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Originally Posted by kstar
Ah, the nature versus nurture argument. While the breed's original purpose was to breed for gameness and pit fighting characteristics, they still need training to fight.
My pittie and her littermates were rescued from a fighting house. Tasha is the sweetest thing and is submissive to every dog she meets, while a littermate of hers had to be adopted out to a home with no other dogs because she will try to kill ANY other animal she sees that is smaller or near her size. It was heartbreaking because Tasha wasn't taking to her training, so her original owner was starving her to make her mean, while her more aggressive littermates were getting steaks. Didn't work. Does this mean her littermate was born aggressive? No, it means that they were more open to the training and treatment of their former owner.
There are no bad dogs, only bad owners.
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I will have to find the original article but I am sure it is PubMed, but due to the inbreeding of pit bulls, they have a mutation in the testosterone locus, or possibly the receptor. Meaning the regulation of testosterone is unstable in male pitbulls. In female pitbulls, it probably is not a big deal until she gets past her breeding.
Yes, this aggressive behavior must take training. But how OLD ARE THEY?
Quote:
Originally Posted by KSig RC
So . . . it was born more open to the training? Or did the dog make a decision to be more open? Either way, you're kind of contradictory (either nature plays a huge role, or there are in fact 'bad' dogs) - not that it's at all relevant to the thread, it's clear Pit Bulls can be extremely good pets under the right circumstances. I'm not sure why you go beyond that, at all.
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The dogs are more easily to be trained for aggression. The research scientists do not know why this may occur. Learning is a part of the norepinephrine system and gross aggression is a part of the dopamine system in the brain. Is is possible that teststerone to the hippocampus and pituitary could affect these two systems that are maybe unstable.
Pitbulls could be sweet dogs, but when they age, all those processes may be activated if not taught control. Similar processes occurs in humans.