Is My Dog A Pit Bull??

Last year, on the last day of April we adopted an adorable 4 month old puppy. We went to one of those super adoptions in front of PetSmart where a bunch of animal shelters bring a bunch of their cats and dogs to adopt. Basil (that was the name given her at the shelter – we gave her the more feminine name of Ginger) loved greeting people and loved greeting the other dogs and had a very expressive, waggy tail.

We walked her around and thought about it and walked her around some more and thought about it some more. Our thinking was that if you take home a dog, your life will change forever - sometimes for the better, sometimes not. You just never know. We weren’t sure if we were ready for our lives to change drastically but we sure liked Basil. We stood around stupidly grinning and trying to make up our minds for about a half hour and finally decided that change was inevitable. She was going home with us.

The adoption papers said she was a terrier/lab mix. Terriers are good. We owned a jack russell once and could see some similarities – the pink, freckly skin; the adorable floppy ears; the cute, light brown spots. She had the body of a lab – longer legs with a slim, athletic build.

“What a great mix,” we thought. Probably she will be smart because of the terrier and not as hyper and energetic because of the lab (if you’ve ever owned a terrier, that last statement makes sense). Both breeds are active so she’ll enjoy hiking and running and stuff.

But, as she grew and filled out, she developed a lean, muscular look. She was never blocky or square-headed but people at the dog park started asking “who’s pit bull is that?” or making the observation “oh, you have a pit bull”.

Our reaction was always a slightly offended “No!” Then we’d explain how she was a terrier/lab mix and how she had the markings of a terrier and the size of a small lab.

We didn’t want a pit bull. We wanted something like a jack russell terrier because they’re so freaking adorable and not scary. We didn’t want to be associated with that gangsta-looking dope who brings his pick-up full of pit puppies and tries to sell them off all the time. I mean we were having some issues with this but we stuck to our story.

The shocker came when the guys at her doggy day care referred to her as a pit. We trust these guys and respect their opinion on all things dog-related. It was a lot like that movie where the guy fell in love with that chick and then after making out found out that she really had a penis but he was still in love with this person and had to deal with feelings of confusion and disgust. That was us.

We still aren’t convinced. Ginger isn’t thick or blocky. She doesn’t grunt. She isn’t squatty-looking. However she loves latching onto things with her jaws and having me lift her off the ground and swing her around.

But I’m not going to relent. I’m going to be like the crazy parent who lets his kid throw rocks at cars and swear at adults but as soon as a cop grabs the kid and scolds him, he’s on the phone to all the TV stations yelling about how his kid was mistreated (true story).

My dog is not a pit bull.

I’m sticking to my story.



Disclaimer to the preceding rant about pit bulls:
Pit Bulls, for the most part, are good pets and good dogs. My brother has three of them and they are some of the most friendly, lovable, dopey, farty and scared dogs that I’ve been around. Like most breeds, it is a bad owner that makes for a bad dog. Since they can be scary, it makes the news when they attack someone. You never see a news story about a collie or irish setter biting a kid, but it does happen. It’s kind of like how sky diving is statistically one of the safest activities, yet every time there is a skydiving death you hear about it. That’s all I have to say about that.