HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

A few months back, I posted the challenge:  ”Can you spot the pit bull?”  The point was, with all the breed specific legislation (BSL) against owning Pit Bulls and their kin in some cities and counties, people don’t really know what a pit bull looks like.  They have an image in their mind that may be inaccurate, and the friendly dog nextdoor may indeed be a pit bull.   Many dogs of the breed are loyal family companions, and up until the last twenty years or so, they were generally viewed as a good family friend until the wrong people started to take an interest in the breed.

At In the Know, the challenge and remarked:

I tried about 10 different dogs until I got frustrated and just started clicking. I had no idea this cute guy was a pitbull…. guess the point is to understand for people legislating that identifying the dog can be difficult and to make sure that good dogs don’t get lumped in and accidentally euthanized by being mistakenly identified as a pitbull.

Another point is, that no dog should be euthanized just because of its breed.

Wolfdog, who grew up with pit bulls, tried several times as well.

To be perfectly honest with you, it took me my 12th to 13th try to “spot” the pitbull. This is very embarrassing to me since I grew up with a pitbull named “Clyde” and an Uncle of mine raised another pitbull named “Tiger”. It is shocking how many dogs look and have certain characteristics of a pitbull and can be easily confused for one. Both of the above-mentioned pitbulls were pretty good dogs, especially Clyde who was a big baby

There ARE so many breeds that are similar it is confusing.

This should prove, just like the last set of folks who tried to guess the Pit Bull that you cannot judge a dog on it’s looks, nor should any dog suffer just because another dog down the street that looked similar wound up in the hands of an irresponsible and uncaring owner.

I urge you to give the quiz a try!

CLICK HERE 

I have bookmarked this test and have referred to it for at least a year now, so I thought it was high time to share it.

There are many people who automatically will say that they don’t “like” pitbulls. Everyone is entitled to have their favorite breeds and not prefer others. It is only natural. In my opinion, those of the American Pit Bull Terrier persuasion for the most part are wonderful companions, but I will also admit they are not for every dog owner. No breed is.

What bothers me is that there are people that “don’t like pitbulls” but would never be able to actually identify one. That is how Breed Specific Legislation becomes a witch hunt for any dog between 30 and 55 lbs who is perceived to be a pit bull, regardless if they actually are. Not knowing what a particular type of dog actually looks like? This is not only a problem for a dog whose identiy is mistaken, but also for volunteers who hold a dog’s life in their hands. An inaccurate breed identification could very well doom a shelter dog, as that breed rescue might never have been contacted, nor would someone find them who is searching on Petfinder or Pet Harbor.

Can you Spot the Pitbull?

Take the test HERE and let me know how you did!

I’ll post some results later.