I have to say I myself have a german shepherd who was imported from germany. When we decided to get him he was just about a year. The breeder we bought him from trains dogs for therapy,protection, and service dogs. I have small children so we decided that if we were gonna buy a dog of this breed we had to make sure we would be responsible and train him. My shepherd has passed his cgc as well as his temperment test on the first try. He is one of the calmest dogs i have ever seen. and my kids were taught from a very young age to respect any animal/pet. we will be training him for therapy dog this summer. I know this is long but the point I am trying to make is that my family and I made sure to be RESPONSIBLE pet owners. My breeder made sure she sold to a responsible family by making sure we socialized with him for a month before bringing him home (because of his age).
So I do believe some of these breeds are getting a bad rap because of irresponsible owners. I know we have to remember that they are still animals but with the right training and socialization a lot of this could be avoided. I am sorry this so long I just hate to see any animal treated the way the pitts are as any other big breed because of bad ownership.
sue