FAD BREEDERS
** FADS are really about the money generated in a short period of time with little to no effort or concern to educate oneself on the item being pushed and definately not the substinance or the longevity behind the item.. ***
A "fad" breeder is generally defined as a person who breeds dogs to make money. Fad breeders surf the waves of popular demand and try to supply consumers with the latest "craze" in dog ownership. But fad breeders do more than just produce an overpopulation of a particular breed. To turn a profit quickly, fad breeders must disregard breed standard, health and temperament testing, and all other costly and time consuming measures that responsible breeders undertake to produce quality representatives of the breed.
Because fad breeders do not spend the time and effort to create a quality dog (one that meets breed standard and does not have health or temperament issues), and because they want a quick sale, fad breeders must market their substandard dogs in a way that makes the dogs seem better, more desirable, more unique, or "cooler" than properly-bred dogs. With pit bulls, fad breeders have redefined what "pit bull" means, and what traits are desirable in a "pit bull," in order to meet the market's demand for "badass" dogs.
Fad breeders often define and describe "pit bulls" closer to the stereotype than the true breed standard.
 This dog, according to a fad breeder, is a "pit bull." Compare it side-by-side with an American Pit Bull Terrier that meets breed standard. You will notice that, compared to a pit bull of correct conformation, this dog's
chest is too wide head is too massive / cheeks too pronounced jowls are too loose and hang down too far legs are too short and bowed muzzle is too short (leaning toward bracycephalic) overall size is excessive
How can this dog, which is nothing like what a pit bull technically should look like, still be considered a "pit bull"? Yet, this particular "supersized pit bull" is usually the image that comes to the mind of people who use the stereotypical definition of pit bull. (Notice how this dog somewhat resembles the pit bull drawn by the political cartoonist, above.) |
The following is an ad that a fad breeder runs in Dog Fancy Magazine: "Extreme large bone/head Wide chest/hips Powerful drive... Males 90-130 lbs Females 65-105 lbs"
Not a single one of these traits is desirable per breed standard for any of the pit bull breeds. The weight range alone is far outside appropriate weight for a true pit bull breed; calling these dogs "pit bulls" is like calling a 10 lb dog a Chihuahua. No matter how you look at it, Chihuahuas don't weigh 10 lbs. And pit bulls should not top 65 lbs, much less hit the triple digits! |
Another ad in Dog Fancy: "'Size Does Matter'
Head, Shoulders and Chest above the Rest. Females: 70-90 lbs.
Males: 90-100+ lbs.
Producing mid-size dogs with hard, rock-chiseled bodies." Again, my objections to size as noted previously. These are not "mid-size dogs"; they are very large dogs—too large to be pit bulls in the technical sense. Further, "baseball cheek" is not a term I'm familiar with, but I'd assume the breeder is trying to stress the width of the dog's head and the extreme protuberance of its jaw muscles. Again, this is not what a real pit bull should look like. This is a caricature of a "musclebound" type of dog. In fact, this image is rhetorically reinforced by the use of the phrase "hard, rock-chiseled bodies." I picture a bodybuilder or weightlifter flexing his abs or crushing a soda can with his pectorals. |
Fad breeders of pit bulls will also emphasize guarding or protection abilities—never mind the prohibition against "viciousness" or human-aggression put forth by breed standards for pit bull breeds.
Indeed, it seems that fad breeders are capitalizing on some individuals' desire to be "bigger, better, and badder" than everyone else; thus, they portray the "pit bull" as the "bigger, better, and badder" accessory. Fad breeders market "pit bulls" as bulky, musclebound, powerful beasts that can be used for protection—or perhaps just to intimidate other people. This is a far cry from the technical definition of the pit bull that I put forth above, but not too far from stereotypical imagery.
Fad breeders are a major reason why the stereotype outshouts the technical definition of "pit bull."