Yesterday I played ball with Maddie on the beach. She is so very athletic and agile! It's a thing of beauty to watch her leap into the air with glee to grab the ball, so comfortable and confident with her body. A young man walked by with a young pit bull on a leash. We began talking. The pup was 6 months old, precious, and dying to play with Maddie, barely able to contain herself on a leash at the site of Maddie running. He let her loose and off she went to chase Maddie. Her name was Samin, and she could really care less about the ball. Samin was in for the chase.The man, Steven, was delighted that his dog followed Maddie into the water. He'd tried to get her to go in on his own prior to today, but Samin wasn't that into getting into the ocean. Well, nothing like an older dog to show her the ropes! Samin followed Maddie out into the ocean like she'd been doing it all of her life. So Steven was delighted. As I was, since it's nearly impossible not to smile from ear to ear watching this dog joy exploding before our eyes!
Then I saw it. The woman walking by with a look of horror on her face... I could almost hear her screaming inside, "Oh my God, that's a pit bull!!!!! Running loose!!!" She took a little step behind her significant other as she looked at us in dismay before hurrying away.
"How could you let a pit bull run loose???!!!" her face seemed to say.
I felt for the woman, for her fear. But I must admit I felt even more for the breed. For how misunderstood they are. How mistreated they are in the wrong hands. For the breed bans. The countless euthanasias. It's true, some may have aggressive genes bred into them, thanks to humans. But can't we judge each dog as an individual rather than stereotype and ban a breed from cities?
I wondered if this woman couldn't read the dog's happy and totally non-aggressive nonverbal language? Did her fear stop her from seeing that this dog was a sweetheart, both playful and loving?
Soon Samin was dragging, unable to keep up with Maddie, who was still going strong. Samin looked at Steven, panting and tail drooping a little.
"I'm whipped, Dad," his face seemed to say. "Maybe we better go now." Steven hooked the leash on to this very obedient girl, and off they went.
Thanks, Steven and Samin. You made my day more joyful for stopping to play. And thanks, Steven, for adopting Samin. One more pitbull rescued from a shelter...one more with a chance to LIVE!
Maybe I'll have to post in the future about the 2 pit bulls my husband and I fostered after Maggie (the dog in MAGGIE the dog who changed my life A Story of Love) died. They sure shattered any stereotypes I may have had about pit bulls being vicious!
Photo: Maddie (front, profile) & buddie, Drake summer 2009 Wyoming camping trip
Posted By:
Dawn Kairns
Author of MAGGIE the dog who changed my life A Story of Love
Website: www.dawnkairns.com
2009 Indie Book Awards Finalist
DWAA 2008 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award Finalist
3 comments :
Hi Dawn. It's so sad that dog breeds get a bad reputation when the fault lies totally with us humans! More power to you, Maddie, Samin and Steve.
Adite
Pitbulls some of the nicest dogs I see in my office. Now chichuahua's if they were as big as pitbulls we would all be in trouble LOL!
Retriever Farm (I looked for your name--please refresh my memory!)and Adite:
Thanks for both of your comments. We humans have much to learn about how we raise and care for dogs, don't we?
I agree about chihauhuas (although I don't know how to spell it) -- and small dogs -- good thing they aren't large! I had a pretty good bite from a chihauhau once who wouldn't let go of my finger!
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