Take a bite out of myths - Bite force
Hold on to your cowboy hats Calgary, it's about to get wild around here. In a recent call for public feedback regarding a new animal control bylaw, they have proposed a number of restrictions on "pit bull" type dogs.
We have a lot to say about this and will be publishing posts over the next week.
Please make sure you take the survey, email your council representative with a short and polite message indicating your support for breed-neutral legislation, join the Justice for Bullies Calgary FB page for updates and calls to action and make sure your notifications are "ON" so you do not miss our upcoming posts.
We decided to start our #BSLfreeYYC series by taking a BITE out of myth we have all heard numerous times. A recurring myth about “pit bull” type dogs is that they have some kind of extraordinary bite potential. An otherworldly bite strength! A special bite technique that causes more damage than other breeds! GASP!
This myth has reared its blocky head this summer in the City of Calgary, which made the following comment:
“while pit bulls are not involved in more bite incidents than other dog breeds, the reason they are listed here is because a pitbull’s [sic] strength allows the potential for a more severe bite”
This is plain wrong. It’s based on urban legend and decades of sensationalistic reporting, not science.
First, there’s no good way to measure bite potential in dogs. You cannot put a device in their mouth and direct them to bite as hard as they can.
There have been some studies using dry skull measurements, by using electrical stimulation in anesthesized dogs, and by using calculations based on muscles and anatomy. None have given a satisfactory answer to the question, and the results vary from study to study.
In one very interesting Canadian study, 40 skulls were sorted by size (small, medium and large) and by shape: brachycephalic (flat-faced), mesocephalic (medium proportions) and dolichocephalic (elongated). It was determined that bite force was strongly correlated with the overall size of dog. For medium and large dogs, the shorter skull shape was associated with a somewhat stronger bite, perhaps because longer skulls have less leverage. This difference was not seen in small dogs.
So what does this mean in laymen’s terms? Breeds that fall under “pit bull” restrictions: the American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and American Pit Bull Terrier, are all medium sized dogs classified as brachycephalic type. That means that they may have a slightly stronger bite than a similarly sized breed with a long nose. But there’s no reason to presume their bite would different from other brachycephalic breeds of the same size, e.g, the Chinese Shar-Pei, Chow Chow, or Boxer.
This also means that as a medium-sized dog, their bite strength would pale in consideration to breeds that are larger. There are dozens of breeds that are larger in size and, according to this study, would have the potential to do more damage with a bite.
Once again, science tells us that assessing an individual dog’s behaviour and looking at proven risk factors for dog aggression is the key to protecting community safety. Neither breed nor anomalous bite strength, are among these factors.