Discouraged?

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Postby Tubular Toby » October 28th, 2010, 7:45 pm

How do you guys combat getting discouraged as pit bull owners? My boyfriend loves Toby. And thanks to Toby, had a pretty decent opinion of pit bulls. Unfortunately, all that he's seen OTHER than Toby has been at work (pet retailer) and the pit bulls that come in there are usually either skinny bitches that look like they popped out way too many litters and short and wide intact males. The owners that come in are prime examples of the people that give pit bulls a bad name. I've actually had a guy ask me where our chain harnesses are because he needs one for his pit that keeps breaking all of her tie out harnesses because her pup dances around the edge of her perimeter and she lunges at him all day. It's never ending with people like that.

Despite all of that, Toby had shaped a nice opinion of pit bulls for him. Tonight he texted me a picture of a dog (I could hardly see it on my crap phone) and said this pit bull weighs over a hundred pounds and nearly took his arm off (whether he means that by snapping at him or pulling, I am not sure). He said that he finally "gets it" now and believes that Toby and all of our dogs on here (I tell him about your dogs all the time! haha) are the exceptions. The owner of the dog gets $1000 every time he takes him to breed. I told my boyfriend he should have been like "Wow, really? That is impressive! What titles does he have? How are his health screenings?"

In a way, it feels like he is right. Some days it really feels like the idiots outnumber the responsible owners (in fact, I am sure they do). And the poorly bred and trained "pit bulls" outnumber the loving, loyal dogs that we know. When it feels like the whole world is against pit bulls some days, what do you tell yourself so you don't get discouraged?
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Postby Tubular Toby » October 28th, 2010, 8:08 pm

Apparently tried to take his arm off= the dog turned around and growled/snapped at him. He was in the grooming salon and the groomer needed help with trimming his nails. The owner said after the fact that the dog is male aggressive.

Like I told Allen, it was a warning and at least he got one. If the dog wanted to make contact, he would have. This could have been ANY breed of dog. I guess he was just weirded out because he was a pretty strong dog.
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Postby LMM » October 28th, 2010, 8:40 pm

Looking at my dogs and the dogs we have in the rescue helps me from getting discouraged. The a-holes are definitely deflating but that's part of what we do, help try to educate and raise awareness.

It also helps that 95% of the people we talk to love pit bulls they really don't believe a lot of the crap they read and hear. We get a whole lot more positive feedback than gasps of horror and sneers. I can't remember the last time that happened actually.
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Postby Tubular Toby » October 28th, 2010, 8:48 pm

True. One look at Toby and my faith is restored. <3 Haha, I agree, it does seem that public opinion doesn't seem to be horrible, at least not to who I talk to. The last time I really disagreed with someone was when a guy (in a church group, actually!) looked at me after saying that I own a pit bull and said "I think all pit bulls should be killed." But that was back in the fall of 2008. It has been a really long time since I had some one openly disagree with me like that. But I still have to talk to SO many idiots with pit bulls. It's so rare to have a sane pit bull owner come through my store. But they're probably smart enough to be shopping somewhere else for the most part. Haha!
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Postby Malli » October 28th, 2010, 11:52 pm

There are idiots with all sorts of dogs...
Just like water off a duck's back, just let it roll off. And try to focus on the good stuff, thats all I got.
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Postby plebayo » October 29th, 2010, 12:21 am

Malli wrote:There are idiots with all sorts of dogs...
Just like water off a duck's back, just let it roll off. And try to focus on the good stuff, thats all I got.


This. Just keep doing what your doing - be a good dog owner and continue to advocate for the breed.

Like I told Allen, it was a warning and at least he got one. If the dog wanted to make contact, he would have. This could have been ANY breed of dog. I guess he was just weirded out because he was a pretty strong dog.


Unfortunately though, it is dogs like that that are part of the problem. Warning or not to the average person, all they are going to see is a dog trying to eat someone. IMO that dog shouldn't be out in the public like that, as the dog is obviously NOT a good representation of the breed, on top of that he's breeding a dog who is "fearful" of men. I realize the bitch raises the puppies but that doesn't mean they won't get some of dad's fearful personality. Ugh stupid people, they're everywhere!
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Postby copperlegend » October 29th, 2010, 8:17 am

The forever family of one of my foster pups asked me the day they picked him up "how do you deal with the negative people that don't know how wonderful and sweet these dogs can be?" Apparently while explaining to a family friend that their new dog would be a pit bull mix, the friend expressed some um, concern. I told them to show those negative people how wonderful their dog is, and focus on people like us that know how sweet and wonderful these wiggly butts can be.
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Postby PetieMarie22 » October 29th, 2010, 10:40 am

plebayo wrote:This. Just keep doing what your doing - be a good dog owner and continue to advocate for the breed.


YUP! :) :) :) And everytime someone compliments me or ask me about my pit bull. I let them know this how a pit bull that is loved, trained and treated well acts. And when people sneer or make rude comments, I just carry on. Some people are ignorant and choose to remain that way. I also find a lot of people are curious and I try to keep up to date on my facts so I can give them good and accurate information.

And anytime someone tries to get you down - you got us!!
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Postby Tubular Toby » October 29th, 2010, 11:52 am

plebayo wrote:
Like I told Allen, it was a warning and at least he got one. If the dog wanted to make contact, he would have. This could have been ANY breed of dog. I guess he was just weirded out because he was a pretty strong dog.


Unfortunately though, it is dogs like that that are part of the problem. Warning or not to the average person, all they are going to see is a dog trying to eat someone. IMO that dog shouldn't be out in the public like that, as the dog is obviously NOT a good representation of the breed, on top of that he's breeding a dog who is "fearful" of men. I realize the bitch raises the puppies but that doesn't mean they won't get some of dad's fearful personality. Ugh stupid people, they're everywhere!


Oh no, I completely agree. Those are two things that I told Allen myself. The only reason I mentioned warning was because Allen said something about how he wasn't sure whether or not the dog was trying to make contact. I actually just got done reading about shyness being inheritable. I agree whole heartedly with your statements.

Thanks everyone! You guys are awesome.
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Postby amalie79 » October 29th, 2010, 12:16 pm

I actually just got done reading about shyness being inheritable.


I think that's actually why "It's all in how they're raised" bothers me so much. I went to the home of a friend-of-a-friend a while back for a little get-together-- maybe a dozen people or so. The host had a boxer that was absolutely gorgeous, but the most terrified dog I've ever seen. She cowered and if she'd had a tail to tuck she would've. Any time someone moved, she scampered away. She belly-crawled. She was wide-eyed and whale-eyed. And then they said they had been trying to breed her and she kept having failed pregnancies. :o :( And they were going to KEEP trying.

All I could think, was that is NOT a dog that should ever be bred and that this is why amateur back-yard breeding is such a problem. We got Simon through an ad in the newspaper (he was free, but he definitely hadn't been consciously and responsibly bred; he was an accident), and bless if he doesn't run out of the room every time you drop a fork. He hasn't had bad fork experience-- he's nervy, always has been. That temperament shouldn't ever have been passed on just because he's pretty. :nono:

Just remember that the best pit bulls are some of the best dogs in the world; yeah, the bad ones are pretty bad, but the Vick dogs have shown that even those problems aren't always irreversible. No they won't ever be bomb-proof dogs, but they can break free of their upbringing. It's more than how they're raised.
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Postby furever_pit » October 29th, 2010, 12:53 pm

Malli wrote:There are idiots with all sorts of dogs...
Just like water off a duck's back, just let it roll off. And try to focus on the good stuff, thats all I got.


I totally agree with this. I used to allow myself to be bothered by what other people thought about my dog or his breed and would protest, but I didn't actually change very many minds that way. Now I let my dog's behavior speak for itself and just ignore the idiot commentary.

For people who actually want to listen and talk about what makes a good dog vs. a bad/mean/etc dog I try to cover all the bases. I stress that much of a dog's temperament is due to genetics and the way they have been bred (this is why you can have a very fearful dog that was socialized to heck and back as a pup and you can have a very confident dog who never left his yard or chain to be socialized). Of course I also talk about training, exercise, and how the dog is generally treated by its family. I also try to make the conversation about dogs in general and not just about Pit Bulls.
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Postby Ino » October 29th, 2010, 2:33 pm

Ino is afraid of just about everything new and he was never beaten, etc. He was around a pretty decent amount of new people when he was real small, but then he had his minor ACL tear and that was it for car rides to meet new people. He is afraid of everything new (people, objects, etc) but so are both of his siblings that I know the owner's of. One of them was brought everywhere, raised with kids and is still afraid/weary of new people. All 3 display the same behaviors. Now that I am in Fl and know more people, I am working hard to bring him around people that I know he will have a positive experience with. I do not bring people who are afraid of dogs around at this point because he does bark and run around like a maniac when people enter the house and is starting to calm down quicker if the people ignore him initially. Also, he is becoming less fearful of people passing us on walks and dogs barking at us as we pass them with each walk we go on. It is a process, but I learned what works for him when he starts being afraid on walks and tries to run away (trying to drag me along with him) is to put him in a sit and praise him while the scary person passes or until he calms down enough to not try to drag me past whatever it is that scares him. I try to take the Pit Bull comments with a grain of salt. It does upset me sometimes, but I try not to let it. I can't even begin to say how many times I have been asked if Ino is a female or if he is going to have pups since I moved into this neighborhood. I thought the removal of his twins made it obvious that breeding him is not possible, but apparently not. You'd also figure the presence of a penis would make it obvious that "she" is a "he" :rolleyes2: . Guess it is wishful thinking on the peoples part. I do give a list of reasons I would not breed him (shelter overpopulated with pit mixes, joint problems, no papers/titles, and the list goes on). Ino himself was the product of a byb (accidental litter :rolleyes2: ), and I never even considered breeding him. The one lady who introduced me to the people that owned Ino's parents got one of the female pups from the litter and tried to get me to breed Ino with his sister :puke: - I told her as soon as Ino is of age, I am getting him fixed- I did not have any plans to deal with the behaviors that he would display (he was attempting to mount stuffed animals at 8 weeks old). Ok- this is getting long and ended up off topic, but I hear you with the frustration. It sucks.
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