You know how you can be afraid of something just out of sheer ignorance because you don’t know much about it?

That was me and dogs. I was always afraid of dogs. I don’t know why. My father was never a dog person, so we were never allowed to have one and I just always found myself being afraid of dogs. My older sister is afraid of dogs too, though she probably wouldn’t admit it to you. LOL

Then I met my husband. He has always had dogs in his life. He wanted a boxer. I was hesitant, but when we saw that little face at 6 months old- he stole my heart.

Look at that little baby face!

I bought books on the boxer breed to learn about what I was in for. I bought Cesar Milan’s book on training your dog and I bought a few other books on training puppies. Almost all by myself, I trained out little guy into the loveball he is today.

Hubby and I socialized him early- taking him to dog parks to horse around with other dogs- he was SO afraid at first- there were greyhounds and labs and they were all bigger than him. He went to the dog beach and we learned early on that Kingston was not a fan of water. He also had many visitors in our home back in Florida- all of our friends would come over.

He learned how to play nicely with other dogs. He learned how to behave around other humans besides his owners. Most importantly, we provided him with an outlet for his energy. Hubby took him rollerblading and running (and still does).

I have never owned a pitbull, but I have definitely considered it. Remember those gorgeous blue nose pit puppies I saw at Walmart?

Pitbulls and Boxers belong to the same bulldog family- along with the English Bulldog, American Bulldog, Bull Mastiff, Boston Terrier and so many other breeds. Why is the pitbull the only one in that bunch that is “aggressive”? I am convinced that if we wanted to raise our boxer to be aggressive- we could have.

This article from Mom Logic highlights the recent death of a 2-year old to the family pitbull. The first thing that came to my mind was- what is the dog’s history. Did they adopt the dog? Did they have it since it was a puppy? Do they monitor the children’s interactions with the dog? How was the dog introduced to the baby? Is the dog provided with enough ways to release it’s energy? I am in no way blaming the family for this event and I pray for them- I would not wish this on anyone. But these are the things that I considers even for my dog.

When we brought Baby C home from the hospital- we did the “bring the blanket home for the dog to smell.” We even bought a CD with sounds of a baby crying and played it from time-to-time for Kingston before Baby C came home- and it’s a good thing because he was in for a boat load of crying!

Even now after almost two years of being with Kingston, I still monitor her interactions with him. Kingston has a lot of energy and Baby C doesn’t know her boundaries with him. She “pets” him really hard, pulls his ears, tries to climb on his back and hugs him almost to the point of choking. He has growled at her before and tried to jump on her once because he thought she was playing with him. These behaviors are quickly corrected- not only with the dog but with Baby C as well. She needs to know how to properly interact with the dog and what things are not okay.

Smacking Kingston in his head and pulling his ears- not okay.

Trying to climb on his back? Not okay.

Trying to feed him rocks? Not okay.

My husband cautioned me to not sound like I am making excuses for the pitbull, so I hope that is not how I sound. I guess what I am trying to say is that we don’t know all of the facts. Before we write off pitbulls and other “aggressive breeds” for good, we should know all of the facts.

Would I own a pitbull with my kids? Yes. I have even considered a Rottweiler. I wouldn’t rescue a pit or rottweiler, though. I wouldn’t rescue a Doberman either- though Hubby’s dad owns a gorgeous Doberman wit a big attitude and loud bark over in Nebraska. Why is she so angry? Her past history with old owners. We don’t let Baby C near her because of that. She’s a sweet girl deep down, but not socialized for kids.

What do you think about pitbulls and other “aggressive breeds”? Do you own an “aggressive dog”- would you?

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