Dog Bite Prevention for Law Enforcement and Other First Responders,
by Randall Lockwood, PHD
Tawzer Dog Videos, 2004

Randall Lockwood is currently a Senior Vice President at the ASPCA. He may have the most knowledge (both published and unpublished) regarding the unique characteristics of pit bull type dogs. While he opposes breed-specific measures, he teaches animal control and law enforcement officers just how "differently" they should treat a pit bull because the dog poses a much greater threat than other dogs. This eliminates the argument that all dogs are equal.


(Disk 2) Fighting breeds fail to communicate their intention

"As soon as we dock their tails and crop their ears -- as is the case with fighting breeds -- we lose critical communication with the dog. The main impediment to reading a dog's communication is when the dog is a fighting breed. The best strategy for a fighting breed is to not communicate your intention.

This is why we hear about so may fighting breeds attacking without warning. Meaning there was no growl, there was no bark, there was no direct stare, the dog just went from point a to point b and did what he wanted to do.

Likewise, they are disrespectful of the traditional signs of submission and appeasement. When your German Shepard fights with your Lab, in a play fight or even a serious fight and one of the dogs goes belly up that is a cut off signal, it is an infantile, juvenile signal and wolves were wired to say, When I see someone roll over like a puppy does, I don't want to hurt my own puppies, I better stop showing aggression. So most dogs are hardwired to respond to a display of submission by cutting off aggression because it means you have won.

But if you area fighting dog and the object is to inflict the most damage possible, a submissive gesture is just a new opening. In the early 80's, I started hearing from the Humane Society about the fighting breeds they were getting (and they did not know what they were getting). They would put that dog into a pen with a German Shepherd, and the German Shepherd speaks "dog," they play by wolf rules, and the German Shepherd would go belly up, and the pit bull would just disembowel him. They don't speak that language. They ignore that signal.

And that's one of the most devastating things we have done to fighting dogs. Is that we have destroyed their ability to speak good wolf or good dog. And they've taken it even one step further. The truly sinister communicator not only doesn't tell you what he feels or what he is going to do next. He lies to you.

Fighting dogs lie all the time. I experienced it first hand when I was investigating three pit bulls that killed a little boy in Georgia. When I went up to do an initial evaluation of the dog's behavior. The dog came up to the front of the fence, gave me a nice little tail wag and a "play bow" -- a little solicitation, a little greeting. As I got closer, he lunged for my face.

It was one of those "ah ha" experiences. Yeah, that would really work. That would really work in a dog pit. Because 99% of dogs are going to read that as "Oh boy I am your friend, let's play -- and there's my opening". I said, How evil is that? That we have been able to create a dog that can do something like that?"

(Disk 1) Segment about fighting dogs - AKA pit bulls

"Another problem and why we a lot of workshops specifically with law enforcement teams deals with the fighting dog. Because dog fighting, we estimate there are tens of thousands of people involved in various forms of dog fighting. We do have a lot of fighting dogs out there that are either actively involved or wanting to be used. Usually, the dog of choice continues to be the pit bull type dogs that have been bred or specifically trained for fighting.

I do point out that many of the dogs used in dog fighting are relatively non-aggressive to humans. But, other dogs that are too human-aggressive for fighting often wind up in the hands of drug dealers -- these are the man-eaters that the dog fighters don't want, and they used to just take them out and shoot them, but now they will give them to people looking for mean dogs. And those are some of the most dangerous dogs out there."

(Disk 1) Segment about pit bulls and people

"Now, but I also think that it is shortsighted and not biologically or ecologically accurate to deny the fact that dog breed effects behavior and the potential for aggression. Setters "set" because we bred them to do that. Pointers "point" because we bred them to do that. Retrievers "retrieve" because we bred them to do that. Fighting dogs "fight" and guarding dogs "guard," and attack dogs "attack" because we bred them to do that. And to say that all pit bulls are voracious killers because that's how they were bred is certainly inaccurate. To say that it's all up to the people -- the only bad ones are the ones people abused or are trained to be bad -- that's also untrue.

We have to recognize as in most things, nature and nurture combing, that genetics can load the gun and interactions is what pulls the trigger.

How you use the raw material you are given, the application you will make of that individual's abilities, it's like, How are you going to use a chainsaw? Are you going to use it to carve a totem pole or to carve up a co-ed in a horror movie?"

[next segment]

"We have to recognize that many of the fighting breeds do have a genetic history that predisposes them to certain kinds of problems specifically relevant to what we were talking about this morning of their ability to accurately communicate mood and intention. And their ability to accurately respond to normal situations."

(Disk 1) Segment about fighting dogs, should they be adopted out?

"Lockwood (2005) -- Our recommendation from the Humane Society is that animals that we know have been actively bred or trained for fighting should never be considered for prospects for placement. There's always a risk with these animals of animal-to-animal aggression. And one of the problems even if the animal is not aggressive, or instinctively aggressive toward humans, is that problems with socialization and problems with the upbringing of the animal, I've seen many instances in investigating fatal dog attacks of pit bulls that were bred for the fight trade, that these were animals that were simply has never learned to distinguish between another dog and a small human being. And the injuries that I've seen and that some of the autopsies that I've assisted in where of children who were essentially being treated by these dogs as another dog might be treated."

[next segment]

"One of the things that does get a community concerned is the connection between biting dogs and fighting dogs. That although dogfighters are the first to tell you that their dogs have been bred for centuries to not be aggressive to people that doesn't seem to be that true anymore. We were hearing 10 and 15 years ago about cases of dogs jumping out of the pit and attacking spectators. We hear that quite often now. So the existence of fighting dogs and the violent people that own and breed and train them I think is a real threat in a community, really destabilizing force. The fact that there are violent young men barely controlling potentially dangerous dogs on the streets in that community where there are children playing, where there are kids in the household, that's very scary for a lot of members of the community."

Commentary
Lockwood conveniently leaves out the fact ("I've seen many instances in investigating fatal dog attacks of pit bulls that were bred for the fight trade, that these were animals that were simply has never learned to distinguish between another dog and a small human being") that many fatality victims fall to the hands of pit bulls that:

• Do not have a fighting background
• Were loving family pets
• Slept in the same bed as the owner or child, who they later attack and kill
• Had not shown aggressive tendencies in the past

In 2007, 21 Americans were killed by pit bulls, about half of these dogs were family pets.
2007 Dog Bite Fatalities