life, the universe, and donna

I love pit bulls.

I think they’re adorable. Actually, that’s not entirely true, I actually think they’re so ugly that they’ve transcended uggo and moved right back into “holy crap, you’re cute!” And really, no dog can smile half as well as a happy pittie.

It’s one of the few breeds I would never own. And this really depresses me, because they are SUCH sweethearts. But… I already have one aggressive dog with a bad reputation, the last thing I need is a dog with a bad reputation just from looking at him. I’m the asshole with the snarly dog, I don’t want to also be the asshole with the pit bull… because no matter how sweet a pittie you have, there’s a stigma.

And the stigma totally sucks. The pit bull myths that are still common today are outrageous. And don’t get me wrong — I respect what dogs were bred for, and pitties absolutely are bred for dog aggression, but they’re also bred for human non-aggression. And quite frankly, how a dog is raised, trained, and shown how to behave by his handlers is FAR more important to any dogs behaviour than his ancestors.

I used to walk dogs for the Burnaby SPCA, and of course many of the dogs that wind up in their care are pitties. And a sweeter bunch you’ve never seen. Untrained little whackadoos to a T, but with a little love and attention, these guys would make fantastic pets… if it wasn’t for all the pitbull hate.

I’m from Surrey, so … I get it. I really do understand the stigma, and it’s why I would never get one myself. Honestly, if I see someone walking a pitbull (ESPECIALLY an offleash one) while I’m out with Justice, I hightail it. Ok, to be honest, I do that with most dogs — avoidance is still our best management technique for her particular issues. But moreso with a pittie, because sadly most of the people who are likely to get a pitbull are absolutely the wrong person to be adopting one to begin with. I don’t blame the breed, I blame the jackasses who keep fucking them up.

So, I’ve got this new dog trainer, and she’s awesome, right? Justice & I are really enjoying the classes we’re taking, and she’s come so far just in a few months. Our rally classes are great practice, and I was very pleased that our reactive dog training classmate was a gorgeous pittie named Maya, because Justice can be sensitive to specific breeds, and having her less reactive toward pitbulls is a good thing. (On the flipside, please don’t bring any cranky rat terriers or min pins around. She’s not a fan. Aussies are in, though!)

How’s this related? New trainer is on the board of directors for HugABull, a local Pit Bull advocacy & rescue organization. I was so, so pleased when Shelagh told me about her reactive dog — a pit bull. And I thought I had bad stigma against my friendly looking reactive dog. Here’s someone who has to deal with not just reactivity, but the pit bull stigma to go along with it. She’s realistic, experienced, and damn good at coming up with solutions tailored to each individual dog. And the fact that she also works with rescues in her spare time, instead of “oh, well, all of my dogs are perfect…” well, it’s just easier to relate, you know? I mean, perfect dogs are great, and everyone should have one, but that’s not what I have. Raising a perfect dog from a perfect puppy is a laudable achievement, but one that is a lot easier than getting a dog with issues to learn how to manage them.

Anyway. So, breed discrimination: Bad. Shitty owners: Bad. Pitbull stigma: Bad. HugABull: Good!

And therefore, I get to my point: May 16th, HugABull will be holding a fundraiser at Dizine Canine Training Centre at 1730 Vernon St (under the 1st Ave overpass at Clark, accessible from the north side of 1st.) And I’ll be there with soaps and candles to sell, donating 15% of proceeds to HugABull. There will also be food and other goodies available, so come down and check it out!