I am a Pit Bull.

I am a Pit Bull. Even if maybe I would prefer to have been born a Golden Retriever or a Labrador, alas, I am a Pit Bull. I am a Pit Bull in a world that has made judgments against my breed. My breed has been used and abused for sport, for money, from filth and ignorance. I know that my breed has been troubled and yet I am still proud to be what I am. The mistakes of some bad people do not determine who I am as a Pit Bull. I know that I am not one of this underprivileged and maligned portion of the Pit Bull population anymore. I am a lucky Pit Bull. I have a loving home with parents that take care of me. I never want for anything. My parents taught me right from wrong and yet, still I don’t have to venture far into public life to feel the warnings hanging in the air. It feels like the world around me is filled with people just daring me to make a mistake. It is like when they look at me they see a bomb, ticking and ready to explode. I try to show the world that I am good. I socialize with small, fluffy innocent squeaking and running little dogs. They are my brothers and sisters, my friends and yet I see how much smaller and helpless they are. I see how they fit into the public world better than I do. People love to see them, to pet them, to baby talk to them and hold them in their arms. There seems to be so much trust in them, and yet, not in me. I am a Pit Bull but I could be a small dog like that. I could be loved and touched and talked to like that and I would be nothing but grateful. I have never met anyone or anything that I wanted to harm. So I wonder why the world thinks that I will.

I know that I am not perfect. I have so much drive and ambition it is like I need to be doing something every second. If I don’t get to run around and play and feel useful, I get frustrated and act out. Sometimes it makes me hard to deal with, I know. I can make other people around me frustrated too, it’s contagious. But I am built for agility and strength and purpose and sometimes everyone around me seems to be moving in slow motion and not doing enough with their time. I wish that more people knew the things that I am capable of. I am a worker and I understand everyone that I feel, often times better than they even know themselves. This makes me good at reading the world around me and figuring out what needs to be done. It is so strange that so many people seem to think that I have only the potential for bad things, when my whole purpose in life is to serve them in any way that I can, without question. I know what they want from me, before they ask and will follow without hesitation. Loyalty runs in my veins like blood, as thick as my bond with my people. Why would I ever want to disrupt or harm the people that I was born to serve? It doesn’t make sense. I guess when people see a Golden Retriever or a Labrador, they know what to expect and feel trust and love. When people see a Pit Bull, they are not sure what we are going to do and just get confused and uncomfortable. I would love to clarify my job for them so we could be better friends.

I am a Pit Bull and I am a good dog.