Caught a pit bull

[vakkotaur]

That sounds more impressive than "caught an American Staffordshire Terrier " doesn't it? It also sounds a bit more impressive than what actually happened. Here's what happened.

For different reasons jmaynard and I spent much of Saturday in the Twin Cities and we stayed overnight at sistaur's as our (Sistaur's & mine) folks would be visiting for Mother's Day and we'd also deal with our (again, Sistaur's & mine) birthdays, which are today. (No, we're not twins, there's a few years separation.) Sistaur started out walking her dogs not long after I got in the shower. When I was done and dressed, I went out to meet her and walk for a little bit.

We met just a bit after she returned to the block her house is on. A house or two down the block, one her dogs got very hesitant and shied away as this bigger dog appeared. It was loose and had no collar, but it was more curious than aggressive. As she kept her dogs close, Sistaur got out the spare leash she carries as I caught the strange dog. That took only a couple tries and the dog was leashed.

Sistaur took her dogs home while held kept the strange dog back. She figured we'd wind up going to the Humane Society to see if the dog was chipped and if so, get it read. But she also asked a couple people if they knew the dog as we made our way home. The first person didn't, but knew it wasn't her neighbor's. The next person recognized from the next block so we went to the house he said. As we were about to climb the steps to the porch, the owners returned from a walk or looking for the dog and were quite pleased to get their dog back. Someone had evidently had set the dog loose and removed the collar. Evidently the dog was about a year old and had been loose for a day or so.

While the pit bull was strong - it tried to walk me - it was friendly and curious. If I was in any danger, it might have been from being licked to death.

Comments

[thecanuckguy.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

So, if yours and sistaur's birthdays are the same day, but a few years apart, does that mean there's only one time a year your dad gets excited? :)

[ken-redtail.livejournal.com]

That's actually how most pit bulls are, to be surprising.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

It's not all that surprising when thought about. As with most things, there are many competent or at least fairly reasonable owners with well-adjusted dogs, and a few idiots that give the media something to sensationalize. I admit to playing with that with the headline.

[jmaynard.livejournal.com]

Pit bulls are, first and foremost, dogs. If you treat them like you'd treat any other dog, you'll get a happy, well-adjusted pet. It takes a lot of work (and, IMAO, outright abuse) to turn one into the kind of mean attack dog that the media portrays them as.

[bronxelf-ag001.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday, Paul. :)

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sheryl67.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday, a day late. Sorry I didn't see this until today.

I hope it was a really good one.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

And don't worry about timing. As sistaur and I have the same birthday (or anniversaries thereof) we'd had one cake on one weekend and another on the next or such, and also split visits to grandparents similarly.

A few years ago someone was Very Concerned that I didn't get a parcel on or before 12 May. It doesn't really matter to me. As I've told others, "My birthday hasn't necessarily been on my birthday for years."

My family treats other holidays similarly. This past season, Christmas itself was skipped for reasons of health and weather, but it was split between Thankgiving and Easter.