Lately we’ve gotten a lot of questions from blog readers and facebook fans — how do you handle it when your grocery checker is breeding his dog? What do you do if your friend’s boyfriend thinks all pit bulls are vicious? Do you butt in when your car mechanic is talking to a coworker about how he slaps his dog around to make him meaner?
Obviously, there are a lot of approaches to choose from. As hard as it is to refrain from leaping on the person’s back sometimes, we have come around to a more restrained approach — we try to meet people where they are, and look for common ground.
At Love-A-Bull’s 2011 Texas-Sized Pittie Pride event for National Pit Bull Awareness Day, a man showed up trying to sell eight pit bull puppies. The group’s first thought: How dare he! The audacity! But after some deep breaths and a little coaching from some wise friends, the team came up with a kinder approach than shaming him and running him off. Love-A-Bull reps talked to him about his dog and the puppies. Made him feel welcome. And before the event was over, he had agreed to have all eight puppies fixed, and the mama, too. Love-A-Bull kept in touch with the gentleman, and a couple of months later, he offered proof that every last one had been spayed/neutered and placed in a loving home. We’re not omniscient, but it’s not too likely that this would have happened if Love-A-Bull had just shooed the guy away.
People have all different approaches to dog-rearing. As responsible advocates, it’s our duty to check our judgement at the door and encourage everyone to feel pride in their dogs, and invite all dog guardians to join our positive, supportive, healthy communities. We’re often guilty of only preaching to the choir and shunning anybody who isn’t in the choir. If we continue to only pat each other on the back for our oh-so-enlightened views, then what progress are we making?
If a neighbor or grocer or banker is wary of pit bull dogs or hasn’t bothered to spay or microchip his animals, we tend to turn a cold shoulder than to look for that common ground, swallow our judgement, and build the trust necessary to slowly try to introduce him to the resources out there that will help him build a stronger bond. When we surround ourselves with people who are deeply involved in the rescue community and are plugged in and knowledgeable about the big picture, it’s easy to assume that anybody who doesn’t share our views is a lesser dog-lover than we. But those assumptions are dangerous and faulty, and by making them, we are missing a great opportunity.
For it’s in those cross-town, cross-cultural, cross-background, cross-viewpoint relationships that we truly make progress. If we can bring our love of our animals back down to its most basic level, we can build bridges from this purest of places.
Years ago, I had a good friend who was convinced that all pit bull type dogs were Satan’s flesh and blood. This friend refused to even meet my Chick, for fear that Chick would swallow her whole. If this friend showed up at the dog park and there were pit bull type dogs playing, she would turn around and go home. Not worth the risk, she figured.
After months of chipping away, I made some progress by telling anecdotes about my own Chick, and sharing how my own viewpoint on pit bull dogs had changed. Over time, she agreed to meet him, and by the end of the evening he was dozing in her lap. Did we change this friend’s mind and make her a diehard pit bull advocate? No. But she turned into a loyal fan of our Chick’s and became willing to admit that every dog is different. It’s not everything, but it’s a damn fine start.
Love and a Six-Foot Leash 
Simply put: This is inspiring and awesome!!!
Well-stated. I wish people would all open their hearts to see each dog for what he or she is, but I’ m no fool. We see this at the clinic too often, but our strength lies in education and teaching through example & actions. Cheers to your example!
This blog post is awesome. To quote a dear friend “thanks for being my barometer”. Seriously, this puts my knee-jerk reaction in perspective.
my mother was very scared of Maisie for the first couple years I had her. well, not so much scared of Maisie, but scared of pit bulls and therefore afraid of my dog too. it took a while, but the last time Maisie was at my parents house, my mom was actually encouraging Maisie to get up on the couch and snuggle with her and laughing at all of Maisie’s goofy antics. finally…and just in time for us to move away! 😉
Wonderful post to encourage us to hold back our judgments and really see and listen to the person in front of us.
I and several other bloggers have shared about our past mistaken views of dogs. We’re not all born knowing how to be responsible, sensitive, and loving advocates for other creatures. And if we can learn, so can others.
I’m very thankful for the kind and nonjudgmental people who cause me to question my choices in hopes of encouraging me to make better ones. I count you in that company.
wonderful post. i work for an advocacy group (for a different cause) and i teach a class on how to properly advocate. the people you will always have a hardest time advocating to are those who are ardently opposed to your cause. but instead of speaking to them in an adverse manner, it is better to just try and find what you call the middle ground.
The old saying is true; keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. You are absolutely right about finding that middle ground and bring someone in, instead of pushing them away for having a different mindset. By keeping your ‘enemies’ close you get to know each other, eventually you are enemies no more.
A most excellent post!
Timely post. I am dealing with something similar here with people close to me who think it is “cool” to own a dog banned under Ontario’s BSL. I can’t get them to understand that it is the dog who will suffer if they are caught. So torn between wanting to love these pups to bits and disapproving of what their owners are doing.
Very well put….gives me (and I’m sure others) a lot to think about. Great post!
I’m reminded of that saying, “We cannot do great things. Only small things in a great way.” Chipping away, little by little, at public perception and ignorance is the way to win most people over. That’s one of the reasons I decided to make Mayzie’s blog the way it is and one of the reasons I love your blog. I think just showing people what it’s like to live with a blocky-headed dog on a day-to-day basis is one of the best ways to change minds and hearts – rather than beating people over the head with “BSL is wrong! Pit bulls are maligned! You suck if you don’t like pit bull-type dogs!”
Same way with training approaches. I have some friends who think an all-positive approach is hooey. I don’t talk to them about it. Just let them see my (mostly) well-behaved and very happy dogs.
Amber
Amen! As animal advocates it’s often easy to show compassion for the dogs and forget to do the same for the people. Ignorance is usually to blame for most people’s mistreatment of animals and fear of certain breeds – it’s up to us to gently walk them down the path, to teach and to guide them towards humane treatment of all animals and to banish the fear and breed profiling. Many blessings to you – keep up the great work!
You shed light whatever you write. I so appreciate your nuanced focus on effectiveness. And this exercise, in my experience, is SO NOT EASY. So I also find essential your clarity in articulating the self-command that’s necessary to stay on-task, when emotion pulls so hard toward self-protectiveness. I really treasure you. I want to write more about what you say (and you) on my blog. I intend to, just as soon as an adoption operation here this weekend is in place. You are a gem and a generator of happiness. Even when it’s difficult. Especially when it’s difficult. When isn’t it, really, in this life — except when we click with our animals. Then it’s easy. And sometimes not even then. Cats off to you, dog, in a dog-eat-dog world.
And here it is — your Wonderfulness Award:
gave me chills and teary eyes! Awesome post. Thanks for all you do!
It’s really good to hear that people are capable of changing their opinions of the breed. My husband and I are thinking about rescuing a pitt to be a companion for our black lab mix in the next few years, but my mother-in-law absolutely HATES pitt bulls. She’s worried that the dog will eat our children once we start a family. Hopefully we’ll be able to rescue one that wins her heart and mind over.
What a terrific post about how to be inclusive, not exclusive, when dog owners don’t share the same philosophy on training, breeding, BSL, and more. You draw more flies with honey, my grandma used to say… And really, this holds true for anything in life – politics, religion, etc. Just shared this on This One Wild Life’s Facebook page and off to add it to BTC4animals’ FB page.
Wonderful post and so important to put down in words.
I think you made it clear when you said “We’re often guilty of only preaching to the choir and shunning anybody who isn’t in the choir”. Its so easy to do this when you feel so intensively strong about something.
We cant fix this problem by only talking about amongst ourselves. Just last week I had an opportunity to talk with a friend of mine about my daughters pit bull. While she strongly disagreed and firmly held to her undocumented opinion that ALL pit bulls are deadly I calmly opposed her and gave her examples of my daughters pittie to prove that she had been misinformed. Im not too sure of my success but our conversation ended friendly and I can only hope that I may have opened a window for the next person.
Thank you for bringing this point up! WELL SAID!
So well said! Just yesterday a co-worker was telling me about an incident involving her beagle and a neighbor dog who was behind his fenced-in yard. The neighbor dog scared the beagle, one thing lead to another, and the beagle ended up injuring her mouth on the chain link fence, requiring stitches.
My co-worker was naturally distraught about what had happened, but then she told me that the neighbor dog was a pit bull, or at least that was the rumor on the block. She had never seen the dog herself. It was her husband who was walking the beagle at the time. She was going to call the police to report the dog. I had visions of animal control coming to take away what might be someone’s beloved family pet.
I felt myself getting riled up. But I took a deep breath. I asked her if she would call the police if the neighbor dog had been a schnauzer. I also asked her if she could consider the fact that it was her beagle who was on the neighbor’s property that caused the other dog to get territorial. She thought about it and said that was true. I don’t think she’s called the police and I hope she never does.
This is an absolutely fantastic post. It’s all too easy to judge and push someone away. However, it’s so much more rewarding and productive to (when you can) try to see where the person is coming from and have an interaction to open their eyes to a new way of doing things.
I agree with Pamela – we’re not all born knowing how to be the best person we can be for animals. We learn from those who came before us, and sometimes the lessons that were passed along can use an update.
Animal rescue, like everything else is a process, an evolution of change for the humans participating, not for the dogs, or the cats or the horses ..etc. If WE’RE open to the changes this opportunity offers us – the opportunity to change ourselves for the better – then what we have to look forward to is the place you’ve already arrived at. That place of “finding common ground” with everyone who steps into your path.
The gut-wrenching part of this is that some folks never get to this place. All the more reason for the rest of us to keep on that path.
I couldn’t agree more. Such a rewarding and fulfilling experience, for both the owner and the animal.
My husband thought all pitties were inherently dangerous dogs. He thought I was just a “softie”. Then we volunteered for 4 days at BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY, where Michael Vick’s dogs went to be rehabilitated. We worked hands-on with many pittie refugees from hurricane katrina, as well. He now has a new “leash” on his admiration/affection for the bully-breeds! You can read about my experience at http://3pupsinapopup.com/2011/07/16/best-friends-animal-sanctuary-part-2/
We just had an experience like this yesterday, with a young woman who was walking her new, 8-month old Rottweiler mix. Roxy (the dog’s name) was super sweet, friendly with me and Pinky, but clearly a very strong pup. At 8 months old, she was already larger than my 2 year old pittie. Roxy’s owner had a prong collar on her, something that we wouldn’t necessarily use, but keep an open mind to for other dog owners. Through chatting with her, and learning a lot about her and her dog, she agreed that the collar she was using was not something she wanted to use forever, and decided to try an Halti harness instead. I thought of taking the one I had on Pinky off and handing it to her, but then I would have had no way to walk Pinky! It was a great conversation, full of ideas and acceptance and compliments about each others’ dogs, that ended very happily and with change imminent.
I. Love. This. Post!
This is great. We all see it nearly every day. I had an adopter who said she didn’t want to adopt our foster if there was a chance she had “pitbull” in her. I told her I can’t guarantee she is any breed, one way or another. I told her to open her eyes to the dogs around our city and take a look at the bully breeds. They’re under control, walking on leash with responsible owners, playing at the dog park, being social with people, sitting at outdoor cafes.
I told her I’m not a pitbull owner, but have never seen a pitbull misbehave like my crazy lab mix does! All our fosters have been pit mixes (3 we know, 2 we think) and have been the most amazing dogs I’ve ever met.
Wonderful blog today! 🙂
What a great post and a fantastic reminder for all of us. I’m always very conscious of making sure I try for the friendliest approach possible in these kinds of situations. When, for the third time in week, someone on the street asks me if I’d like to breed my dog (he’s fixed of course), or a stranger makes a snarky comment about his breed, it can be difficult not to give back a snappy answer. But it’s so important to try and take every opportunity to gently introduce people to a new way of looking at things.
Hi Aleks, I’ve been a big fan of your blog since discovering it last fall. I look forward to it daily. But this post skyrocketed my awe and respect for what you do.
“Bad” dog owners might actually be awesome, big-hearted owners who just haven’t had a chance to learn about dogs. A sincere thank you for using your blog as a platform for love, acceptance, and education.
P.S. Love-A-Bull is getting a check soon.
Wonderfully put and well needed, I’ll share this on my facebook if you don’t mind 🙂 Since we live in Memphis ( which has a large pitbull issue amoung other things) this post hits home. I find myself biting my tongue when my hairdressers’ assistant wants to backyard breed her pitbull-cause she knows she’ll “make real pretty puppies and they can make some money off her” sigh. We met a guy who had a female dog ( looked like a staffie) in a petsmart over the holidays who looked kind of sketchy at best. After talking to him she was an american bully and he did basic obedience and confirmation competitions with her and some other guys in his neighborhood and he was out socializing her, cause she kept wiggling at everyone. The fact the dog was a complete marshmallow and crawled in my lap for a snuggle didn’t hurt. I wish now I would have asked more questions and asked to come watch him and his group.
We try to to spread the word about the spay/nueter clincs here in town and suggest to people about adopting a pet rather than buying a high dollar one. Our american bulldog/lab mix has changed my mother’s mind and other friends too about the “pitbull type”, the fact he greats everyone with barely controlled enthusiam probably has something to do with it.
thanks for this great post! such a great encouragement to keep an open mind ourselves~! everyone has to start somewhere. 🙂
I didn’t get to read through all the above comments, and I’m sure this has already been said, but what an exceptional post. We recently did a vaccine clinic in a dicey part of the city (Baltimore) and despite having to bite my tongue when a girl showed up trying to sell her 6 new puppies, we were able to convince her to use one of our spay certificates from the Pit-Fix program for the mama! 🙂 I know if we shooed her away…it would be otherwise I’m sure. I’m not sure if the pup’s will have the same fate, but one dog at a time, right?
It sounds like Love-A-Bull us such a great organization too…hmmm, maybe I should just move to Austin for the sun and the pitties?
Excellent post…no idea WHAT you were worried about.
Thanks for using this example Jess, before I even did! And you’d better not be moving to Austin since we need you here!
Thanks for a great post. Denver has anti-pitbull laws in place and it makes me so sad and angry!
Great post! I couldn’t agree more… the people that tell me their minds have changed because of Corbin are the minds we didn’t try to change. They listened to our rescue stories, the met our foster dogs and Corbin changed their minds just by being himself. The Pit Bull/Rescue Dog argument is best stated when shown camly and quietly.
-Jenn
A.MAZ.ING POST!
I recently started thinking about this a lot, and have been trying to be more conscious of how I interact with people whose views on pit bulls (or dogs in general) are different than my own. It has helped to open doors that might have been closed forever had I acted “holier than thou.” I know that so many of us are so, so passionate about our pitties and educating the public, but like so many other causes, condemning those who don’t agree with us not only deters any chance of changing their minds, but it also makes us look like jerks. Thanks for this post and for continuing to challenge us to be better advocates for change!
Thank you thank you for posting this. I had a friend a few years ago ask me to breed my boy Red with his female pit. Immediately I went into a defensive mode and snapped at him saying, “there are too many pitty babies in the pound to bring more into this world!” A month later I fixed Red and told him he should do the same with his girl and sent him information on low cost spay clinics in his area as well as a link to the human society’s website. I told him to look at how many of those dogs were ‘pit-mixes’ or pits. He got his girl fixed within two weeks.
Great post, and beautiful photos. Judgement is a tricky emotion, but when you can let it go, and put yourself in that person’s shoes, wonderful things can happen 🙂 Nice work!
Nicely done. I met some of the Love-A-Bull folks at the No Kill conference in DC last year. I volunteer at the Washington Animal Rescue League and last year at our big gala I found myself sitting with two women who were lawyers with PETA. I bit my tongue. We had some of our dogs there, and I brought over a beautiful blue pit mix. After a few minutes of talking with him and petting him, one of these PETA people actually started talking about adopting him! Some times the dogs make the best argument for themselves.
several years ago a man brought his very large pit bull into our office. the man was a formidable muscle-builder, and his dog, decked out in a spiked collar, heavy choke chain, and very short chain leash, was obviously an attitude accessory. the man stepped into an office, instructing the dog to lie down and stay in the hallway. concerned that he had brought his dog into an office often filled with children, and after watching the dog’s seemingly docile behavior for a few minutes, i slipped onto the floor and gently started scratching the dog’s ears, ending with the pit bull plopping his huge head in my lap for more. “do you know what kind of dog this is?” the man demanded when he returned. i told him i did, and when asked if i wasn’t afraid, i responded that i wasn’t. the man smiled and said confidentially … ‘i live in a really bad neighborhood and making my dog look like this keeps kids off my property, but between you and me, he’s a real sweetheart.” i could tell that this dog got lots of love and good care, and i was really glad that i didn’t jump to conclusions about an approach a little different from my own.
This is a really great blog post. Your words should be seen by a large number of people because you’ve outlined a step towards finding a solution rather than simply identifying a problem. I’ll be sharing this post with as many people as I’m able to.
What a wonderful and eloquently written post!!
I honestly find this the most frustrating part about animal work, especially pit bull advocacy. And it seriously is not usually the people who are ignorant of pit bulls that can be the most frustrating, it is the people who think they aren’t, and insist on holding on to myths or legends or misinformation. I just try to keep my mind open and search for the reality of any situation, search for the grains of truth and the best of people, but sometimes it is so very hard. Thank you for this post and exploring this side of people (as well as showing some of the awesome photos you took last year in Baltimore!)
I am inspired by your clarity of thought and prose with every blog, THANK You, Thank you, thank you.
This was wonderfully stated! I appreciate your insight and agree 100 percent that it is best to work this way and open hearts instead of closing people out. You do amazing work and I love reading your daily blog!
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Thank you so much for posting this. I am such an emotional person and when I encounter negativity I just swell up with so emotion I have a hard time coming up with the right approach, and often just feel totally defeated. I agree with all points and have been working really hard at improving in this area, especially because I have the chance to speak to the public all the time through volunteer work, and I know how important it can be to speak in an open, educated and respectful way.
Yay! So glad to know that worked out!
Me too, Donna. I can only assume that you and Tim’s sage mentorship helped make this possible. Thanks for opening eyes everywhere you go, Aleks
And you thought you were going to be crucified?! Silly, silly, silly! This is such a wonderful post filled with wisdom and grace. I hope that should the occasion arise, I can find the strength the quell that knee-jerk reaction and instead gently urge another to join “the choir”. We have a mighty fine singing voice, when we’re singing the right song.
Awesome post 🙂
great post!
I was expecting more drama and knock down drag out fights with yesterday’s FB post! heheh
Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. The best post I have read this year and probably will remain so till the very end. I am going to share this with as many people as possible as I think everyone needs to read it.
What I love the most? Not only did you make some wicked statements about kindness vs. judgment, but you did it without making any judgments yourself. You are my hero. Officially.
This post brought tears to my eyes. Amazing! Truth, thoughtfully shared and powerfully written, is emotionally compelling.
THANK YOU! I experienced the wrong end of this message a couple years ago, when someone wanted to get involved in education and advocacy work with a volunteer org in Baltimore. It turned out that he was also breeding pit bulls. Some volunteers knew about this and some didn’t. No one ever directly spoke to him about it. Then one day he was advertising puppies at an event. Again, no one ever directly spoke to him about it, but more volunteers found out that he was breeding and were outraged. They sent him a letter telling him he was no longer welcome to volunteer with the org. I was so ashamed. No one ever tried to educate him or have a dialogue. Luckily, many of the “outraged” volunteers have moved on. And our org is doing more than ever to reach pit bull owners in need throughout our city with an open mind. We find that many people are willing to do the right thing, when they find out what the right thing is. But it still kills me that there is one guy out there who could be a powerful advcocate, but was treated so poorly.
Love this! It can be hard to not judge how other people are handling their animals or when they aren’t accepting of pit bulls, but I have seen far better results from not shoving my views in everyone’s face but simply living responsibly with my dogs. Adam’s parents remind me of your friend- they are definitely anti-pitbull but absolutely love Molly and have met and liked each of our fosters. I will take whatever I can get!
So well said. Very true.
I love your article and being a dog walker I have seen that the misconceptions are so true. With love and direction any dog can be a joy.
This is a great post, and one that I will share widely. I think you are absolutely right, and it’s a reminder that everyone immersed in the animal rescue community needs to hear. Thank you so saying it so eloquently.
Wonderful post! I have so many friends that love animals that don’t stop to think of the way they approach others. It’s one of the reasons why I started my blog. I want people to feel comfortable, have fun, and still share some sad truths about animals and their lot. And I also like to share ways we can help change all that.
Thanks so much for being a part of that change!
I used to work in a vet clinic and answered the phone one day to find a woman on the other end asking if we did ear cropping. I explained we didn’t and we really didn’t recommend it. I went on to explain how it was a cosmetic procedure, required a lot of after care and required a vet with a lot of skill. When I was done she thanked me. She had been calling around to several vet clinics and gotten yelled at and even hung up on. I was the first person that took the time to actually talk to her. It turns out she didn’t want to get the dog’s ears done, but her husband did. She was gathering information to back up her choice. Not only was it unprofessional to yell and hang up on someone, but the other receptionists’ attitudes may have made her change her opinion.
I get sad when I see people, even bloggers, call people ignorant, but don’t give them the chance to become educated. Yelling at people, calling them names and sounding like a know-it-all can quickly cause people to put up a wall and then they don’t hear anything you say. We all started out lacking knowledge about being a good pet owner, but we’ve learned, sometimes because other people were kind, sometimes because we made mistakes, and become better for it.
Thank you for sharing such a great post!
Thank you for this post! Let us all be mindful to all animals, but let us also extend the same to human beings. After all, we are all one!
Thanks for this. I am afraid of pitties. I broke up a bad attack and one of my dogs was nearly killed and sustained brain damage I had to pull her from the pitties jaws.. I was never afraid of pits before. Now, when I see one I freeze, or cross the street. I know, in my mind, it’s not rational this fear, but my body goes cold and I can’t do anything but worry it shows. When a pittie owner is agressive with me because of it, it’s really awful and I have occasionally flown off the rail. The problem is I love all dogs. All dogs. I just don’t want to encounter that situation again and although I can know in my mind I probably won’t I still am very hesitant if my dog is with me around pits. 3 of my closest friends have pits. Baby steps. I have now cuddled and slept in the same bed with one, she’s small and so sweet. But when my dog is with me I can’t relax around her. But I WANT too. Angetting there. I apppreciate how this article doesn’t treat this friend like a paraia. Being fearful isn’t easy to conquer, and my friends understanding and patience makes a world of difference. I love dogs. I love pits too but small doses. Babysteps
I really enjoyed this post. As a very recent convert to your blog however, I’m now going to ask a question that probably sounds really idiotic to yourself and the knowledgeable dog people who follow your blog: why was it a bad thing that the guy at the beginning of the post had pit puppies for sale? Or that he hadn’t had them fixed? I (obviously) am not a dog expert at the moment but am hoping to get a dog of my own once I finish university and have got my own place, so am doing some leisurely information gathering!
I think the concern to most of us pit bull advocates/educators/lovers is that there is a massive overpopulation of pit bull type dogs. Breeding them in this day in age, especially selling them, is something most of us do not agree with because of the many that do not make it out of these shelters due to the sheer numbers. There are more reasons and issues then there is space for me to explain here, but that is the simple answer.
So, if you really want a pit bull type puppy, there are plenty of them, although you may have to look around a bit. But if you want a pit bull type dog, there are quite actually thousands of them waiting for homes all across this country because of unfair things like breed discrimination, and plan old fear. I hope this answered your question (without angering anyone else would be a plus!)
Hi!
That’s a very fair question, and I’m glad you asked. The event where the guy showed up selling puppies was sponsored by an organization that operates a pit bull rescue, among other things. Rescues always advocate for spay/neuter and for adopting dogs instead of buying puppies from breeders, for a lot of reasons. I think the most important one is that in the US (and in the UK too, as in most countries) there are more dogs and cats than there are places for them in homes. Animal shelters are full of wonderful homeless pets hoping for a new chance at life. Unfortunately, a huge portion of these pets never get adopted, and end up being euthanized — kennels can only house so many animals, and new ones keep coming in, so the kennel has to make room somehow — either by adopting animals out or by killing them. When people don’t spay/neuter their animals, they increase the chances that their dog will be responsible for the creation of more dogs — and every new dog that is born means that one more will die in a shelter. When we buy animals from people who breed and sell them for money, we are sending a powerful message to those people: “keep breeding, there is demand for your puppies.” But if people stop buying, then breeders will stop breeding. We think that only by encouraging everybody to spay and neuter their pets and adopt instead of buying, we can start to solve this problem.
Does that help? Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts on this
Funny you posted this yesterday – I just saw an article on Slate that really bugged me. It was about the way rescue groups interview people, etc., who are looking for a pet. I hated the tone of it and thought it did rescue groups in general a disservice. However, I kept thinking of this post because it seemed so on point – maybe there’s just a fundamental communications issue going on. I wish everyone could take your advice!
The article: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/heavy_petting/2012/01/animal_rescue_want_to_adopt_a_dog_or_cat_prepare_for_an_inquisition_.html
P.S. The discussion in some of the comments on that piece also has my blood boiling… but I’m trying to take off my judgy pants before I start responding left & right.
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This is such an eloquent and intelligent post. I’m definitely guilty of that knee-jerk reaction. Next time I’ll try to heed your wonderful and wise words.
The beautiful, silver pit mix Louise is looking for her forever home:
http://www.facebook.com/adoptlouise
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I haven’t yet found a way to deal with those breeding puppies, but whenever anyone tells me that pitbulls are vicious I do my best to enlighten them that all dogs can be made vicious and aggressive.
It isn’t the dog, it’s the owner and the way the dog has been raised. Good for you for taking the higher ground, there is no way of knowing how many dogs you saved by helping that man make the right decision to sterilize his dogs. 🙂
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Pit bulls are not all bad. You shouldn’t judge before you meet them. Our friends had a pit bull and she was a great dog. This is a fantastic post on how to hold back what you are thinking and talk to the person in a calm way to get them to realize to get their dogs spayed. Like the article says if you just go up to someone and push them away who knows what will happen to those puppies.
It is great to hear those pit bull puppies found amazing homes.
Education, done in a frriendly way, is always the right answer, even though you sometimes need to bite your tongue. I would have an awful time being friendly with the guy who proudly describes how he makes his pitties mean, though. I will never forgive Michael Vick. Some actions go past ignorance and show a sick, cruel heart.
Just want to thank you again for this…over the past few hours your words have been in the back of my mind. Six months ago I would not have wanted to give Fozzie back to “irrisponsible owners” who didn’t have him fixed or microchipped, and let him run the streets hungry and cold. Tonight, a stray dog who followed me home is spending the night with his family, warm and cozy inside their house. Thank you for your inspiration.
Wow. thank you.
Lovely thoughts and well written! It is so hard not to want to throttle people into accepting your own beliefs but the truth is, like you stated so well, you do get more flies with honey. I have found the best way for me to educate people about dogs is to be a good example.
I love you pics; I am assuming that the last one is you Chick? Good looking guy!
We love this. It is about the specific dog not someone’s perception.
Bella and DiDi
P.S.- He is cute
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