Basic Care Advice

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Pit Bull Informational Pages
by Diane Jessup 

Basic Care of Your Pit Bull
Breaking Up Dog Fights

If you own any good sized, capable breed of dog, you should be adept at breaking up dog fights. Like anything, practice makes this unpleasant task easier, but luckily most of us don't get to practice this particular skill too often.

American pit bulls are gripping dogs; they come from a long, long genetic history that tells them to get a hold and HANG ON! This saved their life during the thousands of years they were hunting boar, stag and bear, and also stood them in good stead when they moved on to working bulls, bears and other animals in baiting sports.

When speaking of breaking up dog fights, it is important to understand the difference between a "real" pit bull and a "cur" dog. A "cur" is any dog which is NOT an American pit bull, or an American pit bull which shows cowardly characteristics not commonly seen in a "real" pit bull. Why is it important? Because breaking up a fight between two pit bulls is far different from breaking up a fight between cur dogs.

It is very common for "cur" dogs to lash out at humans intervening in the fight. You can get a nasty bite reaching into a fight involving dogs other than well bred pit bulls. I personally have broken up upwards of 50 dog fights in my quarter century with the breed and I have yet to be bitten.

I will discuss breaking up pit bull to pit bull fights, and pit bull to cur fights, as the technique is quite different for your safety.