It's come to my attention that a lot of people think that Pitbulls are mean, super aggressive, dangerous dogs. Pardon me, but this assumption makes me giggle. I personally have never come into contact with a Pitbull that has tried to harm me. My boyfriend and I own a Pitbull and I will be honest with you, I was a little nervous to meet Tyson. I had never been around any before and I knew about the dangerous situations they have been in and the different stories of dog fights from the news, so I too was like you before. I was scared. But the second I met him, I instantly became so angry with myself. He was so sweet and full of personality. If he was human, I would want him to be my best friend. He was the most gentle dog I have been around.
I would like to point out my strongest point and belief: 99 percent of a pet's behavior is based on how their owner raised them. Now, I know some pets unfortunately can contract rabies (or other diseases) or not get their appropriate shots. I know that people can sometimes pet, hold, or look at a dog weird and then they feel threatened and may bite or scratch. I totally understand the different circumstances that can happen. I have had dogs my entire life so I am not ignorant on the subject of dogs behavior. I will start off with a brief background of my own pets and include some stories and photos from other Pitbull owners.
My family and I have owned our beloved Chaweenie, Sam, for about 13 years. He has never been trained. For the most part, he is well behaved. But I can recall many times where he dug holes under our fences to get out of the backyard and roam the streets. I can recall many times of using the bathroom indoors. He's chewed up underwear and our toys countless times. He has only snipped at one person in his life out of threat (and not playfulness) and it was about three years ago. She was not seriously injured considering he probably weighs less than 10 pounds. On the contrary, he loves to cuddle in laps and have his head scratched. He gives kisses to say hello. We have never trained any of our pets so the reason he has made his mistakes is on our account. Now that he is old, he doesn't like leaving the living room floor that much. But majority of animals will not react to people with "violence" unless they feel their well being is in danger.
[This is Sandy's Pitbull, Gabbie. She is almost five years old with no formal training. She is very sociable with humans, but not other dogs that she does not know very well because they are more of a nervous breed. She has never growled or bitten anyone and is the third Pitbull in Sandy's family.]
[This is Layla, Drue's Pitbull. She had no formal training but was very well behaved. She was very cuddly and sweet with anyone. When they moved, Layla had to be given to someone else. But her memory is always there!]
[This is Lily, Cory's Pitbull. She is still a puppy so she is very hyper around other people, but very loving as well. She has no training but behaves well!]
[This is Krystle's Pitbull mix, Sam. He is very protective, but very sweet and goofy. He is very shy, but he would not hurt anybody unless they showed threat towards Krystal and her boyfriend. He is very playful and loves to chase around their young kitten, Lola. He acts like a parent to her!]
Let's move on to my boyfriend's dogs who have been trained. J.P. began Tyson's training when he first got him when he was about six weeks old. He can do every single trick capable of a dog doing. He can sit, lay down, roll over, shake, play dead, speak, crawl, heel, and stay. In addition to performing these tricks with vocal commands, he can even do them by using hand signals and sign language. He can sit perfectly still and let J.P. balance food on his nose or mouth and he will not flip his head up to catch it until J.P. says, "get it!"
He can open and close doors, he does not use the bathroom in the house, he stops doing things when he is told to, he can fetch, he puts his nose on his leash when he wants to go for a walk and he puts his head on our legs when he wants to go outside and widens his big, pathetic eyes. The biggest of our three dogs, he is also the biggest baby. He loves to cuddle and get belly rubs. He loves to lick us in every place we don't want his slobber including our face. He will lay on our laps as if he does not weigh 90 pounds. He cuddles with us in bed at night and with our other dog, Janice, who is the love of his life.
He licks on her and balls up with her on the couch. He has never barked at or tried to hurt Roxy, our 4 pound chihuahua. Though she does not mind giving him a hard time when he wants to cuddle. He has never bit or attacked a person before in his six years of living. When I go to bed early and J.P. is not in the bedroom with me, Tyson sleeps with me to protect me because he knows I'm alone. When he hears cars drive by or pull up in the driveway, he stands straight up right by the door and growls a few times because he is protecting us. When the visitor comes inside, he welcomes them with lots of love. When a baby is around, he stays close so no one will hurt them. J.P.'s five and six-year-old cousins love to come over and play with Tyson because he is so gentle with them. We bring him to the nursing home every Sunday to visit J.P.'s grandmother and all the residents love to pet and visit with him. I have just never been so intrigued by how compassionate he is. He is a large dog with the softest heart I've ever seen in a pet. Does this sound like an aggressive dog to you? Better yet, do any of these dogs look like one?
[These are Rebekah's Pitbulls Frankie, Joey, and Dino. Joey is very protective, but is all bark and no bite. Frankie is the leader of the group, monkey see monkey do. Dino enjoys being in laps and cuddling over playing with the other dogs. They are all very great listeners, love children and other animals, and at eight months old they have learned how to sit!]
[This is Anna and Justin's Pitbull mix, Dozer. He is very cuddly. He is potty trained, crate trained, and house trained. He loves his toys and gets along very well with their other dog, Meeko, in the photo. They are best friends.]
[This is Mobley, Bailey's Pitbull. He is a rescue dog and was raised with many cats. He has never been aggressive with them and these two are his best friends. Mobley knows the word "love" and if you tell him to love, he will jump up in your lap and begin giving you tons of kisses! What a neat trick!]
[This is Alyssa's Pitbull, Roscoe. He is one and a half years old. He has learned all of his tricks by treat and time out training. He is very attached to her other two pets in the photo above and they are his closest friends. He has become more of a protective dog now that Alyssa is pregnant, but never aggressive. He is very loving with all people and loves to show affection!]
[This is Outlaw, Beth's Pitbull. He has not used the bathroom inside since he was eight months old and he is almost two years old. He only growls when him and Beth are in the bedroom and he hears somebody coming in, but when the light comes on he stops. He is very protective! Seven months ago, he tookcare of an injured kitten and the only time he has ever "attacked" another animal was when Beth's chihuahua tried to bite her. He is very sweet and loving!]
Pitbulls are large dogs. Biologically, they are muscular, dense, and have sharp teeth. History says that they were bred for bull and bear baiting and dog fighting. We have seen on the news where Pitbulls have been culprits and victims of dog fighting. But those dogs did not wake up one day and say, "I'm going to attack and kill another dog today." They were trained by their owner to attack dogs. Tyson was brought up completely opposite. He does not attack other dogs and he does not use his bulk to hurt humans or other animals because J.P. did not teach him to do any of that or let him think it was okay. Do you see what I'm saying here? When Sam snipped at our neighbor a few years ago, that does not make all Chaweenie's vicious dogs. That does not make me and my family bad owners. We did not raise him that way, it was out of instinct of his safety. So, if your Pitbulls have ever bit someone or injured somebody because of an incident similar to mine, you are not a bad person and your dog is not a bad creature. He was just protecting himself, so I can excuse that situation. But, if you purposely raise your pets to hurt and attack other pets like a dog fighter, you need to reevaluate your life. That is a situation that I will not excuse.
[This is Grace, a Rocker's Rescue dog. After being terriblysick and mangled, she was rescued by a beautiful family. She overcame food aggression and dominance and is a very sweet and loving dog. She gets along great with the other dogs at her home. She knows how to sit and heel when walking with her owner and she is great around children!]
[This is Tryson, Amberlie's Pitbull. He knows basic training and loves to play outside. He has never growled at or bit anybody before. He is very loving and sweet and her son is Tryson's best friend in the whole world. He loves to play with his "older brother", the other dog in the photo.]
[This is Zeus, Destiny and Devin's Pitbull. Before Destiny and Devin starteddating, she was strongly against Pitbulls. After meeting Zeus and realizing how big of a baby he is, she fell in love with him and finally felt comfortable enough to introduce him to her daughter. He now loves Marley more than anything and they are best friends! Some of his training includes knowing how to sit and lay down and kennel and leash training. When he digs in the trash and they have to punish him, he bows down and follows them around for hours. If he ever has to be popped, it breaks his heart and he is so sensitive and apologetic! What a sweet dog!]
[This is Taylor's dog, Nala. She is everything but aggressive. She is very loving and protective. Taylor's son and Nala are the best of friends and they literally do everything together. They play with each other and do not go anywhere without one another. The worst thing she ever does to a stranger is jump on them to get attention! One time, she ran off down the street and the people outside were scared of her because they had never seen her before. Turns out she was just looking for some love!]
[These are Samantha's two Pitbulls, Rory and Soren. When Samantha fell out of her wheelchair once and it landed on top of her, Soren pushed his head under her arm to help her. Then Rory brought her his tennis ball over and over so she could slam it against the door outside for her boyfriend to hear. They saved her that day and she is so appreciative of her loving and smart Pitbulls!]
Just like we hate stereotypes when it comes to us, we shouldn't stereotype dog breeds either. I used to hate German Shepherds because two of them attacked Sam when I was a child. I was terrified of them. I thought they were the most evil dogs in the world. But I was wrong because I have met other German Shepherds since then who are sweet pets. So you should not classify that all Pitbulls are aggressive dogs just because of one bad experience or something you see on the news from somebody who has no compassion for the life of other living creatures. Just because Pitbull's ancestors were trained that way hundreds of years ago does not mean that time has not continued and all Pitbulls are still animal-killing-mongrels. Do not be so small minded. From all the different stories you have read here, you can see that these sweet dogs will protect you and your home as part of their background and instincts. They will love you. They are one of the smartest breeds around and I feel safe having Tyson at home with us every night.
I know I am not the only one who owns and endlessly loves their friendly-gentle-giant. Thank you for all my participants who wanted to share their stories and their beloved Pitbulls with me. We will stand together and we will fight to end the stereotype and spread awareness about the good of these breeds!
I hope my words here have allowed you to open your mind to all dog breeds, not just Pitbulls. Make sure you have the time, responsibility and are well informed to train your dog if you're deciding to go out and get one. Your dog's breed may have a history of violent behavior, but that no longer defines them. Stand with us today!
