Your sarcasm is noted here but I don't think there was a single person here that said that pit bulls have to be trained to attack or that all pit bull attacks are prevoked.
Most any dog can and does attack running children when they are not subject to that on a regular basis. I have seen many breeds act in this way and usually I or someone else that has the strength will quickly step in to stop it before it goes too far. Now I am not saying that grandma should have been able to do more at that time but this is still a lack of training and foresight. No offense intended here texasmom but a dog exposed to anything that they are not accustomed to creates stress and any dog stressed is an unpreditictable dog.
I know that nice little granny did not train the dog to fight or attack children however in my experience nice little grannies also do not take control of their dogs either. It has already been stated and agreed upon by pretty much everybody here that certain breeds (several more than just pits and rotts) require more aggressive training and a little grandma typically is not the type of person that will provide this.
I guess you didn't really catch my sarcasm then.
Exactly the response I was fishing for. It seems to just come natural for these animals. They don't need to be trained, or provoked to attack with deadly force, it just happens. Granted it can, and will happen with all breeds of dogs, but the matter at hand is that it's much more likely for a pitbull to do it then most other
I have a king German shepherd, his name is Bosco. He just turned six years old, and has never been around children before. My fiancee had a friend of hers over who has a little boy. The boy is maybe three and was rough housing with Bosco. The boy was pulling his tail, on his ears, and pinching him, Bosco never once growled or even attempted to bite/attack the little boy. Now, I wouldn't be willing to say that's how he would react 100% of the time, but it definitely surprised the hell out of me. I've found by large, that German shepherds have the best temperament out of any dog that I have ever encountered, or seen. I believe it has a lot to do with their intelligence, and personality. All Bosco wants to do is be close to me, and make me happy, which he has done for over six years now.
A question I pose is why did a elderly woman even own a pitbull in the first place? She has no business, unless she was a breeder to even own one. If she needs protection, get a German shepherd, they are widely recognized as the best guard dogs, and family companions. So in this case, blame would fall upon the human, but the fact of the matter is still present, pitbulls are lethal animals who use their God given abilities to kill whatever crosses their paths (within reason).