Reply #19: It's funny you mention St. Bernards [View All]

[skygazer]

When I was a kid, St. Bernards were a dog people were nervous about. The reason was that they had become very popular, were rumored to be bred indiscriminately and were purported to have behavior problems as a result. The hype was no more true about them than it is about pit bulls.

Breed matters to the extent that a minority of people latch on to a breed and breed it irresponsibly, handle it irresponsibly and train it irresponsibly. It is, however, a minority, and for every breathless, lurid media story of an attacking pit bull that you read are hundreds, or probably thousands of others living happy lives with families.

In addition, for every breathless, lurid media story of an attacking pit bull that you read are another hundred stories of biting dogs that you don't hear about because they aren't pit bulls.

The point is, you cannot fairly condemn an entire breed for the over-reported minority of unfortunate incidents involving a miniscule fraction of the whole. It's not logical and it's not fair.