Other people's opinions....

[Madrona]

Since I am a virgin Am. Staf. owner I was wondering how others deal with the attitudes of other people. Like the attitude that pit bulls are mean and terrible. I obviously have no issues, but I know they will come up in the future. Is there a good website to visit, or do you have any tips for what I would call "ignorant" people that may approach?

Thank you for the welcomes from everyone!
Mica

[Noriko525]

Well, I'm sure many people will agree that pittie owners grow tough skin. When you are new to all the negativity (which is now unfortunatly aimed at YOU as well as the breed) it can be hard. You learn to take it with a grain of salt (and sometimes a whole shaker of salt :roll: ) It will get easier to deal with and pretty soon you will just be rolling your eyes at the people who have nothing better to do than criticize a situation they know NOTHING about. Sometimes you will even run into people who are willing to listen and be educated about the true temperment and disposition of a pit bull.

I worked retail for 4 years and I was told by one of my managers that, for every bad experience a person has they will tell on average 10 people, for every good experience they have they will tell on average 2 people. What does this mean... Well if you think about it, when you go into a store and there is AWFUL customer service of course you stand there thinking "im never coming here again, they are so rude blah blah blah" and then you go home and are talking with your friends and while your talking about your day you say "yeah, and I was at (enter store name) today and they were sooo rude I just can't believe it...." BUT....when you are treated well at a store you remember, and you go back, and you brag 2 other people about the store and the customer service etc... The point of this story is, is that it's better to have them telling only 2 people about their GOOD experience, then to have them running around telling everyone about their bad experience.

Try your best to make any run in with an ignorant person one that is not negative and that they wont go home and talk about. If people glare, or yell obsene things at you all you can do is brush it off. Be the very best example you can be of a responsible owner with a dog who can be a good advocate for the breed (socialize, socialize, socialize!!) I've met several people who hated the breed simply because they were scared and did not know anything about the breed other than what they had heard (my parents were a HUGE one I had to conquer.) Prove them wrong!! Let them pet your dog if they want and try to clarify some of the misconceptions if they are willing to listen. You will be suprised how quickly a person can change their mind when they actually get to meet a pit bull that is loved and well taken care of (not to mention one that tries licking them to death!!)

Whew... this got WAY longer than it was supposed to!!

Congrats on being a new owner of such a wonderful breed !

[Madrona]

That is great, you explained it very well. You are very right also.... (telling 2 people a good thing and 10 people the bad thing)
I have been taking her into work and everyone loves her! Of course she is 4 months old so cute as heck.
There was one co-worker that started to give me crap. He wasn't trying to be mean, he just wanted me to think about what I was doing. "Why would you choose "that" breed?"
I also do assisted pet therapy with my pit mix and at my 3 year evaluation I asked about doing it with a purebred. My evaluator is with the Delta Society and he said there was no problems at all! He just said exactly what I just got..... people will be hesitant to pet a pit, or be hesitant to allow one in their facility.
I'm not trying to rip on my co-worker, he did give her loves when I showed her to him. It just opened my eyes more.
He also forwarded me this awful article someone had written about how terrible they are, their jaw strength, gamability, etc. I am truley amazed at the crap that was said, but not surprised.
I was just wondering if anyone had experienced any situations that I could plan ahead for.

[Noriko525]

That's great you are doing all those things with her!! I brought my girl into work too and people just fell in love! It's SOOO exciting when people just love your dog AND know its a Pit Bull!

I dont think you can ever really prepare for what might happen being a Pit Bull owner. I think people on this board have mentioned that they've been spit on/at, other people have called the police on them while they are playing with there dog in the same vicinity as a child... crazy things like that. I've been lucky so far in the sence that I have had more positive experiences then negative... or I guess I should say that potentially bad situations have been turned into positive situations. You will read MANY stories that the members post in the general section about "I was walking my dog today and this @$$hole said this and this..." The ignorant people will stop at nothing to criticize us for being a pit bull owner. What a sad and truly pathetic thing to worry about when there are such BIGGER problems in the world then me (and all of us) owning a Pit bull!

About your co-worker that sent you that article... OH BOY!!

Another little story to go along with people like that...

My mom was TERRIFIED of pitties and my dad was the ULTIMATE "I HATE PIT BULLS, they turn on you, they will bite, they can kill, why would you ever want to own a dog that has potential to turn on you... I know its a recessive gene ( :roll: ) , they have lock jaw... blah blah blah" You could have told him anything bad about a pit bull and he would eat it right up. Anyways, long story short... both my mom and my dad LOVE my dog now and have even been willing to listen to me ramble on for hours about how misinformed they are etc... but still to this day, my mom will call me and say "there was another pit bull attack yesterday, it was in the newspaper." I remind her every time that the newspaper does not always back things up with facts, and that I could back up my testimony about TRUE Pit temperment with FACTS!!!!!! That always gets her

I guess some people will just never accept the fact that these poor dogs dont deserve the label they have been given, but IMO, those are the type of people we do not want owning our breed anyway!!!

[Gerald W. Wilson II]

Norico you sound experianced, and I agree. Their are some such as one I talked with today that nothing will penatrate their rock heads but it is the ones that will listen that will save our breed of choice, uggg my amstaff just perfumed the air,uuuhh help, well anyway I am a firm believer in education at the grade school level and have been participating now for 2 years in a program for the high schools here locally and my wife takes dogs to some of the elemntry schools. I dont know the answer other than every bully owner needs to educate themselves and then everyone else who will listen. Stop BSL

[kernel scurry]

I usually let them say what they thing, and if they dont listen to my comeback, I drop it. I dont really want to argue with people. If someone is willing to listen, then let them know what you know, but I def dont try to force people into listening to me 'rave' about my dog.

[couter]

www.badrap.org

[Chris]

Train, train, train. Nothing heads hostility off at the pass like a well trained, well behaved dog. And it tends to make the owner/dog bond stronger as well so it is a win/win situation.

Oh, and welcome.

[oko pol]

WELCOME!!!!!