What I have learned from my pets

I have always been an animal lover.  From horses, to cats [highly allergic though], to birds, to dogs - I dig them all.  Since childhood we have had an assortment of pets, all of which I have fond memories of.  None however can come close to the bond I have with the dogs I acquired when I started living on my own.  Two rambunctious American Pit Bull Terriers and a Jack Russell Terrier who firmly believes she is a rambunctious American Pit Bull Terrier.

Many, many people gasp in disgust and general concern when I mention that I am the proud owner of Pit Bulls [lady, are you mad?? Those dogs are DANGEROUS!!] So is ignorance my friend :)

I used to get very emotional when people made rude remarks about my dogs - I used to get involved in long, heated discussions.  I have since decided that no more.  People will keep on believing what they believe, irrespective of the facts.

All of this made me look more closely at people.  What I saw was shocking.  You see, my dogs don't judge people, the opposite can't be said however - because my Pit Bulls are judged purely because they were born Pit Bulls.  People have various reasons for hating the "bully breed", which include being personally attacked by a Pit Bull type dog, reading stories in the media, hearing stories from people, seeing the demeanor of the Pit Bull as being aggressive and so on and so forth.  I respect people's views - everyone has the right to an opinion, that is well and fair - what I do not understand though, is the mere fact that people base their opinions not on research but on hearsay [maybe this is my legal practitioner talking].  Still, to each their own.

 Interestingly enough, when I was a child of about 4 years old, I was attacked by our family pet, a Fox Terrier - he bit me in my face.  Luckily my dad was outside and he could stop the attack.  Nothing triggered the attack, I wasn't close to the dog - he just lunged for my face [my parents later gave him away to family who didn't have children and he lived a long happy life].  My parents didn't hold a grudge against the dog, nor the  breed, neither did I.  Some dogs just snap - you handle a situation as it arises.  You solve a problem and you move on, you don't make the problem bigger.

My dogs don't discriminate, they love everyone entering my house equally, provided that I introduce my dogs to them, of course :) they do not inspect nor expect them to check what breed they are, they do not ask for a payslip or an IQ test - they are just happy for the company.  Because above all else, they are just dogs.  I brought up my dogs in a disciplined but loving manner, to be advocates for the breed - to such an extent that my Jack Russell Terrier also believes she is a Pit Bull because she has the attitude of a dog four times her size.

My dogs taught me to take no heed to the critics - you can change a few people's minds by showing them, but words will only fall on deaf ears.  By fighting, you only lose in the end, because you stoop to the level of others - there is never a winner in a fight, because fighting isn't necessary.

Pit Bulls are the underdogs - the ones people so often underestimate, yet they are the ones that so often surprise us.

My dogs have changed many a mind on the breed - because I do not treat them as Pit Bulls, I treat them as dogs - they are members of my family.  I try my best to remove any stigma surrounding them, to show people that one should know the facts before one speaks.  This is true for various other aspects in life - we so often form an opinion based on "he said, she said", without knowing the true story, which causes so much trauma, drama and pain.  We have become so comfortable in being ignorant that we forget to be curious - finding things out for ourselves.

Now, when I am confronted with a Pit Bull hater, I just smile and walk away - because ignorance is bliss and it really does not help to even try convert the unbeliever when they themselves are too lazy to do a bit of research.

This is true in life as well - be a role model. Do not grab the "unbelievers" by the throat and throttle them, this gives them more fire power to just steer clear - set the example to make them yet MORE curious.  My dogs are such goof balls that people can't believe that they really are Pit Bulls [victory dance up in here].

Negativity never wins - trump the negative with the positive.  It might take a while, but it is worth it.  I have seen awesome results with my beloved dogs as the world around me has started to shift.  I have applied what I have learned to other areas as well, it works like a charm.

We can learn a lot from animals, especially, our pets...if only we could be patient enough to sit and observe them, we would be much the wiser.