Amstaff vs Pit Bull

[Aroura]

I read in a dog book that Pit Bulls are just American Staffordshire Terriers but with a different name, is this true?

[Guest Anonymous]

Not in any way. They are a seperate breed.

[Aroura]

:-?
Hmm, well I've just been looking at a few other dog books and they all say the same thing, how come so many books say they are the same breed if they are not?
Ah, I'm so confused! :o

[Guest Anonymous]

Aroura napisał(a):

:-?
Hmm, well I've just been looking at a few other dog books and they all say the same thing, how come so many books say they are the same breed if they are not?
Ah, I'm so confused! :o

The AmStaff and the Pitbull used to be the same breed. Breeders of the AmStaff unhappy about certain traits pitbulls were becoming known for in temperament and conformation worked at differentiating their breed from the street pitbull and its varying lines around the country. For a while the AmStaff was simply the way the AKC registered dog was referred to and then the two breeds moved apart. Different temperament and different conformation between the two now. Which is not to say a bad example of one could not be like the other :wink: The UKC registers them as the same breed still. In general you would not want an AmStaff for pitfighting.
Problems with books is they often don't get updated or they pull their information from other dated books with old information. You have to look at the sources cited and the publication date on the book to figure out if they are using dated info.
Sadly laws passed against pitbulls effect the other breeds deemed similar too :cry:

[GizmoRedNosePit]

A couple months before I got my APBT - I started reading books and most of them make it seem that pitbulls, straffordshires and all those are the same and they just have diffrent names! I was so confused for the longest time! Then I saw an American straffordshire and I saw the diffrence and I talked to the owner and ever since then I know the diffrence. :D

[Aroura]

sashagirl napisał(a):

Strange :o What books have you read this in? Did you read any books that were specifice to the APBT or the AmStaff?

No breed specific books, just a couple I picked up years ago when living in Canada and a couple I bought in Australia. None of my dog books have both amstaffs and pit bulls in them, I guess maybe they do just have old information in them dating back to when they were just the one breed.
Oh well, at least I know now!!! :lol: