Recently, my parents were invited by my awesome dog trainer Rai, to attend an American Bully Kennel Club dog show in Nashville, TN. Well, technically I was invited, but it was decided I shouldn’t go because … well I’m not a bully … and second I may distract the dogs that were there to show.

First, you’re probably wondering what is a American bully breed? You do not see them on TV at the Westminster dog show but they are an up and coming new breed. For lack of a better way to describe them, they are shorter pit bull type dogs. They are very muscular and remind me of little dog body builders with big chests and legs. They are very laid back (more than me), outgoing, happy, and confident. They make great family pets. They have the stability of the American Pit Bull Terrier but the sociability and outgoing temperament of the American Staffordshire Terrier. They are very, very, tolerant of kids and love to please their family. They are kinda short like me but they are about 20 inches tall and they weigh about 70 pounds (mostly muscle). This is a newer breed created in the 1990’s to take all the best traits of all the American bully breeds and combine them into one perfect dog.

Here is my mom’s account of the show:

The dog show was held at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, TN, and was hosted by Mike Griffin, a pro football player who loves the American Bully breed. From the minute you walk into the expo you quickly realize this is no AKC dog show! No one is dressed up in suits and blazers and there is even a DJ playing music. Each kennel has a booth around the ring which has creative names such as Pit Krew, Trecientos Bull Kennel, or West Best Bullies. The kennels owners and their supporters hang out in their booths. Of course all the dogs and their kennels are in the booths but some get more creative with sound systems, TV’s set up showing their kennels and their dogs, a DJ playing, bright dance lights pulsating to the beat, and one booth even had leather couches and a big screen TV with an Xbox set up.

Everyone is wearing their kennel logo T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. Most of the owners look “tough” with tattoos covering both arms, gold chains, and talking the bully dog world lingo. The dogs also look tough with big leather collars and leads. Well, almost everyone looked “tough” except our trainer Rai who is super tiny. She was carrying around a five pound shorty bull in her purse that she just got the previous week to start training to show. With that said, she is probably one of the toughest ones there with an extensive background in training the bully breeds and even running her own pit bull rescue. The lesson here is that looks can be deceiving. There was even an MC for the show who got on the microphone, danced a little between classes, engaged the crowd, teased different kennels, and even threw tee-shirts in the crowd to get everyone excited.

While there was a lot of fun things going on, once it was time to go out in the ring, it was serious business. The dogs stacked and showed just like you see the dogs on TV at the Westminster and the Eukanuba dog shows on TV. The judge examined the dogs thoroughly, checked their teeth, their walk, and their build. There were even some kids showing dogs right with the adults and between you and me they even showed up some of the more seasoned handlers by winning the titles!



Rai’s (and her husband’s) 1 Deep Kennel did amazing at the show. Here is Rai in the pocket class and Joc (with Jason) who won first place and reserve classic male!

There were also several vendors. One of these was a collection bank to collect the dogs sperm for breeding in the future. We thought the shirts were hilarious. How can you not have a sense of humor when your business is knocking up dogs … lol.

Overall, the dog show was a lot of fun and it was neat to see the other side of the confirmation world. But more importantly, I got to witness first hand how dedicated these owners/breeders are to their bully dogs, furthering the breed, and most importantly showing the world how great these dogs are!