People anthropomorphize dogs too much. If anyone has seen a working dog do their job as a puppy with 0 training they might reconsider the dogs that were bred to fight.
My dog was also attacked by a pitbull at a dog park. My dog would have died if the pitbull bit just a little bit further in, its jaws were clamped onto my dogs neck skin. It took two full grown men and me gouging its eyes for about 2 minutes before it would release. My dog’s transgression to provoke the other dog? Smelling its butt one time.
The real problem is that the paper clips were on backwards.