American Pit Bull Terrier Training – How do I add muscle to my Pit Bull?

Out of all the emails I get this question is one of my top 5 most loathed questions. I hate this question with a a passion for several reasons.

1. American Pit Bull Terriers do not need extra muscle. Nature takes care of that. Proper exercise, good clean water, a solid diet, and presto, athletic APBT.

2. In almost all the cases the person asking the question also asks, “Is a weighted vest going to harm my puppy?” uh, yeah. Puppies are growing. Putting a weighted vest on a young dog would be like putting a 10 pound back pack on a 2 year old child. I’m not sure why so many people want to add muscle to an already athletic breed of dog. I guess it is for status or for ego or whatever but the truth of the matter is, your dog has to have the predisposed genetics to get in great shape. Good news is, most APBT’s have those genetics.

However there are some dogs (cough, cough, Gotti, Razors Edge, cough, cough) that are way over done and will never be in real shape. When people see these fat, wide, low riding juggernaughts they think that is “in shape and muscular.”

The Pit Bull Training Handbook


I’m here to tell you folks that is not even close to being in outstanding shape.

So what does a well built APBT look like? Glad you asked. Here is an example:

Enforcer owned by Cheryl Caragan and Ernie Sims III of the Philadelphia Eagles (now the Dallas Cowboys):

Enforcer is a great example of a real American Pit Bull Terrier.

Enforcer is a mere 10 months old in that picture. I love that dog. Seriously. I would stab my brother in the thigh for that dog. I’m just kidding of course. (no seriously, in a heart beat watch out bro!)

Anyway, stabbing relatives aside, putting muscle on your dog is not about making them pull weights or putting weighted vests on them at young ages. It takes planning, a lot of work, and like I mentioned, genetics in order to get a dog into that kind of condition. Lean but solid. Built but proportioned correctly. Athletic by nature. These are the physical traits of the American Pit Bull Terrier and anything more than that is over doing it.

That’s my take on the situation anyway.