Official Pit Bull Site of Diane Jessup

I understand it is controversial to not "go with the flow" and support the kennel club registries. I have strong feelings about not supporting these organizations, and below are some of the reasons why.

"Basement Registries"

Nothing's worse than some chump buying a $50 unpapered pit bull and breeding it to sell pups for cash. The only thing worse is a registry that tries to give credence to this practice by offering "papers" on unpapered dogs. Of course, no one but the rankest novice in the breed would fall for this ploy to part them from their money.

Sadly, the breed is full of rank novices, many well intentioned, but none the less not knowledgeable enough to be contemplating breeding pit bulls. These are the type of people who fall prey to the "basement registries" that offer them "papers" on their animals. And there are no shortages of these registries. Some are all breed, some are specific to American pit bulls, and some are for "bull breeds". If you are considering sending money to these jokers - don't. The papers you will receive will have no value.

Pedigree Truthfulness

To be honest, experts in the breed agree that many if not most "gamebred" pit bull pedigrees are false. "Game dog" journals, books and interviews are filled with the accusations of one "dog man" stating another had intentionally falsified papers. Pete Sparks mentions Corvino and Carver by name as notorious "fakers" and indicates that only the Colby family were known for keeping accurate pedigrees. Dogs with questioned pedigrees (to name just two) are such cornerstones as "Eli, Jr"and "Dibo". For a very good discussion on this subject may be found in Frank Rocco's second book "American Pit Bull: Endangered Species".

I think anyone who looks at the issue with a hard, close scrutiny will come to understand that the chances of falsification in any given American pit bull pedigree is quite high. Honest discussions with "old timers" has confirmed this to my satisfaction.

Without useful knowledge of the dogs listed on a pedigree, the document is, in fact, just so much paper. To a serious breeder, the names need to be paired up with useful information about structure, temperament and ability. When this can be done, the pedigree becomes a useful article.

The United Kennel Club

I chose not to support the UKC. This is a person decision I have had in place since the early 90's. I do support the current UKC standard for the American pit bull, and feel it is excellent. However, I cannot support an organization which does not, in my opinion, take the issue of puppy mills seriously. A registry cannot control breeders - but a registry can set examples and require ethical practices of those who use its services.

Worse, the UKC recently introduced something I feel is a direct threat to the welfare of the American pit bull. This is the so-called "Protection Alert" title. From the UKC/SDA web page: SDA predicts the Protection Dog Alert and the Protection Dog 1 to become one of the most popular protection titles in dog training.

The problem? Schutzhund and ring sport are difficult, complex titles which require dedication and a true commitment from a dog handler. Getting up mornings to track your dog, working hard on off lead obedience and protection routines, these are built in safety measures that assure that only the truly dedicated will earn titles. As well, these titles are complex enough to assure that the dogs which hold them are deserving of the honor.

The Protection Dog Alert title is undeserving of being considered a "protection dog title". The dog need only snap and snarl on the end of a leash! If there is one thing the American pit bull does NOT need right now, it is encouragement to those perhaps no willing to put the time and commitment into fully training a dog to put "just a little" bite training on their pit bull. This kind of partial training is dangerous and unconscionable to those who take protection dog sports seriously.

I am a proud participant of both French ring and schutzhund. Both these sports have long and impressive histories and have been fine tuned to provide for the safety of dogs and public. So called "street dog" titles are going to encourage - and reward - those people who want to slap-dab a little bit of bite-training on their dogs.

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