Perpetuating Pit Bull Myths

It’s so dangum frustrating when animal “experts” continue to perpetuate the myths and stereotypes about pit bulls.

A few weeks ago, Indy Pit Crew had a booth at Pet Expo, one of the largest pet events in Indiana. There was a large indoor pool set up so attendees could try their dog at dock diving. The gentelman running the dock diving exhibit was extolling the virtues of one of the dogs he was demonstrating – a pit bull.

And then he said it… something about their LOCKING JAWS.

For heaven’s sake. Really? That myth has been disproven so many times it’s not even stupid anymore. It’s just boring.

One of the Indy Pit Crew board members, who is also a dog trainer, behaviorist and owns/trains/handles a Search and Rescue dog, went to educate this gentlemen about his erroneous information. He stood firm on his opinion – stating that he’s been rescuing pits for a long time and he knew what he was talking about.

Wow. Just wow.

A representative from another rescue recently made a comment that it was ironic that our rescue pit bull wasn’t the agressor in a spat between her and another dog – a supposed “family breed”. It’s not ironic. It’s not even unusual. I’ve got examples of pit bulls living happily in HUNDREDS of homes with other dogs of all breeds and sizes. Multi-dog households with pit bulls, in my experience, are the rule not the exception.

When animal welfare and pet services people spout incorrect information or make offhand, incorrect statements about pit bull behavior, they unravel the efforts of pit bull activists to disseminate the truth. The battle to save America’s Dog is hard enough without your allies also being your enemies.

The Public School Dilemma

I was fortunate enough to attend public school in a fantastic school district. In fact, when my parents looked into sending me to a private middle school, the admissions counselor actually told them I wouldn’t get a better education. The school district I went to was great because the community around us believed in the value of our education. They frequently voted for bond measures to give the schools the money they needed. To this day, the district is still one of the best in California.

We chose to buy a house in a neighborhood that falls in IPS district. We missed Washington Township School District by a few miles. Bummer. (Side note – I live in Washington Township – shouldn’t I be able to send my kids to those schools? *shakes head*) Sure, I could have bought a house elsewhere, in a better school district, but we love our neighborhood.

The families in our neighborhood all elect to send their children to private school. I can understand their logic. Let’s face it – IPS isn’t winning any awards. Obviously, as a parent, you want your child to have the best education you can give them. I respect that, and I wouldn’t ever judge someone for making that decision.

However, the dilemma as I see it is that families pulling their kids out of public schools makes matters worse. Instead of demanding better teachers, facilities, programs, etc from our public schools, those who are most invested in their children’s education are walking away from a district that so desperately needs them.

I’ve read many complaints from teachers that parents are not invested in their kids’ education. I’m not faulting them. They may not have the time or knowledge to advocate for their children’s education. They may lack a good education themselves. They may feel that it’s futile. Whatever the reason, we need people to stand up and demand better! Just walking away solves YOUR short term concern but doesn’t solve the problem.

It’s frustrating to me that in our society we’re so willing to sit back and point fingers at failings, but we refuse to get our hands dirty and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. No, I don’t have school age children, but I still care about our public schools. I believe everyone has a right to a good education and that by educating our youth we are benefiting our entire society. I’m not a liberal hippie here – I’m a shrewd investor.

So I’m not pulling our kids from public schools. I will supplement their school learning with home learning, and do whatever I can to help their teacher elevate the entire class. I will engage. I will find out what the schools in my neighborhood need and I will work hard to help them. I’m doing it for my kids, and all the other kids who deserve better.

Education is KEY to responsible ownership

When I first moved to Indianapolis, my husband and I were shocked and appalled by some of the things we saw in relation to pets.

I cannot count how many times we stopped the car to grab someone’s dog that was wandering the streets. Frequently we would find the owner and be met with nonchalance. Whoops, he got out. Oh, I forgot to put her collar on.

While accidents DO happen (my dog sneaked out once while being dog-sat), the casual ownership I witness here in Indiana is very strange to me.

In San Diego, with the exception of off-leash parks and maybe beach towns, you never see a dog wandering around. Leashes are de rigeur. Practically everyone has a privacy fence, or at least chain link. Before moving here, I had never seen a tie-out except in the pet store.

I can only attribute this strange behavior in Indiana to a lingering farm mentality. Farm animals are chattel, and on many farms, the dogs live outside and work the farm.

I was first exposed to this concept when my mom told me about her life growing up on a farm. They had a dog, and her job was to keep the kids in a particular part of the yard. She lived full time in the yard. When she whelped, they gave away the male dogs and drowned the females in a sack the river. They had other dogs over time, all of which worked on the farm.

My husband’s family owns a ranch. They have two doxies which are their pets and live in the house. The two mutts live in dog houses on the porch. They are the working dogs. They don’t ever come inside. I don’t know if they even recognize the dichotomy.

This is not to say that working dogs aren’t well cared for. On the contrary, I think working dogs are better socialized than many “pets”. My point is that I think this mentality has prevailed, even thought the majority of people no longer live and work on a farm. Dogs are possessions, not beloved members of the family.

When Indy Pit Crew goes into various neighborhoods for our Community Pet Days, I get an opportunity to talk to people about their pets and I overwhelmingly get a sense that they just don’t know any better. They do care about their animals – hell, why else would they continue to feed them? They just don’t know how to care for them.

For example – the woman who brought her 4 dogs, none of which had been vaccinated, altered, had functional collars or any identification. She brought them over one at a time from her home… on a length of chain. Once we talked to her, she got them all vaccinated and micro-chipped, signed up to receive spay/neuter certificates and gratefully accepted collars, a leash, and discount rabies coupons.

I think that educating owners is key to resolving some of the issues that are plaguing the city. Many people don’t know it’s illegal to keep an unsupervised, unaltered dog on a tether. Many people don’t know what “socialization” means. We have a huge opportunity to educate and really make a difference for the animals in our community.

I am excited about Indy Pit Crew’s efforts this year. We’re stepping it up in a big way. We’re going to host our first ever PuppyPalooza, to get owners educated early in the proper way to care for their animal. We’re going to offer responsible owner education sessions as part of our Community Pet Days where we’ll cover the applicable laws and recommended care. A bunch of area trainers have offered to come demonstrate training techniques at our first ever “Train the Owner” day.

Hopefully, our education efforts will reduce and eventually eliminate the attitudes and associated behaviors that create dog problems in our community.

Reading

When I was little, my mom was always reading a book. We didn’t have a lot of toys or STUFF, but we always had books.

When my Mom married my step-dad, the priority was the same. We’d take a family trip to the bookstore after going out to breakfast and we’d all get books. I don’t ever recall my parents saying no to a book I wanted – even with titles like “Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner” and other atypical teenage selections.

I sincerely believe that the love of reading is one of the primary drivers of my success as a student, and in the workplace.

I’m really glad others have identified this link as well and are making efforts to ensure that the underpriviliged have access to books. There are organizations across the United States whose goal is to get books into the hands of the kids who need them most.

I had the opportunity to volunteer with one such group in Los Angeles, called Reading to Kids. The premise is simple. One Saturday a month, volunteers decend on two public schools in lower income neighborhoods to read an age-appropriate book to kids. Participation from the kids is voluntary – but it’s always busy. After the story is read, the kids are given an activity to help their reading comprehension. As the kids head home, they are given their very own book. While the kids are “in class” the parents can attend a workshop as well.

I’m hoping to get involved with IndyReads now that I’m in Indianapolis, but we’ll have to see if my serious lack of free time will be a problem.