602 – Responsibly Developing New Breeds… What Does That Look Like?
Responsibly Developing New Breeds… What Does That Look Like?
The facts are that all but a very, very limited handful of our breeds today have been created by mankind for some purpose. Companionship is a purpose. I would like to introduce you to the Toy Fox Terrier, for example. As society moves away from agrarian and hunter gatherer lives, companion breeds and even new companion breeds are more in demand than ever.
Society changes. And I think that when we talk about purebred dogs being living history, in some cases that history is still being made and there are different needs in today’s society than there were 100 or 200 years ago.
DASH DNJ HOP UWP URO1 EGRCH SB Knightfall SPOT
Join me for a conversation with Nikki Holcomb about the American Bully. Recognized by the United Kennel Club in 2013, Holcomb is leading the push to responsibly develop this companion breed with health testing, temperament testing, breeding goals, a breed standard and more.
“The American Bully is a companion breed,” Holcomb said. “A lot of people, when they see them, will immediately question that. They’re like, ‘Are you sure these are dogs in the companion group?’ Even when we’re at dog shows, we’re standing ringside and they’re like, ‘Are you sure at the right ring?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m absolutely positive.’ It’s surprising to people, I think, to see a big bulky dog beside a little bichon or a little toy poodle or whatnot, and they’re like, well, we just really don’t understand. And that’s valid.
MBIS/MRBIS TDBIS MSDBIS VBIS R1 STAR3 RACEN URO1 AP2 VPA UWPO UGWPCH IC-GRCH INT-BCH DGCH ArK9s Noschitt Sherlock DNA-VIP NTD SPOT-ON
“But I think that American Bullies fill a really important spot. There are people out there that want to have a bigger dog, a little bit bigger than medium size, that can do all of the really fun sports, but they really don’t want a working dog. Or maybe they don’t want the attitude of a terrier, or they don’t want to deal with the baying of a scent hound or the quirks that come with the sight hound. You know, whatever it may be. But they want to sport dog. Or they want a dog that can go on three-mile hikes with them or go swimming at the lake and they’re like, well, do I get a small dog or do I just go with some of the things I don’t enjoy as much and I think American Bullies do fill that space really well.
“They’re very easy to train. They’re incredibly handler oriented. They’re absolutely in love with their people, to the point where they’ve never met a stranger. Protective is definitely not on their list. A lot of people will see them. They’re like, oh, they’re guardians. They’re 100% not guardians. They’re not going to protect you. That burglar coming in the house is their best friend. They’re super outgoing, they’re fun loving and they love to try everything you know, anything you could do. They’re excited to do it.”
“The official listing of founding breeds for the American Bully are the American Staffordshire Terrier, the American Pitbull Terrier, Old English Bulldog and English bulldog.
Health testing for the American Bully. Infographic by Anissa Shotbolt.
“I think they really took traits from each of these breeds and really focused on making a dog that could be calm enough and low drive enough to be with a young family, with young kids, or even a first time pet owner. Removing a lot of the dog aggression to the point where we do not want to see any dog aggression in American Bullies at all. We don’t want to see prey drive. You should be able to have your American Bully with anything and everything. They should be gentle with children. They should be biddable, easy companions. There shouldn’t be anything that makes them difficult for first time pet owner. These are really important traits for this breed that I feel like the founding breeds maybe fell a little bit short on.”
Our Valued Corporate Sponsors:
Our Esteemed Advertisers:
Our In-Kind Supporters:
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER — FRANCIS BACON
When you become a patron of Pure Dog Talk you’ll tap into an exclusive community of experts to help you and your dog be blue-ribbon best at whatever you do with your purebred dog! Your support helps keep the MP3's rolling at Pure Dog Talk!
As a supporter, you’ll immediately gain access to the weekly Pure Pep Talk SMS, Pure Pep Talk private Facebook group, and priority emails. Patrons can choose to level up to the After Dark Zoom and a Patrons Digital Badge for their website— even a private counseling session with Laura on any topic.
DON'T MISS AN EPISODE!!
I just wanted to say I appreciate this “hot topics” month. I was really curious about the origins of the American Bully, I have a friend and a couple of pet puppy buyers who have them, but I hadn’t a clue how or why they were developed. I have Bull Terriers and my understanding is the breed was developed as a “fashionable, gentleman’s all-white version” of a bull & terrier fighting dogs of the Victorian era, when dog fighting was seen as a perfectly acceptable pastime, and white pets of many species were fashionable.
It’s openly acknowledged that they were crossed back to colored bull & terrier breeds in the early 1900s when the health problems associated with all-white BTs became too problematic. I find it a bit disingenuous to rage against Goldendoodles when my breed’s origins are also called out in the breed name. But I wonder, why are GDs so despised (yes I know a lot of it is misleading promotion, but they were developed for a reason) and other recently developed breeds like Cesky and Black Russian Terriers seen as perfectly OK by the AKC dog show community?
I first learned of Silken Windhounds when I got into Barn Hunt, which also attracts a number of sport mixes, and it’s just SO interesting to see the different combinations and meet the people who are into them. I have not listened to your Silken Windhound episode yet, but it’s close to the top of my queue, so I expect to finish it this week, and I’m looking forward to learning more about them
I don’t know if you’re a listener to the Functional Dog Collaborative podcast, but they had an episode on the history of breed registries with Alison Skipper from the Royal Veterinary College earlier this year. I was surprised to learn that the “purity” of breeds is more recent than many purebred fanciers (at least me!) are led to believe, and when I think about it, that’s perfectly consistent with my knowledge of the introduction of colored Bull Terriers, If you haven’t listened to the episode, here’s a link https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-b3ih5-13f9e22
Sorry for the long comment, and I’m not trying to spam you regarding FDC, I just think that episode is relevant to new breed discussions.
Thanks again for daring to “go there!”
I just had to comment on the American Bully episode. I thought the breeder did a wonderful job talking about her breed. While it seems like an awfully small group to start the breed out they are doing all the right things, especially with all the health testing to improve the breed. We unfortunately see a few of the backyard breeders at the vet clinic I work at and it is quite horrifying seeing these dogs that can barely walk having litters of puppies. Especially when it’s obvious things like their skin and eyes are not being well taken care of.
But the main thing I wanted to point out to her is saying this is a companion breed and breeding for that pool of owners (especially the first time owners she discussed) is somewhat ruined by the emphasis on cropped ears. I feel this pulls in a group of people looking for that tough dog, fighting dog, type look AND personality, which is what she is trying to get away from. And the short crops that we see are so often done badly and cause ongoing health issues. I feel that taking the cropped ear emphasis away would make a HUGE difference in how this breed is perceived and who your market ends up being. I hope this can be taken into consideration when trying to breed the next wonderful companion breed out there!