I would like to talk about my
APBT and how he came into my life. A very good friend of mine had two of
them, Justice and Diamond, who were 2 of the nicest and most docile
dogs I had ever been in contact with. I instantly fell in love with them
and consequently the breed. I soon found out Justice and Diamond were
going to have a litter of pups (my friend thought Diamond had been
spayed) to the surprise of everyone which caused a problem. That problem
turned out to be 6 beautiful APBT puppies in a city and a province that
hates them (Ottawa, ON). So, now ensues a mad scramble to find good
homes for the pups which was easier than anyone would have thought. Once
the pups were of age to be re-homed they had all found excellent
families to live with. The public seems to believe in the stereotype of
"only gangsters and bikers have those dreadful beasts" but each one of
there puppies with to average citizens. One to a enlisted man in the
Canadian Army, one to a paramedic, and if I wasn't 2 weeks from leaving
for basic training for 6 months at Depot Division at the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police training academy in Regina, SK one would have been coming
home with me.
Now let's fast forward those 6 months.
In
my last few weeks of training I had made a trip to the Regina Humane
Society with some dog food and supplies to donate. Being a dog person I
was also there to check out any possible dogs for my future posting. I
instantly fell in love with an old APBT who had come in as a stray. He
was red nose but seemed to be more grey given his age. His name was
Handsome Rob and he was not in the best shape as it had appeared to
everyone that he had been on the street for quite some time. He was very
skinny and had significant evidence of frost bite. Being that I was
still a few weeks from graduation I was unable to give him a home right
away but continued to visit and take him for walks and spoil him as much
as I could.
When
the time came to bring him home, much to my disappointment, he was
gone. He was an old dog and his fight had ended. Knowing how fond of the
old guy I was the staff at the Regina Humane society introduced me to a
13 week old little brown and white APBT named Hurley who had been
brought to the shelter by the Regina Police Service as what I was simply
told was a seizure. When he got to the shelter he had a broken leg and a
fairly severe skin infection. The day I met him he was as happy and
playful as one would expect any little pup to be. He ran though everyone
in the room and head-butted me in the shin and proceeded to looking me
in the eye and giving me one single bark as if to say play with me.
Needless to say I fell in love with him instantly and he had found his
new home.
Hurley
is now 3 years old and is perfectly legal in the province of
Saskatchewan, yet every single day people will walk on the other side of
the street when they observe Hurley and I out for a stroll through this
small town in the middle of the prairies. We have even experienced
someone crouching down to pet him and when they are told he is a Pitbull
they picked up their kids and walked away. Others look at me and say
"you're a police officer and you have a pitbull?!?!" Most of this town
now have a special soft spot for my little friend as I have spent
countless hours walking him around town and stopping to chat with people
and talking about how loveable and goofy the breed really is. I make
sure to tell them a particular story about my friend's 3 year old (at
the time) twin girls who were riding him like a horse and pulling on his
ears like the harness and how happy he was to oblige their play time.
I
love Hurley as much as I would love my future children and someday when
the law changes I will put in for a posting back to Ottawa where he
will be able to live as a free as any other K-9 companion. The opinion
of any other Police officer I have ever spoken to is that a dog is what
you train him to be.. if you want a monster you will have a monster and
if you want a loveable best friend... then you will have a loveable best
friend. Breed has absolutely nothing to do with the upbringing of any
dog. This is coming from Police Officers who are known to have German
Shepherds, Rottweilers, dobermans and Pit bulls.
- One person can make a difference.
