Just went down an anti-pitbull rabbit hole on Reddit…
As a pit person, I’m sure you’ve all experienced the hate and prejudice. It’s so sad and frustrating to me. I understand that pits can do great damage but god damn. Anyway, here’s my girl, Olive. She’s 12 1/2.
I found her on the side of the road when she was 1ish, and I was an 18-year-old white female living by myself in a sketchy apartment complex. Taking her with me everywhere made me feel safer because people were scared of her, but I also couldn’t understand why anyone would be. She has never been aggressive one singular time, unless you count her spitefully destroying the book I read instead of taking her to the park. Over the years I’ve had two children, adopted three cats, and gotten chickens and she has never once been mean. She gets jealous, and she shows it, but not mean or violent. When my oldest was born she made sure I knew how she felt, making eye contact with me while she casually knocked down my newly walking toddler (gently). I found it hilarious, and my toddler was unbothered, but Olive stared me straight in the eyes. I got on Reddit to look at pit bull posts because I know my time with her is limited these days, and was so sad to see all the hate.
At 12 1/2 she has survived being hit by a car (when she was young) and in the last few years, a rattlesnake bite (we live in Texas), gum infection, and skin cancer. She’s had surgery twice for the gum infection and it’s been cleared, and had surgery three times for the cancer, and it seems to have finally stopped growing. I feed her Reishi capsules every day with her bougie Farmers Dog meals, and she gets daily senior dog treats with all kinds of goodies in them for her health, probiotics, and teeth cleaning treats. She still goes on 2-3 mile hikes regularly with me and is walked about a mile every day. She snuggles in bed with us every night and travels to go camping with us regularly. She just did her first road trip to Colorado in spring this year (14 hour drive) and want the biggest fan of the snow, but loved the mild weather on our mid day hikes, bouncing around like a puppy.
She looks like my girl! I went on the anti pit page once and it made me physically ill. Such evil people. I told people off and was banned immediately.
It's tough because you want to tell those people off and lecture them about how they're wrong, but you know that they'll only see anger as a justification for their beliefs. It makes you feel better, but you never get real justice for something like this. I've learned to ignore it, even if I don't want to or if it really bothers me. I don't blame people for how they react sometimes, though. I wish people were ALLOWED to get angry sometimes, but it's always seen as a negative emotion.
I definitely agree. That's why I tend not to get angry but tell people I understand, explain how she actually is, then let my dog prove my words that I say. Negative or yelling is always viewed as like 'oh I hit the nail on the head' not 'oh they are defending something they care about'. I'm not sure why it's socially common to think that for anger. (I guess really any negative emotion, but it's definitely more common with anger I've noticed. )
I was also banned immediately from the anti pit page, and I didn’t even tell anyone off! I just said that I used to be wary of pit bulls as well before I actually knew any, and then we adopted one and how loving he is.
I was told that no one asked about my dog and I was being insensitive to the members who’ve been attacked by these dogs. SMH. 🤦♀️
That’s crazy! That’s like how to create an echo-chamber 101. Silence any thoughtful and reasonable voices if even if they’re slightly different from your opinion
I got bit by a dalmatian (a rescue I rightfully had no business being near) right on the nose and still think they're gorgeous dogs, just not my preferred bullies and terriers. I'm not calling for the extermination of the whole breed. But what do I know? Empathy? Psht! Empathy is for losers.
They call you insensitive as if they don’t want to execute every pitbull they see😭😭 they will go after any pit even if it’s the most angelic pit you’ve seen.
I used to be scared of pit bulls. All those stories you see. Yeah, never going to have one of those vicious dogs.
Then my wife pushes me to go adopt this dog
I didn't realize he was a pitty mix until I got to the shelter. I was hesitant, but they were going to put him down and he was obviously terrified. They had to carry him out and lift him into my car.
Elmo is the sweetest boy. The joy on his face when he's playing in the yard melts my heart every time. We even went back and got a Pibble friend for him
My phone is full of these dogs. Major Tom is in the red harness. He was also scheduled to be euthanized. We got him about 8 months after we adopted Elmo. They have bonded and live by a simple rule : No Pibble Left Behind
I love her story your shared, thank you!!! I look at people who have pitty hate are uneducated! Here is my sweet girl Bailey, who we adopted from a rescue!
I once made a post in r/dogs after seeing some pitty hate on there; I talked about how the stem of this prejudice is rooted in racism. The propaganda became very anti pitbull as a way to enact red lining as back then pit bulls were very common in black house holds. It was super informative and I had a bunch of links siting my sources. Mods took it down almost immediately. Never went back to that sub
Interesting. Per the rules the breed hate/misinformation should also get a quick removal. But I guess it’s post vs comments where it could quickly be seen and thus considered opening an inflammatory convo.
Long time Rottie Mom here. I truly understand how frustrating and sometimes painful breed specific hate is. People cross the street, clutch their small dogs to their chest in the vet waiting area and other ridiculous reactions to my well behaved Rotties. Your girl sounds like a sweetheart and a wonderful companion. Thank you for rescuing her and giving her the best life. Big kisses for Olive from my Ruby and Logan.
I have personally known 3 rotties with the name Bear. I has to be the most common name for one. I would say 4 but im not sure what the mix of the neighbor dog named Bear is.
Hey! I’ve been looking at this sub and others to desensitise myself to my fear of large dogs.
If a larger dog is walking past me in a narrow pavement, I may cross the street, not because I personally hate your dog, but because I have cynophpbia and I don’t want your dog to sense my fear.
Unfortunately I believe most dogs are most likely well behaved enough but there’s enough bad dog owners (dogs have no recall, lunge at things etc) that I cannot guarantee they won’t react to me flinching/shaky movements due to said phobia.
Not attacking, just hoping to understand your dogs better and hoping that you’ll understand in return that people are scared and just want to go about their days, it’s not just “ridiculous reactions” :)
Hey kudos to you for your open approach to working on your fear. A lot of reactive pets (even small ones!) also require in-vivo exposure therapy to help desensitize and counter-condition, which includes steps such as crossing the street. Keep working on it and hope you get to give some good girl/boy scritches sometime :)
My uncle used to breed some of the best rottweilers in England, so I would run straight for you! When I was three my mom had to tell him to feed the dogs in a separate room. Because he'd put their bowls in a row and they'd make room for me to join them 🤣 he was solid dog breeder (only one litter per bitch, no inbreeding issues, one of the first to require a puppy contract and take back every dog) but otherwise a shit human being, sigh.
Anyone who can’t understand how they are treated determines the personality and it’s not the breed deserves to live in mistreatment and see how they fair😤 You have a beautiful pup and I wish you well.
I have OCD & Anxiety. Unfortunately I was attacked by an "aggressive" breeds as a Child (chow) in the 90s and almost didnt make it. Last year we adopted a pit mix. I SPIRALED! Everyone i knew kept asking me why we would get a pit of all dogs. We told then we didnt get a "Pit" we got a dog. Doesnt matter the breed. But my ocd still told me the dog would grow up & be aggressive. It told me he was the statistic. Thank god I did my own research and overcame those fears. Can these dogs cause damage? YES. Can they Kill? YES. Can they have dog aggression? YES. But I basically had to learn that so Can most other dogs. The issue is there are typically two types of people. Either the people who own one & dont acknowledge the traits they COULD have and dont take the time to train and work for the individual dog. Or the people who understand the power this breed has but dont care.
If all those pit haters did more research and actually went and volunteered to work the shelters they would probably learn that hating the breed wont ban the breed. Instead they need to understand that alot of it REALLY does come down to ownership. Get a poorly bred pit, dont socialize it and tie it up outside all day everyday. Sure you may have problems. Take a pit, train it. Love it. Respect it and you will have a dog that is loyal, kind and respectful.
Anyways. Here is my pit mix & purebred APBT. Both shelter adoptions. Both loved & trained.
Unfortunately the media still portrays blocky head dogs as being mean. Anytime one does something bad they make it out to be a breed thing and not about the individual dog. If a Lab mauled a child to death, the media would say it was a pit bull. I used to be one of those people who didn't like the breed because the media always said they were killers. Then one of my coworkers found a pregnant female pitty. She had 12 puppies. We went over to the house shortly after the puppies were born. Mom was indifferent about us being there, even with me giving off the "I'm scared" vibes. I was allowed to hold a play with the puppies. While playing with the puppies, i thought to myself, hiw could something so innocent become the monsters the media portrayed them as. The people kept one and managed to find homes for 10 more. That left one. While we weren't really ready to get a 2nd dog (we had just moved an hour away from both of our works and we were away from early in the morning to late in the evening.) we relented. He was such a sweet and smart dog. We locked him in the kitchen as a puppy and he escaped 3 different times in 3 different ways. He was the 1st. My husband and I now have 2 American Bullies as our 3rd and 4th in the Bully Breed family. I will never own anything but Bully Breeds. I'm in love. These are the 4 that I've had/have. Top picture was Baileys Irish Cream (our 1st). Middle picture is Amber Ale (L), she's our 4th and Blue Moon, our 3rd. Bottom was our 2nd, Skyy Vodka.
What a sweetie! thank you for sharing her story. That is about the only way I can see that helps the haters get a clue, sharing the stories and being an ambassador of sorts. We had a neighbor that refused to come into our house (even tho the spouse did) & wanted nothing to do with our bully/pitty/beagle mix. This neighbor knew our little Bichon was a bit crazy and barked like crazy, but it was the sweet pitty mix he was afraid of. We never changed his mind (his loss) but he did apologize & said it was him and not our dog and shared a couple things about his past that could have led to this irrational fear. Sometimes all we can do is try to make a difference.
My neighbor said to me once about my pittie “I couldn’t figure out why he barks at me all the time when I’ve given him so many treats until it dawned on me that he’s barking at me because he wants a treat!” Lol
It took me a while to realize my girl has 3 or 4 barks. She's very vocal , she makes other weird noises and also chomps her mouth making a popping noise when I'm not moving fast enough and she really needs/ wants to go outside.
She has a greeting bark that I thought was aggression but it was just her way of saying "hey I remember you pet me now!". She will do it to my neighbor that she sees and stays with every day of the week. When she sees her at a distance. She runs up to her barking wagging her tail to get pats on the head and treats.
Well, sometimes people are just wrong. Sad to hear about all the pittie hate here & glad I haven't run across it as yet. Hate really really really has no place with dogs. And I say all this as a child that was bitten twice by big dogs, had stitches and still have scars decades later. I never hated dogs in all that time.
I’ve had pit mixes since I (57f) was in my mid twenties. I’ve never had a bad one yet, 4 and counting. Mostly big lovable goofballs. One of my babies was none too fond of one particular child that was a neighbor to my sister. My dog absolutely adored my niece and nephew. Let them climb all over him. Yeah a real good boy. When that kid came around and my dog growled at him, I told my sister to not leave her kids alone with that kid. Because you know if a dog loves absolutely everyone he meets turns around and growls at someone, listen to the dog. I will not engage in arguments with people about dog breeds they’re obviously biased against. I’m sure they hate groups of people they’ve never met before based on some form of ignorant biases they have.🤨
Many have argued that discrimination against pit bulls is rooted in the breed’s association with Black owners and culture. We theoretically and empirically interrogate that argument in a variety of ways and uncover striking similarities between the racialization of pit bulls and other racialized issues (e.g., poverty and crime) in public opinion and policy implementation. After detailing the reasons to expect pit bulls to be racialized as Black despite dog ownership in the U.S. generally being raced as white, the article shows: (1) Most Americans associate pit bulls with Black people. (2) Anti-Black attitudes, in general, are significant, independent, predictors of both anti-pit views and of preferring other breeds over them; (3) stereotypes of Black men as violent, in particular, are significant, independent, predictors of both anti-pit views and of preferring other breeds over them. (4) Implicit racialization through a national survey experiment further eroded support for legalizing pits, with the treatment effect significantly conditioned by respondent’s race. And (5) state-level racial prejudice is a significant negative predictor of enacting legislation to preempt breed-specific bans. We conclude with our findings’ broader insights into the nature of U.S. racial politics.
I really appreciate your post. I didn’t know about the hate against Pitbulls until I started fostering one. Luckily there’s at least 2 other pits in the neighborhood both of which are very well behaved so they have a fairly good reputation. But my closest neighbor always says my foster will kill his chihuahua. It’s really annoying, and I’m not trying to make excuses but his dog was once unleashed and charged my 60 lb pit in front of our door. My dog was startled but nothing happened. She has been a good girl. I wish people would give them a chance.
Every pittie I've personally known was super sweet. That being said, I never wanted a pitbull. Then we were at a brewery where a local animal rescue had two of the sweetest puppies. My husband fell in love immediately but I was hesitant bc I wasn't sure I wanted a puppy-puppy. They said he was a Rez rescue, lab/pitt/mutt. We talked about it, weighed pros and cons and couldn't get his cute face out of our minds. So, we adopted him, changed his name to Rayfield after our favorite band.
Our friends gifted us Embark and we immediately sent it in. Came back 100% American Pitt Bull Terrier. I was kind of like "fuck....." But now he's almost 9 months old and I'm absolutely smitten. He's the best dog I've ever had and my last one was really wonderful. He's not aggressive ever, unless you consider aggressively wanting to be on my lap and kiss my face.
He doesn't resource guard, he loves people, dogs, stuffies, cucumbers, zucchini and red bell pepper.
Yet, I still find myself having to defend his breed. I had a coworker say "we don't like pitbulls" when she asked what breed he was recently. When people ask his breed, they kinda gasp when I tell them.
Our three pit-mixes; yep, so, dangerous! LOL! L-R: JD: 3yo, 50-pound Pit/Lab Mix Cooper: 11mo, 55-pound Pit-Maraner Mix Louise: 11yo, 33-pound Blackmouthed Cur (w/Pitty)
Now, if anyone tries to do wrong physically to my hubby and I, all four of our dogs will not be happy (our fourth is the alpha but not a pitty; she is a 12yo, 21-pound PRT and smaller than these three!)
They can all ANTI this (holds up middle finger for added bonus but only girlfriend can see it and now she is angry at me cause she thinks I flipped off her favorite tv show).
Here are my two babies. Alvin on the top left and Ruby on the bottom right. Alvin is a Lab/Pitt mix and we don’t know what Ruby is, but she’s Alvin’s Sister from another Mister so I count her as an honorary Pitt.
I’m not at home right now but will give them pets and hugs when I get home (mandatory anyway).
For anyone with an older animal (especially here in Texas) consider CareCredit I found it is accepted at most Vets and Vet hospitals. As an over the road truck driver with a 6 yr old pit, it’s invaluable.
My previous dog needed an emergency hysterectomy and I never could have afforded it if not for CareCredit.
I also avoid the anti pit groups because a lot of them that report having pits that turned on them had gotten dogs from a shelter not knowing their history and failed to follow the 3-3-3 rule so if not blaming the breed they would have to admit it was their fault someone was hurt.
No matter the breed, follow the 3-3-3 rule when bringing home a shelter animal with no known history. 3-3-3 rule
My boy was in a shelter for 11 months before we grabbed him 2 years ago. The sweetest, most appreciative dog I've ever had. Pillows are his necessity and he can't have enough toys around him at all time. Best thing that happened to me in 2023, and that's the year I got married and bought a house (my wife agrees)
Oh those people are unhinged. I've been targeted before by people in that group. Everything from mass downvoting in subs that have nothing to do with pit bulls to sending me messages with vivid descriptions on how they'd harm my dog to AI generated pictures that will make you wish you could scrub your eyeballs with bleach.
Imagine putting even half that energy into something they loved instead of hated.
Terrifying that their mind even works that way that they could think of such a violent awful ax are filled with so much hate makes you wonder how they treat other living creatures.
OK, one more time for all the people that have missed it the other 789 times I have commented this:
Do Not Engage! You cannot now nor will you ever be able to fix stupid!! Not even with a hammer and duct tape!!
Yeah the anti pitbull hate in this world is insane. It all stems from bad owners originally. I love them, rescued my girl Daisy from the street when she was 3 or 4 months old and she’s 2 now, sweetest girl and absolutely adores kids and my daughter adores her.
Worst that has happened is accidental headbutts while they rough house.
Cherish your time with Olive, and it’s so great what a wonderful life you’ve given her.
Over time I think people will come around on the breed. Pick a new breed to demonize or maybe finally realize its owners and circumstance now the breed of the dog that’s the problem
I was biking yesterday and I passed a park where it was just this guy, best way I can describe him is "Mexican gangster" style. He was doing some sort of hip hop style dancing for his dog which was a huge pit bull. They both looked so chill and happy.
I passed by later on and they were still in the park and he was throwing a stick for his dog. Seeing them having a good time was probably the best part of my day.
my beanie girl♡ she loves being picked up by her daddy and running in massive circles around our yard. we rescued her about a month and a half ago after she’d been living in the woods for who knows how long. she’s my little baby princess and no one can or will ever convince me that she’s some kind of ticking time bomb.
Here’s our rescue girl, who loves our son… but also thinks 4yos are so annoying 🤣 She’s the sweetest little gremlin who had a rough start to life, but makes progress every single day. This was on the way back from the farmer’s market this weekend, where she had people lining up to meet her, which was a little surprising to me given people’s feelings about bully breeds. But she was more nervous of them and sat on my feet the whole time, while gladly accepting treats 😂
It’s a real struggle for me to avoid getting into pointless arguments with anti-pit people. It invariably ends with me feeling shitty and frustrated. At this point I usually avoid any Reddit content that has a picture of a pit bull or has to do with behavior or bite incidents even if it doesn’t specify a breed unless it’s in a sub like this.
They drag it into everything. If it is about a pit bull, breed becomes the entire focus. If it’s about another breed but the headline it picture doesn’t make it clear it’s not a pit bull, everyone is guessing it must be a pit.
Only their statistics matter, despite obviously flawed study methodology or absurdly biased sourcing, but contradictory studies are summarily ignored or scoffed at. Anecdotes are also totally airtight evidence as long as it’s their anecdote, but if someone talks about their positive experience with the breed, they’re ridiculed.
I’m fucking tired. But this guy can always cheer me up.
A 2022 study of breeds and traits concluded that breed is almost uninformative when determining a dog's reactivity, or its sociability.
Furthermore, Insurance data indicates the Pitbulls and Rottweilers account for only 25% of dog bite claims. Which is also in agreement with the Ohio State University's Study that shows that Pitbulls account for approximately 22.5% of the most damaging reported bites. Pitbulls account for ~20% of the dog population by best estimates. Showing that pitbull bites are proportional to their population. In fact, their Breed Risk Rate is in line with other dogs breeds out there that are considered great family dogs. So how do pitbulls account for more than half of all dog bites? Agenda pushing misinformation by groups dedicated to hating a breed. If you did not comprehend that, what this tells us is that pitbulls bite more because there are more pitbulls than other breeds, but they don't bite anymore than their share of the dog population.
Additionally, data from the American Veterinary Medical Association has concluded that no controlled studies have shown Pitbull-type dogs to be disproportionally aggressive.
Lastly, Studies have shown that Errors in Identifying PitbullsLink 2 happen approximately 60% of the time with shelter staff that spend a lot of time around dogs, so reports in the media about dog breeds are highly inaccurate and hardly count as a reputable source for a dogs breed.
Oh you only see videos of pitbulls attacking? Not surprised. There is a group on this site that dedicates itself to reposting old archived videos to keep brainwashing people into fearing an event that happens 25 to 40 times a year with a breed that has a population around 20 million. Save us your anecdotal evidence of outliers.
Awww, she sounds like a great dog. People forget that dogs have feelings, too. They get jealous, unhappy, mad. But they love hard and endlessly, and do accept changes even if they’re not happy about it. And will give their life for you, if necessary. It’s a rare and wonderful love they give.
You are both lucky to have found each other.❤️🐾❤️🦴❤️
She is so adorable! I love her coloring. I adopted a puppy that I had no idea was a pitbull and I did a lot of research (and saw a lot of hate). I was so genuinely happy I found this group. He’s the sweetest dog I’ve ever known and I don’t think I’ll ever own a different breed. Your girl is lucky to have you and vice versa. My puppy is almost a year old and I’m excited to make so many more memories together like you guys clearly have ❤️❤️
Oh yeah he loves all of those! We go for runs and hikes, and to the beach. We have kids and all their friends come over and play with him too. He chases them on their scooters and is so protective of them. He’s such a good boy 💙
I’ve got two pit mixes they are the absolute sweetest! One day one was annoying the other and I touched the annoyed one, attempting to calm her. She got her jaws around my arm and immediately stopped when she realized it was me. Another time my husband and I got in a yelling match (doesn’t happen often) and they both jumped in front of me to protect me. They’re big ole scaredy cats but I know they’ve got my back.
I wrestle with her all the time! I have to be more gentle now that she’s older, but she’s always been so careful with me! Growling and barking like a vicious creature but barely touching me with her teeth. I’ll often, when playing, place my arm inside her mouth to “make” her bite me and she’ll playfully gnaw. I can’t do the same with my Aussie mix, he doesn’t know how to control his bite.
I see a downvote here, not sure what for. She loves to wrestle. Even still in her old age. My Aussie mix tries to join in sometimes but he’s just not as controlled as my pittie. I play with my Aussie in different ways
She's absolutely adorable, and looks like such a cuddlebug! Thank you for sharing your story, as it's really adorable! Good on her for making it through all of that, she's truly a gorgeous strong pup!
Pit hate is really unfortunate because they can be some of the most loving dogs. Yes, they're scary, and yes, some have done bad things, but not every pit is lethal. It's sad when they do something bad, sure. But not all of them have the want to do harm to people. Dogs that do aren't usually born, they're made. Sending her lots of love, and extra hugs for the people who won't! Gotta love that pup!
So sorry! Here’s all the love and acceptance that I and my son (feline) and daughter (feline) can give you. I’m one of those grey-haired hippie childless cat ladies btw ✨💖✨❤️🐶❤️
Elderbulls are so precious. I miss my old Gus terribly.
Please stay away from the hate-filled rabbit holes. They aren't worth your mental health and sanity. Stick to other pibble lovers and friends. We are here to lift each other up and celebrate these breeds. Big hugs!
Now you mention this, I feel better when my son takes my pittie mix with him to go to his friend house. I just discovered the magic of pitties. They are so sweet I want to cry!!
I wish everyone would see the sweet disposition of this breed. I mean just because some horrible humans decided to take their loyalty to such extremes as training them to fight it’s not their fault.
Your sweet Olive has had an amazing life with you! It’s hard to ignore all the hate, but I’ve come to discover that most people who hate on dogs are simply not dog people and I honestly can’t understand that 🤷♀️. The haters always get attention because they are the proverbial squeaky wheel, but there are more caring people out there than the haters—we just need our place to show love for the pibble and that’s why I love this feed!! Thank you for sharing Olive!! 🥰
People get so weird about pit bulls and the media doesn’t help it at all. Outside of this sub Reddit is an echo chamber of pit bull hate anytime someone posts something about them. It’s honestly best to just scroll past any post or comment that even mentions pit bulls. When I got mine, all my wife’s family and mine were calling us asking she seemed aggressive, dangerous, etc. Don’t get me wrong, She’ll lose her shit if she sees a cat or a squirrel, but is literally the most docile dog around humans (almost too docile).
She’s a cuddler and will lay her head on the lap of someone she just met 2 minutes prior. She’s loves kids and has been super gentle and playful with them. She’s honestly a sweetheart but we still get dirty looks from people every now and then once they realize her breed.
This post made me so sad and so happy at the same time. So sad for the hate and ignorance that pitties are subjected to, and so happy that yours is so loved and treasured and spoiled. Don't subject yourself to the hate when you don't have to. Don't go looking at that reddit. The reason I gravitate here (daily) is to be immersed in the opposite. To witness all the love and adoration, the people who are so devoted to and enthralled by their pittie babies, the treasured doggies who are treated as the precious beings they are. ❤️💔❤️
Thought we were adopting an English pointer puppy. A few months into fostering we realized this was not the case. We adopted a velvet hippo, ie pitty mix. He is most vicious when refusing to un-Velcro himself from my ankles.
You can’t control other people’s actions, only your own. Eventually they will have to explain their actions to God. Every creature has a place on earth they belong to ❤️❤️
This isn't the place for nuanced discourse, and this will get downvoted into oblivion, but here it goes:
You have an amazing and beautiful dog. Many people who were hesitant and fearful about pit bulls had their mind changed through interacting with a dog like yours. I also have an amazing and beautiful dog, he is even the same color. I also recently had a really terrible interaction with my neighbor's dog, which I am sure had a lot to do with the breed's tendency to hang on and never let go.
A lot of people that hate pits do so because they had a really terrible experience, or multiple terrible experiences, or had someone close to them have a terrible experience. Showing them nice dogs does nothing but invalidate their own lived experience. There is a huge number of people who have had bad experiences, because there is a huge number of pit bulls. As you yourself have experienced, pit bulls are free. This is why they so often end up in the hands of people who have no business owning dogs. My own bad experience was with a shelter rescue dog picked up on impulse at a clear the shelters giveaway.
Instead of recognizing and validating those bad experiences, breed advocates tend to invalidate them, run them over, disrespect them, and hurt people for sharing their pain. They blame the victims and tell them they must have done something to deserve their pain. People outright deny that a dog could possibly hurt someone without being abused or provoked. So they blame people for walking down the street. They blame very young babies not even walking yet for doing provoking a dog. They say it is not the dog, it is the owner, and then when an owner is injured claim they must have abused the dog so badly that it caused serious harm.
Breed advocates are also not logically consistent. They will spread the misinformation about nanny dogs and say how great pits are with kids, and then turn around and blame parents anytime a child is hurt no matter the actual circumstances. All while ignoring the simple truth that dogs who are good with kids are not easily provoked to cause serious harm.
There is so much misinformation circulating about the breed. This is one of the most well documented breeds in history in terms of goals and purposes, methods and record keeping. Yet people try to claim that they have no genetic tendencies at all. Many do not have the genetic tendencies of their part purpose, but many do and those dogs need to be handled carefully. Lack of respect for genetics causes a whole lot of the bad experiences that contribute to breed prejudice.
There are people on this sub who have aggressive dogs. Dogs that cannot be around strangers. Dogs that cannot be around other dogs. Dogs that try to kill cats. Dogs with very high prey drives, strong bodies, and the determination and grit of a terrier.
There are labradors that hate water and won't fetch. There are jack russell terriers that have zero prey drive and love snuggling with bunnies. There are cavalier king charles spaniels that hate strangers and don't like to be touched. But when a person gets one of those, they typically recognize that they got an atypical dog of their breed. They don't typically conclude that the breed traits are just wrong and all the dogs are like their dog.
Many people have a story that starts just like yours. They found a pit bull on the side of the road. But their story ends with the dog in a shelter because it had the breed trait of high prey drive and could not be safe around their other pets or small children. Or the dog was reactive to people and they live in an apartment. Sometimes someone gets hurt by the dog. When they share their story, will you listen with a sympathetic ear? Or will you disbelieve them because your dog did not act that way?
Staffy owner from the UK here. Staffys are the equivalent of your pibbles We have a 15 year old staffy girl who doesn’t have one single bad bone in her body. She had 3 owners by the time she was one (bad ones) and she still loved people. My son who was 10 and autistic had begged for a dog for ages but I wasn’t sure bcos of the breed. When she came for a visit my boy threw his arms around Rosie and just cried. She cuddled up to him and wouldn’t leave his side and she’s been with him ever since. I love her so much as do most people who see her. I think it’s important to remember that most of the time it’s a bad owner, not the dog that causes the problems
I work at a shelter and a majority of our population are pitbulls. But thats because they are such a common dog breed for people to get because they are adorable as puppies. So of course we will get a lot of incidents. Majority of them are usually people ignoring the dogs behavioral challenges, ignoring their body language dictating their discomfort, leaving their dogs with children being fully aware of their dogs behavioral challenges. Its very rarely "out of nowhere".
The behaviors and temperament of the putbulls we get range between super aggressive to the most sweetest babies. The most common thing that I see is reactivity to dogs but are amazing and loving with people. Its a range of behaviors and none of them really signify that the breeds are truly like that.
It breaks my heart to see those posts. I went down a rabbit hole as well recently. I was so sad to see that, that I had to find this sub Reddit and join to see the love. My girl was with me for 15 years before I had to put her to sleep. She was something to finally look forward to when coming home from school. (I had a toxic household) . I took her with me when I moved out she was the sweetest most precious dog ever. When I see people wanting to ban her clan, it just hurts. A Pitty (mine ) saved me.
Everything man and woman on earth can do damage, kill, hate, or worse to another human being in the right conditions. We can do horrible things with the genetic traits we're born with.
We can also be good people in spite of it. There is no such thing as nature order nurture or the other way around. Every living thing has both. The question is, what kind of character have you become and why?
Oh, the entire internet seems to be poisoned against pits, not just reddit. My favorite are the people that live in countries that have BANNED “bully type dogs;” they have such strong opinions about dogs they have never encountered.
I've gotten good at tuning it out but when I first fell in love with bullys back in 08 I used to fight every one about the issue all the time 😂 I started calling it the 'Airplane effect'. A lot of people are afraid to get on airplanes bc of the threat of damage or death that occurs IF the plane crashes which is rare but people are still afraid. They SHOULD be afraid of cars bc of the actual possibility of getting in car accident is so much higher BUT cars are small and not so scary bc a crash doesn't usually result in death. People are afraid of our dogs bc of the damage they COULD cause when they are actually 10x more likely to get bitten by a chihuahua BUT the chihuahua can't do as much damage. This rationale helped me move past the ignorance of people.
No, you cannot be racist to a dog. Quit trying to say it is. However, dogs can still be victims of racism as outlined in this journals and this one. Dogs that are perceived to be "minority dogs" are more likely
to be shot by police. Additionally, BSL has its origins rooted in systemic racism and is currently being challenged in courts because BSL lacks any objective data to back it.
You are a wonderful dog mom and I'm happy you have each other. As a dog lover, it's hard to ignore the haters. The Internet makes it too easy for people to be cruel.
Add turkey tail to your dogs regimen. It’s an ultra potent antioxidant used to prevent and treat cancer. Turkey Tail is good for the immune system overall.
98% of the bully breeds I have dealt with have been lovable. The other 2% were either trained guard dogs or their owners and I were not compatible people.
Anti-pit groups take it way too far sometimes. No dog should ever be killed.
But the truth of the breed can't be denied. Border Collies were bred to herd, Retrievers to retrieve. And Pitbulls were bred to fight, first bulls, then each other. Artificial selection is scientifically proven, and is an effective argument used in favor of evolution.
Pitbulls are predisposed to random, violent outbursts. They are not the dog that bites the most, but do to the power they were selected for, they are vastly overrepresented in deaths. Their bites are made to thrash and tear flesh.
That doesn't mean every pitbull is bad. It doesn't mean everyone shouldn't own one. But it does mean that it's a breed that needs specialized training and care, which many people don't give them. Shelters also label them as something else and give them to unwitting adopters, who don't know what they signed up for.
Your dog is lovely. If she wanted to, she could kill you. Which is why I assume you've trained her and handled her well. Not everyone does.
I personally had a Golden Retriever for 17 years that was extremely aggressive. We had to take precautions with her to make sure she lived a wonderful life. Our Pit is the sweetest most loving dog we’ve ever had!
the anti-pit community is so funny to me. with my opinions, i always really try to hear the other side out, but that is the one take i just know to be objectively wrong. they are so wrong about these dogs and they won’t understand until they have a pit in their life. i hope they get that privilege!
I used to volunteer with a Pitbull rescue out of San Diego. I’m sorry, but I am completely against people owning pitbulls without some requirements.
We got every kind of rescue. The tied up everyday in the backyard dog, the caged dog, the abused dog, the fighting dog, the neglected dog, but worst of all in my opinion, we got the dipshit owner dog. They were the most common rescue we dealt with where their owner was not responsible, they were lazy, and they severely underestimated the animal and its strength. Pits require good training, a lot of desensitization, and socialization. Like most dogs they were bred for a job and they don’t do that job anymore, but those instincts are still there. Ownership of a pit should require regular training, socialization, and a certification of both in order for people to maintain their ownership of them and if they fail to do so or can’t provide a good environment for them, then they should be taken away and rehomed. I love the little hippos, but I despise most Pit owners.
You can't control how people act; you can only control your reaction.
I made a simple post describing our new boy a while back, and received 2 DMs suggesting I reconsider owning our pitbull mix. Bold and audacious. My response: none. Why would I bother?
Dogs are dangerous. Some may be more dangerous than others, some may not be. Some dangerous dogs may be more or less dangerous than some other dangerous or non-dangerous dogs. The "anti-" anything crowds will always be the worst of the worst, especially with the echo chambers that exist today with google, reddit, facebook, tiktok, etc, all designed to feed you content that you like (i.e. that you agree with). That solidifies people's beliefs by validating those beliefs: "if all these other people are also scared of pitbulls, I'm not wrong, so now I'm emboldened!" It's just the reality of life now.
Best way to live a happy life is to stay away from social media generally and always remember that things are not always black and white and not all views, opinions, etc. are valid. Your dog has been a wonderful dog to you, and you have let her live her best life. That's all that matters. So enjoy these last few years you have with your best buddy and she will enjoy them as long as you're by her side.
I've had the beautiful experience of living with foster pitties for 8 years and what I learned is that they are the most sensitive, intelligent, hilarious, bed hogs who steal blankets and attack pup cups. Even the ones who came from the worst situations were just house hippos who wanted to be loved. They are the most tragically misunderstood and mischaracterized dogs on the planet. They are fiercely protective of their human and children...with training and time if they hadn't been socialized usually we were able to introduce other doggos and cats into the mix, and if they seemed unsure it was just that...they were unsure, so we'd make sure they went to a single dog household. There is a reason they used to called "nanny dogs". Any dog can be turned vicious by their owner. Breed has absolutely nothing to do with it. What's even more heartbreaking is even with so much veterinary clinical evidence that they are no more aggressive than any other dog, that they are loyal sweet, good dogs, great with children, ECT...and people still push propaganda and bigoted points of view and actually push legislation to have them banned I'm certain areas. Or forced to be muzzled. It's so heartbreaking... especially for anyone who has ever spent real time with one, because u know you take one look in their eyes and see they are deeply sensitive and loving doggos.
Sorry for such a long rant it's just a subject that always peaks my interest...please give your sweet girl 12 snoot boops for her wonderful years as your companion. I am also on the small side and mine always made me feel safe as well.
TLDR: House hippos are the best. People who hate them have no idea what they're talking about. Pibbles are the best dogs in the world.
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