Pit Bull

The Battle over an American Icon

By: Bronwen Dickey

Narrated by: Randye Kaye

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

When Bronwen Dickey brought her new dog home, she saw no traces of the infamous viciousness in her affectionate, timid pit bull. Which made her wonder: How had the breed - beloved by Teddy Roosevelt, Helen Keller, and TV's Little Rascals - come to be known as a brutal fighter? Her search for answers takes her from 19th-century New York City dogfighting pits - the cruelty of which drew the attention of the recently formed ASPCA - to early 20th-century movie sets where pit bulls cavorted with Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton; from the battlefields of Gettysburg and the Marne, where pit bulls earned presidential recognition, to desolate urban neighborhoods where the dogs were loved, prized, and brutalized.

Whether through love or fear, hatred or devotion, humans are bound to the history of the pit bull. With unfailing thoughtfulness and compassion and a firm grasp of scientific fact, Dickey offers us a clear-eyed portrait of this extraordinary breed and an insightful view of Americans' relationships with their dogs.

©2016 Bronwen Dickey (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This [is] exceptional, thoroughly researched, and expertly written work." ( Library Journal)

This book should be required reading for rescuers

Everyone who works with shelter dogs of any breed should read (or listen to) this book. This well researched, non biased, book is firmly grounded in science. Focusing on the human aspect of animal welfare was refreshing and is much needed. I can't reccomend this book enough to anyone, whether they love the breed or not.

Educational

This book is about laws and people's fear of pit bulls. There are extremely too many references to exactly where the author got her information.
These precise references makes it read like a high school essay. Lot of the information was repetitive or several examples were stated to make a certain point. Overkill.
I love dogs and I love non fiction. But this is a book I would pass on.

Great Book / Little Long

Great info but a little long-winded for me...definitely helps that you can listen at 2x speed!

Pit Bull

Awesome! Surprising! I was gifted an American Staffordshire Terrier at the height of the 1980's and had absolutely no idea what kind of dog this was. She was my life, a brindle, fun loving animal without a mean bone in her body. Became an advocate back then and when she passed of liver cancer I have never had another dog. I have reverted to my cat loving days and now have 13 rescue cats living with me, and my girl 'Gallas Magges' will forever be in my heart. Thank you for writing this awesome book.

REQUIRED READING.

I bookmarked so many quotes I loved or want to return to! I will very likely be re-reading soon.

Too many breeds get a bad rap!

Would you consider the audio edition of Pit Bull to be better than the print version?

I enjoy listening to books rather than reading them, especially when the narrartors are good, like this one.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

This book teaches so much about many dog breeds, and how the relationship between dog and humans has evolved over centuries. She explains how dogs have been used to serve people, labeled, persecuted, and even killed unnecessarily by ignorant hysterical people. It was obvious this author did her homework. She clearly demonstrates, with facts, how the prejiduce against certain breeds more often than not, is not fact driven. instead it is highly emotional resulting in too many breeds that have been labeled as "dangerous" without considering all of the actual facts. Bad (ignorant) owners should be held accountable for producing "bad" dogs. Sure, on occasion there are dogs that are untrainable, but this is rarity. Additionally, we all know the press and news stations can capture and maintain a steady audience by keeping them fearful. In reality most, 99.9% would be my best guess, cases of "bad" dogs are a direct product of their environment and "bad" owners.

Which scene was your favorite?

There is no favorite section of this book. I enjoyed the entire thing.

If you could give Pit Bull a new subtitle, what would it be?

Understanding Pit Bulls

Own a dog? Add this book to your list!

A must for anyone who owns dogs (no matter the breed or type) or for anyone who works in the animal welfare industry.

The dog America loves and hates

The American pit bull is a dog with a confused and troubled history. It's become the definition of the vicious dog, the dangerous dog, the dog that will go from lying quietly beside you on the couch to tearing your kids to shreds, for no apparent reason and with no warning.

And anyone will tell you it has "always" been that way.

Except that when I was a kid, that dog was the Doberman Pinscher. Well, except when it was the German Shepherd.

Since then, it was the rottweiler for a decade or so.

In the 19th century, for some of the time it was the bloodhound, and some of the time it was the white spitz dog--a dog also known to be a major spreader of rabies. This terrifying breed is now better known as the American Eskimo dog, a fluffy, adorable American house pet, one of the most successful rebranding efforts in history.

Bronwen Dickey and her husband adopted a dog from their local shelter, and afterwards were told that she looked like a "pit bull." Dickey looked at the scary pit bull stories, and her sweet pet, and got very interested in the history of the pit bull. It's a story that encompasses bull dogs and terriers, fighting dogs, American military dogs, and working farm dogs. It includes some of the biggest early canine stars of the silver screen, and dogs who scramble for survival with their human companions on the mean streets of the inner cities. It includes the "game bred" dogs of those who love the heritage but would never fight their own dogs, and the softer, easier dogs of those who love the look and the strength but see the "game bred" spirit as something best left to history.

And it includes not only the American Pit Bull Terrier (registered with the United Kennel Club) and the American Staffordshire Terrier (the American Kennel Club's version of the same dog), the Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and several other breeds that may or may not be called "put bulls" by one authority or another, but a wide range of mixed breed dogs that look like one or more of these breeds and may or may not be crosses or mixes of them. That's part of the challenge and terror of loving these dogs. They are so often banned, and in some places seized and killed, and usually the only determiner of whether or not your dog is "a pit bull" is your landlord or your neighbors or your local animal control officer who has no more training in visual identification of breeds than your landlord or your neighbors have. Your dog who has never so much as growled at anyone can suddenly be on trial for her life for having a short coat and a broad head.

Dickey interviewed those who love the American Pit Bull Terrier as recognized by the UKC, and those who love all the "pit bull" mixed breed dogs in shelters or owned by inner city residents most often targeted by "dangerous dog" laws. She talked to those who've done extensive research on dog bites and dog behavior, and those who reject the research as being the product of "the pit bull lobby," a shadowy, sinister perceived presence allegedly bent on keeping dangerous dogs on the streets.

It's a fascinating journey through the history of an American breed type, and Randye Kaye does an excellent job of narration.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

Hard to Swallow at Times & Heartlifting at Others

Any additional comments?

This book was well organized and narrated. There was a lot more statistical information than I was expecting. I enjoyed hearing the deeper history of this breed of dog and learned many new things I had not known prior. There are some parts of the book that feel repeated or drawn out but for the most part it sustained my interest.

Some of the stories were hard to listen to as a pet owner and human being. I would have to pause for a bit and regain composure before continuing. There were also stories that brought smiles to my face and restored my faith in humanity.

If you are an pet owner, pit bull owner, or just interested in animals and social issues this book will meet your needs and be worth your time.

PIT BULLS ARE GREAT! WE GET IT ALREADY!!!!

If you want to listen to every single story known to man about pit bulls, you should get this book. At some point, the listener gets the message. You don't need to belabor the same points over and over and over and over... It's like the author's passion for the breed has short circuited her ability to inhibit talking about them. And I say this as a new and excited pit bull owner. I've never done it before but I am contemplating a return of this book because I just couldn't finish it no matter how hard I tried.