What is a Pitbull?
PitBull, “pit bull”
The ONLY true Pit Bull is the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT). This is the only breed name with the words “Pit Bull” in it and thus is the only correct breed to abbreviate as such. As the Chow Chow is often abbreviated to “Chow” and the Doberman Pinscher is abbreviated to “Doberman”, the American Pit Bull Terrier is abbreviated to “Pit Bull”.
It’s pretty easy to prove this is the case if you take a look at how other breeds are grouped with a common name. For example, all Labradors are part of the Retriever grouping yet not all Retrievers are Labrador Retrievers. When a dog breed is grouped, the name used to describe the group is determined by the word that is common to all the breeds in said grouping. This is one reason why it is incorrect to use “Pit Bull” as an umbrella term for breeds without “Pit Bull” in their full breed name but it is correct to say that the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) or Pit Bull, is a Terrier.
Some groups will use “pit bull” in lower case or in quotes when they are referring to dogs of
a breed commonly mistaken for a true APBT. This tactic is employed to make it easy to describe a group of dogs that share some similar physical characteristics and are often targeted by Breed Specific Legislation. We feel this practice is both confusing and misleading and actually dangerous.
The oft-quoted Centers for Disease Control bite study cites “pit bull type” dogs as having the highest incidents of bites. “Pit Bull type” is a generic term that covers any breed that someone may think is a Pit Bull, even when the dog is not. The CDC does not advocate for Breed Specific Legislation and their fact sheet states: “Many practical alternatives to breed-specific policies exist and hold promise for preventing dog bites.”
Using an inaccurate generic umbrella term to lump several breeds together only serves to increase bite incidents for the given group. It really is a numbers game – obviously the more dog breeds included in a given category, the greater number of individual dogs are included. A higher number of dogs sampled means a higher number of bites. Naturally, you will have more bites from a group of 5000 dogs versus a group of 10 dogs. Because of this, we cannot support any terminology that would allow statistics to be skewed to unfairly persecute the APBT as a breed that is more likely to cause injury or harm to a human.
For this reason, we strongly advocate against the incorrect use of Pit Bull, in any form, whether with quotes, in lower-case, or otherwise, as an umbrella or generic term. However, we do acknowledge the need to sometimes discuss multiple breeds under one term, such as when addressing BSL’s (Breed Specific Legislation) often vague breed-labeling. We choose to use the term “Targeted Breeds”. Targeted Breeds are any and all breeds that are often caught in the crossfire of irrational and irresponsible Breed Specific Laws.
How Can I Know If My Dog is Purebred?
The only way to be 100% positive that a dog is purebred is with the presence of a pedigree from a reputable breeder. It’s important that the breeder is reputable as even pedigrees can be faked (known as “hanging” and discussed further down the page)
Because breed standards do exist and they do outline what a dog should look like both physically and how they should behave temperamentally, you can look at a dog and get a very good educated guess on which breed or breeds it may be but that will not give you a definitive answer on if the dog actually is those breeds without the presence of a pedigree from a reputable breeder.
Without a pedigree, your dog’s breed is essentially a guessing game. Even DNA tests have shown very questionable results, as shown in this video:
The Registries
In 1898, the UKC (United Kennel Club) registered its first Bull and Terrier dog as the American Pit Bull Terrier. The American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA) began registering the American Pit Bull Terrier in 1909. In 1936, the AKC (American Kennel Club), wanting to distance itself from the American Pit Bull Terrier’s fighting heritage, registered 50 UKC registered American Pit Bull Terrier dogs under the name of Staffordshire Terrier. The breed name was changed again in 1972 by the AKC to American Staffordshire Terrier to avoid confusion with England’s Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a breed not recognized by the AKC until 1974.
History of the American Staffordshire Terrier
Photos used with permission
Although there are dogs who have “dual registration” today, some fanciers believe that the AST and APBT are two separate breeds. Dual registration is when one dog is registered with more than one registry.
photos used with permission
Photos used with permission