pit bulls

[kathyw]

I didn't get the answer to the trivia question on Monday, February 23 at 9:00pm on why pit bulls are called nanny dogs. What was the answer? Thank you.[/i]

[BoardHost]

Kathy,

I'll try to get the answer for you in the next day or so.

Thanks!

[Maxy24]

I am not sure what the show said but I know they were called nanny dogs because they are extremely tolerant of children due to their history as fighting dogs where they had to endure great pain without letting it "get" to them. So, as a breed, they don't react easily to things like getting paws stepped on, tails yanked, poked etc. (not that you should ALLOW your kids to do this, but sometimes accidents happen). This does not mean that these don't HURT them as much as other dogs, they feel the same pain of course, they just are not as quick to react as other breeds might be when being pushed around or hurt.

[deleahrium]

"Pit Bulls have been reported in the news media as "adopting" other species of animals, such as kittens. This is one possible origin of the breed nickname "nanny dog". However, it is more widely accepted that the "nanny dog" nickname comes from Pit Bull-type dogs' innate love and tolerance of children."

and to elaborate on maxy24's response, the dogs weren't only bred to fight other dogs, they were also bred specifically to NOT fight people. remember the owners were (are?) right inside the "pit" with the dogs, and expected to be able to pull them apart mid-battle without fear of their dogs re-directing at the people.

[Maxy24]

That's completely true AND before the fight each owner washes the other owner's dog to make sure there was no poison on the fur and he dog had to tolerate that. And as was said there are both owners in the ring and if they were bit by the dogs even when being pulled off each other the dogs were killed thus eliminating biters from the line (for the most part, of course there are always bad apples who would not put down the biters, but for the most part that is what was done for safety).