Terrible Article About Bad Dogs

I am slightly perturbed by this article... I will admit that I didn't read the entire thing, but the parts that I got were ridiculous and unresearched.

* "These dogs are notoriously instinctive about not letting go once a bite is in progress. And also very likely to vigorously shake the head while maintaining the bite hold. This causes pronounced ripping and tearing durning a fight, a bite, or an attack. I speculate these traits are due to centuries of selective breeding, seeking these specific traits, and to collective memory within the breed."

The breed was never bred for specific physical traits. They were bred on the basis of temperament, will, strength, and the overall want to fight and please the owner. These traits have no indication of what the dog will look like. In many cases, a terrier was bred to a lab, or a retriever was bred to a mutt. They didn't care what the dog looked like, only how the dog's will and fight was. So, the shape, size, or appearance of the skull has no factor into the dog's temperament.

* "I do not believe these dogs are a safe breed to have around children, other animals, and sometimes even the dog's owner."

These dogs have always been great and loyal with children. Even the fighting dogs were great to have around the family children, and were often retired as house pets. There weren't many who survived to a fighting dog's retirement age, but for those that served their master with a good history, were rewarded with home life. Any dog that showed signs of aggression to people were culled from breeding and fighting, as human aggression was far from the intent of this dog.

* "I do not believe the "bad rap" this breed of dog has is due to anything other than the truth about them, and I encourage all pit bull owners to spay and neuter their animals."

There is no denying that the breed can be dangerous in the wrong hands with the wrong training and with improper socialization, but media plays a huge role in the fear around the breed.  So many articles and news reports assume a pit bull type dog did the attack, but when reports are that the dog that bit or attacked a person wasn't a pit bull dog, there's never a retraction. In some cases, there are articles where the title is 'pit bull' attack and the meat of the article uses the true breed that caused the attack.

Here's the hub that caused my issues this morning: About Bad Dogs

Here are a few articles that declare breed bans are worthless:
Chicago - Where Pit Bulls Are Banned, Dog Bites Rise
Kansas City, MO -  Animal Advocates: Dog Breed Bans Don't Work 
Denver -  Do dog breed bans work? 
Dearborn - Council seeing better law, not breed ban, as answer to pit bull problems
Toledo - Toledo replaces breed specific law with one aimed at responsible pet ownership
Miami - Two decades of BSL has produced no positive results

Sloppy Pit Bull Kisses

Dogs Help Veterans Copewith PTSD

A coworker sent me this video, and it tore at my heart. I wanted to share with you in case you missed it.

David Sharpe's adopted Pit Bull who saved his life and helped him work through his PTSD and mild depression.

As mentioned in the video, sometimes it's just easier to talk to your pet than it is another human being.

18 veterans a day commit suicide
4 million sheltered animals euthanized a year

Match some of those 4 million euthanized pets with the 6500 veterans who commit suicide a year, and it really is like match.com, except saving lives...

The dogs have physical scars on the outside, and the veterans have mental scars on the inside, which make shelter dogs and veterans the perfect match.



This video, truly tore at my heart.

Where to Adopt a Pit Bull

Believe it or not, Pit Bulls are one of the more popular dogs to have as pets. They are loyal, loving, protective, and willing to please their owners. This breed is very intelligent, yet can be quite stubborn at times. The breed doesn't have any health problems that are specifically prone to the breed, like many dog breeds, but these dogs just aren't for everyone.

No matter how great they sound, they're not for the inexperienced.

People who want to own a pit bull needs to have some sort of knowledge in training and socializing dogs and puppies, as these guys can be very stubborn and dominant, at times.

If you have the knowledge and experience, or maybe you're just looking to add another Pitty to your family, consider adoption, as there are many Pit Bulls and mixes available for adoption in animal shelters around the country.

If you're not sure where to start looking, here are a few suggested places to get you started.

* Pet Finder
* Pit Bull Rescue Central
* Pit Bull Rescue

When adopting a pit bull or mix, you'll want to make sure that you ask the shelter volunteers and workers all the questions that you need to in order to feel comfortable with the process. If you already have a Pit Bull or another dog breed, you should see if the shelter will allow you to bring your current dog(s) to make sure that they will all get along.

Pit Bulls are a Part of the Family

No matter how much you don't want to admit it, your dog is a part of the family. The dog is like a child; you constantly have to keep on him/her for behaving properly and not getting anything that he/she shouldn't.

Cafepress has tons of cute products that are great for a family with a pit bull. I've picked out a few of my favorites, hoping maybe you'll like them too.



I bought MIA the cutest shirt from CafePress when she was a puppy. She wasn't able to wear it long, as the shirt was too big when I got it, and then a few weeks later, the shirt became too small. I kept the shirt anyway, as with all of her puppy clothes.

You can easily see that there are super cute dog clothes on CafePress that you can buy, you just have to look for them. I've included some of my favorites, though.



Your home just isn't a home until you've had a pit bull in your house.

Pit Bulls and Babies

So many people think that Pit Bulls are baby-killers and they're prone to just attacking anything that moves. Well, check out these Pit Bulls with their human babies.

Breed Bans Do Not Work

It is unfortunate that there are breed bans in various cities, states, and countries. I mean dogs are animals, they are going to be unruly at times, and they're going to need training. The only person at fault here, is the human who doesn't train or properly socialize their dog.

Dogs are commonly treated and thought of as mini-humans and children, but they're not. They are animals that have been domesticated through thousands of years of training and socializing with humans. They are still animals that can bite and attack children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly.

By banning certain breeds, the bans do nothing more than cause another dog breed to be higher on the lists of annual bites and attacks. If we ban dog by classifying them  by their breed, it's just like classifying people by race, gender, religion, age, etc.

Not every dog in a breed is going to be prone to attack, and not every black guy is a lazy thief.

The statistics and reports on countries and areas who have implement breed specific legislations have reported no drastic changes in bites. Some have even found that the bulk of the bites were from non-restricted breeds, and some areas have reported a rise in dog attacks.

There are better alternatives to breed bans, such as education and other restrictions, such as leash laws, spay/neuter programs, containment laws, etc.

What is Breed Specific Legislation? Will it Stop all Pit Bull Dog Attacks?





For instance, one of my dogs is an American Pit Bull Terrier, and she is great. She's went through bone cancer at the age of 18 months, and is not 3.5 years old. She is has had her confrontations with other dogs, but is such a people loving dog it is unreal. Why should I be punished because I own a "bad dog breed"?

MIA's Vet Appointment at Auburn University

Mia had her monthly visit today at Auburn. She's been acting puny, but apparently all is well. I'm thinking it was just the food. I got the wrong flavor (turkey instead of red meat), and she's not been eating it.

She had her bloodwork checked out, as well as medicine refills for  chlorambycil, piroxicam, and rapamycin. She didn't need the famotidine, a she still has some left over, since that's an as-needed medication for her stomach.

Mia will go back next month to repeat this visit, and then the following month for her big exam which basically adds a physical and radiographs of the chest.