My partner and I have a pit bull cross, and as all pet owners know, he’s pretty much our baby.
Our 14 year old bad behaved, anxious, manipulating baby, however.
His mother – a pure breed red nose pit bull – ran away one day and found a good looking chocolate lab and three months later, out came Bruno, along with 10 brothers and sisters.
He can be a jerk. He’ll slowly steal the couch one creep at a time, and before you know it, you’re crammed in the corner and he’s spread out living in the lap of luxury. Try and move him, and you’ll get the infamous “death stare.”
It’s quite something to see really.
If you’re not home at the correct time (which in his mind I’m sure is 15 minutes after you leave the house) he’ll show you how much he missed you.
It has involved breaking into the laundry closet and finding the Costco-sized bag of kibble (that we just bought) torn open and spread out through out the house.
He’s thoughtful like that.
He’s grumpy too. He doesn’t like anything in this world expect his Kong, his father and I, and really that depends on the day.
The stigma surrounding the “Pit bull” is something only owners can really feel.
We walk him on a leash and people cross the street. He doesn’t even have the tradition pit bull jaw, but they assume.
And to be quite honest, they should.
As owners we know how anxious the breed can be if they feel threatened or the masters do.
It’s in their blood, and if you know that and truly understand that quality, you will have no problems.
We keep him on a tight leash, we move to the side of the road when kids go past, we don’t bring him to dog parks – even with a muzzle on – we don’t let him sniff or be sniffed by other dogs and we don’t let people that he doesn’t know pet him.
Are we overprotective? Sure, but what if something happened?
As responsible pet owners, we know the chance of anything happening is low, but we aren’t willing to take that risk, not with my dog’s life or with yours.
So when we found out that a family had lost their four-legged baby, we were heart broken for them.
However, as an owner of a dog that has been labeled “aggressive” this City has a big problem with owners letting their dogs off-leash. A big problem.
It’s one of the qualities that makes our family love living here, that friendly, kind and welcoming attitude.
“Oh, don’t worry,” says the owner of the off-leashed, 30-pound four-legged cottonball. “He’s not aggressive.”
Well, I’m sorry but I don’t care. Mine could be.
If my dog were to bite another because that dog was off-leash and in Bruno’s face, what do you think would happen?
The pit bull would be punished for something that wasn’t its fault.
And that’s not fair, despite the breed.
Responsible pet ownership goes beyond walking the dog everyday, and making sure it’s loved. It’s also about protecting them from situations that could end in a horrible fashion.
No family needs to go through that, and I can’t image losing Bruno in a dogfight, the thought turns my stomach.
Our family is heart broken that it took losing the life of dog in order to have the conversation, but perhaps the small dog’s life is not lost in vain. Perhaps now, we can take this seriously and leash up that vital part of the family.
After all, that’s my job as his mom to protect him, even if he’s a grump and keeps stealing my couch.
