Rachel & Mark (and Elizabeth, Slappy, Pokey, and Sassy)

 

When did you drop out of school?

I suppose I just recently "dropped out" of school because I finished my master's degree in Library Science. Before that I dropped out when I graduated from law school with my Juris Doctor and previously with my bachelors in sociology. (Interviewer note: And all this before her 30th birthday, no less!)  My husband is working on dropping out this August from Cleveland Chiropractic College with his Doctor of Chiropractic.

Why would an educated person like yourself choose a pit bull type dog?

I did some research online when I was choosing my first dog. I used google to search for the dog that was most euthanized in American shelters and found that it was overwhelmingly pit bulls. I had pit mixes growing up because my mom always adopted from shelters and I knew the breed was sound. I found a reputable rescue out of San Francisco that specialized in pit bulls. I contacted them about an adorable brindle pit that I saw on Pit Bull Rescue Central, and they told me that she was going to be euthanized the next day. She asked me to go down to the shelter that she was at to meet her and I did. I wasn't crazy about the dog I met that day because she had been kept in the shelter for 2 months with no walks, and was bouncing off the walls. I had to make a decision, should this dog die because I wasn't willing to put in some work? I decided that day to foster her temporarily until they found a foster home for her. That night she was rushed to the emergency room with a busted spay and chewed up intestines. I got a call that she was probably going to die and that they would keep me posted. At that moment, I knew she was my dog. I cried over her, I prayed that she would survive so I could give her a good life. I visited her in the hospital before I was able to bring her home a week later. When I picked her up to bring her home, she was very timid and drugged up on morphine. We got to my house, and I walked her up the stairs, and she wagged her tail. I opened the door and took off her leash and she perked up, ran back and forth through the house with the biggest smile on her face. I cried as I watched this shell of a dog begin the transformation into beloved family pet.

Do you let your dogs out around your daughter?

Yes... I don't really know what to say other than yes. I trust my dog.

What is daily life like with a "pit bull?"

I tell people all the time that the hardest part of owning a pit bull is dealing with other people. Slappy is a dog. She does dog things, sleeps in a dog bed, eats dog food. I take her to the park and she likes to chase her ball. She enjoys walks, kongs, rawhides. She is dog friendly, kid friendly, people friendly, horse friendly and loves to get petted. Right now she is curled up on the couch next to me sleeping and is nosing my hand off the keyboard to get my attention.

What is the toughest thing to overcome in owning a pit bull type dog?

The toughest thing is the idea that only low life people own these dogs as machismo weapons. These dogs are not ticking time bombs waiting to tear apart children, they're dogs. The amount of abuse and neglect needed to make one of these dogs violent is appalling. We had a dog who had to be put down for aggression because he was so severely abused he was never able to recover. He was kept in a basement in a cage for the first 7 months of his life with no human or dog contact. Pit bulls don't bite people for no reason. A series of unfortunate events lead to a dog turning on a human. Behind every bad dog is a bad human.

 

To learn more about how to manage life with an infant and a “pit bull,” check out Rachel's Blog entry How to Manage 3 Dogs and an Infant.