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When baiting large animals was outlawed in the 1800s, people turned instead to fighting their dogs against each other. Today’s pit bull is a descendant of the original English bull-baiting dog-a dog that was bred to bite and hold bulls, bears and other large animals around the face and head. For example, certain strains of Golden Retrievers are now being bred as service dogs, a far cry from their original job of retrieving downed birds. It’s also important to note that some dog breeds are now bred for entirely different jobs than those for which they were originally developed. However, while a dog’s genetics may predispose it to perform certain behaviors, tremendous behavioral variation exists among individuals of the same breed or breed type. Pointers are more likely than Poodles to point, and sheepdogs are more likely than lapdogs to herd. It’s not surprising that individuals of a specific breed tend to look and behave somewhat similarly. A well-bred dog should have both the physical attributes necessary to perform its job and the behavioral tendencies needed to learn it. Physical abilities and behavior are both important facets of any breed. When developing a breed, breeders selected only those dogs that performed their job best to produce the next generation. Each breed was developed to perform a specific job, whether that job is hunting rabbits, retrieving downed birds, herding livestock or sitting on people’s laps. Read our brochure, Pit Bulls: One of the Most Popular and Misunderstood Pets in America.Dog breeds are characterized by certain physical and behavioral traits.
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This is the first in a series of monthly blog posts on pit bull education, made possible with special thanks to Maddie’s Fund #ThanksToMaddie and Sophie Gamand for permission to use her photos. Chances are the dog is a “Heinz 57” or one of the several breeds mentioned above Hopefully, this answers the question, “Is a pitbull a breed?” And the next time you see or read about a dog referred to as a “pit bull” you’ll remember there actually is no such thing as a pit bull or a breed of dog that is a pitbull.
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Based on the research that exists – it’s been shown that almost 90 percent of shelter dogs visually identified as a breed are not identified accurately – and our own experiences, we no longer try to assign a breed to any dog, unless they come with breed registration papers. For some dogs, assigning even one main breed is a challenge. Many different combinations of breeds can look like a “pit bull.” Here at The Animal Foundation, we have DNA tested many of our dogs that are lumped into the pitbull category and have found cocker spaniel, boxer, golden retriever, bulldog, German shepherd, Boston terrier, and many other breeds in their heritage. Interestingly, animal shelters across America today are moving away from trying to identify any dogs by breed because sight identification has proven to be extremely unreliable. The United Kennel Club does recognize a breed known as the American pit bull terrier, however, the term “pit bull” is commonly used to refer to mixed breed dogs with certain physical traits, such as a muscular body and broad head. “Pitbulls or pit bulls” are not recognized as a breed by the American Kennel Club (AKC). Today there are at least five breeds of dogs that are commonly misidentified and lumped into the category of the pitbull-type dogs: the English bull terrier, the American bulldog, the boxer, the American pit bull terrier and the American Staffordshire terrier.
The dogs used in the sport were English bulldogs and then English bulldogs crossed with terriers. The sport was outlawed in 1835, but it was from this sport the term “pit bull” came into being.
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Bull baiting involved tying a bull to an iron stake that gave him about a 30-foot radius in which to move, blowing the bull’s nose full of pepper to enrage the animal, and then setting dogs on him to immobilize the bull for public entertainment. The term “pit bull” originated in the British Isles in the early 1800s when the barbaric sport of “bull baiting” arose.
The term “pit bull” refers to an ill-defined type of dog, rather than a breed. Pitbulls (or Pit Bulls) are perhaps the most misunderstood and misidentified of all dog breeds and there is a good reason for this – pitbulls aren’t a breed at all! The Pit Bull Name Many people are confused about whether a pitbull is a breed or exactly what a “pitbull” is.