Are you scared of a Pit Bull at Petco?

by Jill
(Kansas)

Gunner (the handsome boy above) and I just took our first trip to Petco this morning. He looks like a sweet little teddy bear when he's laying there giving you his big puppy dog eyes, but when he's standing up, he's a mound of muscle and I do understand how some people can be intimidated.

But today at Petco, we had two older ladies come up and tell me how handsome he was and asked if they could pet him. Of course he was already wagging his tail like a maniac hoping I'd say yes.... and I did. So as they were petting him, one of them said, he's so cute, is he a bulldog? And I said, no, he's a Pit Bull. And she took a step back. Looked at him. And saw his big happy eyes and his wagging tail and decided it was okay to continue to pet him. Then she said "I didn't know Pit Bulls could be so nice!". And I refrained from giving a speech, but just briefly said that they're just like any other dog and they love to be loved. She smiled and happily pet him on his head, told him how handsome he was again, and they walked away.

Then at the checkout, there were another two ladies with two very small children. I would guess that the girl was probably between one and two years old and the boy was probably three or four. They were actually almost out the door when Gunner locked eyes with the children. They got so excited to see such a big dog sitting there wagging his tail at him. When the ladies turned around to see what they were making a fuss about... they saw Gunner, to my surprise, they didn't hesitate. They asked if the children could come and pet him and if he would be okay with that. I said "of course!" because I knew Gunner was dying to give them kisses.

So these two ladies with their two very small children came over and giggled as my big Pit Bull kissed all over them... wagging his crazy tail the whole time. The young boy even grabbed a treat from the big treat bin and asked Gunner if he wanted it, and he ever so gently took the treat out of the little boys hands and then inhaled it :)

You never know who or what you're going to encounter when you're out with your Pit Bull... but our trip to Petco today was a wonderful surprise. Gunner was so pleased that he had made new friends and I could see the pride in his eyes as everyone gave him complements and a pat on the head. Just as you could probably see the pride in my eyes as my special boy helped to change the minds of at least a few people today.

What a feeling.