The American Pit Bull Terrier

american pit bull terrier

The American Pit Bull Terrier is one of the most athletic, strongest, and smartest dog breeds out there. This breed has been awarded the “Super Dog” status with the United Kennel Club. This status is determined by winning championship titles in conformation, obedience, agility, and weight pulling. 25 individual dogs are awarded this “Super Dog” status and of those 25 dogs, 14 of them are American Pit Bull Terriers. These statistics prove that this dog breed is one of the most highly successful athletic breeds and thoroughly enjoys a variety of different dog sports. The sports activities that the American Pit Bull Terrier excels in the most are weight pulling, dog agility, flyball, lure coursing, and Schutzhund.

Weight pulling is a dog sport that requires a dog to pull a cart or sled filled with weight a short distance across a specific kind of terrain. This terrain can be anything from dirt, gravel, and grass to carpet or snow. For the sport of weight pulling, the dogs are separated into classes by weight. It has been a known fact that Pit Bull breeds tend to always excel in this sport within their respective weight classes. This is mainly due to the Pit Bull breeds origins of pulling sleds and plows. For the sport of weight pulling, the dog is hitched to the cart or sled with a specifically designed harness to spread the weight and prevent any injuries. This sport of weight pulling is often performed within competitions sanctioned by a variety of non-profit organizations. In 1984, the International Weight Pulling Association was organized in order to promote the strong heritage of the working dog breeds.

Dog agility is a dog sport that involves a handler to direct a dog through an obstacle course in a race to test both time and accuracy. The dog is to run without a leash or any food and toys as incentives. There are strict rules that say the handler cannot touch the dog or any obstacles. Instead, the handler’s controls are based solely on voice, movement, and a variety of body signals. This will prove that an excellent form of training is required from the dog in order to coordinate successfully with the handler. The course in the sport of dog agility consists of a set of standard obstacles that are laid out specifically by an agility judge. The judge can create the design to his or her own choosing with a grid that stretches about 100 feet by 100 feet. It can be made up of grass, rubber mats, or dirt floors along with numbers that indicate the order that the dog must complete the obstacles. The courses are so complicated that it would be impossible for a dog to successfully complete them without a handler. The handler must assess the course and decide on their strategies in order to direct the dog through the tough course successfully with speed and perfection.

Flyball is a dog sport that is focused around teams of dogs as opposed to single dog competitions. In flyball, teams of dogs race against each other from a starting line to a finish line. Within the course, the dogs must go over a line of hurdles to a box that releases a tennis ball that has to be caught when the dog presses the spring loaded pad. Then the dogs must carry the ball back to their handlers. In this dog sport of flyball, it is run in teams of four dogs as a relay. There are four hurdles on the course that are spaced 10 feet apart from each other. The flyball box is located 15 feet from the last hurdle. The total length of the course is 51 feet long. In order to determine the hurdle height, the smallest dog in the team is measured. That smallest dog’s shoulder height is the height of the hurdles. Each dog must bring the ball back all the way across the start line before the next dog in the team is allowed to begin. The first team that has all fours dogs cross the finish line without any errors wins the heat. If a dog drops the tennis ball or a dog is released before the previous teammate crosses the line, penalties are applied.

In the dog sport of lure coursing, dogs chase a mechanically operated lure. The dogs are directed to chase an artificial lure across a field, while following a pattern that is meant to simulate live coursing. A normal lure course is usually between 600 yards and 1,000 yards long. However, in Europe, the course length can be over 1,000 meters and also occasionally incorporate a few obstacles or jumps. The course is required to have a minimum number of turns in order to simulate prey changing direction during a chase. The fields can either be fenced or open. Most of the time, if a dog is lure focused, he will usually follow the lure perfectly from start to finish without running off course. Dogs that are considered “lure-wise” if they have a lot of lure experience. These types of dogs have been known to try and anticipate or cheat by attempting to cut off the lure instead of trying to capture it using speed and agility. The dogs must be at least one year old in order to compete in this dog sport. Because of the course’s hard fast turns, these movements can be tough of a younger dog’s developing joints.

The sport of Schutzhund is a dog sport that was developed in the early 1900s in Germany. Schutzhund means “protection dog” in German. This sport was originally created as a breed suitability test for the German Shepherd Dog. The test was able to determine if the dog displayed the necessary traits and characteristics of a proper working German Shepherd Dog. However, today, Schutzhund is used as a sport where a variety of different breeds, not only German Shepherds, can compete. The modern version of Schutzhund consists of three phases. These phases are tracking, obedience, and protection. In order to be awarded a Schutzhund title, a dog must pass all three phases in one trial. Each phase is judged based on a 100 point scale. The minimum passing score for the tracking and obedience phases is 70. 80 is the minimum passing score for the protection phase. However, at any time the judge can dismiss a dog for showing poor temperament such as fear or aggression. The sport of Schutzhund is an extremely demanding test for any dog breed and very few are able to pass it successfully.

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These above dog sports are just a few of the activities that American Pit Bull Terriers engage in. Weight pulling, dog agility, flyball, lure coursing, and Schutzhund are difficult and technical sports that only the best dog breeds can handle and complete successfully. However, the American Pit Bull Terrier seems to excel in every one of these dog sports. With their strong, physically fit bodies paired with their extreme intelligence, it is no surprise that the American Pit Bull Terrier is a true “Super Dog.

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