Grrrrrr! People...

Ripleygirl

Experienced Member
So, need to blow off some steam here. Out walking Ollie and Ripley this evening in our local park, it is a nice big park with streams and gardens and big areas of grassland that is great for dogs to run in, it is considered a dog friendly park here and the dog owners and most people are great, but some are not evidently... Because of the gardens there are lots of squirrels and Ollie is actually quite good at catching them (he is a lurcher with possibly a bit of staffie in him), so when in the gardens we put a mesh muzzle on him so he cannot harm the squirrels. He can pant, drink and it does not bother him to have it on.

So this evening the dogs are running through the gardens and generally playing and keeping themselves to themselves. Then I hear a raised voice screaming and wonder what is wrong and there is a women standing there shouting who the dogs belong to and go up and ask what has happened and the women says nothing has happened but, pointing at Ollie, there is a banned pit bull breed off leash running around the park! I am pretty speechless already... Lurcher = Pitbull?! She then gets on the phone to report it too the police... At this point I call the dogs and walk off with them. I just did not know what to say to her... part of me wishes I had stayed to see what the police said (if they had come out) when they saw this banned breed dog..!

And besides all of this, the 'banned' dog was not going near anybody, although I do know that if he was a pitbull he would have to be on lead, muzzled and registered to be in a public place, and there are so many of these types of dogs around the world that are just put under the heading of 'dangerous dog' that are loving family dogs with responsible owners. And I hate the fact that people can just assume such things and be so ignorant! Grrrr...
 

running_dog

Honored Member
And I hate the fact that people can just assume such things and be so ignorant! Grrrr...
You did the right thing by walking away... imagine if the police turned out and were as ignorant as the woman, once an allegation is made (even a ridiculously groundless one like this) with Ollie's broad chest and trace of staffie head you might have a hard time proving that there was not pit bull blood in Ollie.

In my area there are so many people putting muzzles on their dogs to stop them scavenging that a lot of people assume that is why any dog is wearing a muzzle!
 

Ripleygirl

Experienced Member
You did the right thing by walking away... imagine if the police turned out and were as ignorant as the woman, once an allegation is made (even a ridiculously groundless one like this) with Ollie's broad chest and trace of staffie head you might have a hard time proving that there was not pit bull blood in Ollie.
I do agree, you have a good point there...
In my area there are so many people putting muzzles on their dogs to stop them scavenging that a lot of people assume that is why any dog is wearing a muzzle!
I know quite a lot of people who use muzzles for that reason too but people round here do not assume that generally more people assume the dog is aggressive... :(
 

southerngirl

Honored Member
I say good for you for being able to walk away and keep Ripley safe, instead of giving that ignorant women some not so nice words. I agree with R_dog you did the right thing by walking away gosh forbid you didn't walk away and the decided that Ollie was a Pit. I'm so tired of the breed restrictions!:mad: It seems that in the U.S they are starting to realize that it isn't effective, infact some states and counties have made a law against restricting certain breeds. I just feel lucky that were I live doesn't restrict breeds with Piper being American Bulldog/Pit. Both are known for being restricted. All we can do about the ignorant people is show them how great Pits are is by training them well. Actions speak louder than words.
 

Ripleygirl

Experienced Member
I say good for you for being able to walk away and keep Ripley safe, instead of giving that ignorant women some not so nice words. I agree with R_dog you did the right thing by walking away gosh forbid you didn't walk away and the decided that Ollie was a Pit. I'm so tired of the breed restrictions!:mad: It seems that in the U.S they are starting to realize that it isn't effective, infact some states and counties have made a law against restricting certain breeds. I just feel lucky that were I live doesn't restrict breeds with Piper being American Bulldog/Pit. Both are known for being restricted. All we can do about the ignorant people is show them how great Pits are is by training them well. Actions speak louder than words.
You just have to look at Piper and her awesome personality as well as the way you train her to see how great Pit type can be and look at Veronica Lynn on here too... Actions definitely do speak louder than words!
 

kassidybc

Experienced Member
I hate all of the prejudice towards pitbulls. At our dog park, when anyone with anything even resembling a pitbull walks up to the dog park gate, people start shouting for their dogs, put their leashes on their dogs, and hurry towards the exit. The pitbull owners usually stand politely out of the way while most of the people leave. I just stand there in the dog park smiling at the pitty owner, with Chloe standing off leash by me. They enter, and every time the pitties are super sweet, and tend to just run up to me trying to kill me with love and affection. :D Pretty much every pitbull I've seen there is waaaay friendlier than Chloe, and friendlier than lots of the other dogs that are usually at the park. It kills me that people can't just see pitbulls as the awesome breed that they are. And when there are "bad" pitbulls, they need to blame the owner, not the breed!
 

Ripleygirl

Experienced Member
Yes you absolutely did the right thing! Sorry you had to go t hrough that to begin with!

Basically if the dog frightens anyone by it's mere presence or is within a 10 mile radius of something bad having happened...it's definitely a pit bull!
I just hate the fact that there are owners like you and Danielle and some many others out there that own this wonderful breed or part breed and you may have to go through something like that.... It is ridiculous and hurtful to the owners and the dogs.

Love the images by the way... gave me a giggle but actually when you think about it very sad too...
 

Ripleygirl

Experienced Member
I hate all of the prejudice towards pitbulls. At our dog park, when anyone with anything even resembling a pitbull walks up to the dog park gate, people start shouting for their dogs, put their leashes on their dogs, and hurry towards the exit. The pitbull owners usually stand politely out of the way while most of the people leave. I just stand there in the dog park smiling at the pitty owner, with Chloe standing off leash by me. They enter, and every time the pitties are super sweet, and tend to just run up to me trying to kill me with love and affection. :D Pretty much every pitbull I've seen there is waaaay friendlier than Chloe, and friendlier than lots of the other dogs that are usually at the park.
Love the way you have put that, Kassidy. Well done you two for standing out from the crowd of sheep!
It kills me that people can't just see pitbulls as the awesome breed that they are. And when there are "bad" pitbulls, they need to blame the owner, not the breed!
I completely agree with you there, I have met plenty of other breeds out walking that are considered by the many to be a perfect breed to be with children and running free etc that I am way more wary of and know that the dog is unstable because of how the owner behaves, they are the one's I give a wide berth to when out walking.
 

southerngirl

Honored Member
Thankfully I really don't deal with discrimination with Piper. Everyone loves her and there first question is, "Is she a Pit" and when I say part they don't have a problem and they say how they love the breed. I've had a problem only a few times such as when we went to a store and my mom asked if dogs where allowed. At first they said only if you carry her, than they said well let me go look at her. Right when they say her they said no because she's a Pit. My city, heck the parts of the my state I've been to is very excepting of the breed.
 

southerngirl

Honored Member
I hate all of the prejudice towards pitbulls. At our dog park, when anyone with anything even resembling a pitbull walks up to the dog park gate, people start shouting for their dogs, put their leashes on their dogs, and hurry towards the exit. The pitbull owners usually stand politely out of the way while most of the people leave. I just stand there in the dog park smiling at the pitty owner, with Chloe standing off leash by me. They enter, and every time the pitties are super sweet, and tend to just run up to me trying to kill me with love and affection. :D Pretty much every pitbull I've seen there is waaaay friendlier than Chloe, and friendlier than lots of the other dogs that are usually at the park. It kills me that people can't just see pitbulls as the awesome breed that they are. And when there are "bad" pitbulls, they need to blame the owner, not the breed!
Well put Kassidy.:) And thank you for staying to show your love and acceptance of the breed, way to go.
 
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