Myth-Busting Monday!

I promise to start with some adequately researched and referenced myths soon, but this morning's adventure was too funny not to mention.

Myth: Pit bulls will devour any small animal that crosses their path

Truth: This morning as I'm taking Bruce out before work, a little fluffy bunny hops its way into our yard. My first reaction? Uh oh, I'm about to be pulled across this yard on a bunny chase in heels - yikes! But to my surprise, Bruce just sat there with his head cocked and confused and watched Mr. Cottontail. Just as I thought he was going to take off in the inevitable attempt to kill, he started to cry and ran to the front door.

I can't call this myth totally busted, but apparently this little pittie is more afraid of bunnies than they are of him.

Wow.

There's really not a title that can adequately convey the feeling you have the first time your puppy manages to hop on TOP of the kitchen table.

Here's how it went down. I'm laying on the couch on a very lazy Friday evening when the following dialogue takes place:

Adam: Bruce! Oh my god! What the [expletive]?!
Rachel (running into kitchen): What happened? Did he poop everywhere? Break the --- (enters kitchen and bursts into uncontrollable laughter)
Adam: Bruce! Get off! Wait...stay while we get the camera.

So, before Bruce got to practice his OFF! command, he got to chew on this banana a bit in order for his oh so responsible parents to document what we can only hope was a once in a lifetime feat of getting onto the bar-height kitchen table.

Pit Smarts

In today's edition of "my dog is too smart for his own good" - THE CRATE.

Anyone who has ever crate-trained a puppy knows that your typical dog will respond well to treats or his favorite toys. He will follow said treat/toy into the crate, he'll lay down, you'll say "good crate!" and soon enough the puppy will love his crate as though it is his own little private paradise. Maybe he'll even go in on command!

Unfortunately, Mr. Smarty Pants (a.ka. Bruce) learned that Crate = Rachel and Adam leaving. As I hold his favorite treat towards the crate, you can almost see his little wheels turning: If I take that treat it will taste yummy but then I will be in the crate which means I will be alone sooooo screw the treat, I'm hiding under the table! This is all fine and dandy for now while he's still small enough for me to pick him up, but about 10 pounds from now we're going to have a serious problem.

Yesterday I tossed a bunch of treats in there and walked away, and he actually went in by himself! I was very excited, until this morning when he was back to hiding under the table. Sigh.

Myth-Busting Monday!

As the main goal of this lil' blog o' mine is to debunk some of the mean myths about pit bulls, I've decided to dedicated Mondays to Myth-Busting.

MYTH: Pit bulls will eat your babies

TRUTH: Every piece of valuable, researched literature (meaning things other than reports based on "somebody told me" rather than actual facts, and random comments on message boards) that I can find starts with the same basic premise: American Pit Bull Terriers are some of the nicest, smartest dogs who love people and are good with children. Only when raised by unfit owners do pit bulls show aggression to humans.

Bruce has never met any babies, but he does play very nicely with a 7 year old and a 2 year old in our neighborhood. And if this picture is worth anything, I call this myth officially busted:

I don't know where this picture came from but would love to give credit - if it's yours, let me know!

OFF!

Since the arrival of Bruce, the word "OFF!" has developed some serious importance in my life in two very seperate contexts.

1: How do I live in Florida (aka "paradise") and not own any insect repellant?? One 30-minute walk with Bruce = at least 4 bug bites. Adam and I must look like fools slapping our legs every third step.

Note to self: purchase this or similar product ASAP.

2: OFF! As in get off the couch/table/counter/chair/toilet/ME. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think Bruce has got this one down. Now, if only he would STAY off...

Bruce's BFF

This is an old picture of Max, our neighbors' puppy that they rescued just a few days before we rescued Bruce (yes, we totally stole their puppy thunder).

I know people say pit bulls are not good with other dogs, but Max would beg to differ. These two are already the best of friends - (not to mention almost the exact same size). Last night Bruce went over to play with Max and they were running around together for a solid hour.

Bruce was so worn out that even after sleeping all night & morning he could barely get out of his crate for his lunch time potty break!

Pit Smarts

Everything I read says that pit bulls are some of the smartest dogs around. Bruce is proving this to be true, but sometimes I wonder whether this is a blessing or a curse.

Blessing: Bruce was almost entirely potty trained in three days and he can learn a command in about 5 minutes (we just perfected "off" the other day)

Curse: Since Bruce is growing by the minute, we got him a great big new bed. I was so excited to show him where he could now sleep and relax comfortably. Wrong. Instead, he smelled the cedar inside and spent an entire evening trying to dig a hole in the bed to reach it. Unfortunately for Bruce (and thankfully for his parents), Costco makes some tough beds, so the digging effort failed. Not one to give up easily, Bruce figures out that a zipper keeps the cover closed, and if only he could unzip it then he could reach the smelly insides! 20 minutes later he has successfully chewed through the zip-tie that's holding the zipper closed (not to mention swallowed it - eek) and opened up the bed!

Add this to his first bed which he dug the insides out of in a week, the score is now:
Bruce -2; Doggy beds - 0

Needless to say, Bruce is back to napping on the floor....

Hi, I'm Bruce, and I'm a pit bull

One question - how can you look at this face and think pit bulls are evil monsters? Though I do often refer to Bruce as "my little monster," it's more of a Lady GaGa reference than a comment on his personality.

If I'm being honest, up until about two months ago I was part of the "Pit Bulls are dangerous" club. (Shame on me, right?) And then....Bruce happened.

I'll save the story of how Bruce came into our lives for later, but suffice it to say that we (my husband and I) fell in love with him before we knew his breed. And I'll admit, there was that "Ohcrapwhathavewedone" moment when we found out. But, one book, two websites, and an open mind was all it took for me to realize how horribly misunderstood pit bulls are.

So, that's why I'm here. To share with you, through Bruce, my transformation from fearful to #1 pit bull fan.