Newest Family Member!! *pics*

[Syco]

Beautiful dog Matt! Congrats and good luck with your new "Princess" They are very loyal and most of the time just want to be with you.

[crucified]

hey matt.. beaufitul dog..
i just adopted a pitbull recently...
thanks again brandon for all your help..
hes well loved here..

you better be careful with her matt.. they are frowned upon big time and dont make one error.. one mistake can cost you lots of trouble.. as friendly as she is.. my dog is a puppy and just wants to play.. my neighbour doesnt understand that.. all he understands is that he hates pitbulls and he got out one day and played with his dog.. even though his dog has no marks.. my neighbour claims its a vicious attack and the bylaw had slapped me with a muzzle warning for my dog.. .even though they have no proof of my dog being near his dog.. but cuz hes a pit they are ignorant and dont let you speak.. and my dog is a big suck..but they do play rough.. all the best with your new dog.. shes a beauty..
too many ignorant ppl out there think they know the breed when they know nothing.. im sorry.. the 6 o'clock news doesnt educate you on dogs... reading books about them educates you..
educate.. dont legislate..
check out the www.pitbullforum.com its a good site..
and i didnt want to scare you about my story.. just let you know.. extra caution.. cuz they are amazing dogs... so loyal and loving.. do you have to share the couch and your bed with her now? :P mine is a real couch and bed hog.. hahaha..




joey

[Linds]

Matt,
Congrats on your new little Princess It's great that you guys found eachother. She's beautiful, all the best for you guys!

Joey,
That last shot is way too cute!

[Matt_K]

Joey, both of my neighbours have the cities numbers on speed dial.. So, extreme caution is being taken.. I clean up after her when we go for walks, even though it seems that im the only one that's doing it.. When we walk and people are coming towards us, i either move off the sidewalk and let them pass or i hold her even closer to me.. I know she's a suck and that she won't do anything, but they don't know that.. And as you said, her breed is looked at in a different light then you or I use.. She honestly won't go anywhere without me.. When i go to shower she stands outside the door waiting for me. She could care less about the other people in the house, but when my nephew is here, she wants to watch his every move, he can't move without her knowing where she is..

[crucified]

yeah matt.. my dog is the same.. has to stick right near me... when i shower sits outside the door waiting or tries to break it down so i just let him sleep on the rug.. avoiding people is good.. but its bad in away... you want to socialize your dog.. let people be aware of what he is.. or you can say shes an amstaff to get less fear from ppl.. cuz they dont know an amstaff is still a bully.. either way.. caution is good to some extent.. but try to educate the best you can... also educate your neighbours.. explain what kind of dog you have.. if they have the net.. direct them to www.badrap.org or www.understand-a-bull.com let them read the facts and myths or print up some info and make a booklet for them.. better to be well prepared and they cant say they didnt know.. and as good as she may be off leash.. off leash is bad.. and umm.. i dunno.. haha.. add me to msn if you want.. xtheforestwhispersmynamex@hotmail.com.. we'll talk more pit if you want and i know some good sites.. unless you did research then thumbs up to you.. i just want to see good dogs and good owners of this breed treated right and with respect.. cuz they arent as big of monsters as people thing..
also... how is she on leash?
mine is a tank... but hes getting better now and not trying to drag me down the road.. haha..

[Clownfishie]

She's beautiful Matt, congrats on finally getting such a great dog after all the crap you went through.. Although I have to say, I never thought the day would come when I would here you calling "Here Princess!!"

Congrats again, and best of luck with her -- she's gorgeous!


Jen

[Matt_K]

Joey, She's awesome on a Leash.. She pulls sometimes, but 95% of the time she just walks by my side with no issues.. The only reason i move now, is cause i have only had her for 2 days.. LOL.. Im still getting used to her tendancies myself.. She likes to jump up at people when she first see's them and i know how nervous that makes some.. So, i figure i'll give her a bit of time to get used to passing so many people and i'll figure out she's gonna react with so much socialization.. She met a couple neighbours yesterday and i was very pleased with the way they reacted to her and she reacted to them..

As for educating the two people on either side of me.. They're a lost cause, they haven't spoken to us for 4 and 1 year respectivly.. There's always been issues with them, whether be having music on in the afternoon while their 5 year olds are sleeping or watering the grass in the evening (it makes too much noise) they always have an issue with us.. So, i just figure it's better to leave it how it is.. I go about my business they go about there's..

[crucified]

a good thing to do is get obedience training.. its good to have on your side.. regardless if she needs them or not..
and if you can get your CGCwould be a bonus too..
i gotta get that done..
i havent had a chance yet...
take care of that girl..
shes a lucky pup..
my only problem is i cant have a gf now.. my dog will make her sleep on the floor.. h ahaha...

[Cruciform]

(sorry for off topic)

Hey Joey,

Do you know someone in London named Damien? Has a russian or polish sounding last name.

I only ask because I've seen your hotmail address on an MSN messenger opened up at the store our company gets computer parts from. Apparently somebody checks his hotmail on their computers regularly and forgets to close Messenger whenever he leaves.

Back on topic, while I've had my issues with pit bulls it's good to see someone advocating understanding them *and* how it's important they be socialized.

Like any "bad" animal, be it bulls or large snakes, the worst rep comes from the owners who just want the status that comes with such an animal but don't take the time to socialize or adapt them to people/handling. (And before someone pipes up about socializing a snake, I was speaking relatively to each.)

There are do's and don'ts with any animal, and some just require more diligence than others.

[Linds]

Originally posted by Matt_K
When we walk and people are coming towards us, i either move off the sidewalk and let them pass or i hold her even closer to me..

When you tighten up on the leash it translates to the dog that that situation is something to be nervous about (since you are the dominant one, they are listenting to your body language to guage the situation) and can eventually cause the dog to develop nervous behaviours with people passing by. An alternative to this is to have your dog stop and sit and you can start patting and "bonding" and using lots of positive reinforcement instead.

[HeatherRose]

Congrats Matt, I know you've been waiting for this for quite a while... she's adorable

[Tim and Julie B]

They are highly misunderstood animals and I thank you for taking the opportunity to get her. I picked up my guy from the SPCA, with no intention of bringing a dog home, and I couldn't imagine it any other way. He's absolutely fantastic. We also recently got a female from Beth as she was concerned about dominance factors between her and her oldest female. The little one liked to play too rough and it was possible the bigger female would put her in her place one day, actually hurting her in the process. Just one of those dog dominance things We had to put our rotti down (got him at the spca at the same time as my pitty) and knew we had room and love to spare so we took her home after only a couple of hours. Well, here's the pics!


This is Twister- the female from Beth. She's about 7 months old!


Here's Bink (my guy) and Twister the day they met. I love Bink's colors and markings.

So there's two furry members of our family!

Julie

[Matt_K]

Originally posted by Linds
When you tighten up on the leash it translates to the dog that that situation is something to be nervous about (since you are the dominant one, they are listenting to your body language to guage the situation) and can eventually cause the dog to develop nervous behaviours with people passing by. An alternative to this is to have your dog stop and sit and you can start patting and "bonding" and using lots of positive reinforcement instead.

Linds, what i meant was that i just shorten the leash.. She's always walking right at my side anyway.. I just shorten as to not allow her to jump up.. She has this tendancy to jump up and lick people.. However, what you said makes complete sense, and starting tonight, that will be the new rule.. When someone's coming towards us, i will simply step off to the side and get her to sit for me..

-Matt

[marisa]

I am quite late replying. :P Was gone for the weekend...in any case, YAY! New dog! She is soooo cute and I want to come over soon and meet her.

Congrats d00d.

Marisa

[Matt_K]

You know you have an open invitation Marisa!! I'm sure we'll have to get together in the very near future anyway!!