By this point in my life, most should know that I am a strong, very vocal, and passionate animal advocate. Dogs have a very special place in my heart and I hold them to a high esteem. I have been involved in many different aspects of a dog's life over the last ALMOST 30 years of my life. I grew up owning collies as our prized family pets. Two of these collies played a very intricate role in my 4H involvement and successes. I spent many days, nights, & weekends training my collies for obedience, agility, & showmanship as I grew up and went from being an adolescent to a teenager and eventually an adult. These are some of the best memories of my childhood and some of my closest friends growing up were involved with this type of activity as well. I was a strong competitor and my dogs often placed high in their classes. This was my passion and to this day I miss training and competing and I hope that at some point in my life I will find myself back in this type of setting again.
My first "real love" was not with a boy, but with a dog. As a teenager, I loved going to different horse auctions with one of my friends. On a particular hot August day, we found ourselves in Vernon or Monroe county at an Amish auction. Going to an Amish auction is a surreal experience that, in my opinion, everyone should be a part of at some point in their lives. The Amish auction is not the point of my story here, but what came from the Amish auction is. In a yucky, brown torn up cardboard box lie 3 sweet little puppies. These puppies couldn't have been more than 5 weeks old, but were separated from mom because she had work to do and the puppies were getting in the way of that (according to the Amish family getting rid of the puppies). If these puppies did not find homes than they would be drowned after the auction. Two of the three little puppies quickly found new homes, but there was one plump little puppy just relaxing in the box waiting for someone to give him some love. He had soft white and red fur and the sweetest blue little muzzle. His brown eyes bore into any person's soul as he looked up at the people, but most quickly walked by without even a glance towards his box. I picked him up that day and chose to give him a new life. I knew my parents wouldn't let me bring a dog home, but I figured I would raise him for a little while and then just find a new home for him. He never really did find a new home...he just embedded himself into my life that very day and I quickly learned what it was like to be responsible for another living being and to truly experience the unconditional love and compassion that any canine companion provides for their "people." I was blessed with 9.5 beautiful and amazing years with Roper. I learned many different lessons during those years, but what I took away from being his family is something that I will never be able to repay. I am a better human, a better canine owner, a better mom for the experiences that I had with Roper. His last three months of life were excruciating and painful. Watching cancer ravage his body and slowly take his soul away was heart-wrenching, but he did it all with grace. He gave me the time that I needed to be able to say goodbye to him and he knew when it was time. He gently whispered to me the day I had to say goodbye forever and he held on so that I could have those last few kisses and snuggles and then gently passed on in my lap. I shed many tears on his white fur over the years, but I also laughed often too. During those beautiful 9.5 years with Roper, I learned to be a better trainer, a better companion, a better listener, and a better lover. He was soft in his ways, but I knew what he needed and he ALWAYS knew what I needed. He was my first champion and to this day my only champion, LOL!!!!!! I still feel like I was robbed when we were told that he had stage 4 Lymphoma and that it was only a matter of time before he would be gone. We had hoped for another year of life, but his body was tired and weak and 3 months was all he could give. He knew what I needed during that time, but I still feel so angry that all I could get was 9.5 years. He was supposed to be the dog that lived until he was 20. He was Roper...he was like the bionic dog.
It took two years before I could really accept that Roper wasn't going to just wake up and come back to life. It took two years to let that raw pain subside a little and to understand that life is in fact a circle and that I had danced the full circle once with Roper and there would be many more dances with many different people and animals. It took two years to understand that Roper's legacy wasn't done. It wasn't over. I just needed to listen to the soft whispers a little longer than most and understand that I had a different purpose in life than I thought I had always had. The day I brought Roper home, I was a naive 15-year-old that had hoped my parents wouldn't notice this little dog that just popped into my bedroom. I had my own puppy and that was all that mattered. That day, however, I became an advocate for all kinds of dogs. He was the last one, he was the one no one else wanted. He was the one that I was meant to have. Every dog has a purpose and every dog has that special someone out there that they are meant to be with. I am not sure what would have happened to Roper if I had just walked by. Maybe another person would have taken him or he would have met the creek later in the afternoon. I don't try to think about that because it didn't happen. It didn't happen to Roper. For once, my naive tendencies helped out. They helped unite a young girl and a beautiful little puppy.
I raised Roper the way I wanted to raise him and for those that were blessed to know him knew that he was a special kind of dog. He changed peoples souls in ways they may never understand. He brought love, compassion, and strength to those around him. He was an amazing animal and it would have been a shame if I had let all of those qualities die with him. It would have been a shame if I ignored what was ahead me. As I truly began to accept that he was gone and I had to move on, my very beautiful and talented best friend put a little thought in my head. She suggested that I provide a home for another cattle dog in need. A dog that needed an owner that understood him and worked in ways that he needed. I followed this notion. I begged my husband to consider a third dog in our family and after many days of guilt-ridden conversations I finally won. We headed to a no-kill animal shelter and we met this little guy. Within 20 minutes, I had been attacked, YES, you read that correctly, I was attacked by this innocent, scared, and very failed little boy. You see....there are so many breeds out there that do NOT benefit from sitting in a kennel all day every day for many days at a time. Their minds can't handle this type of situation and the separation from humans and families takes a toll. It changes them. Their demeanor changes. Their attitudes change. Their outlooks change. This happened to Skippy. He was a cute puppy, but was dumped a year later. He sat and deteriorated in the kennel and by the time I met him he wasn't who his soul said he was. He was terrified and he needed an outlet. I left with a fairly good bite mark that was dripping in blood and a lot of superficial bruises on my arm. I may also have left with one less sleeve on my shirt. I wasn't the right home for him at the time. We had a little boy, 2 other dogs, and a cat at home. We couldn't provide, safely, what he needed. I begged for the shelter to not destroy and after a lot of communication they eventually found him a rehabilitation/sanctuary where he would be re-socialized, exercised, and forever loved.
After leaving him that day, I knew that more had to be done. I wasn't stupid, I knew this type of situation happened often, but the end result was very different for many dogs. Most dogs meet the cold silver examination room and they are given a nice little shot that eventually takes their lives. They are lucky to have someone sit there and cry over them, love them, and wish they could just have 5 more minutes, 5 more kisses, 5 more moments with that dog. They die not knowing that this truly can happen. They are eventually forgotten and many more will meet this same fate. I am not saying that euthanization is not a proper treatment or that it is wrong all of the time. There are certain situations where this is necessary. Sick and ailing animals may need help in ending the suffering. I had to make that choice for my dear and beloved Roper. It happens. I will say this though, when animals are unwanted, make terrible choices, or are dangerous to themselves and others, it isn't typically their fault. They have a history and within that history humans have ultimately failed them. These failures are what cause such astonishing facts like, "86% of all fatal canine attacks involve an unneutered male." This statistic was provided by the American Humane Society (AHS). The failure here is that someone chose not to alter their animal. They felt that they were going to eventually breed that animal or that they couldn't take that manhood away from the animal. Newsflash, but animals don't know anything about manhood. The owner of the unaltered male has fatally failed this animal by choosing not to alter. They were apart of what went wrong for this dog. The part that makes me the most angry is the fact that the owner that failed the dog most likely has no understanding or remorse for the true cause of the altercation and ultimate euthanization. They blame it on other people, other situations, other happenings. This is yet another failure in being a dog owner.
I grew up with herding dogs. I grew up knowing "family" dogs. I grew up wanting to raise my children with these wonderful breeds. To this day, I will never speak ill words about the breeds of dogs that I have owned and I will always advocate for them. I have, however, become a different kind of dog owner since those wee moments in my life when I said I would always have an Australian Cattle Dog or an Australian Shepherd in my life. While they are amazing breeds and I love my Australian Cattle Dog dearly as well as my Australian Shepherd mix, I see where we, as humans, are failing different breeds. I see how humans get fixated on one type of dog and ultimately ruin every aspect about it. We, as humans, are the failure, the problem, the ultimate death sentence to so many dog breeds like the Pit Bulls, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, and Dobermans. We're the reason they are "wrong" and "bad." We didn't stand up to the haters, we didn't educate others the way we should have. I know so many amazing people out there that educate until they are blue in their face. They see the direct impact of breed haters and how it impacts and ultimately ends so many sweet souls lives. They give everything to these animals and only get a fraction of love and happy endings in return. I am not sure that I will ever have a strong enough soul to do what so many do, but I will hopefully make a difference. I will hopefully educate and change such wrong accused "facts" and eventually see the breed hating go away.
We are a very proud Pit mix owned family. We don't own Parker, she owns us. We didn't pick her, she picked us. We don't make the decisions in this house, Parker does. While we are very aware of who is the owner and who is the dog, I hope that others understand that my viscious, child-eating, man-hating, thug of a Pit mix is merely a sweet, kind, and very gentle animal. She is not a bait dog, she has not seen a fight ring, and she has found love throughout her life. She does cause people to swing their head at her. She does cause people to walk away from her. She does cause the most often stated sentence, "SHE'S a pitbull? She is so nice." I always want to say, we fed her a child for breakfast, that always makes her nicer when she meets new people, but I refrain from using this as it just makes a worse picture for the breed and it shows my immaturity and rather sarcastic frame of mind. Our thug is an amazing dog. Before owning her I always thought bully breeds were great and "someday" wanted to own one, but I was not educated. I knew NOTHING about the various breeds. I was a naive dog person. This is part of what angers me about the comments, the fabricated "statistics," and the sneers and jeers at the "bad" breeds. If you truly have a problem with a breed than I suggest, no I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you meet a few dogs of that kind, read some books, and do some research before you start blurting out such hateful and typically far-out thoughts and comments.
A few weeks ago I was at work working with a few different children with their math. The kids were finishing up their work and getting ready for a break. It was an early Saturday morning and one of the other teachers was working with some high school students. The conversation of dogs came up and somehow the breed of Pit Bulls came up. I am not exactly sure why, but it did. I heard a young, teenage boy blurt out, "Oh pitbulls, I hate those dogs, all they do is fight and kill other dogs." In his defense, he is from a small, farming town. He has grown up on a farm. Most farmers do not look at dogs as part of the family, but as an owned thing that provides a service on the farm. He has followed in this way of thinking. He has also believed every single disgusting fact that has been put out there about Pit Bulls. I thought my head was going to start spinning and words were just going to spew out of my mouth. I stopped dead in my tracks and asked him to cite where he got such facts. He didn't say anything but, "What, I hate them dogs." You got that right people, he said "them" not "those." That is every grammar Nazi's worst fear. It was like knives scratching down a glass mirror or nails on a chalkboard. I simply stated, "Be careful what you say when you don't have the correct facts to back you up." I have run into many situations like this one. This is not uncommon and it was a fairly tame conversation. I can get much more heated about the subject, but I was at work and it was a child. It wasn't particularly his fault.
These experiences and all of my rambling and confusing thought processes have led me to today. They have led me to the owner I am and the person I strive to be. They have led me to this moment where I am standing up and yelling out, "I AM A THUG DOG OWNER. I FELL IN LOVE WITH A PIT BULL "type" DOG AND SHE SLEEPS IN MY BED EVERY NIGHT. SHE LETS MY KIDS WRESTLE WITH HER, PICK AT HER, AND LAY ON HER. SHE'S AN AMAZING AND ALMOST PERFECT SPECIMEN!!" I am forever changed thanks to the few advocates that have educated me and showed me how to be a better dog owner.
I often question and wonder if people understand why certain breeds get black listed. I often wonder if they look at HOW the breed was black listed. If you are a person that doesn't like these breeds, can you enlighten me? Can you tell me your thought processes? Your experiences? Your thoughts? I promise I won't judge, I just want to understand. I want to see your side of this battle. I want to see what is holding you back OR what is holding me back or blocking me from seeing what others see. Reading this article today was enlightening. It was interesting because the breeds that are typically called "aggressive, monsterous, mean, or dangerous to others" often are associated with a population of people that only provide a worse depiction of the breed. They choose these animals for their typically good, strong qualities and use those qualities to help out with dangerous and/or illegal activities. Rottweilers, Dobermans, & Pits are often used to "scare" others because they are strong, capable animals. They use them because these animals are very owner-oriented animals that will die doing what their owner wants. They are people-pleasing dogs.
There are a few facts that I should make known during my rant. The name "Pit Bull" is not a specific breed. It is a term used to identify a variety of different breed such as the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and many other different types of mixes. The unfortunate part of the name "Pit Bull" is that it is used to describe many different dogs that have many different looks, characteristics, and original uses. This name has helped to "label" these types of dogs. This type of labeling has not only come from the typical population of dog owners, but the media has helped to heighten the black listing of these dogs and has created a false image of these breeds. This type of attention has been labeled as "media sensationalism." The media has taken what they feel their audience is most interested in and falsified and blown up reports on dog bites. The media chooses not to report on or at least quietly report on a lab mix or a Siberian Husky dog bite, but if the word "Pit Bull" is put into the title media outlets from hundreds of miles around will report on the story over and over. The prejudice and angst against "Pit Bulls" has been based on a shaky foundation of both myths and media hype.
In addition to the media hype helping to destroy a falsified image of "Pit Bulls" the "Breed Specific Legislation" or BSL has also helped gain the momentum towards blacking listing these dogs. BSL focuses on certain breeds instead of the interactions between a human and a dog. These laws, which have been studied and reported on by several different outlets, have been found to be ineffective and have made no difference on the number of dog bites or attacks. The most intriguing part about this is that large groups such as the Centers for Disease Control or CDC has chosen NOT to support BSL. The CDC was cited saying that among other problems, there is an inaccuracy of dog bite data and the difficulty in identifying dog breeds correctly causes many different discrepancies. This is especially true of mixed-breed dogs. The CDC also noted that the likelihood of certain breeds currently being regulated will only exploit other dog breeds. Exploiting other dog breeds to become aggressive will replace the current breeds with new breeds that will again restart the process.
Dog-bite related fatalities are the direct impact of poor ownership and management practices. Owners that own and maintain these resident dogs outside of regular, positive human interactions, for negative activities such as guarding/protection, fighting, and intimidation are the owners that are failing to humanely contain and control their dogs. These owners leave their dogs chained, loose and roaming, and are the reason for many of the cases of abuse/neglect. These are the typical and largest percentage of dog-bit outcomes. Additionally, these owners fail to supervise interactions between children and dogs. These owners often fail to spay or neuter their dogs. These owners fail to create a responsible breeding program. These particular issues are what often drive dog-bites and euthanization among dogs.
The ironic part about all my ramblings and fact-tossing sentences is that our society, at large, has failed to see this correlation among many different dog breeds that have been persecuted in our past. We continue to judge the breed instead of judging the dog and the owner. It's an unfortunate cycle that doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. It's a cycle that I hope that I can make a difference in, but at times I feel so overwhelmed by the constant negative attitudes towards my dog or towards the mixed breed of my dog. She isn't evil. She isn't monsterous. She isn't even mean. When we adopted Parker, we promised that we would continue to fight for her and for all of the other dogs that are currently losing this battle. This article is yet another way that I vow to fight. Ladies and Gentleman.....I'm in the ring and ready to go!
The article that I mentioned several times in this blog post is:
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/05/in_defense_of_the_pitbull_partner/
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