By JOSIE CLARKE
The competition was aggressive at a show for pit bull dogs yesterday, but their owners say the breed's reputation for biting is undeserved.
Judges put 54 dogs through their paces at the Auckland American Pit Bull Terrier Club's Anniversary Weekend show at Franklin, looking for the dog that best displayed the breed's trademark gameness.
"The competition is about how game they are. They just go and go and go and they never give up," said the club's secretary, David Harwood.
Floyd Langkielde took top honours yesterday with his 2-year-old dog Mojo.
Mr Harwood said judges looked for a lean, athletic dog with a strong chest and legs and a good jaw and teeth.
A two-minute treadmill sprint and the weight pull tested the breed's stamina and strength. Mr Harwood said one dog managed to haul 1.7 tonnes over 10m at the last national competition.
While public opinion might have put some people off owning a pit bull, the breed was increasing in popularity, with about 13,000 now in New Zealand, he said. A good pup sold for between $800 to $1000.
Although the American pit bull had historically been bred to fight other dogs, catch game or bring down unruly cattle, Mr Harwood said that a well-bred dog had a rock-steady temperament and was not aggressive towards humans - contrary to popular belief.
"They are absolutely lovely people dogs. They just don't particularly like other dogs."
He admitted people were scared of the breed, but said most members of the public would not recognise a pit bull "if it up and bit them."
"They come in all different colours and sizes, and a lot of people confuse them with English bull terriers. Ninety-nine per cent of the time it's not a purebred American pit bull that's bitten someone."
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