Our Purple Ribbon American Pit Bull Terriers come from a long line of champions. They are real athletes that can run, jump, and work. They are dual registered with both UKC (as American Pit Bull Terriers) and the ABKC (as American Bullies). Their lines can be traced back to the 1800s to some of the most prominent lines of early Pit Bull history; such as Colby, Henry, Tudor, X-Pert, and Ruffian lines. In more recent history, their lines stem from the original creators of the American Bully breed; Razor’s Edge and Greyline.
Razor’s Edge was created by the founder of the American Bully Kennel Club; the man who started the American Bully movement on the East Coast. Greyline (who produced the Infamous Juan Gotty) is credited for starting the West Coast American Bully movement. Gottiline and many other American Bully lines were based off of Greyline dogs. Razor’s Edge produced a lot of famous dogs as well. One of their most famous offspring was a dog named Lowjack Remy-Martin; who was the founding stud for Remyline.
The UKC started recognizing American Bullies as separate breed independent from American Pit Bull Terriers in 2013. This gave breeders the option to convert their UKC American Pit Bull Terrier paperwork to American Bully; for those that wanted branch off as a new breed. Dogs like the Infamous Juan Gotty, Monster Jojola, and Lowjack Remy-Martin were actually registered UKC American Pit Bull Terriers; even though many of their descendants are now papered as UKC American Bullies. This is because the UKC opened up the stud books for American Pit Bull Terriers with a certain appearance to be branded as a new breed; the American Bully.
The early creators of the American Bully breed, were using the stockiest and strongest American Pit Bull Terriers they could find in their breeding programs; which created a new Pit Bull look. It is also important to note that, many of the dogs used in Razor’s Edge lines (whose founder started the ABKC) were actually dual registered; as American Staffordshire Terriers with the AKC and as American Pit Bull Terriers with the UKC. The founders of the American Bully breed started this process of selective breeding in the 1990s.
The UKC at that time, still allowed the recognition of American Staffordshire Terriers as American Pit Bull Terriers (this is primarily because American Staffordshire Terriers and American Pit Bull Terriers were originally one and the same). Staffordshire Terrier was actually the official breed name given to the first 50 UKC American Pit Bull Terriers accepted into the AKC stud books. The AKC did not want the word “Pit” in the name of any breed they were going to recognize, so they first requested the name American Bull Terrier. This name was denied though, due to backlash from English Bull Terrier breeders. English Bull Terrier breeders did not want anyone naming a breed with a name so similar to theirs. So in order to get AKC approval, they had to change the name from American Bull Terrier to Staffordshire Terrier. The AKC ended up approving the new name (Staffordshire Terrier) in 1936 and later updated the name to American Staffordshire Terrier in 1972.
Over the span of many years, the selective breeding of American Pit Bull Terriers with a certain look lead to more muscular dogs, that had a heavier-boned look to them than the average Pit Bull. This is the look that Razor’s Edge and Greyline (among others) were breeding for. So by 2013 the UKC believed that they had selectively bred a unique enough look to their APBTs, to allow them to branch off with a new breed name if desired. This allowed them to change the breed on the paperwork from American Pit Bull Terrier to American Bully; for those that wanted to head that route permanently.
Many other breeders decided to stay true to the Pit Bull name and keep their dogs papered through the UKC as American Pit Bull Terriers (as they have been for over a century). This is the name they were first registered under (in America); dating back to 1898. The first dog ever registered in the UKC (with the UKC number 1) was an American Pit Bull Terrier named Bennett’s Ring; owned by UKC Founder, Chauncey Z. Bennett. The UKC is the second largest and second oldest kennel club in the United States. Due to the amount history surrounding the American Pit Bull Terrier name in the UKC, we decided to keep the original breed name for our dogs. We wanted to honor the original name they were given by the UKC in 1898; as they were the first major kennel club to recognize the breed.