Pit Bull Friendly Insurance and Renting

Before adopting or thinking about getting this breed, please make sure that you have pit bull friendly homeowner's insurance. If you rent, you must verify that you are allowed by asking your landlord for an approved breed list.  Making sure your pit bull is allowed wherever you go is a big responsibility and while it may seem like common sense to you if you are reading this blog, you would be surprised how many people DO NOT CHECK FIRST.  And relinquish their dogs when they are discovered. Make sure you do it before you have the dog or always take it into account wherever you plan to go.  Unfortunately, many rental agencies won’t allow pit bulls even if the dog is within the size and weight limits.  This is something to find out BEFORE the lease is signed.  Many homeowner’s insurance companies are refusing to insure those with pit bulls (safe bets are: State Farm, Farmers, Amica, USAA, Travelers, Nationwide (requires a CGC), Kemper, Chubb, Safeco and Sunny So Cal).  if you know of others let us know!  Verify ownership if you can.  Here is an insurance resource website that has more pet friendly insurance names: http://www.roadsinc.org/insurance.aspx

I’ve been recently told that FARM BUREAU is NOT PIT BULL FRIENDLY so be aware if this is your insurance company.

The unwanted Black and Tan

Sadly, the black and tan pit bull and all of it’s variations seem to be just as the big hairy black dog is to shelter rescue - the pariah, the unwanted, the just plain passed over.  A Tricolor is a black and tan dog with the addition of white.  I see these lovely dogs passed over again and again in rescue because people think they are weird, mixy, ugly, “not purebred” while the breeders pump out more and more yet seem to have no trouble selling their “rare” pups.  Any google search on tricolor pit bull will come up with tons of puppy mill backyard breeders pushing “rare” tricolors, blue tris, purple (really?) tricolor. Whatever they can do to push the sell for hundreds of dollars.  

The pictures with this blog post are pictures of dogs bred by J.P. Colby in the early to mid 1900s, circa 1910-1945 (sepia side pictures taken from Colby’s Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier c1997).  You didn’t see them that often, a sometimes combination of breeding a brindle to a black (in the text from Colby)  but I’ve seen tricolors appear in a red/fawn to red/fawn breeding. What causes tricolor genetics? I’m not sure but they aren’t mixed breeds based on their color.  Black and Tan or Tricolor is a viable color pattern in the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Though it is a fault for the two AKC  breeds and they aren’t considered “show quality”.  The ADBA and UKC have no such regulation on color with the exception of “Merle” (interesting to note that Merles do not seem to have the same stigma though they are clearly mixes as Merle is a relatively new coat coloration.  It began in the south with crosses of catahoula leopard dogs back to pit bulls.

http://www.apbtconformation.com/merle.htm).

The BlackNTan debate is not a new one and I will refer to this blog post (posted by prettyboy?) from a tricolor genetics piece originally written by Ed Farron (http://caldw3l.blogspot.com/2009/02/tricolor-genetics.html) of The Complete Gamedog and Wildsides Kennels.   The original article is called:  An explanation of the tan-point pattern sometimes seen in the American Pit Bull Terrier
-by Ed & Chris Faron 

I have noted that it seems to be only the Black/Tan & Black Tri, Blue & Tan or Blue Tri, (blue is a dilute of black) that are affected. The chocolate/tan pointed dogs don’t seem to suffer the same prejudice.  The tan points can also contain some brindle further muddying the waters.  

Did you know that Tan pointed dogs can show up in Labrador Retrievers?  These dogs aren’t mixed either, just a discouraged coat variation.   They aren’t show quality and responsible breeders typically remove them from a breeding program.

http://www.guidingeyes-md.org/Misc%20Files/Black%20and%20Tan%20LabradorsBCWEB.htm

http://www.blueknightlabs.com/color/coatcolor.html 

So when someone says “That dawg don’t look purebred”, you have some information to share.  These dogs are just as deserving as every other color of pit bull terrier.

http://www.apbtconformation.com/colors.htm

A tricolored or black and tan dog can certainly be a mixed dog, color alone however is not an indicator of purity.

Traditionally though APBT breeders have not paid much attention to those attributes beyond physical performance.  Therefore you are more likely to see Tricolors in APBTs than American Staffordshire Terriers (though I did see quite a few blue tri and black and tans in a red to red AKC breeding so it does happen). Some bloodlines tend to throw tricolors more often, like Sorrels. A quick look at Tatonka Kennels in florida will show quite a few black/tan and tricolors in their pedigrees as well as current dogs.

Not all brindle dogs are pit mixes just as not all black and tan are mixed with something other than pit bull.  Black and Tan/Tri is not new, it’s been around in this breed for a long time.

Iris is still needy

Trying out the name Iris for our resident blue tricolor who has been looking for a home for months now and not a single email of interest. I am beginning to think that being black/tan and any of it's derivatives in the pit bull world of rescue are just as unwanted as the big black, hairy shelter dog.  She's a wonderful girl though a big girl at over 50 lbs.  She's kind of an old fashioned dog, just a dog, likes to hang out by your feet. She's not drivey or athletic, she's just a good girl.  Maybe a little slow on the uptake but sweet, loving, good with kids, cats and other dogs.  Just exactly like she is supposed to be having been a mother for so many puppies.