Yes, you've seen this pic before. But I like it, so you get to see it again.
Hard to believe it’s been six months since our last For What It’s Worth (FWIW). You can read the first one HERE and the second one HERE. You can also get some background info by reading 100 Days and My Op-Ed Piece. Once you are all caught up, you can continue below.
The last six months have seen many changes to our lives. The biggest of which was the addition of lady #3 on April 14, 2009. Lucy Kate was born and Trinity got herself another lifelong friend. Most of the time Trinity just ignores her and, for her, things have not changed too much. Little does she know that in about 10 months she is going to have to dodge a little lady learning how to walk. We may have to let Trinity retreat to the basement so she doesn’t go crazy trying to get away from little Lucy.
Last week Hartford saw a crazy pit bull story, in which a number of pit bulls were seized and brought to the Hartford Dog Pound. The local paper, The Hartford Courant, covered the story, and followed the dogs as some were actually released back to their owner. Hard to believe, but as you can read HERE, the law in Connecticut didn’t allow for much else to happen. Only two of the dogs went back to the owner, and the rest were adopted out. Good thing, because they don’t get much time in the HDP because of budget reasons. We had heard about the dogs a week before, in an email from Kelly of Paws New England, and actually visited the pound to see if we may foster one of the dogs while it waited for a home. Trinity and the dog got along fine, but he was young, and very jumpy. Jumpy and three little ladies at home does not mix. We came to the realization that we are a one dog family. Sophie was not happy with that decision, but I guess when you are three all you think about it getting another dog!
We also helped redesign the Hearts of Gold Pit Rescue website. You can check it out HERE. It is still a work in progress, but Donna is getting the hang of updating and designing, with a little help from up north. HOGPR brought us Trinity, and we are forever grateful and will do whatever we can to help out. Who can forget THIS. It’s the reason we got Trinity in the first place.
Sophie and I went to a birthday party last weekend. As I stood and talked with one parent at the party, she told me an interesting story. We started talking about dogs. And, if you know me, you know I love to talk about Trinity. I will take any chance I get to tell her story. Of course, as soon as I mention that we have a dog, the first question is always, “What kind?”. When I say she is a pit bull, the reaction is usually one of three different ones. People are: 1) caught so off-guard that their only response, with very wide eyes, is, “Oh….” 2) Look at me and say, “Really, aren’t afraid she is going to eat your kids?” or 3) They know someone who has a pit bull and immediately tell me how that person has always told them what a great dog he/she is, but that they would always worry that something would happen. Well on this day, the women I was talking to relayed an interesting story. She said that her brother had a pit bull, and kids, but that whenever anyone asked what kind of dog he was, he lied. He said another breed. He would not tell them that he was a pit bull. I wasn’t sure what to think at first, but the one thing that I knew was that I would never lie about Trinity. There are several reasons for this.
First, it wouldn’t be fair to her or to the breed. Pit bulls get a Bad Rap, and I don’t want to hide who Trinity is. It wouldn’t be right. If I lie about who she is, what does that say about me? And if I did lie, why would I be lying? Was I ashamed that I adopted a pit bull? Certainly not. No reason to lie.
Second, every opportunity to answer that question is an opportunity to educate. I like to think that we have changed many mindsets since we adopted Trinity 16 months ago. Every time she meets someone is a chance to change someone’s view of pit bulls, and she has done it more than once.
But most importantly, I am proud of what we have done. I am proud that we helped save her, and since that time we have helped save more pit bulls. I am proud of having done my homework and realizing what a great breed they are and what a great dog Trinity is. I am proud of what what we have taught our children, to love unconditionally, and to not let prejudice into our household. I am proud every day that I see her as a member of our family.
Wouldn’t you be?
Mummy doez not lye abowt wut kynd of dawg I am eether, but sumtimes she shore is tempted. Mummy sez that sum dayz it would be so much eezier fer her to tell peeple that I am a boxer lab mix. Lucky fer me, mummy dozen’t take the easy way owt.
I never lie about what breed our Lily is either, but there are times when I brace for the response I know I will get. I have to say that just walking her in the neighborhood is an experience – some days are great! Other days are hard. She’s so friendly and it seems to hurt her feelings when people get off the sidewalk and walk into the street just to avoid her (when she is in a sit-stay on the grass to allow them the entire sidewalk). I have found, though, that 9 times out of 10, if I get her in a quick sit-stay, parents will actually stop with their kids and say “what a good dog!” or comment on how pretty she is. It gives me a chance to educate. We taught her to wave so when kids are scared by her size, I just have her wave at them. The parents LOVE that. I do whatever I can to make her friendly. Yesterday, I had a dad practically shove his daughter TOWARDS my dog and encourage her to pet Lily. I had a grandma stop and tell her granddaughter “you should listen so well!” I had the owner of a “teacup” maltese in awe of my dog as she got down on her belly to greet the tiny pup (she doesn’t like to scare small children or small dogs so she flattens out as best she can not to frighten them). I also had someone tell me that they used to be scared of pit bulls until their son came home with one he found on the street and “it was the best dog we ever had.” Yesterday was a good walk. We won’t talk about the one last week that got me cursed out for ‘having such a monster’ when a woman pulled her children into traffic two houses away from my dog (who was in a sit-stay) and almost got herself and her children killed. Luckily, there aren’t that many melodramatic people out there so things like that don’t happen as often. Even so, I can’t imagine lying about her breed. The point is to educate, not defend. How do you make life better for these dogs if you don’t spread the word?
Trinity is leading the dogs in our Family Pit Bull section! Let me know if you don’t want me to use the picture that I did. I linked your book as well because it was so CUTE! Thanks for all you do.
I meant to make her look friendly, not to be friendly. She is naturally friendly, but people think she looks scary. I have to be careful of my wording! I wanted to clarify that!
I am still enjoying your blogs, keep ‘em coming.
I’m glad you weathered the storm allright. I was at Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah when our storm hit, but my family stayed home. They were pretty scared in the storms without mommy there, especially my Pit Bull. She is very scared when bad weather hits, probably from her being chained up in the storms and bad weather for years before being rescued, but my kids were there to comfort her.
Never, ever lie about Libby! I, like you, look at it as an educational opportunity. Your blog is great and all the ladies are so cute!