Can someone explain to me the difference between a Pitbull and American Bully,
While looking for a Boxer I find a lot of them have Bully mix. I was advised against this as the Bullies can be dangerous.
Some insights would be appreciated.
This explains it. Many times people cross a Pit with larger breeds like Mastiff, Cane Corso, Presa, and create the XL Bullies that have been banned in England, later Scotland did too.
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This is Pinball Wizard. She’s a Staffordshire bull terrier, which is the OG breed. They run around 30 lbs. She is dangerous to my gear shift when unattended and annoying to cats.
This is Mister Sir, an American pitbull terrier. We super-sized the SBT, so most APBTs are bigger than the Staffy bull. Breed standard varies between UKC, ADBA, OFRN, and so on. The AKC American Staffordshire terrier can be a little chonkier, but at least in the past an AKC Am Staff could be dual registered as a UKC APBT but not vice versa.
Mister Sir is not particularly dangerous to anything, but he looks very judgy when he’s awake.
Baylee is also an APBT. She is a houseguest while her family is dealing with life.
Below is Junior, an exotic bully. There are many flavors of exotic bully, which can fall under the aegis of the American bully. I don’t like what backyard breeders do to with these guys; a lot of macho interest in size and muscle. IMO they become not-very-athletic house hippos with no drive. Junior is an exception, but I was a shelter vet for years and (though I am strongly pro bully breed) I find the house hippos less drivey and terrier-y. Realistically, that’s probably a better fit for the average dog owner, however.
I prefer dogs that are all whipcord muscle and go.
Junior is dangerous to buckets, bottles and probably barn cats if he could catch one. He only loves his mummy. He does not want other people to touch his head, but he’s cool if you follow the rules.
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“Pitbull” or “Bully Mix” are catchall terms casually used for any blocky looking dog that appears to have ancestry from a breed like American Pitbull Terrier, Staffordshire Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bulldog, American Bully, Bull Terrier etc.
The American Bully is a very modern breed established in the 1990s. It was created by mixing English Bulldogs with American Pitbull Terriers…and whatever else those early breeders wanted to incorporate.
Any mixed breed dog (boxer, poodle, newfoundland) is not any breed. They are just a mixed breed dog and they are all individuals. Two purebred dogs of any breed who were born in the same litter can have different temperaments.
So, while any dog can be dangerous in extreme circumstances, it’s safest to meet the individual dog and get as much advice as you can from the shelter workers about the dog’s needs for training and handling. If you don’t want to deal with high prey drive -it’s important to rule out dogs who like to chase squirrels. If you want a dog who is “bombproof” and super dog-social, make that clear to the adoption counselors.
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The dogs you’re looking at likely have zero boxer in them, and are all bully mix.
I’d steer clear of unknown crosses with any kind of obvious terrier in them. Terriers are a LOT of dog.
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…which is why I likes them!
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I don’t dislike most of them either! But OP is looking for a dog they can have offleash around horses and cats and general farm life - I’m sure there’s terriers that are fine with this but there’s lots that aren’t. That’s ok, they’re bred to chase game and be tenacious! Just “horses for courses”.
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Oh @cattywampus, I am drooling over your dog pack. So much cuteness.
Where did you find that lovely dog sweater with the squirrel on it that Pinball Wizard is wearing?
I love your dogs!
My boy is a mixture, but I guess he’s considered an exotic bully. I refer to him as a unicorn because he gets along with everyone and everything we’ve introduced him too. The rescue called him an American bully. In one picture he’s with one of his girlfriends who is your regular pity.
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Agree that temperament concerns depend on the individual dog. I have known lots of pibble mixes, and they’ve ranged from “basically a 60 pound lump on the couch that the kids could climb all over” to “I can play fetch on the beach for hours and still leap as high as your face” but none have had aggression issues towards people. A couple have not been great with meeting strange dogs on leash, but I think that was likely a socialization issue with the owners (all same owner for those and no dog + dog socialization efforts while on leash).
I have read scary stories, but they don’t reflect any of the dogs I’ve personally known from a variety of homes.
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Unfortunately the plural of your anecdotes isn’t data. I have conversely met plenty that were human (and dog) aggressive.
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Agree it’s not data. Just sharing what I know. I’ve encountered plenty of aggressive small dogs, a very scary rottie, some cocker spaniels that bite, a border collie who bit kids, and a hound who wanted to be good but had a screw loose. I really think these things depend on the individual dog but I’m sure some breeds are more statistically likely to show aggression than others.
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My sister’s pit bull would kill cats and attack horses.
Not a farm dog.
Eta: THE sweetest dog towards people. The bestest of the best. I loved him dearly. But he was NOT a farm dog.
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Some dogs cannot be trusted around livestock, small children, or pets - some can. That boils down more to the individual versus breed, my two cents.
Having fostered APTs and kept two of my own, they struck me as ‘economy mode’ dogs that prefer the finer aspects of comfortable living. “House hippo” is the perfect epithet for them. I always brought my fosters to the farm. The APTs were more concerned about the lack of comfortable accommodations, than the livestock. Actually, on the funnier side - I found a few of the APTs were scared of chickens 
The two APTs I foster-failed and kept until they passed were excellent farm dogs. Their shortcomings were that you could not trust them around a plate of bacon. They also made terrible kayak or canoe co-pilots. Both were good with other dogs but preferred human company.
If I was to make a sweeping statement about the breed, it would be they tend to not like strange dogs (but are fine with proper socialization). APTs have one of the better temperament scores in ATTS testing - they outrank Goldens, for perspective. I’ve found to be true in my personal experience handling them. I’d have another in a heartbeat if I hadn’t been converted to Catdom.
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I got it on the sale shelf at a random pet store in Boston this summer --every few years my best friend from vet school and I meet up at a conference (she’s in Italy so I never get to see her). We were wandering and window shopping. I liked it and figured it would fit SOMEONE!
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What an attractive pair!
It is totally adorable. I am glad you bought it and shared that photo with us.
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Personally knowing the OPs wishes in a dog and
Backstory I would steer away from any terrier aka bully whether pure or mixed. And I say this as someone who currently has a 100% apbt (all embarked) and 2 50% mixes and a rescue American Bulldog who I took in as a pup. Sometimes it’s not the socialization or the upbringing it’s just the veracity of the terrier drive coming through. 3 of my 4 are good good farm dogs and people dogs. The ABT I have is not reliable around wildlife and WILL NOT BACK OFF IF SHE FEELS OFFENDED by other dogs. In a scary way. And she is powerful. And blindly focused on her perceived prey. Never people. Anyway that’s my opinion. I’d steer away from bully breeds. And I love my dogs. Just not right for this situation.
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Setting aside my pro-pitty bias, if you’re looking for a boxer and want to know how it handles people, cats, etc, find a boxer rescue that utilizes foster homes.
Breed rescues pull “their” breed from area shelters, and send them to fosters, which means they hopefully acquire some job skills, basic vet care and will have a pretty detailed bio as far as how they are with other dogs/cats/kids/etc.
The downside is you may have to deal with over-protective rescue people who think no one is good enough for their dog, but that’s not any worse than horse people.
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This.
If you are talking to an American Bully breeder, that actually has pedigreed dogs – then the American Bully is actually a breed.
If you’re talking to a shelter or rescue that has “bully” mixes - it only means that the dog is the type that might be any of the “bull” breeds and/or Boxer, and/or anything else with a big blocky head. Mixed breed(s) of unknown lineage and very unlikely any of them came from quality breeders.
And, to be honest, even those that are “purebred” American Pit Bulls doesn’t mean that they are from quality breeders either. Even dogs registered with the CKC (continental, not Canadian) allows owners/breeders to guess at the breed. That doesn’t mean that they are actually purebred, or bred to any standard, or bred with any health checking or goals for temperament.
Most of them are probably sweet puppies/dogs and in the right home will be decent enough pets. But if they are not - they are powerful, stubborn and can be dangerous. Being bitten by a “bully mix” is a lot different than being bitten by a “doodle mix.”
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