What Constitutes A "pit Bull Terrier"

[ricey]

If you want to see good pictures of pedigree American Pit Bull Terriers and see just how varied they are, get yourself a copy of Mark Joseph's " American Pitbull" (ISBN 3-88243-914-9) and check out pages 114 to 125. 48 pure bred "show standard" American Pit Bull Terriers. These range from wiry 16kg dogs to big blocky dogs that look like crosses between Labradors, mastiffs and Tonka toys. All are pure bred American Pit Bull Terriers but I think that only the lean athletic dogs are good examples.

If you do a search on DOL, I posted up the 48 photos around 5 years ago. I can't be bothered to re-post the photos.

I am somewhat horrified by what some American Pit Bull Terrier breeders consider to be good examples of this breed. The APBT above anything else should be a canine athlete, not a rhino.

And the APBT should never resemble the dog that the AmStaff has come to be in Australia or the US of A. The AmStaff has become bloated and blocky, and would have difficulty in biting its own bum, let alone biting anything else.

ricey

[sandgrubber]

In the US, legal definitions further muddy the waters. A legal site, commenting on dog laws says: "What exactly is a pit bull? There is no one pit-bull breed and no reliable way of identifying a dog as one of the pit-bull breeds. And because "pit bull" has become synonymous with "mean," any dog that bites someone and has a passing resemblance to a bulldog is likely to be labeled a pit bull." http://www.nolo.com/...hapter12-4.html

In Riverside County, California (and probably many other legal jurisdictions) 'Pit bull is legally defined as "Any Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, or American Stafford Terrier breed of dog, or any mixed breed of dog which contains, as an element of its breeding, any of these breeds so as to be identifiable as partially of one or more of these breeds." ' See: http://blog.pe.com/p...tails-revealed/

Many counties require that 'pit bulls', by the above definition, be sterilized at 4 months.

The rationale is generally given that dog shelters are overflowing with such dogs, and they are disproportionately involved in dog attacks. Ordinances sometimes make exceptions for registered breeders of pedigree dogs.

Edited November 28, 2013 by sandgrubber