Today's is a hard one to write. Alex, now called Dozer, had to go back to the shelter. It is sad to me that the home was not right for him, but it is also respectable to me that his family was able to make the right decision for their household, no matter how hard it was, but also that they did what the shelter asks and brought him back instead of any of the other options. I am both saddened and pleased, as Dozer gets another chance, with a little more knowledge under the belts of the shelter workers. Just stinks, and there's no way around that.
I got to hang out with another return on Saturday. Dudley was only in the shelter briefly, as I recall, but was returned. As I went to get him out to take him to the Okay Corral, I noticed his surrender reason was "because". Nice. And then I realize he's skinnier, and more skittish than when he left. My heart broke. But then, I realized that they at least did one thing right in bringing him back.
Dudley strikes me as pretty forgiving, and thankfully, he was gone by Monday morning.
On to my rant for today...I have had the pleasure of knowing many pit bulls. I have had the tragedy of having to say goodbye too early to a sweet dog that someone "broke", and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't "fix". Samantha will always hold a special place in my heart, and even over a year after we said goodbye, I still struggle with how everything happened. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
The other night on TV was a "funny" video of a boy trying to kiss a chihuahua...and the chihuahua was growling and nipped at the boy any time he got close. Laughs from the boy, laughs from the camera operator, and cue the "Applause" sign and laugh track.
NO. This is not okay. This dog, while not carrying the same equipment as a 50 pound pittie, was clearly aggressive towards people. I thought back to the video of a news reporter getting bit in the face that went viral a few weeks back. The poor dog did everything in his power to say he was unhappy with what was happening, and there was no laugh track to his discomfort. While Max is an Argetine Mastiff, and not a pittie, my frustration translates across. I have seen too many people react with fear, anger, and blatant hostility regarding pitties, and it breaks my heart.
My dear friend and college roommate came for a visit this weekend and we discussed this. Her pup, Gigi, is some sort of mix that includes cattle dog and pit, though she sometimes looks like a basenji.
Gigi is very friendly with adults, but timid with children, and my friend has gone to great lengths to be a responsible pet owner regarding this. Gigi and my dog, Edward, were best of friends for the three years they lived together. She sometimes chases cats, but even the best dogs struggle with that! All this aside, I have watched with my friend as someone petting Gigi will inquire about her muttness. My friend learned that it was easier to not refer to her pit portion, despite the fact that you can see it very clearly in certain of Gigi's expressions. People who had been snuggling, petting, and pouring their love onto Gigi would back away as if burned. Folks, this is the same dog you were just slathering with attention. And yet, countless times, my friend has been lectured about the danger of pit bulls, and told how vicious they are. To that point, I submit three pictures from this past week, all of pit bulls.
Pretty Polly has spent many walks like this with me as well. This was a trick to take, as I had to lean back to get the length of her, but Polly loves to lay along the dip created by my legs when I have them straight in front of me. As you can see by her expression, her only concern is that I have stopped rubbing her belly to take a picture.
And this is Jersey. He has not been at the shelter as long as Zander and Polly, but I have gotten to know him pretty quickly. He's not as big of a cuddler as some of the others, but within a minute or two of me sitting on the ground at his level, he works his way partly into my lap. He doesn't relax quite to the level that Zander and Polly do, but I do nothing more than sit and pet him. He chooses to make the contact that he does, and it has very quickly started becoming more and more. Jersey loves smooshing into my lap when I scratch under his collar.
Clearly a vicious breed, no?
The point that I would force as far into everyone's brain as I possibly can was made so simply clear to me by a bumper sticker I saw yesterday.
There are no bad dogs, just bad owners.
Pitties have equipment that can harm. So do a lot of other dogs. But when they are not tormented into becoming "guard dogs" and fighters, and instead raised in loving homes, they exhibit just as much, if not more, love as any other breed.
Enough soap box.
If you're in the area, come see them. And by in the area, I would like to remind you that we drove 90 minutes for the right rescue dog for our family when we picked up Carlie.
Alex-called-Dozer
Zander
Polly
Jersey
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