We, and many others, feel that the media frenzy surrounding the "vicious pit bull" phenomenon is attributable to bad ownership, bad breeding, and biased press involvement to drum up a bigger headline when dealing with these dogs. You may not share the love and respect I have for these wonderful animals and that is your right, but I challenge anyone reading this report to meet a properly trained, well loved, and responsibly bred dog of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed and tell me that they are bloodthirsty killers born to mangle the flesh of any unwary human beings. I guarantee that you will find the exact opposite. These dogs are happiest with people and are very social creatures. Their fierce loyalty for their owners is mistaken for aggressiveness and is not respected. When I first started this report I thought I knew a lot about pit bulls. I knew that pit bulls were very strong dogs and that they have very strong jaws. I also knew about all the myths that were circulated around about pit bulls. I knew that those myths couldnt be right. Pitbulls are great dogs. They will never show aggression to other dogs and will never turn on his owner for no reason. Ill get into the myths later. When I started this report I also knew how the general public perceived pit bulls. The first major myth that most everybody thinks is true is the myth that pit bulls have jaws that once have gotten a hold of something, needed to be broken to get them off. People actually think that this kind of dog, the American Pit Bull Terrier has some sort of locking mechanism in the back of their jaws. This is totally false to all extents except the fact that pit bulls do have the strongest jaws in the canine world. Another myth perceived as true by the general public is that pit bulls have 200psi biting power. People think that a pit bull bite could easily crush almost all of the bones that it got to. The fact is that if a badly trained, bred, and treated pit bull bites ones hand it has a chance of breaking some fingers but they cannot crush huge bones and should never be biting people anyway. Another reason this myth is false is that it is impossible to measure the pounds per inch of force that a dogs jaws exert. I have seen the faces of people who were frightened by my pit bull Chopper. The hatred in the peoples eyes was like fire because it was a pitbull. I thought to myself "but CHOPPER is such a good, loving, funny, sweet, and obedient dog. Why would people hate him so much?" A while back Fox network aired a show titled "When good pets go bad." The very first scenario was a pit bull chasing after a young boy. The second was a pit bull attacking an old lady. The third and fourth scenario didn't get any better for the representation of the pit bulls. To understand the reason why the Pit Bull is misunderstood we must look more closely at its history. The pit bull is in fact pound for pound the strongest dog in the world. There is no denying that American Pit Bull Terriers (APBTs) have the strongest jaws in the entire canine world. Pit bulls were originally bred for sport fighting and they have an incredible pain threshold and superior athleticism. The history of the APBT is a very interesting one indeed. The first part of the pit bull is the bulldog part. The bulldog from a long time ago was not the short stocky bulldog of the present time. The paintings of the old bulldog makes it look like almost exactly like the modern pit bull terrier. Some of the pit bull "experts" believe that the APBT is merely the original bulldog of the British islands. The reason that this is not really correct is because there is historical evidence that tells about the bulldog and terrier crosses. There are now four dogs that make up the bull-and-terrier classification. The APBT, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, AmStaff Terrier, and both the colored and white Bull Terrier, including the miniature versions. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is currently the most popular terrier in Britain. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or Staffybull has the same history and components of the APBT but are smaller in size, growing to at most about 30 pounds. The AmStaff Terrier, short for American Staffordshire Terrier is the same as an APBT except that it is in a different kennel club. There are even some dogs that are dual registered as APBT / AmStaffs. The AmStaff's were bred along exhibition lines while the APBTs were bred along working and in some cases illegal fighting lines. The Bull Terrier was created by blending a bulldog and a white Manchester Terrier (a breed now extinct). It is reported that James Hinks, the creator of the Bull Terrier also used some Dalmatian lines and possibly the all white Spanish pointer. The colored Bull Terrier was made when Hinks crossed his Bull Terrier creation (which was all white) with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The APBT has played a sort of "Name Game" with the dog registries. The American Kennel Club, or AKC kept rejecting pit bulls into their club. The AKC refused to allow a breed with the word pit in it to enter their registry. C.Z. Bennett created the UKC so that he could have his pits registered with a kennel club. The AKC later granted permission not to the APBT but they allowed it to be called the "Staffordshire Terrier". In 1974 the Kennel Club of England brought in its Staffordshire Bull Terrier to the AKC which already had its Staffordshire Terrier (the APBT). To avoid further confusion the AKC called the Staffordshire Terrier the American Staffordshire Terrier and kept the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (the English one). The APBT is a great show dog in UKC events. Wherever a pit bull goes in a dog show it is sure to attract attention. A pit bull can do many things that some dogs are simply not capable of. The APBT excels in the sport called "Schutzhund" which means "guard dog" in German. Schutzhund is a fast paced sport of trying to protect the owner/handler and to fend off a heavily padded "assailant". APBTs are also used in herding work, search and rescue work, and even as therapy dogs in hospitals and nursing homes for elderly people. While many would think that a dog like the APBT would be a great guard dog that is not the case. The APBT is definitely strong enough, brave enough, and game enough, but most pit bulls just love people too much to guard. With the perception that most people have from the media, only a unwise intruder would trespass at an APBTs home. Most guard dogs are not as affectionate to their owners and they live a life like that happily. ABPTs seem to immensely enjoy human companionship more than most other dogs Ive ever seen. If you think a pit bull can be tied outside, fed and given water only then should you not own a pit bull. I learned that when ill prepared owners get badly bred and treated pit bulls. Disasters are most probably bound to happen. People need to recognize that Pit Bulls are great dogs if you treat them right. Pit Bulls have incredible, and special things about them. That is why this is such a wonderful breed....