Staffy Bull Pit

The American Staffordshire Terrier and the American Pit Bull Terrier are now considered to be two separate dog breeds, the first recognized by the American Kennel Club in the United States and the second recognized by the United Kennel Club in England, but their respective breed standards are written as such that some individual dogs are able to be dually registered in both countries. Before differing breeding focuses separated these two dog breeds when the registrations were split, they came from essentially the same ancestry. These dogs trace their earliest ancestry to England in the 1700s to the old style English Bulldogs which were crossed with various Terrier dogs to add agility and the ability to think quickly and independently. The results of these pairings were known as bull-and-terriers, extremely well-muscled but agile dogs that were courageous and strong enough to assist with controlling bulls, to help hunters in taking down wild boar and bear, and eventually, to fight one another to the death. When these dogs were initially imported to the United States in the 1800s, they were imported mainly as fighting dogs, and breeders focused on creating a larger and heavier animal, which was registered with the United Kennel Club as an American Pit Bull Terrier in 1898, but the American Kennel Club refused to recognize the breed as they wanted to distance themselves from the history of dog fighting. In 1936, they recognized the American Staffordshire Terrier, which has stricter standards regarding size and coloration. Other than dogs that are dually registered in both countries, these two breeds have been bred separately since that time.