View attachment 168334 All our mutts came from shelters, the last two from the pound and they are both perfect dogs. Weiner dog mix and a Cairn Terrier, who was on his second time at the pound. here is the hot dog Dotty and my Yorkie Odie. I need to get a pic of Ernie (Banks) the Cairn.
We have a big problem with pit bulls and pit mixes in southern Cal. A lot of aggressive blood lines are bred for fighting and guarding... and get loose or are abandoned and end up in shelters. Then some well-intentioned people adopt them without knowing what they are getting. It takes around 10 generations to breed aggression into - or out of - a dog blood line. It is the #1 type of dog found in shelters here.
All due respect, the "takes 10 generations" stuff is not really true and mostly a misconception that is currently part of the pit bull's problems.
It doesn't take 10 generations to breed "aggression" out of a blood line. Aggression is not completely a genetic trait. It is produced primarily by conditioning by the dog's owner.
Pit bulls, Staffordshire terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, English bull terriers, American Bulldogs were all composed of fighting terriers and bulldogs mixed to maximize their abilities to sustain a fight and cause maximum damage in the fighting ring. That was their original purpose and unfortunately remains so now in some dimwitted circles. fighting was their purpose and their reason for existence. It is what they are. That genetic blueprint remains. You can't separate the bull and the terrier.
What you can do is NOT TEACH them aggression--which is the supreme tool that dog fighters use to make fighting dogs. Those dog fighting "people" use a variety of idiotic brutal and sadistic techniques to maximize BEHAVOIR and capitalize on the foundation of "gameness" in their dogs (and BTW, fighting dogs are intentionally taught NOT to be aggressive towards humans, as in the fighting ring, as their opponent's owners have to wash them to insure no drugs or other substances have been painted on their coats to hurt their adversary--although that training can be skipped by REALLY stupid owners). Terriers are particularly known for strong prey drive and hard-headed determination. The conditioning uses those as a foundation to build on. Fighting dogs are isolated and not allowed to interact with one another except in fighting situations. They are also taught to react to other dogs with aggression and only with aggression.
That same kind of antisocial behavior and conditioning can be directed at people by idiot owners who see fit to teach them that using teeth against a human is OK, or just not bother to teach them any social skills at all. Pit bulls readily take to socialization, some, like any breed, sometimes have issues. All dog breeds have their black sheep. How many yorkies have you seen that behave very badly, yapping and even biting? I'd bet it's a fair number. The only dogs I've been bitten by have been a weimeraner, a yorkie, a dachshund and a standard poodle. I've been working with bull terriers and pit bulls for well over 20 years...
Mishandling and misunderstanding have led to the pit bulls' current "bad" reputation. Pit bulls, prior to their rise in popularity among drug dealers and miscreants in the 1980's, had a VERY long history as loyal, gentle family dogs. Staffordshire terriers were known as "nurse dogs" in the 19th and early 20th century in the U.K. because they were so gentle with small children and family. Petey of the Little Rascals was a full blood pit bull. Pit bulls were all-purpose companion and farm dogs that didn't carry the mythical "locking jaw, mindless in-bred aggression" tag that they have acquired in the last 30 years.
FWIW, I have run across a few "bad" bullies over the years. All had been raised in households that didn't understand them and provided no discipline or guidance. Most of those (with a few very sad exceptions) were retrained and placed with capable owners.