both family’s were outside when the Sheppard’s got loose.Pit Bull’s are sweet when NOT trained by idiot’s.
I love this !!!! I swear Iam printing this out and showing it to everyone that gives me attitude and an ignorant responswhen I tell them I have a lovable pitbull !. Some ignorant people even with a test like this they still have their negative opinion about this adorable breed … Let’s show them the truth about pitbulls !!!
Glad you liked the article. We work very hard to educate people about this wonderful breed.
Love this and its so true. We LOVE our pit he is 9 yrs and sleeps with our cat 🙂
my pits best friends are toy poodle, a shiz shu and a 160 german shepard and the only one that wont bite you is the vicious people/dog killing pit bull!!!!! its amazing how ignorant 98% of people of this world are. can we just ban stupid people instead????
Thank you for posting this. I am a middle-aged woman of 53 and own 2 pit bulls. The amount of prejudice, fear and misinformation we encounter, even just walking down the street, is simply disappointing and makes life with a pit bull hard. I blame 1) Ignorant people who create ‘monster’ dogs, including pit bulls and 2) the MEDIA!! Thanks for this article.
Thank you for reading and for loving such a great breed!
Thanks for your valuable input. We adopted a Lab/Pit mix and a little terrier mix. They are both males. We have owned dogs of different breeds our whole lives. Our Lab/Pit mix acts no different than the other dogs. He is very sweet and playful, and like the Labrador we had for 10 and 1/2 years, he can get rough while playing. We simply supervise the boys when they are together. They are puppies and learning how to behave. We crate them when we are not home, and when we are home we play with them and give them plenty of training, love, and attention. It takes those ingredients plus some common sense to raise a fabulous dog, no matter what the breed!
I adopted a Pit Bull mix from a rescue before I knew anything about them. Sally was a love but crossed Rainbow Bridge from cancer way too early. Then I fostered a Pit Bull/Lab mix at 4 mos. of age, & I became a “foster failure”. He smiled at me with the biggest grin & whitest teeth, & he’s 7 yrs. now. By the way, his name is “Smiley”. He & my other dogs help me foster puppies from one day old pups up to 3 mos. for the city & county shelters also with various rescues including Chako Pit Bull Rescue where I am a proud volunteer/transporter/Foster Mom. Thank YOU for being aware of how great these “Nanny dogs” really are!