 Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 11:29am PST |
 | |  | | I am so delighted to hear your responses! Thank you to each of you  I think that BSL is a poor solution for a small problem. It's too bad Dogster removed the link, because one of the facts I liked the most on the pitbull info-graphic was the graph showing the percentage of pitbulls that have attacked people, in case you're curious, it's tiny, 0.00125% but I think that also has something to do with the fact that there are a ton of pitbulls in general.
Furthermore, I also agree that BSL doesn't solve the problem, people easily bypass the laws. I agree with the mantra, "Punish the deed, not the breed." Because the reality seems to be that all breeds can be made cruel. But since the pitbull has been bred to be a fighter, naturally, they tend to win most fights they get into. The trick is teaching them that there isn't a reason to fight.
Lola gets to wrestle with all of us roommates, but she won't play with anyone she doesn't know really well. Come to think of it, I don't think she has ever played rough with anyone but the three of us she is closest to. Sometimes she gets snarly in a playful way, but she knows that the second she accidentally nips too hard she is in trouble. It's been tough to teach her to play without being too rough, but I have to say that I am delighted with her progress. She is very smart, smarter than I thought she would be lol, and SUPER in-tune with my emotions. It's weird, seeing her behavior makes me have to realize my own. Example following:
One night a crazy ex-girlfriend of one of my roommates broke into our house and we came home and caught her in the act. Well, I called to make a police report and sat waiting on the porch with Lola on her leash next to me. Growing up, I lived in a small town and was harassed a few times there by the deputy, who knew me personally, which has resulted in a nervousness around police for me, but I control it well. But when the officer got there, I'm sure my blood pressure rose somewhat. Well Lola knew instantly, and she began to flip out.
It was then that I realized what it meant to own a pitbull. The sweet, docile puppy we knew was gone. It was so bizarre. I suddenly realized that I couldn't promise she wouldn't bite him. Don't get me wrong, I was fairly certain, because she had never bitten anyone before, but she had also never acted like this before.
She wasn't a big dog then, she isn't now - still under 50 lbs. But she began barking and lunging quite frantically and the officer yelled at me to control my dog. I explained that she was just an excited puppy, but he wasn't backing down and neither was she. So my roommate had to take her inside. She's always gotten VERY excited when people come over, and we have tons of friends that visit so she is always friendly and usually insists on getting right up in their laps for lovin's, and part of me thinks she just wanted to sniff him and make sure he was ok. But I also think that she immediately responded to my nervousness and decided she had to protect me. I don't know. The whole thing was weird. She still has never bitten anyone, but the only other time she's been close to a police officer she flipped out then too. She's not a rescue, we've had her since she was tiny and she has never been abused or starved and has always been socialized.... So I don't know... What do you guys think about it? Sorry for this mile-long post lol |  |  | |  |
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