Q&A with ADBA
Q
ADBA has reclassified my dog as an American Bully. I don’t think that my dog looks like an
American Bully. My dog looks like an American Pit Bull Terrier but with a larger head and bigger
bone. I love my dog, but I never wanted to have an American Bully, so now what am I suppose to
do? Where do I go from here?
A Dogs were reclassified because of their pedigrees. Once it was determined which bloodlines were
consistently producing dogs that demonstrate traits reflecting the American Bully breed, the dogs whose
pedigree contained one or more of these bloodlines were moved to the American Bully studbook. As
in all breeds there is a lot of variability in the look of the dogs and not all dogs conform to their breed
standard or even reflect their breed type. It is a dog’s pedigree that determines his breed.
If you are planning on breeding you dog, as a responsible breeder you need to have a plan on what
kind of dogs you want to produce. If your dog is now registered as an American Bully, you need to
study the ADBA American Bully breed standard and understand breed type and those elements within
the standard that apply to structural soundness. Having a longtime breeder or sanctioned judge look at
your dogs to give you an opinion of the quality of the dog in terms of soundness of body and tempera-
ment would be a good start to determine if the dog should be bred. NOT ALL dogs should be bred.
Many, many are great pet quality dogs and should be spayed or neutered and live out their lives in a
loving home enjoying a great relationship with their family.
If you determine that your dog is outstanding in terms of structural soundness and temperament and
you want to go ahead with a breeding, then you should choose a high quality stud dog that is strong
in the American Bully traits that your female does not possess. Study your dog’s pedigree and those
bloodlines within her pedigree that make her an American Bully. The stud that you choose, should also
have those same bloodlines within his pedigree, so the chances of the puppies having American Bully
breed type are increased. The mark of a good breeder is producing consistent and predictable traits in
each litter. This requires refinement of a kennel’s gene pool through line breeding and inbreeding and
diligent scrutiny in the selection of breeding stock.
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