# Falling into the stigma



## Amy2983 (Dec 9, 2012)

I have a Pit mix that is 1year and 8 months old. I have been her momma for the last 7 months. We don't know much about her back story other than she came from a breeder that became overwhelmed with all the dogs or well a hoarding situation. The details are vague. We do know that at one point she had to have had a litter of pups. We were told by the vet and 2 dif trainers that she must have had pups. One very easy thing to spot was her saggy nipples.

She is a bit on the fearful side. Men seem to scare her the most, 6 months living with my father and she is still skittish around him. She is now spayed and enrolled in Confidence classes to address her fears and basic obedience. Upon being fearful she does have trouble bonding with people , its clear she didn't have a lot of socialization or affection. she has chosen me to be her person and I am working on maintaining my dominant status in her eyes. I am doing my best to help her work through her issues. 
My issue is that her trainer has instructed us research and learn about our breeds. You can imagine what I am finding. There are soooo many sites that say how dangerous and unpredictable these bully breeds are. They have these expert opinions and quotes and I have to admit it has me a bit scared. I have always been a believer in the quote,"No bad dogs just bad owners". Am I a horrible person for letting these things put a lil doubt in having her? I know if anyone can help me kick these crazy notions you guys can. Any helpful sites on learning about the breed would also be helpful. I love my Macy and I don't want this , "issue" to interfere in our building an unbreakable bond .


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## Amy2983 (Dec 9, 2012)

*Macy*

here is another pic of her


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## rabbit (Jan 14, 2012)

As long as most people have mouths and someone to listen then they are always going to talk down about something, especially when they have little to no knowledge on the topic. If you really want some info on how "pit bull" type dogs are then it is best to go out and talk to other people who own them. Go find responsible owners and ask for their opinions (of course responsible owners are sometimes hard to find but they are out there). Do not go to these anti bully breed bashing sites. They provide slanted information and often their statistics are more than just off. A great site to learn about bully breeds and bully breed mixes is... this forum. I recommend it to everyone I know. There isn't a topic that hasn't been covered and if there is something you would like to know and can't find by searching through old threads then post up the question and I'm more than sure members on here would love to help you out. By the way that is a good looking pup.


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

What rabbit said. 

Welcome to the forum. You've come to the right place


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## fas (May 8, 2013)

beautiful dog and dont be discourage by other people opinions, i adopted a bully about a year ago, ''home dog'', very dominate...after 2 months with him...slowing introdcing him to other animals..i mean all kinds..and people..he been the best dog ever since! all in time..hope the best


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## RedNoseAPBT (Mar 3, 2012)

I would continue taking her to obedience/training classes. I would also start socializing her a lot more, take baby steps! Quit visiting anti-pit bull websites, those are people who know jack about bully breeds (they know nothing).

You have to have the toughest of skin to own a bully breed, don't let other's bring you down. There's always a person who is anti-something out there and there's a hate website for everything, don't let a couple ignorant, uneducated idiots change your mind about bully breeds. 

Start reading books by Richard F. Stratton, he's good for beginners too. I have most of his books, his books will teach you a lot about the breed. 

Do you love Macy? If you do, don't let others tell you different and don't let anti-pit bull people bring you down. 

All I can say is STUDY, STUDY, STUDY on the breed. Start with reading books written by Richard F. Stratton. Continue taking her to obedience classes and start socializing her.


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## mi16reisen (Jul 31, 2012)

My reason for not caring about opinions is the same for my dog. She doesn't care, why should I?

Unless you get really careless, your dog won't be a danger to anyone. Just take the precautionary steps and have a smile on whenever you have your dog out. There's extremes to every issue and extremists to accompanying them.

People who discriminate based on your dog is just as bad as racism IMHO. You can't stop people from judging you. But you could start on helping them form a different opinion. Some people are worth talking to, and some people deserve to be ignored. My dog usually lets me know which is which.

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