Why Do They Have Such A Bad Rep?

[APBT]

Pits were bred to be game, not DA. An aggressive dog is a scared dog and of no use to a dog fighter. Pits have stable temperment. In the states a Pit is defined as an Amstaff an APBT or a SBT. Rightly so as their history proves them to be one and the same breed. Looks differ due to different standards but what makes the dog is what's in it's head. DA is not a problem if the owners are not in denial. If we removed all DA or HA dogs from society there would be very few left. Pits were bred as hunting dogs and only a tiny minority ever abused, yes that's right, fighting Pits are the victims of abuse. The sooner this is recognised the better. Even so many of the biggest names in dogfighting had their fighting Pits (which they called Bulldogs anyway) as house dogs, raised with children and some not even willing to fight outside a Pit. Stereotyping is wrong whether we apply it to humans or dogs. Those attacking Pits are usually using the dogs to attack the owners. Illegal to do openly so get em by killing their pets. That is why Pits have such a bad rep.

mate the only way to tell if an APBT is game is to match it, and yes they were bred with the trait of being DA, HA was the trait culled out of the breed early on. And APBT were bred to fight not really hunt, If it wasent for there fighting past and the dogmen didn't do what they did we wouldn't have these beautiful APBT's we have today and people should respect that.

[mantis]

Yeah, I have heard that rotties,dobes and even GSDs also have had very bad reps and now its all about the poor pitty.

The poor babies, when are they going to realize that its dickhead owners who are the problem. its sad that because of the reputation that a APBT has, it attracts people that want dogs for the wrong reason. (fighting etc) I understand that some dogs are people aggressive but i dont think its any more likely to come from a APBT than a freakin Chihuahua ( the most aggressive dog i had ever met was a chi) I was petrified of it after it came at me from under my friends kitchen table, teeth exposed lunging(sp?) at me,trying to bite me

I dont hate chis because of one bad experience i understand that it was that particular dog not the entire freakin breed, so why cant everyone else see that?

I'd rather be attacked by a chihuahua than an APBT.

Me too !!

Well Mum to Emma, people like you make me ashamed of dog people & fear that with attitudes like yours, that eventually all pet dogs will be banned. Because after they get rid of the nasty APBT's & people are stll being bitten, then all large breeds of dogs, then medium dogs & lastly, yes your little dogs, it's a slippery slope & you should be ashamed if you are a true dog lover.

[mantis]

Pits were bred to be game, not DA. An aggressive dog is a scared dog and of no use to a dog fighter. Pits have stable temperment. In the states a Pit is defined as an Amstaff an APBT or a SBT. Rightly so as their history proves them to be one and the same breed. Looks differ due to different standards but what makes the dog is what's in it's head. DA is not a problem if the owners are not in denial. If we removed all DA or HA dogs from society there would be very few left. Pits were bred as hunting dogs and only a tiny minority ever abused, yes that's right, fighting Pits are the victims of abuse. The sooner this is recognised the better. Even so many of the biggest names in dogfighting had their fighting Pits (which they called Bulldogs anyway) as house dogs, raised with children and some not even willing to fight outside a Pit. Stereotyping is wrong whether we apply it to humans or dogs. Those attacking Pits are usually using the dogs to attack the owners. Illegal to do openly so get em by killing their pets. That is why Pits have such a bad rep.

On "It's me or the dog" on the weekend, they had an APBT X, owners were morons who didn't train it, it wasn't aggressive, except to their furniture when left alone.

What I loved was, at one of the breaks they asked a question about the breed. The question was why are they called the "Nanny breed"? answer, because they are so tolerant to children. Then we have Cesars "Daddy" another example of what wonderful dogs they are in the right hands like any breeds.

[mantis]

We have owned 3 APBT's purchased from reputable breeders in the past and I found them to be the most loving and gentle dogs I have ever known. Personally I would have trusted our APBT's with our children/babies any day, over my mothers chihuahua!! All three would watch our kids as babies/toddlers protectively and get all concerned if they tripped or hurt themselves. They tolerated having ears and tails pulled, little hands stealing dog biscuits out of their bowls while eating, and being climbed all over. Though our dogs were very well socialized and professionally obedience trained.

It amuses me the most when you hear about a dog attack by a vicious APBT...and see it on the news or in the paper and it is a staf cross or some other breed, looking nothing at all like an APBT!!

ive had plenty of little kids come of to pat my APBT, i dont even have to think twice about her nipping ect, and like you sed, you can take food right out of her mouth with no issue.

Kenny from a very young age, would immediately drop when a child approached him, I never taught him that & was totally amazed that he did it, to this day as on old bugger, as soon as he sees a child he drops down, wags his tail just waiting for a pat. They weren't called the "Nanny breed" for no reason.

[Longcoat]

Pits were bred to be game, not DA. An aggressive dog is a scared dog and of no use to a dog fighter. Pits have stable temperment. In the states a Pit is defined as an Amstaff an APBT or a SBT. Rightly so as their history proves them to be one and the same breed. Looks differ due to different standards but what makes the dog is what's in it's head. /quote]

Someone told me once that their Amstaff was actually a APBT but registered as an Amstaff to avoid the BSL restrictions???. They told me the ranger had visited once and apologised for the inconvenience of questioning their dog's breed after sighting a set of Amstaff papers. If it's that simple to have the APBT a recognised unrestricted breed, shouldn't they be just registering them as Amstaffs, move on and put all the BSL nonesense behind them???.

[Jed]

mate the only way to tell if an APBT is game is to match it, and yes they were bred with the trait of being DA, HA was the trait culled out of the breed early on. And APBT were bred to fight not really hunt, If it wasent for there fighting past and the dogmen didn't do what they did we wouldn't have these beautiful APBT's we have today and people should respect that.

And while there are people like you around, the bans will NEVER be relaxed, and after reading your posts, I wonder if they should be!

Longcoat

Someone told me once that their Amstaff was actually a APBT but registered as an Amstaff to avoid the BSL restrictions???. They told me the ranger had visited once and apologised for the inconvenience of questioning their dog's breed after sighting a set of Amstaff papers. If it's that simple to have the APBT a recognised unrestricted breed, shouldn't they be just registering them as Amstaffs, move on and put all the BSL nonesense behind them???.

"Someone telling you" and it being fact are a long way apart.