Famous American Pit Bull Terriers
82Famous Pit Bulls
- Famous Pit Bulls
The choice dog for many celebrities in history is not the lab or retreiver, but the American Pit Bull Terrier. - Famous People
Read through this extensive list of famous people who own American Pit Bull Terriers. There are even pictures of the celebs with their pups.
APBTs in History
Pit bulls were once a sign of dignity and strength to the United States and for the people therein. The never-quit attitude that they held was a statement towards the United States. They were once posted in advertisements, on magazines, and in movies.
Today, people fear the breed. They fear the myths surrounding the breed. They fear the bad reputation surrounding the breed.
They were once, highly dignified and loved.
Helen Keller and her pit bull- Sir Thomas
Sergeant Stubby
American Pit Bull Posters
Other Famous Pit Bulls
Popsicle is the number one US customs dog. She was found in a freezer during a drug raid by Buffalo police in 1997. They found Popsicle as a 5 month old puppy, who quickly became a favorite. He graduated his training at the Canine Enforcement Training Center in Front Royal, Virginia, and went to work with his handler, J.J., in Texas.
RCA is a certified hearing dog in Alaska
Tahoe, Cheyenne, and Dakota are all search and rescue dogs in Sacramento, California. The three pit bulls worked none stop at the World Trade Center and Pentagon after 9/11.
Bud was the first dog to travel cross country in 1903.
Sergeant Stubby died on March 16, 1926, as a hero, yet today, many people do not know who he is. Sergeant Stubby is the most decorated dog in military history, and the only dog to have been promoted during battle. He fought for 18 months in the trenches for France during WW1 for 17 battles. Stubby warned his fellow soldiers of gas attacks, located wounded soldiers in No Man's Land, and listened for oncoming artillery rounds. He was also responsible for the capture of a German spy at Argonne. After his time in the war, Stubby met Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Warren G. Harding. He was, also, made a life member of the American Legion, the Red Cross, and the YMCA.
Jack Brutus was another famous military dog. Although, he did not get nearly the publicity as Stubby, Jack Brutus was the the official mascot of Company K, First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was much larger than Stubby and was never smuggled anywhere with his troops (as Stubby had been). Jack Brutus died in 1898 of spinal troubles and constipation. He was much larger than the famous Sergeant Stubby but was definitely a pit bull type dog.
Celebrity Owned Pit Bulls
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Woodrow Wilson
- General George Patton
- Helen Keller
- Jamie Foxx
- Rachael Ray
- Jon Stewart
- Ken Howard
- Jessica Biel
- Jessica Alba
- Kevin Federline
- Pink
- And a few other celebrities
In Movies, Advertisements, and TV
Pit bulls have come across the big screen as well as printed material with a BAM...
- Petey from The Little Rascals
- Tige- Buster Brown Shoe advertisements
- Life magazine- Many people don't realize the the American pit bull terrier is the only breed that has been on the cover of Times for three issues.
- Poster image for the U.S. during the 1900's. The American pit bull was the image people saw on various war posters, representing the country's strength and dignity
- Pit Bull Rehabilitation
- BSL and Pit Bull Terriers
- PBRC
Pit Bull Rescue Central
I just hope that the future of the great American pit bull terrier is as good as that before it. I hope that one day, we will again see the pit bull in advertisments not promoting BSL. I would like to see the pit bull in advertisments of strength, dignity, and loyalty, versus fury, terror, and rage.
Why can't we remember being kids and watching the "Little Rascals" and thinking how cute Petey is, and wanting a dog just like him? Versus run at the sight of a child playing with a pit bull...
Pictures can be found at flickr.com and Yahoo.
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Comments
Thanks for the info. I love my Pitty and would love to purchase a poster of some of the art you have listed above. If youhave any links or advice, I'd be so grateful. Thanks!
Hi, I'm a pit bull lover with a really sweet femaie that I adopted a few years back. Your picture of Helen Keller's dog Sir Thomas caught my eye. I have been trying to verify from original sources that her dog was a pit bull, yet all I can find refers to it as a "Boston Terrier". Boston Terriers were bred by cross-breeding pit bulls with smaller terriers so that they could be hidden under coats to bring them into fights.
You can look up Boston Terrier and compare the modern picture and see right away that Sir Thomas was no Boston Terrier. Yet, I was wondering if you have any expert opinions or contemporary accounts that describe Sir Thomas as a pit bull?
Here is the New York Times article: <http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2
Bryan: the Boston Terrier originated from Hooper's Judge, who was a mix breed between an Old English Bulldog and an English White Terrier, following adding the French Bulldog bloodlines to help bring the size down more. The "pit bull" was then breed into the dog to help bring the dog even further down in size.
It has been recorded that Helen Keller did have an American Pit Bull Terrier, and not the Boston Terrier. There are records that she owned an Akika.
Helen Keller's dog was a Pit Bull Terrier, NOT a boston terrier!!!!!
i think Helen Keller really had a Boston Terrier/Boxer mix not a pit bull
Helen Keller's dog Sir Thomas was a pit bull.
Blue Water's White Lightning of DBR call name "Blitz" AKA "Gunner"
Is a registered American Bulldog
It seems that you are correct. I don't remember where I got the information, but I was able to look up more about Blue Water's White Lightning, and found that he was an American Bulldog. I don't think the this was the main dog in the first film as the supposide breeder claims, but I can see him as the stunt dog. The only picture the supposide breeder had that may have been the dog from the 1st film was played with by a photoshop program. The only natural picture they had of the dog didn't appear anything like the dog in the 1st film, as he didn't have the brown ear but had black spots instead.
I went ahead and removed him from the list and added a few others though.
Hi, does anyone remember an old ad from American Express (their 100 anniversary, I think), featuring a pit bull? I saw a poster awhile back, but can't seem to locate it now.
i just read your pages and thought they were very interesting i am from scotland in the uk wer the breed is banned i own an apbt he was seized just over one year ago along with my bitch and her ten seven week old pups they wer gorgeous sadly the pups contracted hepatitis while in the care of the authoraties. i went through a lenthly one yaer court battle to try and retreive my two remaining dogs back.thankfully i won my case and my dogs are back with me n once again very happy allthough my bitch hasnt been the same since the loss of her pups.i dont suppose being locked up in kenels for over a year wouldnt help either they have been tattood with serial numbers n r insured with a public liability policy.I completly agree with your views on bsl and only wish ther was somthing i could do to help in the campaign against it once again thanks for caring and trying to open peoples eyes to the true nature of the breed that we love so much
I'm so sorry to hear about your legal battle, but I do commend you for fighting for your dogs. That's definitely somethign that I would have done. I hope you can help the movement in the UK to turn around people's mind. Let me tell you if my county every suffers bsl, I'm moving. I know that it has been brought up in the state, but the motion was closed after it was petitioned.
Thanks for the great info I wish alot of people would see this
i have a puppy that is half boston terrier and half american pitbull. i know this because i knew the father and the mother very well; the father was an 60 lb pit bull and the mother was 15 lb boston terrier. my pup is about 11 months old and is 45 lbs.
the pictures of helen keller with her supposed boston seem odd to me. the boston seems to big. i don't know though. the real reason i am posing this message is to find out if anyone knows of a cross of breeds similar to my dog or if anyone knows how the pitbull is exactly related to the boston terrier.
thanks.
Boston terriers are consider bulls. There is an indirect line between the boston terrier and the APBT.
I have an original Glass Negitive of Hellen Keller and her pit Bull. This is a photo that is not shown here on this web site. I have never seen this particular photo posted anywhewre before. I purchased this photo at an ADBA dog show in Indianapolis, IN this summer. I am curious if there are any other copies of this photo any place. Does it hold any particular value? I dunno. I paid 35 bucks for it!
anyone have any idea how I can get this photo from the glass to photo paper?
I would LOVE to see the picture if you can get a picture of the glass. You may be able to go to a print company to get the picture scanned at super high resolution and put to paper. I'm not sure if it is of value, but I would definitely hold on to it. The value would probably depend on if it is a copy or an original piece, because many print companies will replicate things like that. I work for one who does.
I had never wanted a pit bull on my property, until my granddaughter came to stay with me for a while with her PIT named Twitch. He was about 8 manths old and weighed around 50 pounds. At the age of 1 year, he weighed all most 100 pounds. They only stayed with me a month or two, but when he heard or saw me later on he just wiggled all over and was so happy to see me. So, to make a long story short. She got my grand son to give me a pup from the next litter that was like Twitch, and his name is Fred. And he is WONDERFUL!
Don't forget that they were used to stand up to bulls and then used for fighting and bull baiting. Those are activities require an agressive nature in order to be successfull and that's what the Pitbulls have in there genetics and those are the traits that people want to bring out in that dog!!!!!! If they didn't then there would be no more horror stories of Pits killing a kid or killing another dog, or biting without any reason!!!
I TO LIKE MANY OTHER PEOPLE BELIVED IN THE RUMORS ABOUT THE APBT AND DID NOT WANT ONE IN MY YARD OR AROUND MY KIDS. THEN MY NEPHEW TOLD ME HE HAD A PUPPY FOR ME TO MY SURPRISE IT WAS A APBT HE DROPPED THE PUP OFF AT MY HOUSE AND WHEN I GOT HOME I THOUGHT O MY GOD HE HAS TO COME BACK AND GET THIS DOG HE COULD NOT BE IN LA FOR ABOUT 2 WEEKS AND I WAS STUCK WITH THIS DOG MY THE TIME HE RETURNED TO PICK UP THE DOG I WAS IN LOVE HAD CHANGED HER NAME AND DIDNT GO ANYWHERE WITH OUT HER AND SHE WAS NEVER FAR AWAY FROM ME I HAVE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE APBT AND WOULD NOT GIVE UP MY 6 APBT FOR NOTHING THIS IS MY FAVORITE BREED APBT 4 ME 4 LIFE
There are barely any stories of "Pit Bulls" biting people without reason at the moment Jeremy Becker. Behind most Pit Bull bites reported in the papers are other breeds of dogs. And behind all dog bites is a "reason". People like you just need to look a little closer into the circumstances leading up to the dog attack and maybe spend more time finding out the finer details not written in your oh so reliable newspapers. Nobody is forgetting how strong the dogs are, especially the people that keep them. You forget physical ability isn't unique to Pit Bulls alone. There are other larger breeds that are not only stronger but will have a stronger bite. The difference is these dogs usually have not found their way into the wrong hands the way in which the Pit Bull has, and for that you can blame your precious media, for if they had not put so much effort into creating an image of a monster out of the Pit Bull, these owners may have picked another dog breed to wreak in the first place. As for there being no more horror stories if people didn't breed for aggressive traits, tell that to the French woman who lost her face after being attacked by her Labrador and had a face transplant. Or did her horror story not count? The only way there would be no more "horror" stories would be to get rid of dogs completely. Do you want a world with no dogs?
Helen Keller did own a Boston Terrier, and a Pit bull and many other dog breeds. Her Boston was named Phiz.
He is not the dog shown in the picture on this page, that is her pit bull.
For the folks commenting on the Boston's size - when the breed was originally developed the dogs came in several sizes - ranging from 15 lbs to 40 lbs.
it is nice to see such nice things said about an apbt. i myself have owned over 3000 apbt's in my lifetime through breeding, raising and rescuing. i love to hear positiveness in talks about the pit bull and not the everyday nonsense about it n=being the most dangerous dog in history and they should be euthanized. it is the people who talk that crap that should be euthanized.
there's one nobody remembers,I cant remember his name,but road along with the man, that was the first one to drive a automobile, cross country, from california to new york. there were photes of a pit bull wearing goggles sitting on the seat of a old model T , mabe someone knows about this dog,after all that was history being made,
The article states that Bud was the first dog to go cross country. Did you read the above article?
As you said i too hope for a brighter future for such a wonderful breed. Perhaps if people like you and me keep promoting the good side and speaking out on their behalf the myths and lies will retreat into the shadows and the truth about APBT will shine again.
I must say that I also did not like pits. I was always afraid of them and complained becaused my son had a kennel and raised them he passed away suddenly and I was left to care for the dogs. One was pregnant and had 12 pups she died from a bacterial infection and passed it to the pups which all were dead within 5 days except 1 so I had to bottle feed him. Although he is blind and has a kink tail he is blue and we love him he is part of the family and I have a lot of company but they all come to see (forrest).
BRAVO!!! WHat an incredible hub! We had a pit for years, and miss her still. Then we got a pit-lab; smartest dog on earth. Now, we continue the tradition with a full pitt and a pitt-boxer. We LOVE them! Thanks for contributing to the endearments of this wonderfully intelligent breed. - Sarah
love pitts ,they are a very loving dog would never own another breed
i have owned many dogs over the years and i havent ever met a dog so reliable, loyal, loving, and family oriented like a pit. my pit now walks up to my 1 1/2 year old nephew and stays next to his side the whole time. no other dog can ever replace a pit.
Patty Inglish, MS says:
2 years ago
Thanks for the information about Popsicle and Sargeant Stubby. The generations will forget is people don't remind them and share the stories.