arg

[Malli]

Os and I had a nice little stroll today, and we stopped by a subway near by to have some late breakky for me (he only gets veggie sandwich scraps)

we are sitting on the curb, out of the way by the sidewalk, he is staring and drooling and occaisionally getting lettuce, I am munching

I hear a little bit of a conversation about 20 feet a away, a mother consoling her child "its ok..." etc etc. Then "excuse me, is your dog on a leash?" I look over to see a woman and two scared looking 10 year olds, and one girl holding a Pomeranian.

I look at Oscar (who was holding a down, staring at my food, and hadn't even noticed them and the dog) and say "ya..." "he didn't even do anything!" Not only all that, but she was at least 20 feet from us, and they were about 5 steps from the door of the bank.

her response "my dog was attacked by a dog that looked like that, please don't take offense"

I just threw my arms up and looked at her.

I wanted to ask "if a white man robbed you with a gun, would you then proceed to ask every white man you saw to empty his pockets and show you his belt to check for a holster?"

we were just trying to enjoy some sun and one of the first warmer days I've been awake for this year

The good part, she came back out of the bank (the 2 girls left before her and walked past us giving us sideways glances) and Os is passed out, I mean laid out flat on the ground lounging in the sun.

At least he is oblivious and bullet proof to these kind of things, I, certainly, am not

Its lovely to see children learning prejudice and ignorant fear at such a young age...

Malli

[Marinepits]

So so frustrating.

[pLaurent]

I wanted to ask "if a white man robbed you with a gun, would you then proceed to ask every white man you saw to empty his pockets and show you his belt to check for a holster?"

No kidding!! I bet if a Lab attacked her dog, she wouldn't worry about every Lab she saw.

Hell, maybe it WAS a Lab. Most people can't tell a pit bull from a Pug.

[Romanwild]

Almost the same thing happened to me yesterday.

The technique I use most of the time is a big fat friendly smile and a hello how are you. Most of the time you can see how being friendly (even if it's fake) disarms most people.

[cheekymunkee]

I ususally just laugh it off too with maybe a "yeah, he's onleash & just sitting here minding his own business like the good dog that he is".

[DemoDick]

You guys hear more crap about your dogs I swear.

This stuff never happens to me for some reason.

Demo Dick

[Malli]

Canada is in the midst of Pit Bull hysteria Everyone here who is afraid of one now thinks its ok to act that way in whatever dramatic fashion they please.

The ironic bit is, for all his good training Os does have his "scary looking" intense moments, this was right at the other end of the spectrum, I don't think he even realised I was upset, he was too busy lounging and waiting for the next veggie snack...

It happens probably about once a month in the summer, when we are out in public more often... It almost makes me want to avoid it, though he does get quite a few ooglers as well as it being great socialization and desensitization..

Malli

[pittie_1]

I had tyson out in my front yard last night. i have my yard fenced in. a boy was riding his bike...he crossed the street so he was up on my sidewalk.. and he yelled at tyson..."im not afraid of you , your ugly and your nothing... and than he started barking at tyson.... well tyson turned his head to the side...like(WTF)....i told the boy. not to tease my dog . its things like that ....and when the dogs react all of a sudden they are a menace....

[pLaurent]

Canada is in the midst of Pit Bull hysteria

Well, Ontario is hysterical and not just about pit bulls. The army got called out because it snowed there.

I'm in QC, and in the 4 years I've had Chloe, I've had only two fearful reactions to her. Other people are curious and interested, and are delighted with her once they meet her. One person, after looking at her sweet face and wigglebum said, "The media is lying to us."

Someone always tries to adopt her at our rescue adoption events.

[Carla]

her response "my dog was attacked by a dog that looked like that, please don't take offense"

I just threw my arms up and looked at her.

Actually, it sounds like this woman was really trying to make contact with you, she was looking for reasurrence and perhaps some understanding.

"I'm really sorry to hear that, you don't have to worry about my dog - you are welcome to come meet him," or something like that would have been more appropriate, I believe.

The sharp comeback just served to cement in her mind the uncaring, callous attitude the public perceives about Pit Bull owners.

Carla

[Malli]

Its great that others have few experiences, but we get stuff like this all the time. For the most part, Os is a very well behaved dog so its not as if we encourage it.


Carla
As far as I'm concerned her reassurrance should have been the fact that he hadn't even looked in their direction and was laying down.
Ideally your comment may have been the most appropriate remark, but there are some days when I don't feel like I want to be on the Pit Bull PR commitee. I didn't even want to talk to her, or anybody else on that walk at all. I just wanted to eat my breakfast, hang out with the dog, and enjoy the sun.

there are some days when I'm not completely "on" and ready for someone to come out of the blue and ask something like that. This dog is like my child, and its plain hurtful to have to deal with people that are that prejudiced and full of hate themselves.

Malli

[pLaurent]

Malli, we're all only human and don't have endless patience.

I am usually friendly, informative and polite to people who want to know if my dog is "bad", or if her teeth point backwards like a shark's (!!), but I have limits too.

To the woman who screwed up her face when I told her my dog's breed, then literally took a step back from me as though a snarling pit bull might jump out of my pocket, I did lose patience finally. I said "My pit bull is the sweetest dog around, a lot nicer than YOUR Min Pins!"

[kymn25]

You guys hear more crap about your dogs I swear.

This stuff never happens to me for some reason.

Demo Dick

I never have any rude people come up to me but I get plenty of dirty looks and people who take one look at us and run the other direction Thats with Emma. Emma isn't even a pit. She's a Boxer/Kelpie Mix, but she's always getting mistaken for a Pit. Stupid People

[chance's mom]

i had a lady tell me to keep my dog away from hers in the dog store. i just replied..."oh, i'm sorry. is your dog aggressive?" i hate dumb people! i need to get a bumper sticker saying that. i wasnt rude about it but i wanted to be. i know being nice is the best way to go so i stick to that. you know how the saying goes..."kill them with kindness" not always so easy though

[Malli]

I think it must have been this lady's tone, I've had plenty of people straight up ask me if he bites, and I can respond well to that, because it sounds like the question isn't loaded.

Or maybe it was that I was caught off guard. I dunno. I am more then happy to answer questions about breed myths and what is true and not etc, I don't take offense... But those are usually questions where I can tell the people honestly have no clue, something seemed different here...

Ah well, I love my dog to bits is all I know

Malli

[cheekymunkee]

Don't worry about it Mali, we ALL lose our cool now & then.

[Jenn]

You guys hear more crap about your dogs I swear.

This stuff never happens to me for some reason.

Demo Dick

I always thought that too, . Everytime I heard another story I thought geez, where do they live, things like this never happen to me. We've ran across people here and there, but they were always complimentary and asking to pet whoever was with me. Then it happened. I took Ben down with me to the Elementary track. It's a small walking track outside of their football field, built for the public. This is a small little country town, most are spread out though there are a few neighborhoods. Anyway, no one was there so we got out and went to town, enjoying ourselves. A woman showed up with her child and a small push pedal three wheeler, as well as an offleashed mixed dog. Next thing I know she's raising hell at me, screaming, cussing, as well as saying things I have no clue to what they meant. How dare I have that "type" of dog out here, wtf is wrong with me, calling me names? I wanted to bite her, . I responded in my normal "speak before thinking" manner and we continued to walk. She threw her kid, dog, and little three wheeler back in the truck, and peeled off... I was so pissed, though completely caught off guard at the same time. Ben didn't care either way, . We walked another lap or two and then headed home... First and ONLY time something like that has ever happened to me. I was mainly glad that we didn't have an audience!

[cheekymunkee]

We live in Texas too Jenn & pit bulls are everywhere here. There are at least 8 in my neighborhood. I've on occasion had things said to me but not often. I've had co-workers question my choice of dogs until I have broguht them to work with me. Now everyone loves them. I WAS accused of being a dog fighter when I took an injured 3 month old Justice into the emergency vet after Munkee decided she was lunch. I took all of his raving & cursing at me that I could before I went off on him. The staff ended up apologizing to ME about the mans behaviour.

[PittieLove]

I wanted to ask "if a white man robbed you with a gun, would you then proceed to ask every white man you saw to empty his pockets and show you his belt to check for a holster?"

No kidding!! I bet if a Lab attacked her dog, she wouldn't worry about every Lab she saw.

Hell, maybe it WAS a Lab. Most people can't tell a pit bull from a Pug.

That is a good point, i could go around saying my dog was a boxer and everyone would believe me.
I love the people who are all on ur dog until u tell them there pit bulls... its so annoying, how can u be scared of something if u dont even know what it looks like?!!?