Hello Ladies and Gentlemen....


I have to say this. What makes this dog so much different from the animals you have at home? I love all cats, all dogs, and don't make assumptions or insinuations about any breed. I could blatantly say that "anklebiters" or small breed dogs are in fact more aggressive, however no one feels challenged by a dog who would have to REALLY go at you to hurt you... Small dogs are treated like toddlers, let up on couches like dominant members of your "pack" and you coddle those little dogs that growl at anything that startles them...

Let me take a step back. Because that's not my opinion, however because I don't agree with what you are saying I don't have to be nasty. Tye, I hate stupid people too. Not ignorant ones. Because ignorance is bliss, and it simply means you aren't educated on the matter. Now when you learn something, and refuse to retain it, or choose to ignore it, and act like you never learned it, that is stupidity.

Let me give anyone here bashing these dogs benefit of the doubt. Let's talk about media's role in the image of the American Pitbull Terrier. Notice I didn't say PITBULL.. That is a blanket term, just like anklebiter is for small dogs. It may not be rude like the one I compared it to, but it is an ignorant term.

American Pitbull Terriers were bred from crosses between English dogs, from the terrier and bull dog types, and bred for function. This function was work. At the time of the creation of these dogs, the work at hand was bull baiting. Handlers would breed dogs that displayed tenacity and courage, and force great enough to finish what a human could not. Taking down bulls. Dogs were bred to be human friendly. So friendly in fact that you might remember a show called the little rascals. Petey the "pitbull" represented the exact type of dog that these dogmen of yesteryear strived to create. They were a family dog, one with great stamina, strength, courage, and most importantly a friendly disposition and a desire to please. This meant that kids could pull their tails, ears and be as kids are around these dogs, leaving parents little to worry about.

Bullbaiting became illegal. How do you test for the most courageous athlete? Dog fighting. Dog fighting, while it was legal up until 1976 was an event orchestrated by people, or dogmen who wanted to follow the true type of dog that the cross in the 1800s had established. Game testing, or testing a "pit dogs" tenacity was a sport in which the handler would enter a confined space with their dog, and it was matched against another dog. Human aggressive displays were culled, meaning the dog was either destroyed or taken out of the breeding program, because the disposition of a pitbull was to be friendly towards their human companions, and to lash at a human was a serious fault. So said dogs were cut from breeding programs and not allowed to pass their seed, or bloodline.

Testing became very popular in the early 70's, and for many years after it was outlawed, because it bred dogs that were the strongest of the bunch, the most courageous of their type, and the most loving towards humans. That means if you had a game dog, it might challenge other breeds of dogs (but other breeds also contain dog aggression), show aggression towards small animals like rabbits and squirrels, but that is called DRIVE. Drive comes from instinct dating back to days before dogs were "property" and made into pets. The purpose of keeping dogs active in this mindframe was to have a high energy dog that would complete any given task, and one who worked to keep a lean, healthy shape.

American Pitbull Terriers were bred for function over form, so many of these animals before 1976 looked like the same "type" of dog, but with many traits stemming from different bloodlines, many appeared different. It wasn't until the last two decades that breeding practices have turned more about appearance, and less about the well being of the breed. If you have an active dog that was bred to perform, it is not likely to have an array of health problems. It will require less medical care because it is bred to be fat burning, active, everything that is not a part of breeding programs with most breeds today.

Today's working American Pitbull Terrier can range from a service dog, to a catch dog (hunting), to a tracking dog, weight pull dog, agility dog, flyball dog, obedience dog, therapy dog, just about any task you put it to. Now remember how this dog was bred for function over form. People stopped testing for temperaments, which in short was "culling" the manbiters back before 1976... And since there is a negative stigma, you see people trying to make a buck breeding any given "pitbull" wether it's registered or not. A true American Pitbull Terrier would be temperament tested (which the average TTTS test results indicate a better temperament and lower bite percentage then what the media WANTS you to think), health tested to clear it of any genetic disorder, and put to the test with some form of sport sanctioned by a registry such as the United Kennel Club or the American Dog Breeder's Association. Champions, Grand Champions and Aces in wide ranges of sports and activities make good specimens because in part they portray what this dog was originally created for. Work.