1

According to MyGermanSheperd.org:

In the USA alone there are about 78.2 million dogs, and about 4.6% of all AKC registered dogs are German Shepherds. This gives over 3.5 million German Shepherd dogs in the USA alone!

Meanwhile, according to Dog Bite Law:

There are approximately 4.5 million pit bulls in the United States, making up approximately 5.8% of the country's canine population.

which cites

(Merritt Clifton, Breed Survey 2019: More Puppies Yet Fewer Homes for Pit Bulls, https://www.animals24-7.org/2019/07/09/breed-survey-2019-more-puppies-yet-fewer-homes-for-pit-bulls/.)

for their data. That page say more precisely

Among the estimated 78 million dogs in the U.S. as of July 2019, about 5.8%, or about 4.5 million, appear to be pit bulls or pit mixes. This is slightly more than one dog in twenty.

enter image description here

It surprises me that there are more Pit bulls than German Shepherds.

Note: The term Pit bull is broader in the United States than other countries. Animal Foundation explain:

Today there are at least five breeds of dogs that are commonly misidentified and lumped into the category of the pitbull-type dogs: the English bull terrier, the American bulldog, the boxer, the American pit bull terrier and the American Staffordshire terrier.

Ideally, I am looking for an answer that uses either the United Kennel Club or American Dog Breeder's Association [which is dedicated to the American Pit Bull Terrier] definitions.

I first posted this question at Pets but was recommended to post it here instead.

Update: The reason I ask this question, is that I want to related the numbers in this Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States to the total population of each breed.

d-b
  • 1,575
  • 2
  • 11
  • 13
  • 11
    "4,6 % of all dogs in USA" It doesn't say this. It says 4.6% of dogs *registered in the AKC*. If we use that same data to count pit bulls, that's 0%, since the [AKC doesn't include "pit bull terrier" as a breed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pit_Bull_Terrier). – Laurel Sep 26 '22 at 13:06
  • @Laurel: I have copy-edited the question, and now it is clearer that the claims aren't just about percentages with different denominators, but the absolute number of dogs. – Oddthinking Sep 26 '22 at 15:14
  • 3
    I'm hardly an expert on dog breeds, but it doesn't seem to be suitable Q here because it involves comparing statistics from different sources which apparently used different definitions of breeds etc. None of your quotes makes a direct comparison between those percentages, so the claim is essentially yours alone, AFAICT. Further, the "Dog Bite Law" middle quote doesn't claim their def of "pit bull" is according to any of the associations you ask data from. – Fizz Sep 27 '22 at 12:50
  • Their source is clearly indicated as (Merritt Clifton, Breed Survey 2019: More Puppies Yet Fewer Homes for Pit Bulls, https://www.animals24-7.org/2019/07/09/breed-survey-2019-more-puppies-yet-fewer-homes-for-pit-bulls/.) – Fizz Sep 27 '22 at 12:56
  • 1
    The latter source also explains why pits may not be commonly registered "Because breeding pit bulls in high volume and raising them in group housing tends to lead to “dog-aggressive” puppies often killing each other, major commercial breeders seldom produce either “purebred” pit bulls or pit mixes. Instead, practically all pit bulls are the products of backyard breeding." Which probably explains why AKC registers 0 pits. – Fizz Sep 27 '22 at 13:04
  • Anyhow, I've added to your Q a selection of the table from "Breed Survey 2019" which does have both to sort-of make the claim more of a claim according to Skeptics standards. But they are still not claiming those pits are breeds according to UKC or ADBA registrations. So it's still a bad Q in that regard. – Fizz Sep 27 '22 at 13:14
  • 2
    @Fizz: I agree that we should prefer to use the definitions provided/intended by the claimant rather than the OP. – Oddthinking Sep 27 '22 at 14:02
  • 3
    I agree with the comments that taking the 4.6% from the **registered** dogs and applying it to **all dogs** is unsafe and likely leads to an **over-estimate**, but that makes the data even more counter-intuitive (to the OP's personal experience) so it doesn't invalidate the question. The fact that the sources of the estimates are different doesn't invalidate the question either. Either both, one, or neither source is correct; let's find out. – Oddthinking Sep 27 '22 at 14:05
  • @Oddthinking: Have you been to the US burbs much? If we invoke personal accounts, the stats are 29-0 (or something like that) in "pit bull's" favor. – Fizz Sep 27 '22 at 14:09
  • @Oddthinking: I suspect many if not most German shepherds in the US are police and army dogs. – Fizz Sep 27 '22 at 14:16
  • 3
    @Fizz: The OP's skepticism is fueled by their personal experience. It may well be massively skewed, but no, we shouldn't rely on our own personal experience. We should use empirical evidence; that's why we are here. I guess I see this as a perfectly on-topic question. Let's answer it. – Oddthinking Sep 27 '22 at 14:20
  • WaPo: "Clubs such as the AKC and UKC can identify a dog by its pedigree. But to be registered, a dog’s sire and bitch also must have been registered with the club, and DNA tests cannot determine if a dog is pure-bred." – Fizz Sep 27 '22 at 14:51

0 Answers0