Some pit bulls work in hospitals and care facilities as certified therapy dogs, many are well-loved family pets, and some have even saved people's lives. There are many instances of Pit Bulls being productively employed by U.S. Customs, as police K9s.

Pit Bulls have been reported in the news media as "adopting" other species of animals, such as kittens This is one possible origin of the breed nickname "nanny dog". However, it is more widely accepted that the "nanny dog" nickname comes from Pit Bull-type dogs' innate love and tolerance of children.

A rescued Pit Bull called Popsicle is a United States Customs dog, and is famous for sniffing out one of the biggest cocaine busts in history.

Dakota and Tahoe were certified pit bull search and rescue dogs who participated in over 200 search efforts for lost and missing people including such high profile search efforts as the search for Laci Peterson and the recovery efforts of the astronauts who lost their lives in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Because of their heroic work the two pit bulls have been featured on Animal Planet, National Geographic, and have received countless awards.

In February, 2006, New Yorker magazine writer Malcolm Gladwell published an article surveying the research on Pit Bulls which concluded that legal attempts to ban the breed were both crude and unnecessary.

In February 2007 a Pit Bull named "Chief" rescued his owner's family from a spitting cobra by dashing in front of the attacking snake and taking the deadly bite himself. Chief subdued the snake but died of the venom 30 minutes later.

In April 2007, columnist John Canzano of The Oregonian newspaper wrote a favorable piece on Hollywood, the Pit Bull that formerly belonged to NBA player Qyntel Woods. Hollywood, renamed Stella, was adopted by a loving owner and reformed from a fighting dog to a lap dog.

Nearly fifty Pit Bulls were seized from Michael Vick's dogfighting operation in 2007. Of those dogs, one was euthanized because of aggression issues. About half were sent to Best Friends Animal Society, a Utahanimal sanctuary, where they are receiving care and behavioral training. The others, which were behaviorally evaluated as being suitable candidates for adoption, went to various other groups. Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls (BAD RAP), transported thirteen of these dogs in an RV across the United States to Oakland, California, where they were placed in adoptive and foster homes. BAD RAP detailed the timeline of the dogs progress, from initial evaluations to fostering and adoption, on its website.