ACT: Take It or Leave It

By Eve Christiansen

Many breeds of dogs have been hated throughout the years,

“In the 70s they blamed Dobermans, in the 80s they blamed German Shepherds, in the 90s they blamed Rottweilers. Now they blame the Pit Bull. When will they blame the humans?”

- ‘Dog Whisperer’ Cesar Millan

including those mentioned above, but also beloved American Bulldogs, Boxers, Chihuahua’s, Akitas, Huskies, Chow Chows, Dachshunds, Poodles, Great Danes, and even tiny Yorkshire Terriers.

At one time or another, these dog breeds, among many more, have been hated for their looks, personalities, temperaments, and instincts because Hollywood, film industry, and people in general have ruined their reputations by using them in the plot as the villians’ dogs, or even as the ‘bad guys’.

Pitbulls are the most feared and misunderstood dogs of today, but that fear that people hold against them is completely irrational. The simple truth is that these dogs can be great animals if we could give them the benefit of the doubt.

Pitbulls are very athletic dogs, which is one of the reasons that people so often hold a grudge against them, they look like they could seriously hurt you. The truth is, they can, but they don’t want to. Pitbulls love people, and are often the best family protectors. In fact, pitbulls are often known as ‘nanny dogs’ and are the best caretakers of kids.

Pitbulls are clearly seen as ‘killers’, which makes many people think they would make good guard dogs, however according to pitbulltime.com, a pitbull “is not the breed to choose if you want guard dogs, they are soft-hearted and can easily trust strangers!”

Hundreds of towns and cities in Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas, as well as all U.S. military bases have enacted bans on pitbulls, banning the breed entirely from the area.

The problem is that the public is unwilling to budge on this stance that pitbulls are vicious and cannot be tamed. However, the German Shepherd had a similar

Some people recognize this, but for some reason, the public sees Hollywood’s ‘killer dogs’ as untrainable and constantly dangerous, which is simply not the truth as those breeds of dogs can be the sweetest out there.