Pittie Party sheds light on positive pit bulls
When Danette Johnston began searching for a new dog for her family, she didn’t necessarily think it would be a pit bull. But, Rufus, a two-year-old shelter pit bull, found her.
Johnston, a dog trainer and owner of Dog’s Day Out, admits it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight with the dog. But, after bringing Rufus home and watching how well he interacted with her children and other pets, she was smitten.
“In the past we’ve had herding breeds, which are known to be great with kids,” she said “Those dogs tolerated my son, but this dog seems to actually enjoy him.”
In many communities, pit bulls are often labeled as aggressive or unpredictable. Across the state, many cities have strict laws governing pit bulls, and many have declared the breed “potentially dangerous.” Other cities – including Buckley and Enumclaw - created all out bans of the breed.
Currently, Seattle does not enforce breed-specific laws and does not outlaw pit bulls (or any mix) based solely on their breed. Johnston believes each dog, regardless of breed, should be individually evaluated for potential hazards to the community.
“Pit bulls need to be dealt with as individuals,” she said. “It’s not fair to put a blanket on every dog.”
To help the community learn more about Pitbulls, Johnston recently launched Pittie Party, a seminar that works with families and those interested in learning more or adopting Pit Bulls. She will debunk myths about the breed, share its strengths and weaknesses, and offer tips for care. The next Pittie Party kicks off Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. at Dog’s Day Out.
October is Pit Bull Awareness Month and Pit Bull Day is Oct. 27. Johnston hopes the Pittie Party will educate the public and help many shelter pit bulls find loving homes.
“Most pit bull owners have to spend time defending their dog, but our best defense is a good offense,” she said. “I want to show people how good these dogs can be and also let the dogs interact with the public.”
The Pittie Party is for humans only. Pre-registration required.
That looks like my bed, except that at bedtime, my pibble is under the blankets snugged up to me.
My service dog Clifford (1998-2009) was part Pitbull (Boxer/Lab/Pit was his breeding) he was the consummate service dog, professional at all times but with a heart of gold. Clifford loved children and I would allow children to pet him, when people asked his breeding I would tell them, some were shocked and surprised that a Pitbull could be this calm, gentle, kind, and loving. Those who had Pitbulls in their lives already knew this. I truly believe its how you raise them, if you raise them with a purpose, and you treat them well, they will reciprocate in kind. If you raise them to be fighters they will reciprocate as well, all these dogs want to do is please their owner. I would love to see more Pitbulls as service dogs, they have the ability and the drive to do some real good, if society will just let them.
 @yentaleh Dogs only have one fault really. They lives are way to short. Every single one of them will be in Heaven long before any of us. Our 2 pit bulls favorite hobbies include belly rubs, sneaking treats, acting like we starve them in exchange for a bit of juicy steak, napping on warm afternoons, napping on rainy afternoons and kissing our mailman to death. I can be gone from my home for 30 seconds or 10 hours and they greet me like I've been gone a lifetime. They have treated me with more respect, given me more love and far more joy than many a human.
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 @BlueJedi Yea when Clifford passed it nearly killed me, I think he is the only animal that I've had such a deep attachment to. Not even my new dog and I have the same bond as Clifford and I had, I miss him, and someday I know that I'll see him again, on the other side of the rainbow bridge.
There are definitely breeds that can tend toward aggression more than others. Â Dobermans, German Shepherds. Â But again, that does not mean that every single dog of those breeds are terrible or that every single dog of so-called calmer breeds will never attack. Â We had a Pit Bull/Rottweiler/Husky mix who was tremendous. Â His disposition was like a Labrador, super fun loving, craved attention, obedient and intelligent. Â Making sweeping generalizations is ignorant.
Great article and all very true. I was blessed with my APBT, Roxy almost six years ago for my birthday. I had grown up and worked with dogs all my life, but always considered myself to be a cat person. Roxy changed that. I haven't known such trust, unconditional love and loyalty since my sons were newborns, lol. Of course, you know how that changes when they become teens. But, Roxy will never be too old to cuddle and smooch with me and the rest of our family.
http://www.dogsbite.org/
Numbskulls.
 @Elvis Sorry, but you just lost all credibility by posting that link. All animal advocates know the woman who runs that site to be a well know dog hater. Not just pits, but all breeds. Kind of like how haters with no personal experience or education of the breed always throw that link out.
 @Michelle Holley  @Elvis plus that "photo" of can you spot the "pitt bull" at one point was on the ASPCA website few months back when they did a pro pit bull bull feature. If you are going to say "all pit bulls are bad" then you need to watch a show on Animal Planet that is hosted by Victora Stillwell called "It's me or the Dog" Out of 200+ episodes she has done, only 3 or 4 of them so far are considered "bully breeds." She went in to homes and helped each family make changes to their household and taught them to train their dog(s).   She helped one family with a Jack Russell terrier that was so viscous it devoured one of their 8 year old daughters gerbils. Another time she helped this lady with her 3 pom poms that were so out of control something as innocent as the mail man dropping the mail through the slot would cause them to go into full attack mode. One of them would rip the mail to shreds while one would attack the door and the third one, after pissing on the floor, would growl, scratch the floor and attempt to claw their way through the door.Â
 @Michelle Holley  @BlueJedi I don't think BlueJedi was addressing you, I believe he was addressing Elvis for his "numbskull" comment, which I agree, Elvis, is a numbskull!
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If people don't know how to get rid of extra names, use your "backspace" button :)
 @BlueJedi And you're addressing me in your post because...?
I have yet to meet one that even kind of intimidated me. If the owners are normal, adjusted, socialized human beings, their pit bulls will be goofy, adoring, mischievous scamps, which is precisely what normal, adjusted, socialized human beings look for in a family dog.
Loving my Aussie-Pit Bull mix. Got him as a wee pup and he is turning out to be one of the finest dogs I've ever had. Hoping he will turn out similar to Cesar "The Dog Whisperer" Milan's Pit Bull associate "Daddy," Now THAT dog was fabulous. Daddy has since past away but his legacy is carried on in his appearances on the show and in my heart and mind.
In case you havent noticed other dogs bite too. I own a 5year old american red nose pit absolutely the best dog I have ever owned. Give them lots of love and play time and dont chain them up
There are no positive pit bulls. This is the only breed I believe needs to be wiped out. Look at every single case where a pit bull attacks and or kills a person or another pet and the owners always say the same thing. "It was always such a loving, kind, great pet. We don't understand." These things are unpredictable by nature and were created for one purpose and that's to kill. Being a relatively young breed that aggression has not been bred out of them.
 @Barlion I really wish you could've met my late service dog Clifford, I've had staunch Pitbull haters be completely impressed by my late Pitbull service dog. I wish I had another Pitbull but alas I needed a dog that was taller, so my new dog Zach, is a Boxer, part of the Bully breed family. Both of my service dogs have hearts of gold, they love people, and they love to work, I'm sorry that you obviously had a bad experience with a Pitbull, but not all Pitbulls are bad, and my dog Clifford was a prime example of a Pitbull who did some real good in his life.
 @Barlion Well, I was going to say something, but it looks like you've been schooled already. =)
 @Barlion Let us wipe off the face of the earth all humans who go by the moniker "Barlion". After all humans are the ultimate predator and those who go by "Barlion" are by far the worst of the lot. No telling what they will do.
I think you are an idiot! I have a pitbull and she's absolutely lovely. In fact, every pitbull I've owned has been an awesome dog. Your statement makes about as much sense as saying that children of people who have killed others, should be wiped out because their fathers were bad. It's idiot owners who make their dogs agressive. My stepmother has an agressive chihuauah that is so mean, it qualifies as a totally agressive dog. Should we wipe out all of these little ankle-biters because of this? If you don't like pitbulls.., don't own one.
 @BarlionÂ
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Your are so off the mark, it isn't even funny. There are no positive pit bulls? Then why are there approximately 6 million pit bulls in the US, yet there are very few attacks in comparison to that number? 99.9999% of pit bulls will not maul anyone, let alone nip them. Can't be said for many other breeds. Tell the military, who's highest decorated dog in US history, was a pit bull. Tell US customs that their pit bull name Popsicle, the dog that holds a record for the largest drug bust in US history, that there are no positive pit bulls. Tell the owners that have been save by their pit bulls that their dogs aren't positive. They are also not a young bred, and have been around hundreds of years. They are also very predictable dogs, and actually do better in temperament testing then labs, and most other breeds. They are very stable dogs. You are just wrong all over the place, to the point your knowledge is actually quite backwards. It is EXTREMELY OBVIOUS, that you have never met a pit bull, you obtained all of your info from myths. Pit bulls have been around for a very long time, and until the 1980s, when criminals starting using them, they had a reputation of a friendly dog. it is true, that they are very friendly dogs, when raised and loved as a pet should be. You really need to get your facts straight, because all you are doing is vilifying something you have absolutely no knowledge of. What would that make someone else in this world? Think about it, if you have the capacity to think.
 @Barlion Have you spent time with friends or a family who owns pit bulls? I have and they are very sweet & loving dogs. Would I ever own one? No--too many ramifications involved.
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It's the deed, not the breed.
 @Barlion Kind of like everytime someone shoots up a school or mall, they're parents talk about how great a person they were? Every dog is different and as a breed Pits are great dogs.
This is coming from someone who was attacked by a 90 pound Pit as a teenager.
Social breeds of human need to be outlawed, when it comes to owning a dog.
All dogs are capable of anything-from supreme protector of sleeping babies to vicious attack animals. I've personally witnessed pugs attacking "out of nowhere" and doing serious harm to someone. Toy poodles, labs, lassie type dogs can and do attack and leave serious damage in their wake. My 14 year old pit bull mix is sweet and loving. We've only had her a year and a half, my hubby has suffered serious depression since he was 13. She has done more to treat his depression in the past 15 months than 15 years of therapy. She's got some health problems of her own and we're not going to give up on her yet. Because of how sweet and loving she turned out to be we've adopted a 3 year old boxer/pit/rotti mix. He helped me loose 20 pounds in 3 weeks because of his endless love of walks, playing fetch and extreme love of chasing soccer balls. Because of my two pittys I've met and have become friends with neighbors I would have never met otherwise had it not been for having to take them out on walks and playing with them in the local park.
 @BlueJedi Pets are the ultimate and best form of therapy. Glad your pit has helped your hubby! I think if people really got to looking at the number of dog attacks they may be surprised to find that the smaller dogs bite way more then the big ones, and maybe that the pits have similar reputations now that the other breeds, such as rotties, had years ago!
Dogs are like kids in the sense that they are products of their environments. If they are treated poorly and abused, they grow up to be a problem.