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Dogs That Bite and People That Don't Listen People often try to explain away misbehavior in children, dogs, and dog breeds.

pril !, "#$! by %tanley &oren, Ph.D., '.(.%.&. in &anine &orner

I recently gave a series of tal s at the ll about Pets %how in !oronto. "s often happens at s#ch events$ people stop me as I am wal ing aro#nd the hall to as me %#estions$ solicit advice$ or to offer their opinions abo#t vario#s aspects of dog behavior or events occ#rring in the news that may have an impact on dogs and dog owners. I #s#ally en&oy these interactions$ and try to be as helpf#l and open-minded as I can. 'owever$ sometimes (fort#nately rarely) these enco#nters can be %#ite #npleasant. *n the second day of the event$ a woman accosted me and began to harang#e me abo#t statements that I had p#blished abo#t pitb#ll terriers. !he statements which so offended her were reports of research p#blished in respected scientific &o#rnals that fo#nd that pitb#lls$ and pitb#ll crosses acco#nted for a disproportionate n#mber of dog bite related in&#ries and deaths. I tried to tell her that I was reporting credible research findings$ and tried to s#mmari+e some of the newer data that had recently appeared in behavioral and medical &o#rnals abo#t the dog breeds that bite. In most instances she did not even let me complete my description of the research before she re&ected the findings claiming that the breeds were being misidentified$ that data s#rveys based #pon press reports were inacc#rate orbiased$ that statistics #nderestimated the real n#mber of pitb#lls in the pop#lation$ that other breeds li e ,abrador retrievers and -olden retrievers had a higher bite incident rates b#t these simply weren.t being reported beca#se of bias. /he also said that researchers ignore the fact that pitb#lls are the dogs that are most li ely to be ab#sed and provo ed by people$ and she implied that that meant that many of their bites are &#stified. I tried to give her some specific research findings to as her if she co#ld e0plain them #sing her own rationale$ however she ignored my re%#ests and event#ally resorted to the ad hominem arg#ment that I simply didn.t now what I was tal ing abo#t and I m#st have an irrational disli e of the breeds involved. I m#st admit that I got fr#strated by this$ and rather than losing my temper I simply wal ed away to end the enco#nter. "s a psychologist I s#spect that I now what is going on in her mind. 1or many people dogs fit into their family str#ct#re in the same way that children do. !here is a real bond here$ and lots of love and affection for dogs in general and of co#rse especially for the family.s favorite breed of dogs. If a h#man child does something wrong it is nat#ral for a parentspring to his or her defense. I once watched the interview of a mother whose son had been arrested for shooting a shop eeper d#ring a hold#p. 2nfort#nately for the shooter$ there were sec#rity cameras in the store and near the entrance. 3hen shown the video of the boy and his companion entering the store$ the mother claimed that her boy was being misidentified$ despite the fact that he was wearing his high school &ac et with both his name and team n#mber on it. 3hen as ed abo#t that she claimed that the &ac et m#st.ve been stolen. 3hen another camera clearly showed the boy.s face$ she still claimed that it was not him$ and the police had singled her son o#t for arrest based on racial profiling. 3hen the boys companion act#ally spo e his name d#ring the robbery she was #ltimately forced to admit to his identity$ however she then went on to claim that her son was provo ed into shooting the cler beca#se the cler was threatening him. 'owever the video clearly showed that the cler had his hands o#t to the sides and had stepped bac from the co#nter defensively. !his mother was clearly offering the h#man e%#ivalent of the defenses that the woman in !oronto was giving as e0planations and denials of reports of aggressive misbehavior by pitb#lls. 4eople who now my wor also now that I am not a fan of breed specific legislation$ however$ as a psychologist who has st#died the genetic basis of dog behavior I also now that there are real differences in temperament across breeds. "ggressive tendencies are part of those breed-specific differences in a dog breed.s personality. 3hen I enco#nter credible data pointing o#t differences in the temperament of vario#s breeds I often report them. I thin they are interesting and important$ and can help #s to intelligently select the dog breeds which can fit into a family.s living sit#ation or partic#lar service dog positions. !a e for e0ample the following bit of data. 5octors "lison 6aye$ 7essica 8el+ and 9ichard 6irschner st#died ::1 dog bite in&#ry cases that were bro#ght to the 5ivision of 4lastic /#rgery at the &hildren's )ospital of Philadelphia over a five-year period. !he victims ranged in age from newborn to 1; years. "s is the #s#al proced#re in tra#ma cases$ as m#ch data as possible was gathered abo#t the event that ca#sed the in&#ry at the time that the patient was admitted. *ne important bit of data that was collected in these cases was the breed of the dog that bit the child. 3hat is stri ing in this report is the fact that of all of those in&#ries where the dog.s breed was identifiable$ :0.<= were d#e to pitb#lls (::.>= if we incl#de crosses). !he ne0t closest breeds were

9ottweilers acco#nting for ;.<= of the bites (10.3= with crosses)$ -erman /hepherds with 3.>= (>.0= with crosses)$ and " itas and ?oc er /paniels each acco#nt for 3= of tra#matic dog bites. "ccording to the available statistics the most pop#lar breeds of dogs in the city of 4hiladelphia are$ ,abrador 9etrievers$ -erman /hepherds$ @or shire !erriers$ 8#lldogs and 9ottweilers. "s in most large cities in "merica$ pitb#lls (defined as "merican 4it 8#ll !erriers$ /taffordshire !erriers$ and "merican /taffordshire !erriers) acco#nt for less than 1= of the canine pop#lation. *n the basis of these statistics alone one wo#ld e0pect that ,abrador 9etrievers wo#ld have the highest bite rate yet they are virt#ally invisible in this data set. Instead we find that pitb#lls are responsible for more than :0 times the rate of bite in&#ries than what we wo#ld e0pect given their pop#lation n#mbers. !his is from information ta en as part of medical inta e of dog bite victims who are being treated for tra#ma. It is not based on press reports$ nor does it represent some ind of inherent bias against s%#are-headed dogs. Ao matter how m#ch one may love the b#lly breeds$ these are facts that$ li e a s#rveillance video of a robbery which identifies a perpetrator$ cannot simply be e0plained away #nder the cloa of bias or misrepresentation.