Bullin’ for a pit-bull, but dad’s showing me teeth

I LOVE dogs.

I’m always online looking at them, and begging my parents to add another to the mix. But when I told my parents that I wanted a pit-bull, my father immediately said ‘no!’ Why? Because we live in an estate, and I have a three-year-old niece, who he doesn’t want ‘mauled to death’.

But then I did some research and found... A pit-bull is just like any dog. If it has no obedience training, it’ll run wild and be aggressive. Studies have also shown that pit-bull owners, and owners of other “vicious” or “high risk” breeds, are more likely to have criminal convictions and are more likely to display anti-social behaviours. As we all know, environment is one of the key factors in deciding behaviour. We see this with people — the better environment we are in, both socially and economically, the more chance we have of succeeding. Give pit-bulls a chance and, who knows, they might just prove us wrong.

A 2006 study comparing owners of ‘high risk’ dogs to owners of ‘low risk’ dogs showed the former had nearly 10 times as many criminal convictions. This further proves my point that the dogs are not the problem, but maybe the owners.

So, if a dog attacks, is it the owner who should face the consequences, the dog, or both? In Ireland and many other countries, we think that if dogs look cute, they must be harmless. I have a little Pomeranian and even though I adore him, he has one of the scariest, most aggressive faces ever. I’m not saying people calling to my house should run away from my Pom, but I regularly have to tell people: ‘Please do not rub him, I don’t know what mood he is in today!’ On the other hand, my pet Shih Tzu is probably one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen, her only issue is that whenever you rub her, she pees. And my three-year-old niece thinks she’s doing no harm, dragging her by the tail, while my dog just takes it without even snapping. Meanwhile, I am treading carefully around my Pom, while he gives me daggers from inside his bed. Thankfully, my Pom hasn’t snapped at me, but when it comes to my niece or strangers playing with him, his does tend to bare his teeth. Y’see, sometimes we miss-judge things. And that includes dogs. We shouldn’t be afraid of them, but try to understand them and their needs.

I can’t wait to, hopefully, prove my dad wrong too and get that much longed-for pit-bull. But just to be on the safe side, I think I’ll wait until my niece is a small bit older.