This summer was my family's one year anniversary of adopting our dog, Midnight, from our hometown's animal shelter. I first saw Midnight on our local news station being advertised for adoption. For a large, muscular black dog, he has the sweetest puppy eyes. We went to visit him in person and the workers said they believed he was around 2 years old. They found him as a puppy with multiple cigarette burn scars on his ears, starving in an abandoned drug house. The worker also said Midnight had spent the previous year in the shelter because, statistically, people are less likely to adopt black dogs because they appear scarier. Not to mention, Midnight is most likely somewhat Pitbull in his mix.
I began to think how sad it truly is that so many dogs are looked over and deprived of good homes simply because of their breed's stereotype or the color of their fur. In the year that we have had Midnight, he has brought nothing but joy into our lives. He is one of the sweetest, most loving dogs I have ever met. You can see in his eyes that he is so grateful that he was given a second chance to have a great life. I would hate for anyone to not give a dog a chance at a good life simply because their breed has a bad stigma. Now, a message to people who are afraid of dogs and specific breeds:
You are how you are raised.
Here's a scenario: If a dog spends its entire life locked in a cage or chained to a fence, then one day attacks someone...would you assume the reasoning is because the dog has been raised to resent human beings or simply due to the breed of the dog? Let's simplify this idea even more...blaming misbehavior on dog breeds is ideally similar to that of trying to piece together a correlation between crime and race. It's just not legitimate.
One bad dog can't speak for others.
When I was a toddler, I was attacked by a husky. Strangely enough, huskies are now one of my favorite breeds of dogs. I have now owned three dogs in my lifetime (all weighing over 70 pounds). Don't allow fear to create a generalization for you. You might even find dogs to be much more pleasant than humans (I know I do).
Stranger danger.
If you see a dog you don't know, treat it like a human being. Would you go up to someone walking on the street and try to pet their head? No. Dogs have boundaries just as humans do and they need to be respected as such. My advice (and I think I saw this on a Cesar Millan show so it's pretty legit) is to ask the owner first if you can pet the dog. If they say yes, bend down and allow the dog to smell the palm of your hand first. This is your way of telling the dog that you come in peace. Remember that it's okay for the dog to deny you. Would you say yes to a stranger?
