What is the real American Pit Bull Terrier?

The statements here pertain to the true American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT), and should not be confused with the dogs that are commonly but falsely labelled as "pitbulls."

While gamedogs have existed for hundreds of years, the APBT we know today resulted from "Bull-n-Terrier" crosses produced in the United States of America (USA) by cross breeding bull-baiting dogs and game terrier breeds imported from Europe and Ireland during the 1800's. By only breeding the best working individuals produced from those crosses, dedicated breeders in the USA utilized performance based selective breeding strategies to refine this new population of gamedogs. This breeding methodology concentrated the genes responsible for producing the desired traits into a refined gene pool, resulting in a more prolific population of superior canine gladiators. With competition driving the evolution of these new gamedogs, they not only outperformed gamedogs of the past, they also more consistently produced offspring with superior structural soundness, excellent health, mental stability, exceptional athleticism, great wrestling skills, a powerful grip, toughness, endurance, tremendous drive, and extreme determination (aka "gameness"). These dogs became recognized by the UKC in 1898 and by the ADBA in 1908 as the "American Pit Bull Terrier." (Ralph Greenwood purchased the ADBA in 1973).

In 1936, the AKC recognized many of these same dogs as the "American Staffordshire Terrier;" however the AKC excluded rednose dogs. While the APBT was continually competing as a gamedog and bred to meet the performance standards required by such activities, the American Staffordshire Terrier was competing more in the show arena and less in the performance arena. Breeding standards drive the evolution and divergence of all breeds, and as time passed the performance of Am Staffs began declining as they lost the essential traits required of gamedogs. Meanwhile, the performance of the APBT was continually evolving as ultimate gamedog. Given the amount of divergence that has occurred due to having different niches with different selection criteria, the APBT and Am Staff have today without question diverged into two different breeds despite sharing common ancestry.

In 1976 the Animal Welfare Act was passed, and due to legal pressures now placing serious punishments towards particular types of gamedog activities, by the 1990's many of so called "APBT enthusiasts" gave up their interest in gamedogs completely. Others became more involved in the UKC show arena and their breeding practices became more along the lines of the AKC Am Staff. While the UKC dogs were still registered and known as "APBTs" by the UKC, many true gamedog enthusiasts tend to look down upon the UKC registered dogs, and no longer consider the UKC dogs true APBTs due to repeatedly falling short of being true gamedogs when tested since the UKC registered dogs were generally no longer bred to gamedog standards.

Meanwhile, those seriously committed to true gamedogs now either hand wrote their own pedigrees for their own records or registered their dogs exclusively with the ADBA or one of other smaller gamedog registrations such as the Sporting Dog Registry (SDR). In addition to this, true gamedog enthusiasts were also now forced to either risk serious punishments for participating in activities that were outlawed or find a new means of testing the abilities and will of their dogs, such as hog hunting.

What is a "gamedog" one may ask. Well, if you have ever heard the question, "Are you game?," then you know that question simply means, "Are you willing?" As a result, gameness is most easily defined as the willingness to continue a task despite stress. The abilities of an individual are irrelevant if the individual is not first willing to perform the task at hand. As a result, the willingness of a gamedog is its most essential trait, and as a result gameness is typically the most sought after trait that APBT breeders seek to maintain or enhance within their breeding program.

Pictured is my daughter Courtney with Pitbro's Little Rascal of ASC (view pedigree).