Are american staffordshire terrier and pit bulls the same

Is the American Staffordshire Terrier a pit bull?

The American Staffordshire Terrier (affectionately shortened to Am Staff) is considered a “pit bull.” Although with many similarities, it is separate and distinct from its cousin breed, the American Pit Bull Terrier. 

The lack of understanding around this breed should come as no surprise.

Are you confused?

Don’t worry.

Most of the confusion comes from a misconception of the term “pit bull.” 

Read on to learn more about:

• what a “pit bull” really is
• how the Am Staff and the American Pit Bull Terrier fall into that category
• what makes all three of them different.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What Breed Is The Pit Bull?
• Why Are They Called Pit Bulls?
• What Is A True Pit Bull? 
• American Staffordshire Terrier vs. Pit Bull  Difference
• Is The AmStaff or The Pit Bull Terrier Right For You?

What Breed Is The Pit Bull?

None! And also many.

Okay, okay, that’s not very helpful.

But figuring out what dog counts as a pit bull is difficult because many people misunderstand what a pit bull is.

A common error is to believe that the term “pit bull” [1] refers to a specific breed. Still, the term refers to an ambiguous grouping of dogs or an umbrella term that includes several breeds, including the Am Staff and the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Bulldog, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Bully, and more.

These dogs are all descendants of cross-bred bulldogs and terriers, with origins in the 1800s in England.

Due to the term’s ambiguity, mixed dogs that share some of the more distinctive morphological features of the pedigree breeds in the pit bull type may also be labeled as pit bulls.

Mutts may also be considered pit bulls, demonstrating how broad the term is and how many dogs it may cover.

Why Are They Called Pit Bulls?

“Bull-baiting” Image Credits: Samuel Henry Alken [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

“Pit bull” is derived from two words, pit and bull. Each is pretty self-explanatory if you look back at the history of the dog type.

The “pit” part comes from an activity in which these dogs were bred for ratting.

In ratting, two dogs were placed in a pit with loosed rats, and the winner of the competition was the dog that could kill or trap more rats than their opponent in a set amount of time.

These kinds of tournaments served as precursors to the more violent and dangerous fighting rings that pit bulls later became known for and are characterized by today.

Like bulldogs, the “bull” part of a pit bull comes from their history of baiting bulls for sport.

All the bully breeds were used to bait large animals in this way—and this often also happened in a pit, which further contributes to the pit bull name.

What Is A True Pit Bull? 

While some would say that pit bulls can refer to a fluid category of dogs, as discussed above, others would argue that the only true pit bull is the American Pit Bull Terrier—the only breed with the term “pit bull” in its name. (The other dogs commonly referred to as pit bulls, on the other hand, would more accurately be labeled as terriers.)

This poses a big problem for staunch defenders of the American Pit Bull Terrier.

What is the big deal, you may ask, about using the term pit bull to refer to dogs that aren’t American Pit Bull Terriers?

Well, believe it or not, it comes down to the law.

American Pit Bull Terriers have gained a bad reputation as aggressive and dangerous fighting dogs, and legislation has been put in place to specifically target their use in illegal fighting rings.

Protective owners will tell you that the misunderstanding between the American Pit Bull Terrier as a breed and the term “pit bull” as a name for a group of breeds—both purebred and otherwise—has led to even further damage against the breed’s reputation.

By lumping the American Pit Bull Terrier together with other dogs that share some of its morphological traits, public perception conflates violent and aggressive behaviors and incidents with dogs they should not be attributed to.

Attributing dog attacks from other breeds, mixed and pure, to American Pit Bull Terriers skews the numbers against them and damages their reputations.

If these numbers ever get high enough, it may be enough to encourage legislators to ban the breed.

In these statistics, American Pit Bull Terrier supporters oppose grouping together pit bull-type dogs as they paint the American Pit Bull Terrier as being more aggressive than research shows it is.

For the fiercest supporters of the American Pit Bull Terrier, it is the only true pit bull.

They oppose “pit bull” as an umbrella term that captures other breeds in its category. In their eyes, if it’s not an American Pit Bull Terrier, it is not a pit bull at all.

American Staffordshire Terrier vs. Pit Bull  Difference

The confusion over whether a dog is an Am Staff or an American Pit Bull Terrier comes mainly from the lack of clarity around terms discussed throughout this article.

There is no breed known as the “pit bull”; instead, that is a descriptor of a group of breeds, including the Am Staff, the American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull terrier, and more.

So is the Am Staff a pit bull?

 Technically yes, but the terms aren’t interchangeable.

It still varies from the American Pit Bull Terrier, and both breeds are commonly accepted as belonging to the pit bulldog type.

Temperamentally, both Am Staffs and American Pit Bull Terriers share loyal and energetic personalities, but Pit Bull Terriers tend to be more aggressive than their Am Staff counterparts.

Paired with their larger size, this can make them appear more intimidating than Am Staffs, although realistically, the two breeds share far more than they differ.

In terms of physical differences, there are slight but notable variations between the two breeds.

The most significant difference is that size: because the Am Staff was taken out of the pit earlier, they are markedly smaller than their Pit Bull Terrier cousins.

Even with the size difference, the wide allowable variation in color, coat, and musculature in both breeds can make it very difficult to distinguish them from one another—even for those trained to do so.

Perhaps the difficulty of telling these breeds apart should come as no surprise, given their shared roots.

Both of them are quite modern dogs in the grand scheme of things. Even DNA testing can be inconclusive when telling the two apart—that’s how close their diverging paths are.

Regardless, though, of what physically distinguishes the Am Staff from the American Pit Bull Terrier, there is a least one major difference by name: one breed (the Am Staff) is recognized by the American Kennel Club and can compete in all of its events; the other (the Pit Bull Terrier) is not.

There is also the difference of heritage: while the Am Staff has not been known as a fighting dog for some time now, the American Pit Bull Terrier continues to be used in illegal matches to this day.

This reputation has made new potential owners wary of adopting the latter, and Pit Bull Terriers are one of the most commonly rescued breeds in the country.

Is The AmStaff or The Pit Bull Terrier Right For You?

Both of these breeds have received a bad rap, but none of it is deserved.

Under abusive hands, any dog can become a monster, but these pit bulls are naturally friendly and protective. It doesn’t take much to reignite their ancestral nanny instincts!

If you’re thinking about either, and you have small children, consider getting younger dogs so they can grow up together.

Unfortunately, due to their ongoing presence in illegal fighting rings, pit bull breeds can have questionable origins, so make sure you’re adopting your American Pit Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier puppies from a breeder you’ve researched and trust.

But don’t let their bad reputation turn you off; both Am Staffs and American Pit Bull Terriers add a lot to a family—each in their unique way.

Do you love this breed?

Check Out More Pit Bull Breeds articles below:

• Is the American Staffordshire Terrier a good first dog?

References:

1. [^] “Pit Bull.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Aug. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_bull.