Supposed Vicious Breeds......

I know it must be hard and I really do sympathize. Prejudice in anything is disheartening. Having a biracial grandson who is my heart  have frequently wanted to wring necks but that is the cost of living in the deep south.

I hate it when I look at T shirts and see the statemnet "It's A Southern Thang" with a picture of a cropped eared  bull chested squinting eyed Pit with of course the obligatory spiked collar then you see the sa dog on a shirt with "blame the deed not the breed" Have these folks never heard of spin or damage control???

One of the BEST things you could do is to train and have your kids tested for International Therapy credentials , they then wear the vest and are allowed ANYWHERE with pride and by law. The more Pitts we see trained and certified the more public opinion has to eventually begin to change.

Till then I am sorry that your sweet kids suffer from the stigma of small minds.

Bonita of Bwana who is not fond ot the PIts in my corner of the world But loves the ones I meet at shows!

I feel your pain.

I have had moms pull their children to the side and step in front of them when Hektor and I walk by, even though he is walking at a perfect heel and his tail is wagging. He loves kids.

I once had a guy that Willow wasn't even looking at say to me, "she looks like she wants to take my head off".  She wasn't even looking at him. 

I'm lucky in that most people who see Legend aren't afraid of him (it's hard to be scared of an old guy standing at heel, smiling and wagging his tail I guess) However, if I'm out sans dog and mention his breed, I get all of the 'aren't they mean dogs?' comments

I feel for all of you that have Pitties or dogs that resemble pitties.  I have to say that I was a bit prejudiced before learning about these dogs.  After meeting a few and helping to train a couple of them I completely changed my opinion-to that of an informed opinion.

The most important thing is responsible ownership and owners that practice prevention and proaction rather than reaction.  Unfortunately the majority of Pittie owners in my area buy their dogs from BYBs and do not take their dogs to the appropriate training classes.  

While walking my dog through the neighborhood trails, I've had several instances where people have crossed to the other side of the road.  I find this very interesting because when we approach people Xerxes knows to circle around me and go into a "heel."  We do this each and every time we near others.  But still I hear comments like "that's one of those bad dogs" or "is that one of those killer dogs?"  

Sad but true. 

Thanks so much everyone, I know for every nasty comment there are 5 good ones, I guess it just gets tiring sometimes.

I typically am able to take it very well and do my best to smile at them anyways instead of a rude rebuttal which would only enforce the myth that pittie owners are rude or irresponsible but two in one day....whew!

Heck even I am scared for no reason if I see a dog that intimidates me.....somedays its another pittie, somedays its a crazy mini poodle, LOL

 I feel ya, i hate it. With Kaiser i'd say about 3/4 people are afraid, and about 1/4 are so interested iin him. It seems to me that a lot of people think big = mean.

I volunteer at the shelter and some visitors have given me some pretty weird looks when i have a pit bull or a rottweiler on my lap, licking my face. 

I get some very negative crap with Bugsy too.  I hate it.  He is of course bad because he is large, very muscular and dark.  Sure I get the people that think he's a giant lab so then they think he's fine but I don't know what others think but I have had people snatch their small dog up as we approach.  Bugsy's tail is constantly wagging and he is as happy as can be.  No matter he's clearly a dangerous dog.

as you can see:

Big bad Bugsy they call him 

Oh that 2nd pic is priceless!

For some reason when Willow is smiling at them they think she's about to bite.

kpwlee

I get some very negative crap with Bugsy too.  I hate it.  He is of course bad because he is large, very muscular and dark.  Sure I get the people that think he's a giant lab so then they think he's fine but I don't know what others think but I have had people snatch their small dog up as we approach. 

I get the same thing with Apollo. He's very big (105lbs) and all black, sometimes he has some drool hangin too. Allot of people are afraid of him, but seriously that's fine with me. I'd rather them be afraid of him and just look at him or get the heck out of my way than have people and children all over him (like my parents with their parti cocker spaniel, although he loves the attention). I know he's friendly and very sweet. I'm not really a talker, especially with people I don't know. I'm usually pretty quite, sometimes I come off as snotty, I don't know...but I love when I'm out with him and a strange man comes up to me and asks, "is he friendly?" I always say "no" because I don't want strange men around me when I'm alone, even though Apollo would just lick him to death. Ocassionaly I get the person who loves Lab and they give him a head scratch or something, thats fine too.

Don't worry about what people think about your dog. You dog is your dog for a reason- because you love them, and that's all that matters to them. You dogs don't care if a stranger won't pat them, if you pat them and give them some lovin they're in seventh heaven!

its hard when people are like that..you just have to keep in mind its only because of ignorance.  We dont have a dog park here, but we have a group of people that have all met through an online group that meet up at parks and let our dogs play.  Most of the people know Tessa and I, as we've been part of the group since it started up last year..but theres now near 150 people, and lots of new ones..at the last meetup..an older couple with their dogs were standing off to the side whispering something to a friend that owns a lab.. i then heard him say "oh thats Tessa shes a beauceron"..and the lady THEN brought her dog up to Tessa and said "oh i was worried she was a doberman and would be mean to my dog!"..even though she has NO IDEA what a beauceron is, it was ok since it wasnt a doberman???

 Unfortuantely, with Diesel, i have the opposite problem..people want to stick their fingers in his cage when hes at work, and run up to him and stand over him,  and let their dogs sniff him..they all think hes just a big teddy bear..and have no  idea what a 110lb intact male akita is capable of!  He is generally very friendly (and LOVES kids) but he can have an attitude with otehr dogs and some men.

There is an old saying that perception is reality, so when you rant because people have a bad image of bullies you should really direct your rants to the owners of these dogs that keep that image alive.  All the people that foster aggression in their dogs.  The ones who knowingly have aggressive dogs and don't do enough to manage these dogs.  The people that don't socialize and train their dogs.  The folks that foster the tough dog look.  Sure presents a good image of a bully breed when they are walking around with a big spiked collar and on a heavy chain.  You should be ranting against parts of the music industry where violence associated with these dogs is glorified.  You should be ranting against the conditions in certain neighborhoods where people feel the need to use these dogs as protection.  You should be ranting against the drug dealers that use this dog as the choice of protection. 

I'm sorry but I can't fault another dog owner when they don't want interaction with a bully breed.  Even on this board it has been stated by owners of these dogs that many tend to be dog aggressive and you need to be careful around other dogs. 

Don't blame the people that are concerned about interacting with bully breeds, blame the people that caused that concern.

I now have a pit and a Doberman.  Somehow, though, I am glad in part for that perception of a "mean" dog.  Both for the fact that it keeps strangers away from me when I go running late at night.  But also for the ridiculous comments I get which give me a chance to educate folks about my breeds.  I have learned more and more about pits since owning Jada, too.  Before her, I never thought I could own a pit.  Now my "girls" are my loves.

The dog most likely to bite someone in our house, though, is the Heeler.  Achilles is very primitive and just doesn't "play".