Pit Bull Stigma

Not my dog.

Merry Holidays...and happy birthday to me!  I am a Christmas Eve baby and have the privilege of getting gifts once a year.  This year, my birthday started off nicely.  I am in Colorado for the holiday, and staying with my parents.  Two of my three sisters are in town, and one has a daughter - my niece.  My boys and their cousin get along so swimmingly.  And my niece adores my older dog - a Heinz 57 named Cinder.  My niece goes up to her and pets her and kisses her....but she doesn't touch my pit bull, Pearl.  And I figure it is because her mother is afraid of Pearl.  Pearl is black and white, and is sort of not exactly bulky.  She's a back yard bred dog, and she is kinda tall and skinny for a pit.  She is initially very excited and animated, but calms down quickly and has ended up being more of a couch potato than anything.

Being at my parents' house is exciting for the dogs.  They rarely join me on road trips, and they have always enjoyed the acre of back yard that my parents' house has to offer.  Not only that, but the children and guests that come in and out due to my mother's publishing business keeps things interesting for the dogs.  On Christmas Eve, the three children (ages 5-10), my father, and the two dogs were outside playing.  My older son was throwing the ball for the old dog, Cinder, who gets very territorial about balls.  She also has a chronic ear issue that stems from 5 years ago when a former housemate ripped at her ear.  Her ear canal doesn't drain properly and her ear flap keeps the wax and gunk inside so it's usually tender despite weekly cleanings.

Cinder - the left ear is the gimpy one

Nobody knows just what happened next, but I hear a growl, a yell from my dad, and a squeal from Cinder.  I run outside and Pearl has Cinder's ear in her jaws and is pulling.  Cinder is upset but fighting back.  My dad is trying to kick Pearl to let her go.  My mother takes a snow shovel and begins to hit the dogs until I tell her and my dad to stop.  Being irrational in this situation is not useful, and i ask them to help me separate the dogs.  My dad then basically chokes out Pearl while Cinder attacks her face, telling her to back off.

It was a scuffle.  Dogs do that.  Cinder ended up with no punctures or scrapes, just an irritated ear.  Pearl had scrapes all over her face from Cinder's snaps after my dad nearly choked her.  But my parents and my sister were mortified and sat me down to have a Talk. 

Pearl.  She smiles funny.

Apparently my pit bull is "scary as fuck" and by allowing her in the house, I have put her daughter and my sons and my entire family at risk.  She is a pit bull.  Those jaws - oh, those jaws can do such damage!  And everybody is at risk.  I need to get rid of That Dog.  Poor Cinder has to go through her last few years of life with a terror for a housemate.  I am a bad mother for letting That Dog into my house.  My children could be killed any moment with a pit in the house.  My mother's father would have never put up with it, and wouldn't have taken it to the vet to be dealt with.  Oh, no, he would have taken matters into his own hands!  At this point, I am having an anxiety attack.  My sister is berating me for not telling her my dog gets excited in new situations and how dare I not explain that Cinder is possessive of balls?!  Don't my children know better than to throw balls for the dogs because they may end up in a scuffle?  And my mother is saying I need to get rid of Pearl because she is a danger.  All of this coming a mere 4 months from when I had to euthanize my lab mix for aggression.  I couldn't take any more.  I took my dog into a bedroom and slammed the door because I couldn't hold back the tears and anxiety any more.  I had myself a quiet panic attack lasting about an hour, while holding my Pearl tight in my arms.  She, of course, had no idea why I was sad.  She licked my face and snuggled in.

Pearl is like the little white kitten in The AristoCats.  She is a lady.  A lady does not start fights, but she can finish them.  Pearl has never started a fight in her 7 years of life.  However, she has finished them.  If another dog jumps her, she will grab on somewhere so they can't get to her and won't let go until they're both exhausted.  But, because my family was so afraid of her, I kept her on a leash until I could find a basket muzzle for her.

For the remainder of the visit, a whole week, my poor Pearl had to wear a basket muzzle while at my parents' house.  She was miserable.  She hardly left the couch.  If nobody was home, I would take the muzzle off and she would nap with me on a recliner or chew on her bone.  She didn't once growl at another dog or make any moves.  The other dogs growled at her, as they do, but she just walked away.  As she usually does.  It was so awful, I cut my visit short by three days.  The muzzle chafed her chin and she was profoundly depressed.  And she couldn't yawn.

The pit bull stigma is real.  But so is the stigma of any Bully breed.  To someone not In The Know, a bully breed isn't a bulldog breed - it is a dog that beats up on other dogs.  After all, kids get bullied in school.  A mean person is called a bully.  Dobermans aren't bully breeds, but they have the same stigma.  As do rottweilers, german shepherds, chow chows, and other large dogs.  The majority of dog bite fatalities come from pit bulls and rottweilers, but how many of these dogs are family dogs, and how many are trained to be protective of their property?  How can you tell the difference between a mean pit and a nice pit?

You can't.  And since they do more damage than a shih-tzu or a chihuahua, they are all considered Bad Dogs.  It doesn't help that Bad Humans like to own BadAss Dogs, and train certain breeds to be vicious.  I am not a fan of Breed Specific Legislation, but I am a supporter of Punish The Deed, Not The Breed.  If a dog attacks a human, it needs to be humanely put down.  It is a risk.  But dogs argue and scuffle with other dogs, much like my boys scuffle and hurt each other on occasion.  It happens.  Nobody is always in a good mood, and that is the same with dogs.

I have had Pearl since she was 8 weeks old.  She has been raised in a loving home with cats, other dogs, and children.  She sometimes jumps the fence, and neighborhood kids bring her home.  She loves children.  She wouldn't ever bite one, I don't think.  But I can't predict the future.  I will not euthanize my dog for scuffling with another dog.  But if she ever turns against a human, I won't think twice.  As I type, Cinder and Pearl are sleeping on the couch, butt to butt.  They are housemates, partners, and friends.  I wish people weren't so quick to judge....

Butt Buddies hehe