I see you've been around a few big dog fights. You may shoot a dog while they're fighting but lord knows which one you'll hit or if you'll shoot yourself in the leg or foot in all that commotion.
I've had dogs all my life & when big dogs are fighting & you decide to intervene, you better be expecting to bleed. And with a pit in the mix you better stay back or be one badass!
Even the little ones will make you bleed.
Biggest dog I've owned was a Black Lab. Not a mean streak in him...but when a stray German Shepard came at my kids in the yard on a full out attack run, Booger flashed by me in a black blur and slammed into the side of that dog like a runaway freight train. Those two went at it in a snarling brown and black blur and there was NO WAY I could have separated them, short of maybe blindly beating the black and brown furball until they separated. Damned if I was going to get close enough to do that.
They broke up when the German Shepard ran off...and Booger was treated to a Kings Meal...after doctoring him up.
Never been attacked by a big dog...but I've had littler ones come at me. Generally, launching them a few feet across the lawn (sometimes in front of their owners) re-establishes my "personal space". A few biggers ones chased me on my bicycle, but never made contact.
Faced down a few dogs that challenged me...and by "faced down", I mean I made full on eye contact, threatening postures, and plenty of growling of my own with obvious full-on intent to go tooth and nail myself if I had to. Dominance games are serious for dogs.
I wasn't a big guy during much of these encounters...5'9", 135 pounds for the longest time. But the least bit of observation will tell you size isn't the most important thing with dogs and dominance.
I've shot my share of diseased/dying dogs, as well as feral and pack dogs.
We now own, of all things, a black Pug. Talk about a dog with no aggression! But even so, he's a DOG, with all the instincts that entails. When we take him places, we make sure he's not allowed to get out of our control, even if HE decides to go out of control.
Interestingly, all the control issues I've ever had with Happy (the Pug) has been due to my wife, my mother-in-law, and the problems they caused with our kids over Happy's training.