Stylized line drawing of mark playing the flute

Pitbull dogs are family

Last September our family got our first-ever dog, a pitbull-mix named Junior.

He is the most amazing dog. He's strong and fast but also kind and gentle.

He loves to snuggle and all he really wants is to be around us all the time.

I count myself lucky, every day, that we found such a sweet, handsome dude to be ours.

I knew I wanted a dog that would be able to keep up with our active family, that was easy to train, and that would be sweet and loving with the kids. I've loved pitbulls for a long time and they were top on my list of breeds when we started looking.

I knew that there was a lot of bias against pitbulls in some areas so I was a little nervous but we really haven't had any issues.

Until this weekend.

I take bootcamp classes in Tyler Park and I bring Junior with me most of the time. He loves to run around the track and up and down the stairs with me. Occasionally, he'll try to take off after a squirrel but, mostly, he stays right by my side.

There was a woman walking around the track after class last Sat and she was immediately smitten with Junior. She was talking about what a pretty dog he was and she asked if she could pet him.

I said of course and then the following exchange happened.

She was walking over toward us to pet him when she asked, What kind of dog is he?

Hes pitbull, maybe mixed with something else.

She immediately recoiled with horror.

Oh! I don't like those dogs. They make me so uncomfortable.

And she practically ran away.

I was disappointed to see that sort of breed-stereotyping in action but I'm grateful that those attitudes seem to be in the minority around here.

If you want to learn more about pitbull adoption and advocacy in the Louisville area, please take a look at Saving Sunny.