Something I've been wanting to do.

Well I'm sorry for the dog obsession, I just truly love my doggy!  Scott and I get a lot of questions about Rocky, the most common being, why on earth did we choose an American Pit Bull Terrier to be our family pet.   I am like one of those mothers who doesn't like anything negative to be said about her child when it comes to Rocky. I get super offended when people ask me if he's friendly.  So I thought maybe I would do a little educational post about the Dog I love, The American Pit Bull Terrier! 

To start off, although he has the pit bull name within his name the term pit bull is supposed to be applied to four different breeds, but is often applied to most any dog with a "block head."  The four breeds are: The American Pit Bull Terrier

American staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the Bull Terrier.  

The Term Pit Bull is just basically saying these dogs were bred to be Bull fighters in the pit. Makes sense right? Sadly the American Pit Bull Terrier has gotten the bad rap because of it's name. I am not about to say that a APBT hasn't bitten anyone, It's just that I think people often mistake another dog for one. I thought this was a fun game to play, try to find the dog that is actually the APBT. I got it wrong the first time! So give it a whirl.  Click here If you click on the picture it will tell you if you are right or wrong and what the dog is.  

APBT's are amazing dogs.  I always tell people that but you can't really know until you meet one. Rocky has been really easy to train and extremely obedient.  When scott and I were first deciding which dog we wanted to get, we could never come to an agreement.  I wanted a Boxer and he wanted a Blue Tick Coonhound.  As you can see we were thinking very differently.  I came home one day and he had been reading up about all different kinds of dogs and said to me "Hey listen to this one, tell me what you think it is."  He then went on to read from the site dogbreedinfo (I've put the link here incase you would like to read it...  It is really long, the longest one on that website.)  It was so positive and I had no idea what it was, but it sounded like the PERFECT dog for us! Scott told me it was and American Pit Bull Terrier and we immediately knew it was the dog for us.  We dove into researching this breed and did so for four months before actually getting one.   One of the things we ran across were temperament tests they do on all different dog breeds. This is actually really fun to look at.  I like to check it every year and every year they just do better and better.  They are pretty close with the Lab, and did better than the Golden and the Collie! Click here They test them on behavior towards strangers, reaction towards auditory stimuli, reaction to visual stimulus, tactile stimuli,  and self protective /aggressive behavior.

Out of 665 dogs tested 567 dogs passed while 98 failed bringing their percentage to 85.3%  They have very stable temperaments.  

Sadly because of the tough and "cool" appeal that American Pit Bulls have, some people choose to breed them to be different than what they are.  For this reason,  as it would be when choosing any dog, you should research your breeder or shelter.

To end I would like to share some fun APBT facts! 

1. The most decorated war dog in U.S history is a APBT! His name is Sergeant Stubby!

During WWI he would warn the men of  gas grenades and bombs. He was also responsible for the capture of a german spy!  His story is here. It is really fun to read! It hits close to home since I am pretty sure he came from Hartford CT!2. American's used the APBT as a sign of strength and a mascot to represent us during WWII! There are a lot of fun posters here is one.

3. The APBT is the only breed to grace the cover of life magazine three times!

There are a lot of famous APBTs and they serve in law enforcement and as therapy dogs as well.  It is sad how they have become such a negative thought in people's minds.  I stand by the statement that a APBT has never met a stranger!!!  I hope you have all learned a little bit about this amazing breed! We Love, love our dog and would recommend a APBT to anyone!  They are loving with children and I've seen Rocky actually play with lincoln.  If Lincoln laughs at something he will do it over and over again just to hear his little laugh!  He lets lincoln poke his eye over and over again, and pull his ears and and sit on his head. I have never seen a dog act like this with small children.  He LOVES it!  He doesn't bark very much but lets us know when someone is at the door.  Give these guys a chance they are great!