Why do people assume a large dog is a pit bull

I have had Pit Bulls(the real thing)for the past 22 years, and I have found out that most people have no clue what a Pit Bull Terrier actually looks like! I've had people come up and start petting one of my dogs(which typically weigh around 38-50 pounds, hardly what I'd call "large"), going on about what a sweet and nice dog he/she is, and after about 10 minutes, finally get around to asking me what KIND of dog he/she is. It's not an unfamiliar reaction to have that same person, who was JUST petting the dog seconds before, leap back in horror and shock when I tell them that they've been petting a Pit Bull, and then tell me, "but it doesn't LOOK like one-I thought they were a lot bigger and had teeth that stick out of their bottom jaw and stuff!" To make things more confusing, many of the dogs involved in attacks are mutts of extremely varied appearance and genetic background, often dogs of completely unknown parentage, but since in news reports they all become "Pit Bulls", people have no idea just what a real Pit Bull looks like. In a fatal attack on a two-year-old Richmond, VA boy a couple of years ago, both of the dogs involved were strays that had been taken in by the boy's family. The female dog was a small(about 25 pounds or so)short-legged white dog with tan spots and HUGE Gremlin-like ears that stood straight up; she really looked like she was mostly Jack Russell Terrier, or a Rat Terrier mix. The male was a really tall brindle dog with very, very long houndy ears, who really looked like a purebred Plott Hound. Neither looked even remotely like each other, or that they were even mixed with the same breed. Both were strays of totally unknown parentage, yet BOTH were called "Pit Bulls" by the media, by animal control, and by the ignorant owner who'd taken them in and left her two-year-old kid alone with them! Then, there's the infamous Diane Whipple mauling in San Fransisco, which involved two purebred Pero Presa de Canario dogs, which are big dogs. Even now, I still often read of these two dogs being "Pit Bulls", thus reinforcing in the public's mind that Pit Bulls are huge monsters.

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