[77rexulceme]

I never wanted an APBT, my bf who isn't even a dog person used to rave about a few of his friends' rescues who were so loving and I would always just make a face. Always loved the German dogs myself the most.

When we decided to add another dog to our pack, and a puppy no less, because I wanted to train a dog for Certified Therapy Work as well as a service dog for myself I had already been researching the breed for fun for about two years mostly due to watching the Dog Whisperer for years (guilty pleasure) and seeing some of the pits on there (both his and others-I know, who gets a breed that is showcased as a red zone dog on his show...) and also to familiarize myself with the BSL and other BS laws that were going on.

From everything I had learned an APBT was actually the perfect combination of traits for my lifestyle and our home and my experience (which is not to say I am still learning daily and sucking up as much of the historical info that I can) so off I went on a puppy hunt hoping to find a nice medium level energy pup with a good temperament and at least nice parents even if it had no pedigree or even if it was a mix.

Took some time, was totally the wrong time of the year for puppy season at rescues and didn't want a BYB but also didn't really care if I was getting a reputably bred dog-rescue would have been fine, mix would have been fine, I was looking for temperament not papers (and yes I know that can change in time).

I ended up finding an accidental breeding (and talked the owners into using the free spay/neuter program in the area-which they did!), getting to meet the parents and an older puppy from the same breeding (only one accidental litter before Puck's-I don't condone it but these people were nice, young and definitely were not out to make money were just uneducated about keeping dogs apart-they definitely learned their lesson after being barely able to place the pups and probably losing money on both litters), see the pups as they matured and bringing Puck home.

He is the perfect match and the perfect temperament for what I was looking for, so far. If I had to go back I would have waited I think and come here first, found a breeder and felt less like I contributed to the BYB issue but sometimes things happen (when you have poor impulse control) and this time it seems to have worked out for the best. I won't be doing it again if we decide to get another dog down the line but I am happy with my little guy.

[poRmawayncmop]

My dog picked me. I have had and been around lots of bully breeds in the past and was looking for a boxer when I ran across my dog now. My boyfriends stepmom called me up and told me her friend rescued this starved and neglected pit pup and it needed a home. I told her that I would come and take a look when I got out of work. My boyfriend went over there first and his family was all there too. Well when I showed up the dog got up off the couch for the first time that day and came and licked my hand tail wagging and all. The dog was so starved that all it did was sleep, it wanted nothing to do with playing or seeing anybody (not in a shy way but a "I am starved and dont feel good way". I was the only person the dog wanted to be around so I couldnt refuse him. He has grown into a happy healthy 60lb dog and is only 7 months now. I wouldnt give him up for the world, he is the perfect dog for me. I am glad he picked me.

[Michael-jeckson2]

I was always surrounded by dogs, we used to have a GSD, a long hair dachshund mix, and a bunch of strays from time to time.
First I heard about APBT was in the late 80's when my neighbor acquired a BT, and his buddy brought Black for a play date (typical Colby dog, black with a white head), the dog was amazing. Since I came to this country 13 years ago, I wanted a dog, but couldn't really afford one a comfortable living. A few years ago I went to a couple of shelters/rescues around NYC to see if I can adopt a dog, but was turned down by the adoption agencies for living in an apartment building (I don't understand why to run an adoption out of NYC where the majority lives in the apartment building housing of some sort ), anyway what really caught my eye was the number of pit bull and pit bull mixes trapped in the shelter system - I knew nothing about BSL, I heard some stories about them dogs being labeled dangerous. At that point I became interested in the actual breed and its history, but really started appreciate it in Aug 2009 when Uma fell into my arms

[loan4younow]

I got Ripley my Amstaff b/c I was looking for a medium, but durable female dog that would get along with Casper my Dogo, b/c my Doberman didn't have have long left to live. I wasn't set on any particular breed, but found Ripley and she worked out perfectly. She is compact, easy to handle, gets along with everything, housebroken, not a chewer/digger, great house dog. Even though she is 1/2 Casper's size, he isn't going to break her when he plays rough!

I got my Dogo, b/c I absolutely love the look of the breed and after having them, I love their personality.

I have fostered several pit bulls and American Bulldogs and I usually foster them b/c there are less foster homes willing to foster them than other breeds.

[YTmWSOA5]

when I was about 4 years old my grandparents were doing the groceries with me and I saw a cute dog sitting patiently in another costumers cart.
he had that big, goofy and lovable head, it was a "pit bull"
I totally fell in love and it NEVER went away.

many years later I decided it was time for some serious education on the breed, and by the time I was looking for a dog there was this cute lil ball of love that was thrown in my lap at 6 months old.
I just couldn't say no, and I had my first rescue, a mixed "pit bull".

and let me tell you, it was NOT what I expected, at all.
I wanted to start rather slow and didn't want to go directly for the gamebred apbt.
I wanted a slightly colder dog that I could learn with.

instead, I got the hottest dog I ever came across, that would jump/get through ANYTHING to get at another dog lol
he has learned me A LOT and I am SO thankful that I got the opportunity to own such a great dog.
it was with great sadness that I had to put him to sleep, only 1 and a half years later (he was only 2) because of his severe separation anxiety.

he was my heart dog, and I will be forever thankful to him. I became a more responsible/mature dog owner all because of that one black dog.

apbt's are to me, physically and mentally the perfect dog and they fit my lifestyle/needs like no other.

there is just not one single thing I don't like about apbt's

[imnaone]

Always had and loved powerfull breed dogs. Love everything about them. Smarts, loyalty, determination to protect their family, and short hair is always a plus. Only powerful breed dog i don't like is GSD. Known multiple, who were mentally unstable, and developed neurotic disorders, then out of frustration grew agressive. Seen it happen, good owners, constant excersize, good food, socailzed, and good honest people. Other powerful breed dogs, met a few agressive, ones, but no one uncontolable, or mentally unstable. Love 'em all, spacifically pitbulls, rotties, and bullmastiffs. ANYWAYS... I got MY dog cause she needed to be rescued, her life consisted of being tied to a little dog house on a 6ft chain. That was her life, 9yrs of that. Well, i'm moving in a few weeks, so i'm taking her with me.

[medifastwoman]

growing up i had lots of little dogs and cats. I knew I always wanted a cat around and dogs well, I didn't know which one I wanted but they were ok too. When I met my boyfriend he had a dog through his previous relationship and it was Roxy and man I was scared of her when I first saw her! And then I realized she was a huge baby.

Then when my boyfriend and I decided to move in together but he was uber allergic to cats so we decided to get a dog for me, also so Roxy could have a friend. He wanted a hunting dog and actually found one a dog he wanted and tried to convince me into, but it turned out the breeder already sold it. So we decided to go for lunch at his parents and on the way was the Humane society. So I convinced him to stop and we were looking through the cages and I was playing with dogs and my bf came up to me and said you aren't allowed to look in that cage, pointing to one down the way. So of course I HAD to go look and thats where I found Rex. And I fell in love pretty much and 3 hours later we had him in our car, with Roxy, going home.

I never picked the bully breed, they kind of fell in to my lap. so because of them I had to learn how to take care of them the best I can! And now I have a huge soft spot for them, and dogs in general! I never thought I would live without cats and here I am with 2 dogs, no cats and no chance for cats.

[dhYTvlAv]

We wanted a medium-sized, shorthaired dog that is active (we like to hike and do outdoorsy stuff) and I wanted a confident, people-friendly dog. I did not want a dog that is shy around strangers or guardy in the least bit since we live in a somewhat dense city.

This was pretty much our reasoning, didn't want anything too large, too small, too hairy or that tended to be wary around people as we have a lot of people over sometimes, met a friend of the b/fs bully and fell in love with how friendly and muscular he looked. Started doing research on the breed and searching craigslist and petfinder because I didn't want to start with a puppy.

[Sierabiera]

My fiancee and I were looking to get a puppy and I had actually been talking to a breed about a pair of Black and Tan Coonhound pups because my fiancee really wanted to get back in to coon hunting and I thought I would buy him a couple of pups.

One of my other boys is a purebred b/t coonhound. He is my heart dog. Gentle and sweet, knows no enemies (animal or human) and adores me to no end. If your b/f ever thinks about adopting one, I recommend it wholeheartedly. Lots of people don't see hounds as pets, but they make wonderful companions.

Sorry to go OT

[tq4F7YKs]

I didnt know much about the breed other than the few I met at the groomer I worked at. I knew they had a bad reputaion but personally didnt see why as I loved the ones I met (some just wanted to love on everyone who walked by a couple others clearly didnt like the 'sceen' of a groomer but they were always soooo well behaved and always giving calm quiet kisses but clearly not wanting to be there). So when we went out looking for a dog we went to the shelter with nothing in mind other than a larger breed dog that our son can grow up with. We searched shelters and my hubby was just not drawn to the breed (he wanted a GSD more.. while Im not personally drawn to that breed in general) Then at this one shelter I was showing our son a pig and my hubby comes to me and says come here and look at this pup. Sure enough he brought me to the cage of this beautiful mousey colored 5 month old pup with a head that didnt match his body and beautiful light amber eyes (I admit we were initially drawn to his beautiful color, but that in no way sealed the deal) and he was laying down right up in the front of his cage not jumping around like other pups his age but not in the back like he wanted nothing to do with people. So we asked to meet him and he was just the sweetest thing. There were a lot of people around the meeting area and he would stay with us then go see the people around the fence, then come back to us then go visit again (everyone watned to pet him) and he was very well behaved with or son as well. This shelter does no background checks or anything, if you want the dog you get the dog, fill out the papers and once hes fixed you bring them home. So we talked about it for a few minutes and the deal was done. Ive always been pretty knowledgable about dogs in general but this breed not so much, fortunatly for my pup I AM the kind of person who learns all they can about the dog they have (which is how I found this wonderful site) and I have absolutly no regrets about my breed of choice. I know it will be hard when we are in a position to move out but we will make it work becuase we all love our dog. My hubby cant believe how similar Harley is to the lab mix (Im thinkin he was mized with pit now that I know the breed more, looks and temperment were more pit than lab) he grew up with -whom we just had to put down a little over a year ago at 15 yrs, and a year before that I put the dalmatian I grew up with down and she was 14)

[Sierabiera]

Awwwww.... I'm really sorry. I lost my second girl Marz to osteosarcoma in 2007 at the age of 12. She was the first of my crew to go.

Thank you, and I'm sorry for your loss as well. Cooper went so fast. It was only 4 weeks after he was diagnosed that he passed. Cancer sucks

[drycleden]

I was raised to fear the breed. My dad told me my entire life not to trust pit bulls. I was the kid who was picked up and moved into a building, the car, or the other side of the road when someone was walking their pit bull by. I never understood it because every one of them just wagged their tail at me, and as I got older my dad started getting upset with my questioning of his opinion on 'pit bulls'. One day a stray pit bull came wandering out of the woods in my back yard. She was beautiful and sweet and LOVED people. My dad saw her and panicked because to him it was just common knowledge that pit bulls are people eaters. Long story short - he drove around with her hanging out of the car window all day looking for her owner. She sat on his lap and licked his face and was by far the sweetest dog I had ever met. I played with her in the yard waiting for her owner to call since we had been driving around town asking everyone if they knew who she belonged to. That was when my dad decided that maybe they could be sweet dogs. My sister and I begged to keep her but that was out of the question. He ended up pulling me out of the dog pound crying...I don't know what happened to her but we still talk about her until this day.

Throughout high school, I volunteered many hours at that same shelter. Time after time, pit bulls would come in, be the most friendly dogs there, and not find homes. There was one dog that I don't think I will ever forget. His name was Zorro and he was the friendliest little pup in the world. I actually talked my mom into adopting him but unfortunately he didn't get along with our existing dog (and looking back, there is no way we would have been able to handle a multi-dog home with Zorro).

As soon as I got my own place I researched the crap out of the breed because I really wanted to adopt one. After my research I decided it would be best to put things on hold. 2 months later I drove into the city to a high kill pound that is constantly full to the max with gorgeous 'pit bulls'...just to "see". Yea well there were 30 pit bulls there, each one more beautiful and sweet than the last, and they were at maximum capacity. The next dog to come in meant one was going to be PTS...and that was that. Socrates was the favorite of everyone there and they were happy to hand him over. One of the best decisions I ever made.

[mbaueee]

The bully breed came with my boyfriend. He owned one when we started dating five years ago. I was saving up for a French Bulldog so that was the breed I want. But knowing what I know now, I will never have more then one apbt at a time. It is a lot of work. I do not think we will even go over two dogs at the most. As for getting another apbt, I do not know and cannot say right now. It all depends on where we are at in the future. Plus I do not want to do the whole puppy thing again because I am not a fan of potty training.

[Yarikoff]

i had just became interested in the breed, hadnt ever really been around one or for that fact i knew very little about them .... well my really good friends dad (who she had very little to do with) had APBTs that had an accidental pregnancy but after the puppies were born they were moving and because they didnt want the puppies they left them at their old house... well my friend knew how much i loved animals and knew how good i was with them went to the house and got one of the puppies and dropped it off at my house as an early X-mas present...(idk how old she was for sure but very young because she wasnt much bigger than my hands when i cupped them together!!) well im not sayin i did everything right when it comes to raising a pit but i must have been doing somethin right because she was the best behaved dog ive ever owned! she died a sad an accidental death, we were all upset over it i would give anythin to have her back (shes my display pic

[seosoftseo]

Aww, I love all the stories. Its so nice to know I am not crazy as some people think I am.