Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and sometimes the American Bulldog, along with any crossbred dog that shares certain physical characteristics with these breeds. In other countries, including the United Kingdom, the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed specifically, while the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is not considered a pit bull. Most pit bull–type dogs descend from the British bull and terrier, a 19th-century dog-fighting type developed from crosses between the Old English Bulldog and the Old English Terrier.
Terrier is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. There are five different groups of terrier, with each group having different shapes and sizes.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, also called the Staffy or Stafford, is a purebred dog of small to medium size in the terrier group that originated in the northern parts of Birmingham and in the Black Country of Staffordshire, for which it is named. They descended from 19th-century bull terriers that were developed by crossing bulldogs with various terriers to create a generic type of dog generally known as bull and terriers. Staffords share the same ancestry with the modern Bull Terrier, although the two breeds developed along independent lines, and do not resemble each other. Modern Staffords more closely resemble the old type of bull terrier, and were first recognised as a purebred dog breed by The Kennel Club of Great Britain in 1935.
Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs with the aim of attacking and subduing the bull by biting and holding onto its nose or neck, which often resulted in the death of the bull.
Dog fighting is a type of blood sport that turns game and fighting dogs against each other in a physical fight, often to the death, for the purposes of gambling or entertainment to the spectators. In rural areas, fights are often staged in barns or outdoor pits; in urban areas, fights are often staged in garages, basements, warehouses, alleyways, abandoned buildings, neighborhood playgrounds, or in the streets. Dog fights usually last until one dog is declared a winner, which occurs when one dog fails to scratch, dies, or jumps out of the pit. Sometimes dog fights end without declaring a winner; for instance, the dog's owner may call the fight.
The American bulldog is a large, muscular breed of mastiff-type dog. Their ancestors were brought to the British North American colonies where they worked on small farms and ranches.
The American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) is a dog breed recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) and the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA), but not the American Kennel Club (AKC). It is a medium-sized, short-haired dog, of a solid build, whose early ancestors came from England. When compared with the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull Terrier is larger by margins of 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) in height and 25–35 pounds (11–16 kg) in weight. The American Pit Bull Terrier varies in size: males are normally about 18–21 inches (45–53 cm) in height and around 35–60 pounds (15–27 kg) in weight, while females are normally around 17–20 inches (43–50 cm) in height and 30–50 pounds (13–22 kg) in weight.
The Olde English Bulldogge is an American dog breed, recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) in January 2014. The breed is listed in the UKC Guardian Dog Group. Five years prior to UKC recognition, the breed was registered by the former Canine Developmental, Health and Performance Registry (CDHPR), a privately held business located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In the early 2000s, CDHPR had been working with the UKC under a unique agreement to develop breeding plans and strategies in an effort to produce improved breeds of dogs that would be accepted as purebred and, therefore, eligible for UKC registration.
The Alaunt is an extinct type of dog which came in different forms, with the original possibly having existed in North Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe from ancient times.
The Dogo Argentino is an Argentine breed of large dog of mastiff type. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Córdoba in central Argentina, primarily for hunting large game such as peccaries, wild boar, and pumas. The foundation stock included the now extinct Córdoba fighting dog, a fighting dog of bulldog type, a Bull Terrier and a Mastín del Pirineo.
The Old English Bulldog is an extinct breed of dog.
The Córdoba fighting dog was a type of dog indigenous to Córdoba, Argentina, that resulted from crossbreeding old mastiff types of unknown pedigree. They were purposely bred for the sport of dog fighting until the early 20th century. They became extinct after dog fighting became illegal in Argentina in 1954.
Bull and terrier was a common name for crossbreeds between bulldogs and terriers in the early 1800s. Other names included half-and-halfs and half-breds. It was a time in history when, for thousands of years, dogs were classified by use or function, unlike the modern pets of today that were bred to be conformation show dogs and family pets. Bull and terrier crosses were originally bred to function as fighting dogs for bull- and bear-baiting, and other popular blood sports during the Victorian era. The sport of bull baiting required a dog with attributes such as tenacity and courage, a wide frame with heavy bone, and a muscular, protruding jaw. By crossing bulldogs with various terriers from Ireland and Great Britain, breeders introduced "gameness and agility" into the hybrid mix.
Dogs of Roman Britain concerns the presence of dogs within Britain under Roman occupation. Through various excavations in the Province of Britannia, evidence for a variety of uses from dogs has been found. There has been evidence of cultural involvement and significance of dogs found among the remains of excavated sites. Along with this are written references to the use of dogs as well.
The Ca de Bou or Perro de Presa Mallorquin is a Spanish breed of catch dog from Majorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands.
The Rastreador Brasileiro is a large breed of dog from Brazil, first recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1967, but an outbreak of disease, compounded by an overdose of insecticide, wiped out the breed's entire breeding stock. The FCI and the Brazilian Kennel Club then declared the breed extinct in 1973 and delisted it. Since then, efforts have been made to re-create the breed. The Rastreador Brasileiro is a hunting dog of the scenthound type. The breed is also known by the names Urrador or Urrador Americano, in reference to the American (U.S.) coonhounds in its background. In 2013, the Brazilian Kennel Club (CBKC) officially re-recognized the breed. The FCI Breed Standard was produced in 2019.
The Dogue Brasileiro is a mastiff-type working dog breed originating in Brazil. It is neither recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) nor the American Kennel Club (AKC). However, it has the official Brazilian recognition by the Brazilian Confederation of Cynophilia (CBKC) where it belongs to the Group 11 – Breeds not recognized by the FCI.
The Campeiro Bulldog is a breed of bulldog from Brazil.
Confederação Brasileira de Cinofilia or CBKC is a Brazilian kennel club confederation based in Rio de Janeiro. The confederation is affiliated with the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), being the only representative of this system in Brazil.
