To get the conversation started on this topic, I included some excerpts from the United Kennel Club aka UKC to establish some definitions and a base line.
"HISTORY (of the American Bully)
The American Bully breed developed as a natural extension of the American Pit Bull Terrier. The APBT has maintained a characteristic appearance and temperament for over 100 years. As with any long-standing breed, several types evolved from the parent breed, with one in particular taking on a specific build and structure that is so unique it was wise to recognize it as a different breed altogether. That being the American Bully breed.
The American Bully breed was subtly influenced by the infusion of several other breeds, which include the American Bulldog, English Bulldog, and Olde English Bulldogge.
The American Bully breed was recognized by the United Kennel Club on July 15, 2013.
The American Bully breed is, first and foremost, a companion, exhibiting confidence with a zest and exuberance for life. Despite its powerful appearance, their demeanor is gentle and friendly. This breed makes an excellent family dog. The ideal American Bully possesses the athleticism to do well in performance events.
The American Bully breed is recognizable by its characteristic compact, strong, thick-set structure and build. Their appearance reflects a strong American Pit Bull Terrier foundation, blended with stock from other bull breeds.
GENERAL APPEARANCE (of the American Pit Bull Terrier)
The American Pit Bull Terrier is a medium-sized, solidly built, short-coated dog with smooth, well-defined musculature. This breed is both powerful and athletic. The body is just slightly longer than tall, but bitches may be somewhat longer in body than dogs. The length of the front leg (measured from point of elbow to the ground) is approximately equal to one-half of the dog’s height at the withers.
The head is of medium length, with a broad, flat skull, and a wide, deep muzzle. Ears are small to medium in size, high set, and may be natural or cropped.
The relatively short tail is set low, thick at the base and tapers to a point.
The American Pit Bull Terrier comes in all colors and color patterns except merle. This breed combines strength and athleticism with grace and agility and should never appear bulky or muscle-bound or fine-boned and rangy.
To put it a bit more simply, we are dealing with two different breeds.
APBT have been around for hundreds of years. In recent years, Pit Bulls have been breed to the extremes both big and small. Pit Bulls have changed so much that a new breed was created 10 years ago, the American Bully. Within the American Bully breed, there are 5 classes- Pocket, Extreme, Standard, Classic and XL. The classes are determined first by height, second by definition. I will go into more detail in another post!
UKC created American Bully in 2013. They also recognized that they had A LOT of registered Pit Bulls that were no longer 'Terriers' and were now American Bully according to the new breed standards. To make a clear definition between the two, UKC allowed Pit Bulls to SWITCH breeds! After a dog reaches 6 months old you can submit pictures and paper work to change the breed of the dog on paper.
One reason breeders have delayed switching the dogs breed is because you will "loose" the pedigree, since the dog will now be and American Bully and its parents are still 'Pit Bulls'. There are plenty of ways to preserve that information, through 'Pedia sites and providing your own pedigrees to circulate. However we are all starting to cave and let go of our 'pit bull' papers and making the change because there are so many American Bullies now. Remember we, can not register puppies if there is one Am Bull parent and one APBT parent. It has to all align for purebred puppies.
There are more reasons to do the switch over than to not. In my opinion, there are two main registries we use. UKC and ABKC (American Bully Kennel Club). A dog may have dual registry's, which is my goal for all of our dogs/puppies. It is easier to go from UKC to ABKC. This becomes challenging when you have a UKC registered APBT have puppies with an ABKC American Bully. (Keep in mind the APBT should hold the American Bully title). So for those puppies to be registered we need to transfer the UKC APBT to Am Bully. Then we need to register the dog with ABKC using the UKC new breed assignment. We are then able to use both ABKC American Bully titles of mom and dad to register the litter as ABKC American Bullies. To say this has been a headache is putting it lightly. Between using originally fillings, taking (submitting) pictures, filling out the correct paperwork, lining up all our litters AND both organizations being out 3 plus months on turnarounds (on just one issue)....and my obvious procrastination tendencies-our 2022 litters paperwork has taking forever to get out to clients!
Another reason why it is important to follow through and switch these dogs to the 'new' breed American Bully is we are not doing either breed any justice. It is our responsibility to accept progression and move into the future. We need to educate people on the difference
of the two breeds.
We will all still use the broad term Pit Bull to explain to people the type of dog that we have and love, simply because it is the term most known. However in the same breath we will have to also label them what they are American Bullies. I have discovered that it is the quickest and easiest to explain to people that they are American Bullies, which are basically 21st century Pit Bulls, there's nothing 'terrier' about them anymore!
