Pit Bull or Brussels Griffon: Two Coats and a Skull Too Small

Unlike most breeds, the Brussels Griffon offers two genuinely different coats, and the choice changes the maintenance more than the appearance suggests.

The rough coat is wiry and dense with the beard and moustache that give the breed its distinctive face. Like any wire coat it grips its dead hair instead of dropping it, which is why the breed sheds at only 2/5, and that trapped hair has to be removed. Hand-stripping — plucking dead hairs out by the root — keeps the texture harsh and the colour correct and is the traditional method; clipping is faster and cheaper and permanently softens the coat. Either way it is a professional appointment every few months, plus combing the beard and leg furnishings at home. The beard also carries water and food out of the bowl onto whatever the dog leans against.

The smooth coat is short and close-lying and needs essentially nothing beyond a weekly rubber mitt. It sheds a little more visibly than the rough coat but requires no stripping, no clipping and no appointments. For anyone choosing on maintenance rather than looks, the smooth Griffon is a considerably easier dog.

That variation is why the breed rates 3/5 for grooming overall — an average of two quite different jobs.

The Pit Bull's 1/5 is the floor of the scale: a rubber curry mitt once a week, a bath when needed, no matting, no appointment. It sheds more at 3/5, and short stiff hairs work into fabric, but the time and money cost is essentially nil.

If you are choosing a Griffon, decide the coat before you choose the litter. It is one of the few decisions in dog ownership that is genuinely made at purchase and cannot be changed afterwards.

Syringomyelia sits on the Brussels Griffon's health list and is the entry most buyers have never heard of, so it deserves a proper explanation.

In some small brachycephalic breeds the skull is shortened without a matching reduction in the brain, so the space at the back of the skull is too small for its contents. That crowding disrupts the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid, and over time fluid-filled cavities can form within the spinal cord. Those cavities are the syrinxes the condition is named for, and they cause abnormal sensation and pain.

The signs are distinctive once you know them. The classic one is phantom scratching: the dog scratches at the air near its neck or shoulder, often while walking, without ever making contact. Others include yelping for no visible reason, sensitivity around the head, neck and ears, reluctance to be touched there or to have a collar put on, sleeping with the head in odd raised positions, and in advanced cases weakness or a scoliosis-like curve to the neck.

Diagnosis is by MRI, and management is medical — pain relief and drugs that reduce fluid production — with surgery reserved for severe cases. It is not curable, but many affected dogs are managed comfortably for years.

What a buyer can do is ask. Some breed communities screen breeding stock by MRI and record the results, and a breeder engaged with that is a meaningfully better bet. Ask whether either parent has been scanned, and whether any dog in the line has been diagnosed.

As an owner, use a harness rather than a collar as a matter of course, and treat unexplained yelping or phantom scratching as a neurological question rather than a skin one.

Brachycephalic airway syndrome heads the Griffon's list, and in a dog of 8 to 12 pounds the margins are narrow.

A shortened skull compresses the nose and throat without proportionally reducing the soft tissue inside, so nostrils can be pinched and the soft palate can be long. Because dogs cool by panting, a dog that cannot move air well cannot shed heat well. The practical rules are the familiar ones: walk early and late in warm weather, use a harness rather than a collar, never leave the dog in a car or a conservatory even briefly, keep it lean, and treat noisy laboured breathing at rest as a veterinary conversation rather than a breed characteristic.

The range between individuals is wide. A Griffon with open nostrils and a visible muzzle from parents that breathe quietly at rest is a different animal from one bred for an extremely flat face. Ask what the adults are like on a warm day and whether any dog in the line has needed airway surgery. Anaesthesia also needs a practice equipped for brachycephalic patients — a point that matters for a routine dental as much as for surgery.

Eye injuries are the second consequence. Prominent eyes in shallow sockets sit exposed, and scratches, ulcers and knocks are more likely than in a normally built dog. A Griffon squinting, weeping, holding an eye closed or pawing at its face needs seeing the same day.

Patellar luxation and hip dysplasia complete the list — the kneecap slipping out of its groove shows as a skipping stride, and both are worth asking a breeder about.

The Pit Bull has a normal muzzle and normal eye sockets. Its list is different in character: hip and elbow dysplasia, skin allergies, heart murmurs, bloat, obesity, cruciate disease, arthritis and cancer.

The Griffon's own temperament keywords are unusually accurate, and sensitive is the one that shapes ownership.

This is a dog that reads its people closely and takes tone personally. Raised voices, rough handling and heavy correction produce a shut-down, avoidant animal rather than a defiant one, and a bad experience is remembered. Training works when it is upbeat, brief and generously paid; its 3/5 trainability reflects a dog that is bright but not driven to work for a handler, and house-training in particular often takes longer than owners expect.

It is also a genuinely funny dog — upright, expressive, mildly self-important — and a devoted one that attaches strongly to its household. That attachment is why it rates only 2/5 for tolerating time alone. A Griffon in an empty house is not a happy dog, and its distress tends to be vocal.

With children it rates 3/5, and the reason is fragility plus sensitivity. An 8 pound dog with prominent eyes can be genuinely injured by a fall or a grab, and a dog that is hurt or frightened will defend itself. Older children who understand consent suit the breed far better than toddlers.

The Pit Bull's temperament runs the other way: robust rather than delicate, 4/5 with children, and a dog that tolerates rough handling well. Its 2/5 with other dogs is its defining management task — no dog parks, no on-lead greetings with unknown dogs, careful neutral-ground introductions, and awareness that tolerance can decline at social maturity.

And only the Pit Bull carries the administrative layer. Tenancy agreements, housing rules and insurance policies frequently restrict bully-type dogs, often by appearance rather than pedigree. A Griffon is never restricted anywhere.

Both dogs run $80 to $150 a month, with first years of $1,200–2,200 and $1,100–2,300. As with several pairings on this site, the identical figures conceal completely different spending.

The Pit Bull's money goes on food and routine care, with essentially nothing on grooming. Its uncertainty is insurance, where bully-type breeds are frequently surcharged or excluded outright, and where an exclusion matters far more than a premium.

The Griffon's money goes on the head. A rough-coated dog needs stripping or clipping on a schedule. Eye problems are more likely and sometimes urgent. Airway assessment and, in some dogs, corrective surgery is a realistic possibility. Anaesthesia for routine dentals needs a practice set up for short-faced patients. And if syringomyelia is suspected, an MRI is not a cheap investigation.

That makes insuring early — before anything is diagnosed and excluded — more valuable for a Griffon than the low monthly figure suggests.

On the other side, it needs very little exercise at 2/5: twenty to thirty minutes of walking plus indoor play, which is why the 5/5 apartment rating is earned rather than generous. It travels easily, fits anywhere, and lives 12 to 15 years.

The Pit Bull needs an hour to ninety minutes of real activity and cannot be satisfied indoors.

So the decision comes down to two ordinary questions rather than anything about temperament. Can you supply an hour of daily exercise? And if not, are you prepared to take on a short-faced breed with the eye, airway and neurological questions that go with it — and to choose the moderate end of it rather than the extreme?