Calling APBT types pibbles

[AdrianneIsabel]

This depends on who you talk to. I have met many more APBT people that would say that 'pit bull' is a shorthand for the APBT breed than it is a type.

In theory pit bull is the short hand for the apbt but all bully breeds are grouped as "Pit Bulls" by the law.

It's not the same as the Belgian Shepherd and Malinois, Tervuren, Groenendael, Laekenois but it is similar.

American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and American Bully are all products of "pit bull" dogs however the short hand for a Stafford is not Pit bull and most Stafford owners would be quietly irked if you insinuated they are nothing more than mini pit bulls.

It all gets muddied depending on whom you ask. I play it safe and use Bully Breeds to general and pit bull to short hand the apbt.

 

[Laurelin]

In theory pit bull is the short hand for the apbt but all bully breeds are grouped as "Pit Bulls" by the law.

It's not the same as the Belgian Shepherd and Malinois, Tervuren, Groenendael, Laekenois but it is similar.

American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and American Bully are all products of "pit bull" dogs however the short hand for a Stafford is not Pit bull and most Stafford owners would be quietly irked if you insinuated they are nothing more than mini pit bulls.

It all gets muddied depending on whom you ask. I play it safe and use Bully Breeds to general and pit bull to short hand the apbt.

I've actually been corrected a couple times because I said pit bulls were a type. It seems most people who are really into APBTs call the type 'bully breeds' and the shorthand for the breed 'pit bulls', so that's what I've tended to take on the last couple of years. It seems like that's what most APBT people I meet prefer.

 

[Renee750il]

I do think there is a lot of regionality in the terminology as well.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

I do think there is a lot of regionality in the terminology as well.

Definitely!

I was raised with the breed by a family who've had the breed all the way back from immigrating from their family countries. I was raised to call them all Bulldogs and pit bull was actually a learned term when I was in my teens. Pit bull since then has always been short hand for the apbt to me and never a generalized term* but I have been corrected by others and told I use my terminology wrong.

My response? Meh! I'll use my terms and as long as I am on the right side of saving this breed I'll kindly tell people to stick it when they don't like my terminology. I think I'm getting more and more stubborn and annoyed with being told how to properly own my breed as I age.


*-If a dog appears apbt and remains without papers or provocation of it's pedigree I am content with loosely calling it a pit bull or mix there of.

 

[Renee750il]

Have you noticed that there are some real differences in the dogs according to region? Listening to everyone's descriptions of their APBTs, I hear some real variances, say from the ones we have in this area, and the ones you find around the Ohio/Illinois region, and then out in the western states. There even seem to be some real differences just from East Tennessee/Western NC to middle Tennessee, and we seem to have more in common with the dogs down in Louisiana, the Florida panhandle/southern Alabama area.

 

[sparks19]

Right... I don't care if someone calls their dog a pibble or their best friends dog a pibble. but if you were adopting out said dog and they asked the breed and you called it a pibble then that's where my issue lies.

it just reminds me of PETA changing fish to "Sea kittens" to try to make them cuter so people wouldn't eat them... how coudl you eat a cute little sea kitten? lol not that we have a lot of problem with people eating pibbles in this country but you know what I mean lol

I don't CARE what you call your dog but if you are calling all of them that to create a false pretense about the breed to make them "seem cuter and harmless" that's where the issue crops up for me.

 

[stafinois]

Have you noticed that there are some real differences in the dogs according to region? Listening to everyone's descriptions of their APBTs, I hear some real variances, say from the ones we have in this area, and the ones you find around the Ohio/Illinois region, and then out in the western states. There even seem to be some real differences just from East Tennessee/Western NC to middle Tennessee, and we seem to have more in common with the dogs down in Louisiana, the Florida panhandle/southern Alabama area.

I would imagine seeing regional differences in the BYB dogs, as they tend to stay within a localized gene pool. But anymore, the well bred dogs are shipped all over the US, and even imported/exported to and from various countries.

The breeds I see the biggest regional differences in are American Cockers and Old English Sheepdogs. In Oregon, Cockers were largely nasty tempered and the OESs were happy, dopey dogs. Here in Iowa, the Cockers have overall lovely temperaments, but the OESs will eat you alive.

 

[sillysally]

The BYB dogs around here tend to be HUGE with very large heads.....

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

I would imagine seeing regional differences in the BYB dogs, as they tend to stay within a localized gene pool. But anymore, the well bred dogs are shipped all over the US, and even imported/exported to and from various countries.

The breeds I see the biggest regional differences in are American Cockers and Old English Sheepdogs. In Oregon, Cockers were largely nasty tempered and the OESs were happy, dopey dogs. Here in Iowa, the Cockers have overall lovely temperaments, but the OESs will eat you alive.

Must be an Oregon thing, growing up there I totally agree and down here the cockers are great dogs.

The OES are still goobers though but I've only dealt with 3 in this area so not a great pull of the population.

 

[Renee750il]

I would imagine seeing regional differences in the BYB dogs, as they tend to stay within a localized gene pool. But anymore, the well bred dogs are shipped all over the US, and even imported/exported to and from various countries.

The breeds I see the biggest regional differences in are American Cockers and Old English Sheepdogs. In Oregon, Cockers were largely nasty tempered and the OESs were happy, dopey dogs. Here in Iowa, the Cockers have overall lovely temperaments, but the OESs will eat you alive.

Down here, APBT breeders -- the old ones -- have their own lines and have refined them to what they were looking for over generations. They don't care so much about universal breed standards, they have their own, which often are far more rigorous than conformation organizations and have more to do with the dog's abilities and what goes on inside that Terrier head. A dog that performs well at hunting or some other task or sport will get preference over another that fits "the standard" for looks just about every time, at least with the good lines. HA is NOT tolerated, either. You'll see APBT folks with guard dogs for their dogs, lol!

And the won't typically let you have a pup unless they've met you and sussed you out or someone they know will vouch for you, so these dogs don't get shipped out to other places routinely. Not to mention they just plain old don't like Yankees

 

[Miakoda]

This depends on who you talk to. I have met many more APBT people that would say that 'pit bull' is a shorthand for the APBT breed than it is a type.

It was. And it should be. But the general public and the media and grossly misinformed, ignorant, and willfully ignorant have distorted the term so much and given it such a broad, and often negative connotation, that in the overall sense it no longer applies solely to the APBT.

MYbe I'm a snob...or just a breed bitch...but I don't want people thinking that someones 80+ lb snarling cur of a "pit bull" is the same dog as my 32-55 lb APBTs.

What we need is education, not just "well, we're just all pretty much the same so we can just lump everything together and go from there". Many "pit bull" owners ARE the problem, so there is no way in he'll I'm just going to join sides with them. I'll fight against them.

 

[lizzybeth727]

MYbe I'm a snob...or just a breed bitch...but I don't want people thinking that someones 80+ lb snarling cur of a "pit bull" is the same dog as my 32-55 lb APBTs.

I guess I don't really understand..... We have threads here every day about how badly out of standard someone's BYB chihuahua or yorkie is, how show border collies or labs are so different from working border collies or labs, etc. But we don't go on for PAGES about how the names should be different since the dogs are so different.

 

[Miakoda]

The issue comes up because there are different "pit bull" breeds: the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, and now the American Bully. And then you've got the issue of a general type of dog being called a "pit bull", too, when it may be a Boxer/Lab cross.

As far as I know, no one is lumping More than one breed and countless mixed breeds all under the Yorkshire Terrier name. I wonder how those owners would feel if Yorkies were being banned all over because a bunch of long-haired Chihuahuas were biting and attacking people.

 

[Renee750il]

The issue comes up because there are different "pit bull" breeds: the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, and now the American Bully. And then you've got the issue of a general type of dog being called a "pit bull", too, when it may be a Boxer/Lab cross.

As far as I know, no one is lumping More than one breed and countless mixed breeds all under the Yorkshire Terrier name. I wonder how those owners would feel if Yorkies were being banned all over because a bunch of long-haired Chihuahuas were biting and attacking people.

You've gotten right to the heart of it, Staci. No matter what the terminology "Pit Bull" USED to be, *they* are now using it as a catch-all in order to spread fear and misinformation, to manufacture statistics and kill our dogs.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

Sadly pit bull owners are often the breeds own worse enemy. On both ends of the spectrum. Truth is the devil is in the extremes in every venue. Most of the middle of the roaders have never and will never cause harm to this breed (or society for that matter).

Extremist nuts terrify me, for the good or the bad.

 

[Equinox]

I use Pit Bull (capitalized "P" and "B") for APBTs, and pit bull mix and bulldog for mixes or other bully type breeds.

I do not use "Pibbles" because to me, it sounds neither cutesy nor endearing, but if that's someone else's nickname for their dog, by all means go ahead.

I will admit to using "Dobe"/"Dobes" not because I think it's an adorable name for an adorable breed but because 1) I know some people hate the spelling "Doberman" and prefer to use "Dobermann" and 2) I don't want to type out "Doberman Pinschers" when I am referring to more than one dog, and "many Doberman" sounds wrong to me, so I say "many Dobes".

 

[ACooper]

I can honestly say that I have NEVER heard the term 'pibble' outside of the internet........never once heard it in spoken form.

For the record, I don't care if you say dobe, dobie, dober, or any variation thereof. I normally write Chi or Pap because I don't always remember how to spell chihuahua and papillon (hopefully they are spelled write at the moment! haha) but when speaking, I always say chihuahua and papillon and so do others........never heard anyone SAY chi or pap.

I can understand why many APBT owners, (and the various other bully breeds) would like to get away from one lump term like pit bull.......it's not right and it shouldn't be done. I am not a breed snob, don't feel 'married' to one (or more) particular breeds, but it would irk me if people decided to make a generic label called "German Dogs" and lump dobermans, rottweilers, GSD, and all the other breeds of german descent.

The problem, at least the way I see it from "joe publics" view, (because I AM joe public about bully breeds) is that we don't always recognize the differences in breeds that can be so similar. I would most likely be hard pressed to tell the difference between a AM Staffy or APBT in person. Seriously. That might be terrible, but I fully admit it..........so it becomes easier to say Pit Bull to blanket the 'type' of dog you are talking to or about.

 

[corgipower]

I can honestly say that I have NEVER heard the term 'pibble' outside of the internet........never once heard it in spoken form.

For the record, I don't care if you say dobe, dobie, dober, or any variation thereof. I normally write Chi or Pap because I don't always remember how to spell chihuahua and papillon (hopefully they are spelled write at the moment! haha) but when speaking, I always say chihuahua and papillon and so do others........never heard anyone SAY chi or pap.

I have on occasions said "chi" or "pap" or "dobe", but when you work in a boarding kennel and see about 100+ dogs a day, you tend to get in the habit of shortening breed names as much as possible.

The problem, at least the way I see it from "joe publics" view, (because I AM joe public about bully breeds) is that we don't always recognize the differences in breeds that can be so similar. I would most likely be hard pressed to tell the difference between a AM Staffy or APBT in person. Seriously. That might be terrible, but I fully admit it..........so it becomes easier to say Pit Bull to blanket the 'type' of dog you are talking to or about.

But can you tell a yorkie from a silky? Because I can't and many people I know can't, but yet they don't all get lumped into a "yorkie type".

You've gotten right to the heart of it, Staci. No matter what the terminology "Pit Bull" USED to be, *they* are now using it as a catch-all in order to spread fear and misinformation, to manufacture statistics and kill our dogs.

Who is "they" exactly?
And how does calling them "American Pit Bull Terriers" instead of "Pit Bulls" keep them from being rounded up as "pit bulls"?? I could see if it was AmStaffs being labeled as pit bulls and the AmStaff fanciers being in an uproar about their breed name, but when "pit bulls" are being targeted and "pit bull" is in fact half the breed name, how does adding two more words there not make them "pit bulls"?? I just am not getting the logic.

 

[PWCorgi]

Didn't read the whole thread, will when I have stable interwebz.

I've used the term "pibble" on occasion on the internet and honestly never thought anything about it being offensive, guess I will have to be more careful! lol I only ever use it in real life when talking to Ryan.

A friend of mine calls corgis "chicken nugget dogs" :lol-sign: and I guess I just figured it was the same with pibble, just a nickname.

 

[lizzybeth727]

Who is "they" exactly?
And how does calling them "American Pit Bull Terriers" instead of "Pit Bulls" keep them from being rounded up as "pit bulls"?? I could see if it was AmStaffs being labeled as pit bulls and the AmStaff fanciers being in an uproar about their breed name, but when "pit bulls" are being targeted and "pit bull" is in fact half the breed name, how does adding two more words there not make them "pit bulls"?? I just am not getting the logic.

^^^This, exactly.

I don't know anyone who would call a bulldog a pit bull, unless that person truely didn't recognize the difference between a bulldog and an APBT. Same with bull terriers, american bullies, etc.

An APBT owner once told me that APBTs and AmStaffs are the same breed. I didn't know any better, so I looked it up, and came back to her and told her the differences. She said it didn't matter, they were so close they "might as well" be the same.

I was with a friend and her papillon once, and a stranger came up and commented on her "long-haired chihuahua." She corrected him, told him it was a papillon, and he said "Same thing."

So yeah, I don't believe that it's only pit bulls that get confused for other breeds, or get wrongly lumped with other breeds.

One thing that I do see a lot is lumping APBTs, amstaffs, bull terriers, bulldogs, rotties, and mixes of them and a few other breeds together and calling them "bully breeds." I don't see anything wrong with this either, just like you lump small breeds and call them "lap dogs," there's also hounds, herders, retrievers, etc.