The history of the American Pit Bull Terrier

The history of the American Pit Bull Terrier

By Scot E. Dowd Ph.D.

The only thing that two dog trainers agree upon is what the third dog trainer is doing wrong.

The only thing that two APBT historians agree on is that the others are completely wrong.

The history of the American Pit Bull Terrier is controversial and even when dog men agree on certain aspects of this history they never agree on all the details. No doubt that my philosophy and research on the breeds history will not be approved by all, but at least it will be a functional interpretation that will help with your understanding of the breeds general temperament. Primarily, we must paint the APBT history with broad strokes but still provide the essence of where, how, and why the breed derived its working type. It is the history that defines the working type and the working type that ultimately defines characteristics of temperament such as trainability, intelligence, drive, focus, stress response, prey drive, social instincts, and even dog aggression. We must understand these breed specific traits so that we can develop better communication with our own members of the breed. In the history of our breed lie the essence of functional type and an understanding of the breed’s history, which will hopefully give us a better understanding of the individual that we are training.

The evolutionary chain that eventually led to dogs was provided in a succinct format in David Mech's The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species. This chain started furthest back with ancient Creodonts, which became Miacis, which begat Cynodictus, which gave rise to Cynodesmus, which evolved into the Tomarctus. OK, these are really just fun names. I suggest that you memorize them and find a way to use them in conversation at dog shows to show off your extreme level of canine induced psychoses. Our history lesson will really start with the Tomarctus which gave rise to the wolf which was selectively evolved into the familiar dog.

Cynodictis
Next in evolutionary line from Miacis was an Oligocene animal called Cynodictis, which somewhat resembled the modern dog. Cynodictis lived about 20 million years ago. Its fifth toe, which would eventually become the dewclaw. Cynodictis also had 42 teeth.
Tomarctus
After a few more intermediate stages the evolution of the dog moved on to the extremely doglike animal called Tomarctus, which lived 10 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch. Tomarctus probably developed the strong social instincts that still prevail in the dog.


artist representation of Tomarctus

What is the importance of the Tomarctus?
It is really a behavioral trait, which I feel starts our historical journey logically with Tomarctus. As we saw the Tomarctus existed a long long time ago. Tomarctus apparently lived much like the wild dogs and wolves of today. It was a predator that probably looked like a cross between a wolf and a jackal, with short prick ears and a long tail that it used to maintain balance while hunting. What makes the Tomarctus of greatest interest is that is was most likely the creature that first developed those strong social instincts that still prevail in the dog today. It is this social behavior evolved over millions of years that makes the dog a companion animal and one that relates best to hierarchical orders of dominance in its family.

What this means is that your dog has a deeply ingrained need to be a part of a pack or family. It needs either to have a strong leader (alpha) or to be the leader. The American Pit Bull Terrier some have argued falsely has lost much of this instinct but I would argue that this is extremely naïve. Every APBT I have ever known, that was raised correctly responds to pack order even within its human family. In Chapter X we will learn more about pack order and how to develop it appropriately with your dog. It is vital to understand because if you as the trainer or owner of the APBT are not the alpha in the relationship there is really no incentive for the dog to respond to your commands.

In the Bronze Age, it is believed that the Tomarctus evolved into a small strain of gray wolf that probably inhabited what is now India. Thereafter, this Asiatic wolf due to migration and environmental events became widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America further evolving into various wolf subtypes. Most of this evolution was due to selective environmental influence but it is thought that man may have also had some selective influence on the evolution of various wolf strains at this time. Dogs descended both from this ancestral wolf and its various strains, it is also possible that some of the dogs of today descended not only from the wolf but also or rather from the jackal.


As we saw in chapter one, bulldogs and terriers have origins with the European wolves with bulldogs also having Asian wolf origins as well. Thus, the APBT, which is considered a bull and terrier type breed, has definite origins that can be traced to Western Europe. European wolves similar to the traits started in the Tomarctus live and hunt in packs, which are extended families that typically are ruled by an an alpha (the dominant male), his mate, and their offspring. They hunt and kill game larger than themselves such as wild reindeer, elk, and red deer. European wolves will also eat much smaller animals such as mice and frogs.


european wolves




As we saw in Chapter one, wolves became part of the human communities and humans began to speed their evolution with selective breeding, until they became a separate species. Those humans that inhabited Europe probably Greece, developed a particular need for a guardian and war dog. It is known that the ancient Molossian civilizations used large size dogs in warfare. These wardogs are believed to have descended from the now extinct Tibetan Mastiff. These dogs might be the link between the wolf and the bulldog. When the Roman Empire conquered Italy, they soon discovered the Molossoid dogs' power as war and fighting dogs. The Romans apparently had tremendous impact on the Mollosoids through their own selective breeding and developed what became Canis pugnax (the Roman Wardog), which they used in warfare as well as in dog fights in the colosseums.


roman dogs of war

The link between the mollossoid and bulldog type is assumed to be the Alaunt or Alan Dog (also defined as a wolfhound) which can be seen in painting and old pictures to look very similar to modern day Pit Bulls, except they were much larger closer to the size of a Great Dane. Alaunts were probably developed in Western Europe and have been described as being bred as catch dogs for hunting and holding wild boar, running down dear, catching and holding rank bulls and acting as herd guardians that could easily kill wolves. At the same time they were very social with humans. Thus their primary role was as a family member, guardians of children, herding flocks of cattle and sheep and hunting. These descriptions fit nicely with what we see in modern day, properly bred, American Pit Bull Terriers. The Alaunt however, did not directly give rise to the Pit Bull but instead gave rise to what I call the original Bulldog.


rep of alaunt

Similar to the Alaunt, except that they are considerably smaller, quicker and more agile, the Western European ancestral Bulldogs were also bred as family members. At this time, and up until the mid 20th century being a part of the family meant being useful. Thus they became one of the most versatile of breeds. Very capable of almost any task they were especially important on Western European farms performing all tasks including baiting, fighting, stock work, hunting, and guarding. They were also one of the more human friendly animals, but were capable of extreme ferociousness toward wild game. This was the origin of true and properly bred Pit Bulls unwavering loyalty and gentleness towards humans as well as their working ability. The original Bulldogs were not an animal-aggressive breed either and typically worked with small packs of dogs including hounds and curs when hunting so overt aggression towards others of their same species and breed was not a typical trait.

To put a valid timeframe on this point in history the designation "Bulldog" was first mentioned in print in 1631. A letter written in Spain in 1632 by an Englishman named Prestwich Eaton asked his friend George Wellingham in London for a "good mastiff dog and two bulldogs." This means that both the mollossoid descendents and the Bulldogs were popular in Britain at this time.


Old Style Bulldogs

Back in the time of the first Bulldogs, it should be understood that breed designations were not the same as we know them today. Designations were based more upon working characteristics. It is unlikely that dogs of this time were developed and maintained as strict pure breeds. Pedigrees were not specifically maintained except in the most elite kennels. Thus, for the most part dogs used for breeding were selected, not because of bloodlines and pedigree, but based upon both convenience and functionality. The bulldog was the all around working breed and not typically used as a guardian. Guardian breeds were the Mastiff which were bred to be ferocious, huge and to respond to one master. Bulldogs were bred so that they could be taken anywhere and be safe. They were able to protect when the need arose so a selectively protective instinct did exist but for the most part Bulldogs were family members. It was at this point that selection for high human bite threshold began to develop. This has transferred to modern Pit Bulls who if bred properly will not except under extreme duress bite a human. The Bulldog was known at this time as the nanny dog because children could hang on their tails, ears, poke them with sticks or any other form of childlike torture and the Bulldogs would merely wag their tails harder. This trait has passed to well-bred APBTs as well.



Much consideration is also given to the Bulldog past based upon blood sport. Again the misconception is that these sports greatly defined the development of the Bulldog. In actuality the bloodsports such as bullbaiting are given such heightened credit for breed development because they were highly propagandized by the media and subsequent legislation surrounding them. This essentially means that much of the available literature about the history at this time is related to media and legislation around the sport. The truth is probably much less sensational and Bulldogs were probably still maintained and selected for the most part by farmers as an actual all around working and family dog. A subset of the population were utilized for sport and possibly a few breeders of the time did selective breeding to enhance those traits that made Bulldogs more successful at bull baiting.


Like dog fighting and ratting, bull baiting was more a gambling tourney rather than a sport. It was primarily used for gambling similar to modern day dog racing. In bull baiting a tethered bull would be attacked by Bulldogs. The dogs were trained to grab on to a nose or ear, and maintain a hold. A successful dog was one that avoided bull's hooves and horns and held on the longest. The best dogs would hold on until the bull actually collapsed from exhaustion. Dogs were usually tossed through the air causing broken legs, backs, and skulls when they hit the ground.

There are stories of disemboweled dogs or dogs with broken limbs dragging and pulling themselves back toward the victorious bull. On the whole, both the dogs and the bulls suffered greatly. Though started by the commoner eventually the upper class and even royalty participated in Bull baiting. It was about the time that the royalty took notice of the sport that there began to be a political and legislative outcry. When the public outcry started about the cruelty supposed purpose of the bull baiting was to help tenderize the meet of the bull prior to slaughter. This held off the legislation for a few years but eventually Parliament was forced to ban the sport in 1835.

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Another gambling activity that was popular with the people of the time but never gained the attention of the upper class, partially because it was not done out in full public view, and involved a creature not considered as noble as a bull, and thus its true significance to the development of the breed is not recognized was pit ratting. "The rat pit consisted of an enclosure about six feet in diameter, with wooden sides at elbow height and a rim for the clients to lean on. Into this pit they tipped rats. They then put the dog into the pit to despatch a given number of rats in a set time. Enthusiasts would take bets on the proceedings. Various terrier type dogs, including the black and tan competed in the rat pits. Rat pits were found in most cities and large towns. Jimmy Shaw, who owned one of the largest sporting public houses in London, would buy over 500 rats a week from the local rat catcher for his rat pit." In ratting as in dog fighting various sizes and types of terriers were matched in contests based upon weight, the smaller sized dogs were mainly terriers the larger dogs had considerable bulldog influence and the medium size dogs 30-45 lbs were the famous bull and terrier dogs. Thus the ratting sport may have helped produce some of the half and half breeds (half bulldog half terrier) that soon became very popular. The breeds most often referred to as the Terrier part of the "Bull and Terrier" breeds is the now extinct White English Terrier, as well as its descendant the "Black and tan terrier", now known as Manchester Terrier, and the fox terrier.


Foxterrier

The fox terrier was used for hunting fox´s and badgers underground. If you know badgers you know that it must take an incredible amount of courage, strength and prey drive to approach such a beast in its very den. The terrier similar to the mollissoid was brought to Europe by the Romans. In letters Romans told of subterranean hunting dogs. The earliest known illustration of a black and tan terrier type dog appears in the illustrated 16th century manuscript 'The Hours of the Virgin'.The black and tan terrier black & tan terriers recorded in the 18th century were very much in demand as ratters due to the increasing rat population brought about by the advancement of the industrial revolution. Other types of terriers carried by gentlemen in their pockets on hunts and sent to ground as necessary to flush out foxes etc.


ratting tourney

At the about the time bull baiting became illegal, the sport of ratting became even more popular. Even more so than ratting there was a variety of different sizes of dogs from terriers to the larger bulldog and in between. Without the bull baiting those who fancied the Bulldog became even more interested in dog fighting. Gameness was the trait most cherished in a fighting dog for obvious reasons. The Bulldog was known for its gameness and wiliness to succeed at any task because a dog that had the tenacity to hold a bull or wild combined with an extreme tolerance for pain was an excellent foundation for a pit dog.


However, after the demise of bull baiting as a legal sport, there was no longer the need for the size of dog required for bull baiting the expense required to maintain an animal would have been an obvious factor. Thus there was a trend toward a slightly smaller animal with the same traits of gameness that the bull dog possessed. The quickest way to bring down the size in a very few generations would be the input of the small terrier breeds. These small terriers were also known for their tenacity, agility, and ability to fight. Thus the natural combination of the bull dog and terriers probably started at this point in rural old England. So while a core group of fanciers focused on the fighting uses of the breed, and bred with the pit in mind however still others especially in urban settings such as farms kept dogs for bulldoggy tasks. As a pit-dog only the Bulldogs possessed the requisite courage but they lacked the necessary agility. Various Bulldog crosses were tried, mainly with terriers, until eventually a specific breed of bull terriers was produced which was fast, strong and utterly game.



Still no actual breed
The combination of these three sports produced a variety of terrier and bulldog crossing with no real selection for a particular “look”. Dogs were probably selectively bred for tourneys in the larger cities, if they were successful at the sports. On farms the original bulldog breeds were still the most popular and was where these dogs were still being selected for working ability and functionality. Still there was no real breed maintained except for broad classifications and selective breeding that was based upon that task for which a dog was being used. Bulldogs, pit dogs, half and half, ratters, fighting dogs. The message to take home from this is that there was no single breed that defined the origins of the American Pit Bull Terrier. It will forever remain a mixture of working breeds selected for functional and convenient traits.

The Bulldog, terriers and bull and terrier crosses come to America.

Bull dogs, bull terriers, Pit dogs, terriers, old family dogs, and various fighting terriers began arriving in America in the late 1800s along with immigrants. America made a wonderful new setting for the development of the bull dog and the pit dog. The Bull and Terrier blends began to be selected for fighting ability, unrelenting bravery, a high pain threshold, resilience, a willingness to fight to the end, and also an unmatched affection for people.

The Civil War



Only Known photo Of Sallie, Civil War 1865.

"Sallie" The Regimental Mascot
11th Pennsylvania Vol. Infantry

Crosses of Bulldog and Terriers helped in the formation of other breeds as well. For instance after coming to American while pit dog fighting was becoming well established in the new world Robert C. Hooper, of Boston, Massachusetts, purchased a Pit Dog that was part English Bulldog, and part English Terrier (the English Terrier being an all white dog). This dog was rather tall in stature, possessed a square and blocky head, with a nearly even mouth. This original half and half a cross breeding ultimately became the Boston Terrier breed. As you can see however without selective breeding for a different type this dog was similar to the foundation of the APBT.


Old time Boston Terriers Decended from same foundations as the APBT

It should be noted that there are two schools of thought within the breed. The first which is probably fostered most by Richard Stratton, is that the APBT has origins with the original bull baiting dogs of England and very little has changed except for selective breeding to enhance the working type. The other school of thought most accepted and that which I will present is that the APBT is a blend made up mainly of a strong foundation of bull baiting dogs with some infusion of scrapping terriers such as the white English and the black-and-tan terriers. I 100% agree with Richard Stratton in that the Bulldog is definitely the primary fabric that went into the creation of modern day APBT but with many of the most popular Pit Bull dogs the terrier influence to me is quite apparent. I would also readily admit that what has resulted during the history of the APBT, is a dog more like the original ancestral Bull dogs than Bulldog breeds such as the Johnson American Bull Dog.


Johnson style American Bulldog

It will never be truly know what breeds contributed to the dogs that ended up in the Americas nor in the dogs in American that became the actual American Pit Bull Terrier. Here again, back in the day, there was little concern with maintaining a pedigree based breeding program because dog men were not so much interested in purebred dogs as they were in dogs with fighting ability. Dog men would therefore breed accordingly to dogs that were proven game (tenacity), had wind (stamina), had talent (fighting style), had intelligence (pit artists) and could be handled no matter how fired up they were (high degree of human friendliness). This was the core selection process for the modern true and purebred APBT. By extreme selection for the above mentioned athletic abilities and bite inhibition toward humans, the Pit Bull Terrier slowly evolved into a more definitive type. However, note that when I say definitive type it must still be understood that as mentioned above the Pit Bull Terrier was never at this time bred for how it looked. How it looked began to be affected by the extreme selection for working ability. The temperament of the breed was also forged into an extremely stable and human friendly form due to the selection of sires and dams that were intelligent, courageous, unwavering, dominant, and tenacious. Dogs that did not have these qualities were not successful as fighters and dogs that were not utterly human friendly could not be handled during fights and thus were culled (put to sleep). Thus, because no human aggressive dogs made up the foundation of the breed this trait should not be evident in properly bred members of the breed. These two qualities defined those dogs that became foundations for what has become the modern APBT



All-around farm dogs and frontier guardians.

APBT also excelled in their service to mankind on the frontier as all around working dogs and soon earned a reputation as one of the finest dogs a man could own. The APBT was adept at just about anything he was asked to do, which included: herding, livestock protection, vermin removal, weight pulling, guardianship, and just being a loyal and friendly companion. As America flourished, the APBT flourished. They were the most popular types of dogs, highly prized by a wide variety of people from all walks of life. These dogs were loved and respected as the true and total dog. Though known by other names such as Pit Dog, the Pit Bull Terrier, the American Bull Terrier, and even the Yankee Terrier they were evolving into a single breed finally.

It should be noted that the more "Bulldoggy" varieties without the terrier influences also made their way to America. These larger Bulldogs diverged again into a more defined and separate type at this time and came to be called the American Bulldog. These Bulldogs are now closer representations of older Bulldog types than the Pit Bull. Modern Scott type American Bull Dogs of the true working variety tend to be closer to the Alaunt look and also tend to be more like the original all around working and baiting variety. We also find dogs of the type of the Johnson type heavier more brachycephalic (Bulldog). These heavier Bulldogs were bred more for the bull baiting type which was produced at about the time of bull baiting climax. Thus we have a split of the two Bulldog types and the smaller more agile Pit Bull type dogs. Up until the end of the 19th Century however there was still not a great deal of differentiation except that the Pit Bull was being heavily selected for fighting ability in the frontiers of the west.

The official origin of the breed.
In 1898, Chauncy Bennet formed the United Kennel Club (UKC), a breed registry aimed solely at the registration and acceptance of Pit Bull Terriers. Chauncey’s own dog “Ring” was the first dog registered in the UKC. The UKC at that time when Pit fighting was still widely accepted as a national pastime the UKC provided registration and fighting guidelines for Pit fighting. Bennet sought to create an organization that would represent the breed as performance dogs. Thus, the American Pit Bull Terrier was born as a breed. At that time the UKC was an elite registry for the APBT. For a Pit Bull to be accepted into the UKC as an American Pit Bull Terrier the dog had to have won three fights. Years later when dog fighting became illegal the UKC quickly abandoned its past and has become an all breed registry that focuses on the working aspects of dog breeds. The UKC is now the second largest purebred dog registry in the United States, complete with strict bylaws that ban anyone who is convicted of dog fighting. Another registry that was started solely for APBT’s, the American Dog breeders Association was born twelve years after the UKC. The ADBA was started by Guy McCord? who was a close friend of one of the founding fathers of the modern APBT. The ADBA and the UKC are the only true registries of the American Pit Bull Terrier and have withstood the test of time.

Over the next thirty years the American Pit Bull Terrier became one of the most popular breeds in American history. It was only with this popularity that another registry known as the American Kennel Club bowed to an overwhelming number of requests and accepted the APBT as a breed. They did however change the name of the breed hoping to hide their true origins unlike the original registries that honored the history of the breed. The AKC decided to register Pit Bulls as Staffordshire Terrier, which was later changed to the American Staffordshire Terrier in 1972. Up until 1936, Pit Bulls and AST’s were physically identical. After 1936, AST’s were no longer bred for the defined working type but for what is TYPICALLY a more “flashier” look with blockier heads, larger chests and a thicker jaw.

Currently the AST, due to a closed gene pool and a great deal of popular stud syndrome, has developed into a very narrow phenotype, while APBT’s still vary phenotypically from lanky to stocky, from terrier to bully. Although the phenotypic expression varied in the APBT, relative weight, size and proportion remained constant and dogs over 60lbs are rarely seen in the yards of ethical breeders. The Pit Bull has been selectively bred over 170 plus years, until they have become marvelous working and companion dog, used for purposes as varied as those it originally performed. Properly bred modern working APBT’s are still bred to be exceptionally sturdy and extremely human friendly, not to mention athletic, courageous, and tenacious. They can be found employed as police/armed services dogs, Therapy dogs, search and rescuers, APBT’s have been used by the FDA and USDA for sniffing out bombs and drugs, the first certified hearing dog in Alaska was an APBT, and even today they continue to work livestock. The are indeed one of the most versatile breeds on the planet.


An APBT became the worlds first Superdog!


The United Kennel Club “Superdog” is considered to be a dog that has titles in Conformation, weight pull, agility, and Obedience competitions. The first dog ever to earn the “Superdog” title was an APBT. As if this is not impressive enough so were the third and fourth dogs. This ability to compete successfully at these diverse competitive events is further testament to this amazing breed. They compete successfully in all manner of organized dog sports, from herding to carting and even bite sports like Schutzhund and French Ring. Much of this success is owed to the activities it once performed and the stringency of the selection process that helped shape the breed. The harshness and physical demands of the activities the breed was bred for in the United States molded an incredibly strong, healthy, stable animal, a breed that anyone should be proud to own.



buster brown and tige



Lt. Stubby WWI canine hero. Most decorated dog in history!

Petey and lil rascals AGAIN
The Pit Bull became the United States of America’s favorite dog for a time. They represented sturdy and dependable in advertisements for Buster Brown shoes. RCA used a Pit Bull named Nipper to illustrate that the phonograph, due to the clarity of sound, could even fool a Pit Bull. The Pit Bull was considered by Americans as the smartest of breeds and because Nipper thought he was actually hearing his master's voice and not a recording it propelled RCA into a world leader in electronics. The breed was also used as the symbol of a strong, confident, fearless American neutrality in public support campaigns in 1914 during World War I. The Pit Bull represented the toughness of Levi jeans. The USA showed the Pit Bull as a fearless and powerful "defender of Old Glory". In 1917 came Sgt. Stubby a Pit Bull became a war hero for saving several soldiers lives and capturing a German spy while serving in the trenches of France with the 26th Yankee Division. In one of the most beloved television shows in history, a sturdy white pooch with a patch over one eye named Petey, played alongside a lovable bunch of kids called 'The Little Rascals' in the Our Gang Television Series.





Pit Bull were so well thought of they were on the cover of Life Magazine as the all-american dog!



Defender of the USA

In addition to the Our Gang Kids, many a famous people have known the joys of owning the true American Breed such as AJ Mclean, Alicia Silverstone, Alton Ford, Amare Stoudemire, Johnson, Amanda Lewis, Helen Keller, Serena Williams, Angel, Ann Bancroft, Anthony Robbins, Barbara Eden, Bernadette Peters, Bill Berloni, Brad Pitt, Frankie Muniz, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rodgers, Humphrey Bogart, Jack Dempsy, Jack Johnson, Jan Michael Vincent, John Stuart, Kelli Williams, Ken Howard, Linda Blair, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madonna, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Mary Tyler Moore, Mel Brooks, Michael J Fox, Molly Price, Pink, President Roosevelt, President Woodrow Wilson, Desmond Mason, Rashard Lewis, Rosie Perez, Rosy, Sinbad, Spicey, Stephan Jenkins, Steve and Terrie Erwin, Tamika Dixon, Mo Vaughn, Thomas Edison, Usher and many many many others.


Petey and the lil rascals again
It was during this time that the Pit Bull truly became America’s sweetheart breed, admired, respected and loved. Nothing has changed in the eyes of those who truly know the breed and have gotten to know a well bred, well cared for, well socialized member of the breed. APBT’s are great at most any task weight pulling as well as agility, Schutzhund, Obedience and carting. The American Canine Temperament Testing Association, which sponsors tests for temperament titles for dogs, reported that 95% of all APBTs that take the test pass, compared with a 77% passing rate for all breeds on average. The APBT's passing rate was the fourth highest of all the breeds tested. In spite of the introduction of some bad breeding practices in the last 15 years or so, the vast majority of APBTs remain very human-friendly.