I had an ‘incident’ at the feed store earlier today. Rather I should say, I butted into an ‘incident’:
As I was walking to the door, a Giant, Toothy, Square-Headed Individual popped his head out an open truck window and woofed at me. Said Giant, Square-Headed Individual appeared to be in full body convulsions.
I was placed in a very difficult situation as a result: Do I simply ignore the Giant, Toothy, Square Headed Individual and go in the store, or do I accept his invitation and give him an equally enthusiastic greeting. I chose the latter. It was as I was giving my hearty hello that the Panicked Dad of the dog appeared at the door with an Irate Other Customer.
It seems the Irate Other Customer received a similar attempt at a greeting as he approached the feed store, only he fled into the safety of the building, and away from the ‘dangerous dog’. After entering the store, the Irate Other Customer loudly shouted, demanding to know whose pit bull was threatening customers in the parking lot. His outburst raising panic in the heart of the dog’s dad.
When Irate Other Customer and Panicked Dad reached the door, Irate Other Customer saw one thing while Panicked Dad saw another:
Irate Other Customer saw me, an innocent victim, being dragged into the vehicle by a dog with murder on his mind.
Panicked Dad saw a potentially multi-gun toting Arizona hick (I was dressed for work after all, and the poor guy was Canadian) trying to kill his dog.
Then the yelling started.
I’m not sure who was more surprised, the Irate Other Customer when he saw me and the Giant, Toothy, Square Headed Individual instantly look in their direction, my arms still around the dog’s neck in an obvious voluntary action, or the Panicked Dad who watched as his dog cowered into my arms when the yelling started.
That I explained to Irate Other Customer the dog’s actions were clearly a friendly attempt at a greeting, and if he were dangerous, he would have jumped out the open window and attacked, fell on deaf ears. Irate Other Customer believed the dog was a menace to society, and that the police should be called because “that dog ‘would have attacked me [him] if I [him] hadn’t made it to the door!’.
At that point, I said a few things I probably shouldn’t have, the Irate Other Customer got even more irate and the Canadian Panicked Dog Dad did a figurative singing of Kum Bay Ya to settle the situation. Eventually, the Irate Other Customer stormed off, no doubt to tell tales of narrowly escaping with his life from a vicious pit bull.
Panicked Dog Dad thanked me for sticking up for him and Wally (the Giant, Toothy, Square-Headed Individual), and went on his way.
For some reason, this whole ordeal made me come up with a contest idea:
I want you take a picture of your ‘dangerous’ bully breed dog, in a ‘dangerous act’, captioned describing the threat he or she presents, and e-mail it to me at RunaMuck.Ranch@Yahoo.com. Use pretty aggressive language in your captions.
Let me give you some examples of what I’m looking for:
My Otis used to sleep with his head on my face. Sometimes his head would slide to the side, and my mouth and nose would get trapped under his lip. CLEARLY this was his attempt to smother me to death. A picture of that situation captioned appropriately would have been great!
I know of a certain pit bull on another blog, I won’t mention Rufus by name, who proved he is a complete failure as a jogging buddy. To his mom, he poses the threat of putting her back out if she tries to take him jogging because she’ll have to carry him home. A photo of Mom struggling under Rufus dead weight with an appropriate caption would be perfect!
Be creative and have fun with it!
If you’re possessive of your photos, please don’t enter. I want them all freely shareable on social media, and if someone happens to share pics that come up on internet searches of ‘dangerous pit bulls’, all the better! Let’s sprinkle the truth where the haters look!
Submit pictures from now until November 30. All pictures will be posted by December 5 and voting will begin.
The winner gets:
1. The Run A Muck Ranch Sarah Mug
2. An 8 x 10 of the Official Run A Muck Ranch Photo
and
3. An 8 oz (possibly 16 depending on how the oven behaves) package of Peanut Butter Run A Munchies.
(Small print: prizes provided shipped to US residents. If the winner happens to be outside the US, that winner would have to pay the difference in shipping).
Tell all your pit bull peeps to send in their photos! I’ll start posting previews as I get them!
EDIT: WE HAVE A HATER WHO CHIMED IN ON THE COMMENTS. I WILL NOT DELETE THE COMMENT AS THE DISCUSSION CAN NEVER BE REPEATED ENOUGH.
I HAVE DEALT WITH THIS PERSON BEFORE. IF YOU’RE GOING TO RESPOND, MAKE SURE TO HAVE YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT, AND LINK TO YOUR SOURCES. ONE WAY WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE HATE IS TO SHOW OTHERS JUST HOW RIDICULOUS AND WEAK THE HATERS’ (PLURAL – NOT JUST THIS ONE) ARGUMENTS ARE. IF FACT CAN ONLY BE COUNTERED WITH OPINION BASED ON WATCHING WAY TOO MUCH TV, AND STORIES OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COUSIN OF SOMEONE’S HAIRDRESSER, THERE COMES A TIME WHEN IT IS THE HATERS THEMSELVES THAT WILL CAUSE THE UNDECIDED TO PONDER WHAT THE TRUTH REALLY IS. SO, YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE LENIENCY WITH A COME BACK LIKE I DID WITH MY HUG STATEMENT, BUT IF YOU’RE GOING TO STOOP TO HER LEVEL AND JUST RANT, I WILL DELETE YOUR COMMENTS AND REPLIES.
Adventures at Run A Muck Ranch 
What’s the deadline? I won’t see my bully breed til Thursday…
November 30! Voting starts December 5.
Perfect! I’ll just make sure I see Sasha two more times this month. Thanks! 🙂
OOOOH, I’m thinking of a good entry but I wouldn’t be able to top some of yours. I was in a shopping cart at the Carefree and Cave Creek Home Depot and someone freaked because I was one of them nasty bully terrier breeds because I’m a Scottish Terrier-nasty little devil she called me. I should have proven her right on the spot. Oh,yeah, she included the vicious Westie with me. The most dangerous bully breed is the unthinking Human.
If a Fox reporter was close, and you issued a snarl, even you, Kyla would be called a pit bull 🙂 Somehow I think you’re braver though…
Totally in another direction here: How old is Kacie?
The rescue papers listed her b’day as Feb 30, 2002.
Whoops-make that 2012. They “guestimated” her age based on whatever they saw.
Had the same ignorance when we had a Rottweiler..Eich had a head like a block of concrete and a heart of gold..the cats had him bluffed..but people crossed the street when we walked him…we were quite glad…didn’t want him near people like that anyway…worst thing he ever did was cock his leg on a speed camera that was set up on the nature strip hahah bless him..lost him at the age of 8 to liver failure..a big dribbly goofball..never hurt a fly.
Seems like the bigger and meaner looking they are on the outside, the tinyer they are on the inside. The Panicked Dog Dad at the feed store said Wally weighted 160 or 180, I can’t remember which, but I can say Wally looked like one of those photoshopped giant dogs you see floating around the I-net sometimes. But when the yelling started yesterday, he wasted no time in cowering into me.
Poor Wally…animals are victims of prejudice more often than people…the only dog that ever bit me was a tiny little thing and a Labrador….both the owners faults too…hope Wally continues to be a happy doggy!
Prejudice goes a long way. Any dog can be a social menace if its owner is unfit. Even Chihuahua as a breed has a certain reputation, thanks to those idiot owners mistreating them. I am sorry for having to deal with the unpleasant situation.
Aren’t they banned on your side of the pond? I realize Lenox was Ireland, but still, your comment made me think of him. I wish we could ban the irresponsible pet people who cause the prejudices!
Yes, I think pit bull is a banned breed in UK. In here, some Stafford bull terriers are accumulating bad reputations because of incredibly irresponsible and stupid owners. As you say, they should ban bad owners, not dogs. 😞
Thanks for this post, wish all who say Pitties are dangerous would read it ( and change their mind).
Unfortunately, some people refuse to see beyond their own noses. But on a better note, more Pit hero stories are starting to appear on the news. Maybe the tide is changing!
This is the stupidest thing I have ever seen. Another way to try and promote Pit Bulls. People will start accepting Pit Bulls as non dangerous when they have stopped attacking and killing people for a year or so. Your stupid pictures and stupid made up stories change the minds of no one. Most people are tired of the attacks, if you want to change the image of the Pit Bull, stop the attacks,
Spoken by a person who has decided that what she reads is more important than fact. Despite CDC statistics, despite Humane Society statistics, despite police report statistics, and the list goes on, if ANY dog bites, people such as yourself will insist it is a pit bull. Could be a cocker spaniel, could be a hound dog, but if it bites, you believe it is a pit bull.
I have bantered with you in the past (on an anti BSL blog) when you trolled pit loving sites to promote your views, and not only I, but others have presented you with fact: statistics and citations, all of which you claim to be lies. You have only ever responded with your personal opinion or quotes from sites which hate pits, make allegations and yet, oddly, never supply the source of their ‘facts’.
Just to remind you who I am: I’m the one that confessed to being prejudiced, and despite that, my husband insisted we bring a pit puppy into our family. You then insulted my husband and implied that he is probably a domestic abuser for disregarding my views.
Being an American gives you the right to hate, and attempt to spread your hate. I grant you that, but let me ask you this:
Why do you so deliberately seek out sites that try to spread the truth of pit bulls just to spread your hateful personal opinions based on, well, your inability to keep away from news stations and websites that support yours and only your view? Did someone hurt you in the past? Do you need a hug to feel loved?
You are completely ignorant. Period.
Ummm… which of us is ignorant? The blog writer or the commenter?
Some people are so stupid, if a dog is mad you can see it. I find it so idiotic that pitbulls are banned in Norway, sweet dogs is what pitbulls are! :3
A while back a springer spaniel, purebred no less, was loose on a property across from the one I was working on. There was a construction crew next door and some of the workers had to walk on the street. The springer ankle bit a few, and it wasn’t until I went and caught the dog, then banged on his house door, that his person put him in. A little while later when the construction boss returned, he approached me asking where I took the ‘pit bull’. Unbelievable!
I hate people like that. If a golden or a Lab bites someone nobody care because everyone of them is soo adorable right?. Some of the mean dogs I have meet have been chi’s and dachs hounds. The Bull breeds I have met have been sweet angels with kisses and happy faces. . The one thing I dislike about dog breeds are all the stereotypes, that dog is dumb and that one is dangerous. It’s all about the individual and the parents of the dogs. The man you talked about must be a real idiot.
Isn’t the miniature doxi the breed with the highest bite record in the statistics? It was I think last year or the year before, not sure if it remains. Alas, if it draws blood, may as well call it a pit bull 🙂
Unfortunately, the number of people that get dogs, of any size, shape, breed or mix, then fail to treat them as anything other than a hamster, with the house and yard being the cage, is very high. Any dog raised in that kind of isolation is a bite risk, fear, territorial or aggressive. It’s just a shame that even though labs have a higher bite rate than pits, you only hear that pits are bad.
Actually, should disclaim here: I wish the press in general would focus more on what caused a dog to bite (i.e. children teasing or hurting, dog raised in isolation, abuse, etc.) instead of what breed or mix of breed the biting dog was.
Yes I believe the doxi is the number one biter by statistics, my boyfriends grandparents had one they had to put down because he was mean.
To me being innside a yard is not the best way for a dog to live life, I walk my dog every day so he can smell and se other dogs and it makes him happy. No wonder with all that frustration the dogs are getting anti social and shy, a dog is so much work and many just think you can stick them in a fenced yard and be ok. Most of the times when dogs bite owners have something to do with it. Not always but, dogs is just like humans, they need to learn social skills and good behaviour just like everyone else.
It’s very sad that pitbulls and dobermans and rottweilers, powerfull dogs like that gets all the blame. No dog is born aggressive. The bad thing is how people have used these breeds for dog fighting. I think that stigma will stay with them for a long time sadly.
The way I’ve described it is ‘people keeping dogs like hampsters, where the house and yard are the cage’. Dogs taken out to see the world are less likely to react badly when they are out in the world. Great minds think alike!
Something I can never seem to get the haters to understand is that we have taken strange dogs of many breeds and mixes into our home, and have never had an incident. Indeed, Sarah was a stray adult pit bull, brought into a home with small dogs. The little ones went to her like flies on you know what, and Sarah is all too happy to be their hot water bottle.
To be fair, I’m sure there are exceptions that can’t be socialized after the fact, but golly, we haven’t met one of them yet!
A dog taken out in the world is a well adjusted, happy and friendly dog.
Well, now that I’ve been called out, I will definitely have to enter! If I have to pick up Rufus, though, my back really will give out. Since I have a pack of pit bulls, the possibilities on entries are endless! One question, though: does the picture need to include humans?
A little camera shy I take it? Just enough of the human to show the danger. To use my example: if you had to lug the Lug we all love as Rufus, enough human body parts to show that he is being carried, and the caption can talk about how he could put your back out – thus making him a ‘dangerous’ dog.
No, it’s just hard to take pictures with one hand while holding a pit bull in the other! Gonna have to wrangle some friends in on the photo taking. Oh, and is it limited to one entry per owner or one entry per dog?
As many as you’d like! The votes determine the win.
Could i trouble you to e-mail me runamuck.ranch@yahoo.com when you get a chance?
Sure. Will do!
I love this contest idea and can’t wait to send in an entry. I also love you for coming to Wally’s defense. And I really love your response to the troll! You’re right about everything but I particularly enjoy your point that every time there is a dog bite, some people will hear “pit” bite instead. It’s very sad and frustrating BUT people like you give me hope that us pittie lovers and advocates will eventually win this battle!
The battle is actually slowly gaining headway. More and more we are hearing about Hero Pitbulls. Some day….
more reasons why I love you – can I get a hug? Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that it is deed not breed and that if treated badly, or just not trained, any dog can bite. I can’t wait to see your pictures and think this competition is a brilliant idea!!
I’ve dealt with that person before, and after she came onto this blog, I checked out her FB page. She is obsessed with hate, more particularly Pits. She is not interested in actual facts, only in promoting what she wants to be true when she finds others with the same opinion. That is a truly sad way to live.
You have to be the biggest person and just feel so sorry for them! They will be missing out by not having a pit in their life!
Sad but true, she and others like her, will miss out. Then again, they have more people room on the couch, don’t they 🙂
Sounds like a very empty, very boring couch to me!!!
Yup!
I admit I have been hesitant about introducing myself to ‘pit bulls’ – – but have found that Doxies are much more likely to nip or bite my fingers! . . The few ‘bullies’ I have met in public places have been totally happy, wiggly and friendly! – – although one barked and seriously growled at a person in a dog mascot costume! – – but he totally LOVED it when I said ‘mousie??’ . . . and would wait a total minute for a teat at his feet!
I guess because I was bred, born and raised with dogs, they were all female GSD’s, I can understand a lot of the ‘body language’, plus the size of the dog does not bother me at all! If I did not have my calling now to help Soldiers Pets, I would probably be working for ‘bullies’ and other large breeds!
Please love pit bulls, and never turn one away that may want to walk into your life!
Also, keep up the awsome work with SACFund, an org I would be happy to post a Guest Post for… hint hint!