As I stepped out of a friend’s flat in Bethnal Green, London this afternoon, a large black pit bull, seeing me from down the hallway, leaped in the air and bounded towards me.
Immediately I thought of everything the media taught me about pit bulls–ferocious, dangerous, jaws of steel, mauling, evil creatures that are unfit for civilized society.
Plus it was a BLACK pit bull. The media and the world has taught me that black is evil (except as a fashion statement in NYC). Black=ferocious, dangerous, evil, dark magic and death.
Having pulled the door closed behind me, I stood trapped in the hallway telling myself, “Don’t show fear! They sense fear. Don’t let it know you are afraid.”
I wasn’t afraid; I was terrified.
With its owner no where in sight the large black pit bull lunged at me, paws up on my chest practically knocking me off balance.
Then with all of its might it proceeded to lick me, wag its tail and hump my leg.
We can’t believe everything the media tells us.
Wow, I’m SO glad that’s how it ended for you!!!!
I’m afraid of poodles because one took a bite out of my ankle when I was five.
Haha! ^_^ Lovely story.
That IS how pit bulls attack! It sounds like you met Lucy’s British cousin. I hope you washed your face afterwards.
Nice. 😉 By the way, it is now against the law (I believe) to own a pit bull in Denver. That’s like not allowing kids because some grow up to be murderers. Craziness.
But I still think you should believe everything the media tells you.
Especially quality media-wannabe sources like NARTH, Exodus blog, and PFOX.
After all, you’re a good Christianâ„¢ aren’t you?
Glad you are alright!! I can’t imagine how scary that must have been. For some reason, I still flinch at the sight of big dogs (I got bit as a kid by a tiny terrier), and Pit Bulls sort of freak me out. Take care on your English Tour. – Rob
It took the owner of Norwegian elkhounds to teach me dog psychology in order to break me of a dog phobia induced by my being nipped by my miniature poodle when I was 6.
Media reports are often true when viewed a certain way, but they sort of don’t give all the relevant information. From my limited experience what makes Pitt Bulls dangerous is the fact that they are a very quite dog. They don’t bark a lot or growl. Hard to read the mood of such a dog and that is what leads to danger. They are just as loyal, fun loving as other dogs, but it is too easy to miss judge their mood.
You, my friend, sure know how to tell a story!
It’s a cute story, but I’d still watch my back (and front) around pit bulls. I was attacked by one on the streets of Brooklyn, completely unprovoked (it chomped down on my calf and wouldn’t let go) and it was not a pleasant experience at all. The scariest thing was that I had my then-little son with me in the carriage, and I wound up lifting the carriage up over my head (with him in it), shaking my leg wildly to try to dislodge the dog, and screaming my lungs out. It broke through the denim of my jeans but fortunately the bite didn’t go too deep.
I don’t think all pits are bad, but that one sure was.
gsingjane, and others… the reality on the true nature of pit bulls I think lies somewhere in the middle between the nature and nurture theories of their reputation for aggression. Yes, they were originally bred to be an attack/hunting dog. Yet I’ve met pit bulls that were some of the most gentle, friendly dogs I’ve ever seen. The problem being that there are a lot of people who train them to be an attack dog and don’t think of the long-term repercussions of this type of training. When the novelty of having an attack pit bull wears off, they either start neglecting it or they turn it loose. This happens a lot, especially in the cities, where having a mean pit-bull is something of a status symbol. Thus the reason that there are so many of them running the streets and attacking people or other animals. They are a high-maintenance, high-energy breed that does not deal well with neglect. They need to have extensive training, exercise, and socialization while they are younger to help minimize the chance of problems down the road.
Christine, nice to see you are still in the blogosphere, even if it’s not on your own blog (hint, hint 🙂
Reminds me of one of my favorite greeting cards:
Because it is [insert occasion here], you cannot escape the relentless pursuit of the Three-Toed Snortiblog!
It sniffs you out…
It hears your heartbeat…
It sees your terror…
It tastes revenge…
It will grab you with all twelve toes!
(inside)
It will give you a big kiss!
Snortiblog, pit bull, potayto, potahto…
in your doin time section of your book thing, you spell “supper” as “super” just thought you would like to know
-b.McCord
Wow, I’m glad that worked out for you. Just yesterday at my local dog park, my rat terrier and I had just stepped inside the gate when a pit bull (10 months old) came bounding over to us all happy, tail wagging, and looking like she wanted to say hello. As soon as she got to us it was all ugliness, and she was on my rattie like white on rice. He came out OK because he didn’t fight back and I yelled my head off and startled the pit bull enough that she stopped attacking right as her owners arrived to restrain her. It was terrifying because there were absolutely no signals whatsoever that this dog was going to attack – it was totally out of the blue. The owners were genuinely surprised at her behavior, but I think my small dog brought out her prey drive. That’s what scares me about them – I’ve read that they’re hard to read, and that was certainly true yesterday for me.
yeah well pit bulls are not ferocious unless you feed the raw meat. i would know i have one
you are a rude an obnoxious person. that is so out of pocket to even be saying any slurs about the best kind of breed of theese special cretures. they are really sweet and gental.unless you did something to really piss it off. you are an evil jerk. also the racism about it being black you can be inprisoned for such a hate crime. so what if the dog was black it doesnt matter if it was green they are lovable. and you did something to piss it off!!! what if i was black would you discriminate me to asshole?