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50 free Pit Bulls trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
"Pit bull" is not one breed but an umbrella for several: the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the newer American Bully, all tracing back to the bull-and-terrier crosses of 19th-century Britain. That tangled history explains why the same dog can be registered under two names, why the AKC and UKC disagree, and why so many countries have written laws about them. These 50 questions walk through the whole story: the Old English Bulldog crosses, the 1898 founding of the United Kennel Club, the AKC's Staffordshire Terrier compromise, the Colby and Old Family Red Nose bloodlines, and the rise and regulation of the XL Bully. They also cover the famous dogs: Pete the Pup with his painted eye ring, Sergeant Stubby of the 102nd Infantry, Nipper and Sallie Ann Jarrett. Easy questions cover breeds and registries; the hardest ask about stud dogs, statutes and shelter statistics. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Pit bulls descend from 19th-century crosses of the Old English Bulldog with what?
Terriers
The bull-and-terrier was bred in Britain for dog fighting and rat baiting, mixing bulldog power with terrier agility.
Q 02Breeders crossed the Old English Bulldog with which agile breed to make fighting dogs?
Black and Tan Terrier
Breeders wanted a lighter, faster dog that kept the bulldog's tenacity.
Q 03After the AKC rejected their dogs, APBT breeders founded which rival registry in 1898?
United Kennel Club
The new club did more than keep pedigrees: it also regulated dogfights.
Q 04Under what name did the AKC first recognize pit bulls in the 1930s?
Staffordshire Terrier
The condition was that the dogs could not be used in organized fights.
Q 05Which major registry still does not recognize the APBT as a breed?
American Kennel Club
The UKC and the ADBA both register the breed; the AKC registers the closely related AmStaff instead.
Q 06Which coat colour do both the ADBA and the UKC refuse to recognize in the APBT?
Merle
Solid and tuxedo patterns are the typical looks; merle is the one pattern the registries reject.
Q 07In 1996 the San Francisco SPCA tried to rebrand pit bulls under what name?
St. Francis Terriers
Sixty screened dogs were adopted before the programme was halted.
Q 08In 2004 NYC's animal care centre briefly relabelled its pit bulls as what?
New Yorkies
The idea was dropped in the face of overwhelming public opposition.
Q 09What is the APBT's average lifespan?
12 to 14 years
That is longer than many breeds of similar size, thanks to a hardy, diverse breeding background.
Q 10In which year did John Pritchard Colby start his famous pit bull bloodline?
1889
Colby acquired fighting dogs imported from Ireland and England; his family still preserves the line.
Q 11Which Colby stud dog appears in the pedigree of the vast majority of APBTs?
Pincher
Pincher was used so widely as a stud that he sits behind most of the breed.
Q 12The Old Family Red Nose strain of pit bulls originated in which country?
Ireland
The copper-red nose, lips and toenails came to America mainly with Irish immigrants.
Q 13Since what year has the ADBA registered the APBT?
1909
Since 2015 the ADBA has treated the AmStaff as a separate breed from the APBT.
Q 14Of the 115 dogs to earn UKC "superdog" status, how many were APBTs?
Q 21Besides Staffordshire, the Staffy originated in the northern parts of which city?
Birmingham
The breed's old aliases included Brindle Bull and Staffordshire Pit-dog.
Q 22Who developed the modern Bull Terrier using undocumented outcrosses such as Dalmatians?
James Hinks
Devotees of the original strain rejected his crosses and kept the Stafford type instead.
Q 23In which year did the American Bully Kennel Club first recognize the breed?
2004
The registry began as a way to document pedigrees and show the dogs against a written standard.
Which size label is NOT an officially recognized American Bully variety?
34
Superdog status needs championship titles in conformation, obedience, agility and weight pull.
Q 15APBTs are used as hunting dogs mainly to restrain which animal?
Feral hogs
Australia's RSPCA warns the practice exposes dogs to snake bite, heat exhaustion and gorings.
Q 16Which Canadian province has banned ownership of the APBT?
Ontario
Toronto's pit bull population neared local extinction, yet reported dog bites kept rising after 2012.
Q 17Which UK law makes owners prove their dog is not a prohibited fighting type?
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
Specially trained Dog Legislation Officers give expert evidence on whether a dog is a banned type.
Q 18France banned pit bull–type dogs in which year?
1999
Registered purebred AmStaffs are only restricted (category 2), not banned (category 1).
Q 19Which British act had effectively ended organized dog fighting by the 1930s?
Protection of Animals Act 1911
Devotees kept breeding the type anyway, mainly in England's Black Country.
Q 20In which year did The Kennel Club first recognise the Staffy as a purebred breed?
1935
Recognition was announced in the April 1935 Kennel Gazette with no breed club or standard yet in existence.
Micro
"Micro" and "XXL" dogs are bred outside the four recognized height categories.
Q 25In January of which year did the UK make XL Bully dogs illegal to sell or breed?
2024
By December 2024 the government had registered 59,500 exempted XL Bullies, far above its 10,000 estimate.
Q 26The ABKC's bully breed was built on which foundation (parent) breed?
American Pit Bull Terrier
The UKC says American Bulldogs, English Bulldogs and Olde English Bulldogges were also mixed in.
Q 27Many inbred UK XL-Bully lines trace back to which American sire?
Kimbo
The UK's founding population was imported in 2014–2015, according to Bullywatch.
Q 28Irish law restricts the American Bully under which classification?
Bandog
A restricted dog must be muzzled and on a lead no longer than 2 metres in public.
Q 29Which Hollywood makeup artist applied Pete the Pup's famous eye ring?
Max Factor
Pal, the first Pete, was born with a ring three-quarters of the way round his eye; a trainer painted the rest.
Q 30What was the name of the first dog to play Pete in Our Gang?
Pal the Wonder Dog
Pal was a UKC-registered APBT descended from Colby's Pincher; he was poisoned in 1930.