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Decendents of modern pit bulls, which are believed to be from Europen bulldogs, as well as other related dogs were of powerful mastiffs bred for farm work. Specifically, these dogs worked with farmers into the fields to assist with bringing nasty bulls in for breeding, castration, or to be butchered .

The dogs, known generally as english and French bulldogs, protected the farmer by subduing the bull if it attempted to gore him. Typically a dog would do this by biting the bull on the nose and holding on until the bull submitted. Due to the fact that this was the canines main duty, these buldogs were bred to have very powerful jaws, muscular bodies, and the resolve to hold onto a violently-struggling bull, even when injured.

Over time these dogs inspired the the widespread practice of the bloody type sports of bull-baiting and bear-baiting. Bulldogs are believed to have been bred with terrier dogs in order to produce a more muscular, smaller, and agile dog for these sports.

The

resulting dogs are known as bull-and-terrier breeds, and modern examples include all pit bull-type of dogs. In England in the early 1800s, these spectacles were popular forms of entertainment. However, in 1835, the sports of bull-baiting and bear-baiting were abolished by Parliament and deemed to be cruel, and the custom died out over the following years.

Dogs were bred for specific traits found useful in the dog-fighting ring, refining the agility, gameness, and power already present in the bull-and-terrier breeds. They were also bred to be intelligent and level-headed during fights and un-aggressive toward humans.

The standard for organized dog-fighting required that an owner be able to enter the ring, pick up his dog while it was engaged in a fight, and carry it out of the ring without being bitten.

Dogs that bit their owners were culled.

Staffordshire Bull Terriers were less ordinarily used as fighters, because they generally had stable temperaments and were susally

kept in the home by the sporting men who owned them.

Pitbulls made their way to the US during the mid-1800s, by way of immigration to the United States from Ireland and England.

These Pit Dogs were bred to be larger and stockier, working as farm dogs in the West as much as fighting dogs in the large cities. The resulting breed, the American Staffordshire Bull Terrier, also called the American Pit Bull Terrier, became known as an "all-American" dog.

Pit bull type dogs started to become popular as family pets for citizens who were not involved in dog-fighting or farming. In the early 1900s they began to appear in films, one of the more famous examples being Pete the Pup from the Our Gang shows...

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Pit Bulls Myths and Facts. je Dunn the author of The New Pit Bull Handbook offer a free resource website for Pit Bull lovers.

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