My Granddad would catch them. Said all you had to do was grab their neck, from behind and hang on.
He would usually have me in front of them, harassing with a stick. He kept a barrel in the bed of his truck. Throw them in and go to whoever thought they had a mean dog.
Seen some good fights. Lot of dogs not as bad as they had been proclaimed to be.
Oh yea! I have seen one fight a dog! It put up a good fight for several minutes, but the pit got the best of him in the end. It hung for several minutes!