The AKC and the Pit Bull

Pete the Pup in 1934

The United Kennel Club (UKC) was founded by Chauncey Bennett in 1898 because the fledgling American Kennel Club (AKC) would not register his American Pit Bull Terrier, Bennett's Ring. 

The AKC wanted the world to know they were not just about dogs; they were about well-bred dogs owned by well-bred people. The Pit Bull was a putative fighting dog, and it was an American fighting dog — an embarrassment to the New York elite intent on copying their British cousins. The British had outlawed dog fighting in 1834, and surely America would catch up on this score. In the interim, keeping the American Pit Bull off of the AKC’s roles seemed a good idea.

But the movies, and then television, intervened.

With the rise of the “Our Gang” movies (later renamed “The Little Rascals”) of the 1920s and 30s, "Pete" the dog became a star, and the AKC decided to reverse itself and add the "American Staffordshire Terrier" to its roles. This was not a new breed, however.  It was the very dog the AKC had rejected just 35 years earlier.

“Our Gang” and “The Little Rascals” ran for 20 years, and there were numerous “Pete the Pups”.  The original dog, Pal the Wonder Dog, lived from 1924 to June 1930, when it died from accidental poisoning.  Several other dogs reprised the role through the 30s.