My thoughts on pit bulls is that there like any other normal dog. Even if what their bred for is fighting since according to aspca also known as ,The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, "Dogs used for fighting needed to be routinely handled by people; therefore aggression toward people was not tolerated." Although when it comes to other animals they could be aggressive to them. Actually pitbulls are just a cross of the old english bulldog also know as "English bull-baiting dog", back then and terriers. Also in your situation with Duke a bit can be caused by a lot of different thing for instance fear, which might be happened to your dad dogs are very good at reading body language mainly because that is as they communicate. One way of communication is actually wagging tails which can have a lot of different meanings such as being happy or even being aggressive. Sorry if it seems like I'm trying to argue with what happen to you I just want to put some things hopefully in a new light. Although I might be bias with owning a lab/pit mix myself who is like any other dog. Just more stubborn.

https://www.aspca.org/about-us/aspca-policy-and-position-statements/position-statement-pit-bulls

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201112/what-wagging-dog-tail-really-means-new-scientific-data

I also wondered if maybe he just bit my face in joy that we were home, he might of just been happy? And ya know how dogs grab your arm in excitment maybe he did that to my face just not thinking it would harm me. But he did attack my little pom, and from what my mother says his hair was raised, and my father just shrugs he dosnt like to talk about it due to Duke was his "boy."

But since I was so young i dont remember it, I kinda wish I was a bit older just so I could remember xD. But I agree with you, my parents might just be stubborn about it because it traumatized them lol. But then again, I cant decide, compared to other dog attacks ive seen more Pitbull attacks. I would love to have a Pit, id just rather wait till I get my own place in a year or two.

I just want to say that by being human, I am biased, as all humans are biased. My opinions are different the others.

Like said before me I believe all dogs are equally dangerous and equally good. I dont believe one breed is more /evil/ then another. I feel like a dogs personality is shaped just like a humans, dogs can get traumatized and become fearful, they can become attached and clingy, or they can become aggressive. As the owner I feel it is my responsibility to teach my dog, regardless of its breed, to respect my rules and to understand why I ask it to do tasks. I also believe that teaching a dog to fear you ( so called 'Alpha training') can put a dog at a higher risk of attacking you as they see you as a threat. I prefer reward training, giving treats for good behavior. Just like raising a child. I have personally had multiple dogs over the years, Pyrenees, Labs, Collies, Dobermans, German shepherds, Rotties, Mastiffs, Grayhounds, American bull dogs, and Pitt bulls. With all my dogs being gentle loving companions I feel rewarded training is successful. It was never the breed just how it raised and its experiences in life. I feel like Pitt bulls (and other breeds) should not be stereotyped so strongly. I view it the same of stereotyping humans by race, orientation, or gender, it should not he done. Saying one Pitt bull is bad because another bit someone is equal (in my view at least) to saying all men are murders because one man murdered.

A few links that helped me:

Negative enforcement/ Alpha training:
https://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/new_study_finds_popular_alpha_dog_training_techniques_can_cause_more_harm_t/

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/dog-behavior-and-training-dominance-alpha-and-pack-leadership-what-does-it-really-mean


Reward training:
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/training-your-dog-with-rewards-and-positive-reinforcement/

https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-is-reward-based-dog-training-and-why-does-the-rspca-support-it/

Dangerous Dog breeds:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/dogtime.com/dog-health/general/772-dangerous-dog-breeds-fact-or-fiction-aaha/amp

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/owners-not-breeds-predict-whether-dog-will-be-aggressive-180949962/

Bite stats (this has quite a few references links)

https://www.maxlawsc.com/dog-bite-statistics/

https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2019-06/new-study-identifies-most-damaging-dog-bites-by-breed/

I never really thought of it in a race/gender kind of way, but the way you explained it makes perfect sense, I agree with you.
Im not sure if it was alpha training or not I wasnt there oof :(, All i know is he was a good dog who just snapped and started attacking things.

Sence you said he was adopted from a shelter that means that there is a part of his life none of you had control influencing. The dog could of been traumatized and become fearful of that one aspect like a soldier with PTSD. For all we know he could of smelled an sent that put him into a panic mode and he was blinded by fear over his distant past. There is always a chance you take when you buy or adopt the dog. You will never know its whole life.
And thank you for being so polite on this very sensitive topic.

I can't say much about the Pom attack since by the sounds of it nobody was in the room at the time so nobody say what happen. Also you may be right about the excitement part. Definitely since a dog puppy stages can be very important. One of the most important for easier solilizion is 8-10 weeks.

puppy development
https://www.paws.org/library/dogs/puppies/developmental-stages/


Edit: Although when to pitbulls attack at least other arguments on the internet it always seems to come down to the whole question of nature versus nurture.

I've read that dog breed isn't really a good indicator of whether a dog will bite. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, "figures reporting certain breeds as being more prone to biting has found those to be the breeds in the greatest population where the dog bites are reported."

That said though it wouldn't surprise me if when a pit bull does attack that it could do more severe damage than many other breeds. They do have powerful jaws. If I had a choice to be bit by either a pit bull or a pekingese, I'm going to choose the pekingese. (Side rant is that poor pekingnese and pugs do not deserve to be made into extreme brachycephalics by humans for our own amusement.)

I had my own incident with a pit bull once. I was at my parents' house and pit bull was running loose through the neighborhood. She came into our yard while it was just me out there. She started growling a bit and grabbed my pants leg. She was so strong I had to hold onto a pole with all my strength. I felt like if I went down onto the ground that I didn't know what would happen. Our neighbor heard me and managed to get the dog off of me.

So no she didn't harm me but at the same time if this was a smaller sort of dog would the result have been the same? It was all I could do to stay attached to that pole. I barely hung on. Of course, this dog must never have been properly socialized or trained by a person. I would like to say that I'm still not particularly afraid of pit bulls but I also feel like it can't be true that all dogs are the same either. Size difference and the strength that can come with it can't really be ignored but this can be an issue with a lot of large dogs and not exclusively pit bulls. I think a more interesting question is if you could compare dogs of similar size along while taking into account the population density of the breed. Also keep in mind that pit bull can be used rather generically by some people.

However, I think the best thing to do for your research paper is to pursue studies that have been done on the matter. I told you what happened to me but my experience can be a rarity. It's best to look for what's been documented on a larger scale by actual researchers. Be also aware of bias one way or another. Like even me possibly for instance. I can have my own bias because of my own incident. I try to not let it affect my opinion but maybe it does whether I want it to or not. Good experiences and bad experiences can shape how we see the world but it's not necessarily the truth.