How did the word pit get attached to the ,as we know it , Pitbull Dog?

Answer 1

Pitbull is a type of dog, not a breed. The specific breed is called American Pitbull Terrier. Or American Staffordshire Terrier. Or American Bulldog. Or Staffordshire Terrier.

Pit refers to the area where dogs were pitted against one another in blood sport, aka, fighting one another. The dogs that were gamest were bred to go to the pit to fight. Originally, the fighting dogs were up against bears, but that was outlawed, so men starting pitting the fighting dogs against one another.

Answer 2

because when people put the dogs into a fight they put them in a pit or depressed area and make them fight usually to the death. It is cruel. We had a rescued half dalmation / half american staffordshire bull terrier dog - some people term that as a pit bull (she had been used for breeding "pit bull" pups and was going to be used for "training bait" shortly as she had given birth to several litters already but got rescued with a few others). by the way, she was an excellent dog for 8 years and we just had to euthanize her because of cancer - she was never trained for fighting and so was very gentle with all other dogs, and also cats, rabbits and children - even babies. all the neighborhood kids would come around to play with her, and she was very smart. They still talk about our Petie (she had the one black spot eye and looked like the Little Rascals dog).

Answer 3

The american pit bull terrier is a term generally ascribed to a few breeds of dog such as the american staffordshire terrier, american pit mastiff and american bull terrier. But all these are breeds in their own right. The american pit bull terrier originated from english bull terrier breeds bought over in the early1800's. The word pit was added to the terrier name in reference to the pits that were the areas used for fighting. Bull terrier is used in reference to the breeds originally used to create this breed. They were used by farmers as guard dogs, hunters of wolves, bear and other threats to livestock and fighting dogs for amusement. As the need for such guard dogs decreased people began owning them for their great nature as a family dog and to protect their families from threats such as home invasion. They are noted also in history for their placidness with children and other people but an aggression toward other dogs bought about by their origins. It should be noted that in the early 1900's they were very popular as a family dog because of an unswerving loyalty to their families and children hence the name 'nanny dog'.

Answer 4

because the arena they fought in was lower than the stands, it was a pit