Eye contact bred into pit bulls?

[pitbullmamaliz]

I was watching a presentation about dog-dog greetings put on by Trish King (you can find it here in the Training section) and she mentioned that pit bulls were bred to stare directly at other dogs. I'd never heard that before. The only thing I could think is that maybe it's part of their way of instigating fights? I don't know. Thoughts/opinions? (as an aside, she did seem very fond of pit bulls so she wasn't saying it in an "ooh they're scary" kind of way)

[maberi]

Interesting theory, not sure if I would agree that eye contact was bred into them, but the reason for that eye contact probably has something to do with the breed traits. I think you would see a huge difference in dog behavior in pits depending on their tolerence for other dogs.

I'm starting to learn Kayden's tolerences for other dogs. Seems to like most females and seems to dislike most males. Based on that, he usually greats the two very differently.

Here is Kayden meeting Karma for the first time. Other than the tail carriage he is fairly relaxed. In cases where he has met males he didn't get along with, he was staring directly at them, tail was high, ears were up and forward, and his head is usually lowered a bit.




In saying that, I've seen some dogs throw all the good body language signs and then once they are close enough they go after the other dog (pretty smart dog)

[Malli]

I'd think its pretty common for truly dog aggressive dogs to just wait until the dog is close enough, and other then that, not be bothered. There are a couple at my new job like that - they don't bark at eachother, or try to go at eachother through the fences, they quietly wait.

[mnp13]

I'd think its pretty common for truly dog aggressive dogs to just wait until the dog is close enough, and other then that, not be bothered. There are a couple at my new job like that - they don't bark at eachother, or try to go at eachother through the fences, they quietly wait.

Yup, that's how Riggs is.

The thing about eye contact is that it's "challenging" and when a challenge is issued, there is the option for the other dog to back down. A dog that wants to "bring it" will, but an unwilling dog will back away. So, perhaps she means that it is a way for the dogs to find out which dogs "want" to tangle and which ones don't?

[ArtGypsy]

Yup, that's how Riggs is.

The thing about eye contact is that it's "challenging" and when a challenge is issued, there is the option for the other dog to back down. A dog that wants to "bring it" will, but an unwilling dog will back away. So, perhaps she means that it is a way for the dogs to find out which dogs "want" to tangle and which ones don't?

Unless you have a Dog Like Dar, who sees a Lame Duck and pounces.

-----Jody, who really doesn't take her dog's behavior personally, but AM irritated that this has screwed up puppy camp.(((AKA a pretty good place to let him stay for a few days)))