What do you love most about your APBT?

I thought it would be fun to hear everyone's stories as to how they decided an APBT was the dog for them and what they love most about the breed?

I got my first APBT as a foster dog she was actually a mix she was later adopted out to a great family and when she left I missed her badly! A few months later I fostered and adopted Pinky a solid white APBT that I fell in love with and later found out was deaf. Then a couple weeks later I got a call about Punkin she was very sick and thought to have parvo and needed around the clock IV treatments so I brought her home nursed her back to health and fell in love with her to So there I was the mother of 3 boys and two APBT. I thought I had no more room then one day I was at the shelter helping out with cleaning cages and someone came in to dump their dog claiming they were just to busy to care for her...She was already two years old very shy but just had the sweetest disposition with a gorgeous coat of black & white. I went home that night thinking about her and of course my hubby said No Way! But she just always seemed to be on my mind. We went on vacation for a week and when I got back I checked the shelter to how she was doing and found that she had been adopted I had mixed emotions I was happy and sad at the same time then a month later a friend of mine called to tell me about the guy who lived next to her who had just been taken to jail and about his dogs 13 total who had been confiscated she said she thought a couple of them were APBT but wasn't sure. I of course knew if they were they were APBT they were most likely doomed.
That Monday I stopped by the shelter just to take a look at all the new Dumpee's and my heart was instantly shattered the dog who had been on my mind every since she was adopted was back and in bad shape she was one of the guys dog's my friend had called me about. She had lost about 15 pounds and had an open wound on her cheek and several cuts about her face and an abscess in her neck the size of a baseball I was so sickened and of course I wanted her more then ever! I took her home somewhat wary of how she might act after all she had been through. But in a couple of weeks her wounds healed and heart to I believe and she is now a happy healthy 3 year old named Izzy (Izabella) who has turned out to be the very best dog I have ever had the privilege to own.
My husband also fell in love with the breed and came home one day out of the blue! With a blue & white puppy he had paid way to much for! We named her bluebelle.
So now we are a happy home of 3 children 4 APBT and 1 mean little Pekingese, 2 cats and 3 beagles ughhhhhh! (the beagles get on my nerves!)

 

GinaH: What a neat story. I've seen pics you've posted on your pups and I have to say Pinky is my favorite. I have also rescued dogs, not Pits, but other throw away dogs. I even smuggled a starving pup out of Mexico. Scared the crap out of me. When I crossed the border, I had him wrapped in a beach towel. If they did a search I was afraid they would jail me in Mexico and kill the pup. We mad it through and he was my LOVE for 13yrs. I took in a very badly abused Chow who could not bring herself to overcome her demons. She was blind and badly injured me when she thought she was going for another dog. It made me fearful of dogs almost. The thought of having a P.B. was out of the question. My daughter took in a 4wk old Pit and I was totally amazed at the spirit of the pup. So as therapy to me in to combat my fear, I got myself my Pit Reese. He was just AMAZING!! The most loving, big-hearted dog I have ever seen. But he seemed lonesome for a companion, so we got Grace from a B.Y.B. They have such a great love affair for two dogs. They want no part of being separated. I am a total Pit lover. And a lot of my friends and family who have seen my dogs agree, that they just can't go on from what they read and hear. My dogs are such good little Ambassadors. By the way, I really like beagles. I had one as a child named Bugler. Someone poisoned him .

 

i dont have one =[ but id like to steal caleb. who owns caleb again? im coming to get him.

 

loves da pits: I loved your story to especially the story about the dog you smuggled out of mexico...sounds like something I would do.
I once took 3 orphaned newborn pups to work with me this was before I started working from home anyhow I kept them in my desk the whole day and people in and out of my office never knew they were there. they were nursing every 2 hours so I had to feed them but had to work to so they went to work with me.
Thanks for the compliment on Pinky she is a really great dog.
And as far as the beagles go they are my husbands hunting dogs and would not be so bad I guess if they weren't so LOUD! We have 6 acres of land so his dogs kennels are very, very ,very far away from the house and you can still here them carrying on about absolutely nothing!
And btw I love your dogs they are so pretty!

 

Nice!!

Regina u have some fabulous pits! They are gorgeous!

I myself, have always been a fan of P.B's. I always admired their power & stature, but I have to admit I was somewhat wary because of their horrible reputation.

I've been wanting a dog for over a year now & I started seriously looking for one months ago. When I started my search I was intially looking for a Bullmastiff, but after a lot of research & meetings w/breeders...I decided that the Bullmastiff was too much dog for me.

I then got turned onto the Cane Corso (Italian mastiff) by a guy I met who bred them. I figured that the breed was worth looking into & through research of that breed, I found Cane Corsos to be quite impressive! I loved their cropped ears, their stature, & their dominant nature. Unfortunately...these dogs were still a bit too big for me.

So, what now? What dog is as beautiful, has the same intense nature and will, but is in a powerful, smaller package?? THE APBT!!!

Now that I had finally made a decision that I was completely happy and comfortable with, I started my research...books, books, internet, & breeders. I reinforced my convictions for wanting a P.B through further educating myself about the breed & as I searched for a breeder, I ran into more BYB's than you'd care to know. Then there were so many dogs bred for their gameness!! Not that that's a negative thing if you're into boar baiting & such, but that was not the type of bloodline I wanted my pup concentrated with. I was simply looking for "pet quality," possibly even "show quality". I didn't particularly want any more "tenacity" than what's already in the nature of the breed.

I finally found a breeder I was comfortable with and decided to go for it! I picked my pup out at 3 weeks & I'll be bringing him home soon!

I know I don't have any puppy stories to draw on yet, but I will soon!! Sorry to rattle on.

 

I have had a few APBT's in my life.
My first I owned when I was a boy. She was a black & white pit/mix we called Bandit. Odd name for a girl I know but I was just a kid. I was in Boy Scouts & she would love when we had meetings at my house. But a meter reader guy jumped my fence one day & she tried to bite him. So the city made us get rid of her. My dads friend owned a farm so we sent her with him. She spent a few years there until she got killed. From what I was told the guy's daughter was playing outside. He heard her scream & ran out to find Bandit laying on the ground. Apparently the kid ran across a snake when running around & Bandit attacked the snake. I guess she was bitten on the neck so there really wasnt much to do.
I also had 2 white/ blue eyed pits. The boy was named Bull & the girl was Summer. She was deaf. They were stolen out of my yard.
I now have a brindle boy named Lucian. He is 5 months old & the most loyal dog ever. Hopefully his skin heals soon so I can get some pics.

 

What a great thread to start. I love these stories. In November of last year my husband and I decided to rescue a dog. We had no idea what we were looking for. We went to Pets Inc. in Columbia SC to pick out a dog. When I walked in the sheltor I fell in love with a Pit/boxer mix. She was so sweet and she has a cross eye which made me love her more. I think people passed her over because of that. When we asked to assistant about her she said that she had been thrown over the fence in the middle of the night along with her baby puppy a week prior and the other dogs at Pets Inc killed her puppy. This made me want her so much more. I didn't know alot about the breed (only heard the bad stuff) but I wanted her. We put a deposit down on her and they said we could pick her up in three days. We were so excited. The next day we got a phone call from the sheltor saying someone droped off a litter of puppies and when Zoe heard them she ran over and started nursing them. We thought that was so wonderful and agreed to let Zoe go to a foster home to nurse the puppies for a few weeks. We would go visit all the time at the foster home. Unfortunatly Zoe's milk dried up about a week later so the puppies didn't have a lot of time with her. They were bottle feed from that point on and they all made it. I love to tell this story because I think she needed the puppies after losing her own as much as they needed her. I love her so much. She is a spoiled dog and deserse it after all shes been through. Thanks for letting me share our story.

 

Oh I love your story Meg, that is so sweet I have heard of that happening before and I think it's so neat. When I was a little girl my grandma use to tell me this story about a cat she had that let orphaned puppies nurse right along with her kittens and I always thought that was such a neat story. What a sight that would be!

 

Thanks Regina.... That would be a sight to watch puppies and kittens nurse together. That is so neat.

Meg

 

What I love most about the APBT is that they are so truly unique, all breeds are in some degrees, but the APBT is different in all degrees. No other breed is really a comparison. I haven't witnessed another breed to have the amount of determination, will, drive, stamina, and affection as this breed. Being around them most of my life I never fell into some misconception or stigma. For the longest time I wasn't always aware they had such a horrible reputation. Here they still have a good one, sure their are the occasion people, but thats very rare. They are so heavily populated(not a good thing IMO) but they have not been a problem even with some of these people being irresponsible or just uneducated. I'm feel very blessed by this. I really love my dogs and wouldn't trade them for the world, what would it be without my dogs? I admire most their gameness and undying heart, a dog that is always loving and never, ever thinks of quiting, the shine in its eyes never dies no matter what its faced with.

My story is about my house dog Santana. At the time I wasn't looking for another dog at all, especially not a show or weight pull dog. When I saw the pics I wasn't really interested. I talked with the breeder some more, I thought one might make a nice pup for my father, but he didn't desire one either at that time. He wasn't ready for another pup and I think he still didn't want something to replace the dog he just lost. When a situation arised and a deal made for me to get a pup, I wasn't too sure I wanted one, but what the heck. I looked at the pics again. She was the pup I was least interested in. I didn't really like her color and her pics didn't really show what she really looked like at all. They were not good and she wasn't in the correct position. When I met the litter in person there were 2 males and 3 females, I immediatly knew I didn't want the dark brindle female. Then it was between the red female and the other brindle(Santana). I wasn't sure, they were still young, they all had pretty decent conformation, really good stifles and ear sets. I was really leaning towards the red female more, she did have more wrinkles but I knew she'd grow out of them. The next time I saw the litter was about a week later I got them out on the ground. The brindle had the most confidence, a really good attitude and the best conformation. She wasn't shy of anything and I really took to her. So it was decided that she was going to be the one. So thats how it all happened and now here is, practically grown up and I can barely believe it already! She is my shadow and must follow me everywhere, she is good natured friendly dog, she embraces pups, she's a little devil at the same time. She is intellegent. She gives me a lot. No she isn't perfect, no dog really is? But she is my house dog, the dog that is with me more than any of the others. She acts like I'm her world, she always has to be there. She loves kids and is very gentle with infants. She can be hard to handle, but sometimes I like that, gives me a little bit of a challenge and I really enjoy it. Sometime last month, it was late and we were heading up to bed. I went to the restroom first and she didn't come. Then she came to the door and opened it as usual. Then I went to go upstairs and she was slowly coming behind me. She is really smart, because she must have pulled a bone out while I was in the bathroom. The next day when it was time to go potty in the morning there was a bone at the bottom of the stairs, I was at the top and she grabbed it up. Then she seen me coming behind her and put it down. She knows she is abosolutly not supposed to have them, so the night before she got the bone and on the way up she left it at the bottom of the stairs for safe keeping, instead of bringing it up to snack on and get in trouble with like most dogs will usually do. Too bad she got caught the next morning.

To me a person breeding pet quality dogs is really the same thing as a BYB, even if they are taking decent care of their dogs to me they are breeding pets when their are already enough in this world. Thats just my opinion, but I see no reason to breed to pets together just because some one thinks they are good dogs. A dog bred without a real purpose like weight pull, gameness, conformation, ect is really a BYB dog to me. Thats how I feel with so many pets dying in the shelters, lots of those dogs were bred to be someone's perfect pet but that didn't happen. You seem like a good owner, I'm not saying you would do that to your pet, but many are not as lucky as your future pup will be. Those pet owners who had good intentions even, there dogs sadly are no longer part of the family and waiting on death row.

Fawnbrindle I hope everything does go great for you and your pupppy!! Be sure to share more and let us see pics of the of him/her? What bloodlines did you finally decide on?

 

Fawnbrindle: Congratulations on your new puppy! Good Luck To You!
And..Pictures Please we all love pictures!

Lunchbox: sorry to hear your puppy is having skin problems.
good luck with that. can't wait to see pictures of your puppy.

True Pits: I always like reading your post because it's so obvious how much you love the breed.

 

I swore I never would own an APBT...

Three years ago a dog jumped into my BF's car and never left. That was our APBT, Monty. That night after he jumped in our car as he was sprawled out on our floor I looked up info about the breed. (Hadn't done that before)... We decided to keep him (we looked through lost and founds online and locally....found nothing). I remember at work, he was outside but a storm came up so I ran home to let him inside... For four hours I sat at work and wondered what he'd done to our house... I got home and he was sound asleep on the couch...not even a pillow out of place... The next day he sprawled out on the living room floor (he must've been just exhausted) while I put together a microwave cart...I had parts spread out all over, he was right in the middle of it all...sound asleep... Yeah...he really educated me on the breed....LOL

Not all of the APBT's I've met are quite that good of dogs (chewing furniture etc...) but they're still the best breed around. A true breed with a bond with people that can't compare to any other breed around...

 

Had a computer melt-down. Just seeing if it's back on track.

 

I love how my pitbull knows my emotions. When I'm feeling down, he's sad, when I'm excited he's excited, when I'm tired he'll get on the couch and fall asleep watching TV with me. His expressions amaze me...he knows what I feel, by just looking at me, that is my favorite quality about this breed. I alson love how determined he is. If he really wants something he'll get it, and even though I think he's a pain in the butt sometimes, he still makes me smile.

 

Awwwwww! What a Cutie!

 

Zeusmoma- Love you picture. It is so cute.

 

What a great thread!
What I love most about Harley is her way of knowing exactly what I am thinking. She tries to act like the mom over me! Yesterday I was cutting through veggies and sliced my finger pretty bad. I let out a very loud cry and she was right there jumping and licking my face, then running around the kitchen trying to find the culprit that hurt me. It was too cute. She was right by my side the rest of the day to make sure nothing else happened to me. I can tell her anything and know that my secrets are safe with her.
I love that she knows and trusts me as much as I trust her, and that she will never again have to know heart ache and pain.

 

OK, Bullylove I am in tears now.
I know exactly what you mean.
Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed having so many dogs to care for, until one of them looks at me with those loving eyes it just hits me how much they need me and how much they love me.

 

The breed sorta fell into my lap in the form of Goo, and the more experience I've had with them, the more I love about them

We've had Goo since I was 8 yrs old, she's been my best friend and confidant for the past 10 1/2 yrs. When I was younger (and still today ), I'd tell her my secrets, my successes.... she's always been the most non-judgemental friend I've had :lol: . She knew when I was sad, or happy, and would act in a manner that made me wonder sometimes if she was part mind reader. When I was a bit older, I was more often home playing with the dog than out causing trouble with friends... maybe saved me a lot of crap in the end, as several of them have gone on to bigger troubles as adults. There are times in everyone's life when they feel beaten down to where they can't get back up, and nothing better for those times than to bury your face in the velvety soft fur of your dog and let it all out, before going back out to face the world. Goo was always wonderful for that, and I think some of those times were those I've become most appreciative of, as they were when I needed her most. Even though old age is creeping up on her, she lives her life to the fullest; plays, goes for walks and car rides, rolls in the goose crap, does zoomies.... bullies may age, but they never "get old" :wink:. The way she (and all APBTs) throws her all into everything she does is an inspiration to see, a reminder that things worth doing are worth doing right and with everything you have.

With Haley, it's the happy go lucky personality and sterling temperament she has despite all that she's been through. I took her again to meet my nephews when they got out of school, and as we stood waiting, a crowd of kids gathered, 5 or 6 of them crowded around her, reaching in and petting her from all sides... she lapped it all right up. One little girl ran up out of nowhere, scratched her head for a second, then bent down and plunked a kiss right on her forhead, Hale took it all in stride (though I wasn't exactly pleased with the kid's doggy manners :roll: ). She knows that when she goes to the vets, they're going to poke at her, draw blood, etc (she has diabetes, so her BG levels are checked when we take her in, adjusted if need be, along with anything else that needs to be checked along with that), yet she hops in there, tail wagging, happily greeting everyone as we walk back into the treatment area with her and wait for a vet to have a few minutes to check her. She doesn't enjoy what gets done to her by any means, but her love for people is strong enough that it overcomes her anticipation of the "bad" things to come. She's the kind of dog that breaks into zoomies in the house, crashes full speed into a wall, then gets back up and goes even faster :lol:

The comical, yet at times so serious personality; their sheer strength, yet gentle nature; the brash, at times stubborn personality, yet their intense desire to please.... the APBT is a study of opposites, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Goo






Hale

 

Nice Job Goob!
I just got to work and here I am shedding a tear for you. So early, geez.