Every time you walk your dog…
Every time you take your dog to the vet…
Every time your dog sits in front of the storm door…
Someone is watching. Someone is observing. Someone is making judgments.
Is your dog’s behavior contributing to their negative perception or chalking up another tally for the positive?
If you own a dog that is a bully breed, you took on a very important role without knowing it. You and your dog are put on the spot every day, all day, especially when in public. How is your dog's behavior contributing to the pit bull reputation? Now don’t get me wrong - we make mistakes, training isn't practiced enough and new experiences can be scary, but overall – can you say that your dog leaves a positive or negative impression on the people that pass by?
Every person that even glances at your dog is taking away some sort of an opinion. Whether they realize it is a pit bull or not, whether they have incorrectly labeled your dog as a pit bull, or whether it was from 1 foot away or 1 block away - was their experience a good one? Was your dog sitting alert, waiting for your command? Or was your dog yanking you towards the other dog walking down the street, then getting growly due to the inappropriate meet and greet? Did your dog bark viciously when a family with a toddler and a dog walked by the house? Or did they have a few alert barks then wag their tail, looking to you for direction?
Like a review after a movie, each person that views your dog also leaves with an opinion of your dog. And because your dog is a pit bull type dog, that opinion matters. Times, like, a MILLION. I like to think that each person in the world has a Little Tykes blue and yellow chalkboard in their head and when they see a pit bull on a walk and said pit bull doesn’t attack them, jump, lunge, or do anything insanely scary, a big, over sized piece of chalk puts a tally in the positive column. But if your dog is pulling, barking, getting growly, wearing really tough looking harnesses or collars or even playing really vocally, that same giant piece of pastel colored chalk can put a bunch of tallies in the negative. Like everything in life, negative information spreads like E.Coli while positive information spreads like molasses. Don’t let your dog put notches in the negative category for anyone, ever.
Remember, it’s the person that doesn’t ask questions, that doesn’t take the risk of petting your dog, that stands in the background that is judging the most. Don’t give that person anything worth judging. Be a positive role model; your actions do make a difference.
Every time you take your dog to the vet…
Every time your dog sits in front of the storm door…
Someone is watching. Someone is observing. Someone is making judgments.
Is your dog’s behavior contributing to their negative perception or chalking up another tally for the positive?
If you own a dog that is a bully breed, you took on a very important role without knowing it. You and your dog are put on the spot every day, all day, especially when in public. How is your dog's behavior contributing to the pit bull reputation? Now don’t get me wrong - we make mistakes, training isn't practiced enough and new experiences can be scary, but overall – can you say that your dog leaves a positive or negative impression on the people that pass by?
Every person that even glances at your dog is taking away some sort of an opinion. Whether they realize it is a pit bull or not, whether they have incorrectly labeled your dog as a pit bull, or whether it was from 1 foot away or 1 block away - was their experience a good one? Was your dog sitting alert, waiting for your command? Or was your dog yanking you towards the other dog walking down the street, then getting growly due to the inappropriate meet and greet? Did your dog bark viciously when a family with a toddler and a dog walked by the house? Or did they have a few alert barks then wag their tail, looking to you for direction?
Like a review after a movie, each person that views your dog also leaves with an opinion of your dog. And because your dog is a pit bull type dog, that opinion matters. Times, like, a MILLION. I like to think that each person in the world has a Little Tykes blue and yellow chalkboard in their head and when they see a pit bull on a walk and said pit bull doesn’t attack them, jump, lunge, or do anything insanely scary, a big, over sized piece of chalk puts a tally in the positive column. But if your dog is pulling, barking, getting growly, wearing really tough looking harnesses or collars or even playing really vocally, that same giant piece of pastel colored chalk can put a bunch of tallies in the negative. Like everything in life, negative information spreads like E.Coli while positive information spreads like molasses. Don’t let your dog put notches in the negative category for anyone, ever.
Remember, it’s the person that doesn’t ask questions, that doesn’t take the risk of petting your dog, that stands in the background that is judging the most. Don’t give that person anything worth judging. Be a positive role model; your actions do make a difference.
