The Choice to Get a Pit Bull

So before I launch into the details of Miso's homecoming, I want to share some of the desires, thoughts, and discussions that led up to this event.

First of all, I never EVER thought I would own a Pit Bull.

Nearly 2 years ago, my boyfriend began researching dog breeds. At that time, I just had my Pug, Harley. He really enjoyed her and had longed for his own dog for years. He wanted a big dog - first a Rottweiler, then a Rhodesian Ridgeback - finally, based on a friend's recommendation, he looked into Pit Bulls and fell in love. "Loyalty" came up frequently in the breed books he read describing the APBT, and he knew this was the type of dog he wanted. So he found a breeder in Eureka, and I cut class one day and we drove 5 hours to pick up Capone!

Raising Capone was an eye opening experience for both of us. I had been around dogs my whole life, and never before had I met such an intelligent canine. We could watch his wheels turn - he actively problem-solved and tried to please us as best he knew how. "Wow," I thought. "What a remarkable dog!" But I never once thought I would be in that place someday. I had my sights set on a Border Collie or an Australian Shepherd. Something active, but not nearly as strong or socially unacceptable as a Pit Bull.

Nonetheless, I appreciated the breed and did not harbor the fear of them that many people do. It just never made sense to me that an entire breed would be inherently vicious - there had to be more to it than that. Humans, in all our infinite wisdom and history of screwing things up, had to be involved somehow.

So when my boyfriend asked me to join him for a volunteer information session with BadRap, a prominent Bay Area Pit Bull rescue, I agreed to go. I had no intentions of doing much more than flyering, if even that. This was his gig.

That, of course, changed. Even though it didn't work out for us to volunteer with BadRap at that time (our commute was too far for regular involvement), I did find a South Bay Pit Bull rescue several months later that also abided by the Pit Bull Rescuer's Code of Ethics, whose founder knew and had worked with BadRap, and had similar goals and attitudes toward the breed. After observing a training class and meeting Marthina McClay, my relationship with PACK - Pit Bull Advocates for Compassion and Kindness - was born!

Now, why would someone volunteer with a rescue for a breed you just "appreciate"? After all, this was a breed my boyfriend ADORED, but I was merely fond of. I was getting a herding dog, remember? A dog I could bring to the dog park, board with a dog sitter or kennel, take public places without fear of scrutiny.... a choice that my friends and relatives would understand and accept.

But I (like most everyone, I believe, can) sympathize with the Pit Bull plight. We can all relate to feeling rejected, misunderstood, abandoned. We have all been judged by our outward appearance. We have all been turned away at a time when we needed help most. We have all longed to love and be loved for who we truly are, not what others want us to be.

And this is the struggle that the Pit Bull breed faces in our country. It is rejected by many that could help it (and sadly, embraced by those who would do it harm). At present, it is the most misunderstood breed alive. It is being abandoned daily - whether it is through the euthanasia of sound specimens in shelters across the country, by exploitation and misnomer is the daily news, as a loving pet chained to a backyard tree, or as a starved, abused creature forced to fight in pits for profit. The breed is presented as part of an "image" - one that tries to exude toughness, ferocity, power, strength - and is thus judged in accordance with that image, when in reality, a sound Pit Bull is one of the goofiest, loving animals on Earth. Pit Bulls need to be seen this way - as affectionate dogs who yearn to please their humans - not the way certain people and groups want us to see it.

So, I had crossed that dangerous little line that changes lives forever without even knowing it. I had become aware. And I had allowed myself to feel. And it was painful! It was and still is painful to see kennels and kennels of Pit Bulls languishing in local shelters. It's painful to know that dog lovers everywhere would anxiously take up the fight for more stringent requirements of pet food companies, or the fight against puppymills, but not the fight against breed bans for Pit Bulls. It's painful to hear yet another media-hyped story blaming the Pit Bull and not the humans responsible.

So the least I could do was donate what time and skills I had to a local Pit Bull rescue.

Now I would love to say there was one AHA! moment where I realized I desperately wanted a Pit Bull, one event that triggered a mad love affair. Those stories seem much more poignant, much more worthy of a blog. But in fact, my story is one of subtle persuasion, of unwittingly falling in love with the breed the world has deigned untouchable.

It wasn't that I stopped wanting a Border Collie or an Aussie. But as I began envisioning the dog I wanted, the traits and qualities I desired were dramatically shaped by Capone, my boyfriend's APBT. Capone - goofy, affectionate, obedient, biddable - had become, without my even realizing it, the measuring stick against which my future ideal dog was compared. And pretty soon, it became clear that what I wanted could, in fact, be a Pit Bull.

But it took Miso to seal the deal.