The “Game” Bred American Pit Bull Terrier as Family Guard and Defense Dog

The “game” bred American Pit Bull Terrier is by far the greatest family and defense dog avail­able. We base this statement after trying German Shepherds imported from Germany, Dobermans, Rottweilers and Bullmastiffs from famous Ameri­can breeders, Neopolitan Mastiffs from Italy, AKC champion line American Staffordshire Ter­riers and UKC show stock American Pit Bull Terriers. While all those breeds have many fine qualities none have as many of these as the “game” bred American Pit Bull Terrier.

The type of dog we look for must have the following qualities. First he must have the in­telligence to learn and perform obedience work; second he must have a high pain tolerance to withstand rough play from small children; third he must be physically sound with no worry of hip dysplasia or other crippling faults; fourth he must be “game” as this will allow him to react with courage and not fear to the full attack of anaggressive armed man, without quitting, no mat­ter what abuse he is taking. While all the breeds I mentioned before exhibit some of these qualities only the “game” bred APBT will ex­hibit all of them.

This brings us to a troublesome problem. How does one obtain a “game” bred APBT? The only way to assure yourself of getting such
an animal is to buy from a breeder who has these type dogs. These type dogs are of course “fight­ing” or “pit” dogs. To preserve the “game” APBT one must match or at least roll his dogs and then breed those who show the best game-ness. This is a problem, as dogfighting is a viola­tion of state, local, and federal laws when in­terstate is concerned.

Let’s look at what these fighting-dog breeders are producing. First of all they are producing the toughest fighting dog of the canine world, the APBT. Let’s look at this point closer. After visit­ing as many as fifty kennels of Rottweiler, Doberman, German Shepherd, Akita and Bull-mastiff breeders, I have heard all of them brag about some incident where one of their dogs has beat up on some other dog or tell about the fight­ing ability of their dogs. One of the top breeders of Rottweilers in the world lives close to me in Chesapeake, Virginia, and brags that her dogs are the hardest biting dogs in the world and that no dog can stand up to her big bad Rottweilers. At the Akita kennel I visited, the lady who owned it bragged about the fighting ability of her Akitas and how they were used in Japan for that pur­pose. She then went on to say anyone who owned one would have the baddest dog in their neigh­borhood. Dog Worldmagazine even ran an arti­cle about an Akita who beat up a Pit Bull. (It must have been an Am. Staff). These same people who brag about their dogs’ toughness with other dogs, cringe when dogfighting withAPBTs is mentioned.

Well, the point I’m trying to make is, no mat­ter what type dog you own, especially those owners of guard or working breeds, everyone wants the baddest dog around, whether he will admit it or not. If my dog was to get into a fight I sure as hell would not want him to lose or get beat up, so why not own a dog who if he gets in­to a fight will not only win, but will be less likely to be hurt seriously. The “game” bred APBT is this type of dog.

These “game” bred APBTs can be encouraged to tolerate and avoid fights with other dogs. A good example of a “game” bred dog who is good with other dogs is my newest dog “CH Peter-built.” For those of you who do not know him let me state that he is a fighting Champion and a five time winner at that. Well guess who old Peterbuilt’s best buddy is. None other than our four-year-old attack trained German Shepherd, “Cornbred.” These two dogs were not brought up together as we just purchased “Peterbuilt.” This kind of ruins the theory that “game” bred APBTs are “kill crazy” and will destroy other dogs after getting the “taste of blood.”

Other than producing the toughest fighting dog, let’s see what else we get when we breed for a “game” dog. First, we get an intelligent dog who listens to his master’s voice and is respon­sive to it. This is important when fighting, as a good pit dog must be responsive to his owner’s encouragement when in combat. Just think about this for a moment. If a dog in the midst of battle is responsive to his owner’s voice, just think how responsive he will be to his owner’s voice in simple obedience and guard work. Thisresponsiveness will allow him to train up quickly and efficiently for any task.

Second, the “game” dog has the highest pain tolerance of any animal in the world. When fighting they can withstand tremendous amounts of pain without even a whimper. It is this quality that makes him the finest dog in the world with small children. While the tug on the ear or a poke in the eye done by a child will cause great pain to a breed of dog not meant to take pain, a “game” bred APBT will take it in stridesimply because it does not hurt him as much.

Third, a “game” bred dog is physically sound. If he possessed poor bone formation, hip dysplasia or weakness in muscle tissue, he most surely would not have been used for fighting and thus would not have been included in any breed­ing program. When purchasing this type of dog you can be assured of obtaining a physically sound animal. The same can not be said of the other working breeds, as hip dysplasia and other physical problems run rampant.

The last and most important aspect of the breed is gameness. Gameness is the willingness to withstand punishment and never quit the fight. Any “game” dog breeder will breed his gamest dogs. For if a dog quits a fight, even if he is winning, he will be declared the loser and thus you have lost the fight. One can now see the im­portance of breeding game dogs to game dogs. Gameness is also a highly desirable trait for a guard and defense dog. While any of the men­tioned working breeds can stop about 90% of theaggressive intruders, what about the other 10% of these aggressors? They include people who have no fear of dogs and feel confident enough in their own physical ability to beat an aggressive dog off. There is a need for a dog who will not quit no matter how bad he is hurt.

When we look at the desirable qualities we want in a guard and defense dog they all point toward the “game” bred APBT. There are many versions of this dog. There is the ARC Ameri­can Staffordshire Terrier, who was once the same breed but thru selective breeding only for conformation, they have all but eliminated the desired qualities of a “game” dog and thus those needed for a first class family guard and defense dog. Then we have another strain known as the pet and show type UKC American Pit Bull Ter­rier. He has been crossed with American Staf­fordshire Terrier blood and/or not bred from or to “game” stock for several generations. He too is being bred for conformation and in some cases schutzhund work. While this is all good and fine, it still will not truly test a dog’s physical sound­ness, pain tolerance, or gameness. While it is probably a better choice than the ARC Stafford­shire Terrier, he is still far less desirable than the “game” bred American Pit Bull Terrier.

While many people are criticizing the breeders of “game” bred APBTs and the dogs them­selves, I for one would like to compliment them for producing the finest dog in the world. As it stands now, his life may be cut short or his quali­ty diminished by humaniacs who would rather destroy him than take the time to learn more about him and his many productive uses.