Accidentally Breed Specific?

I am a member of several "pit bull" forums, and Facebook pages.  As you all are aware, I am a huge fan of those wonderful, sweet, loyal to a fault, meat-headed terriers.  I find it deplorable what has been done with them, to them, and about them in cities all across our "Land of the Free."  But lately, something else has begun to bother me.....

 .....In reading some of the "behavioral help" posts in these pages and forums, the members seem to think it necessary to specify their dog's breed every time there is a problem.  Perhaps it is a subconscious thing, but I don't see them boasting "Here's my 8 month old pit having a great time!" or "Here are my two pits playing tag..."  When it is good news, they refer to them as Dogs.

"here are my two dogs playing at the park today"

"Check out my dogs!"

"Here's my good girl getting her CGC badge! She is such an amazing dog!"

But when there's an issue, suddenly it's "My 11 month old pit growled at me today...What should I do?"  "My 2 year old pit is alluvasudden not getting along with my other dogs (who are, by the way, also pits, but not mentioned as such) ..."  "My pit keeps running away and won't come when called, how do I fix this?"  And so on...

This, in my opinion, is damaging over time.  Any dog can, and often does, do the things these dogs are presenting.  But when even pit bull lovers and advocates go out of their way to label them as "breed" they are accidentally being "breed specific."  They are, (again, my opinion...) opening the door for misled commentary from those who don't think these Dogs should be allowed the same kinds of freedoms that other breeds enjoy.  In putting myself in the ill-fitting shoes of someone who knows not the wonderful animals these terriers can be, I can peruse any of these forum questions or Facebook problems, and select a number of the "bad" behavior instances.  Then I can comparatively place these side by side with other "my dog does _______" issues from other places, and I could go out and say something ridiculous like Pit bulls are responsible for more specific instances of problems within the home, than any other breed mentioned....Why?  Because there are so many "specific" instances where the Dog is labeled for his breed, and not just simply as a Dog.

I understand this classification, if you have listed all the other dogs in your house ("we have four dogs, a Jack Russell, a Pit, a Ridgeback, and a Dachshund..") and you are being clear about which one of your dogs you are referring to.  

I guess what I'm ranting about today, is that You are already a member of a Pit bull forum.  You most likely do own a pit or three....we know that....Why feel the need to call them out, when they are just being Dogs?


Hi, I have an 8 month old male dog.  Yes, he's been neutered.  He is the only dog in the house, and he growled at me today while chewing a bone.  I was only walking by, not looking at him or anything.  What do I do?

Guess what......The answer to that inquiry is the same no matter what kind of dog you're dealing with.