I've met a few American Bulldogs and they were lovely. The landlady in a guest house in Croatia had a mother and son and they looked like slightly more solid Boxer dogs and equally friendly and soppy. That's assuming the dogs in this incident were American Bulldogs - pitpulls being something rather different. Back when I was a kid Alsatians were moral panic devil dogs, then it was Rottweillers, then it was American pitbulls (which are banned, but many Staffies - a fine breed - seem to get caught up in the ban if owned by less well off people) and by implication, any dog with "American" in its name.
The yard where I got to, to get gas-bottles for the caravan has an American Bulldog
It looks fierce, but comes over & slobbers all over you, & wants patting
That said, I'd not want to be in the yard alone with it
Many years ago, a friend had a Doberman
When I first went to her house, I went in, it walked into the room
Looked straight at me
Put its paws on my knees, still looking directly at me
I expected to have to defend myself
It licked my face, & jumped onto my lap, pawing me, as if to imply
stroke me!!
Regarding Staffies, I adore them, even though I'm a cat person. A friend of mine went to home a cat from Battersea, and I tagged along. We had to sit through this interview process, during which there was an animal in the room. We happened to have this white Staffy bitch in our interview room, and she and I had a whale of a time playing with various toys while my mate pushed paperwork. It's probably the most fun I've ever had with a dog.
Likewise, Staffies are wonderful............ unless......... they're raised as 'Trophy Dogs', by some feral owners
Years ago, we had 2 Border Collies
One was odd with the Postie (who I knew, as he was in my year, at secondary school)
If he was in uniform, Jack was in full bark/snarl mode (even if it was out on the streets)
Yet, if we saw him, in 'civvies', Jack was fine with him