Cesar, HELP!!!

April 16, 2008

Everyone thinks our dog, Tia is a pit bull. And I guess she could be a pit bull, but we don’t know for sure. The Rescue said she was an American Staffordshire Terrier, which looks like this:

A pit bull looks like this:

Tia looks like this:

Hence the confusion.

We haven’t mistreated her (besides occasionally going too many days without a walk), or trained her to fight. She’s been with us since she was three months old. She’s the sweetest dog you could ever meet. She is perfectly patient and easy-going when it comes to wee ones.

The problem with Tia is that she does look like a pit bull and sometimes she lives up to her name when it comes to other four-legged creatures. Like yesterday when Ryan and Miles took her to the park. Dad and son were happily hitting golf balls while Tia was attached to a pole on a sturdy new chain. Up came an unsuspecting woman with a four-legged friend. Tia didn’t like it that they said hello and approached her pack, so she simply broke free of her restraints and approached the fellow canine with such force that it became defensive, which started a bit of a squabble. Ryan had to break it up while the terrified dog owner chewed him out for having a pit bull while having a small child, and asked him pointed questions like where he lives, etc. Ugh…

I’m so torn when it comes to this creature. She really was my everything before the boys came along. Just ask my husband or co-workers at the time. I obsessed about this dog. I let her sleep in the bed. I worried about her like she was a person. We took her to the dog park every day (until she fought with an itty bitty terrier who’s owner fired us from the park). We took her to the vet every time she sneezed or acted any differently than usual. We really love this dog. And she really hates other dogs. I don’t know how or why it happened, but it did. We’re thankful that she isn’t like this about people (except for the mailman, she thinks he’s terrifying). We’re glad that the most she’ll ever do to a human is lick them to death, or knock them down with her wagging tail. Meanwhile, we need some dog rehabilitation from the likes of Cesar Milan of the “Dog Whisperer” on National Geographic. He would say things like, “this dog’s energy is not balanced, she is nervous.” And, “she is the alpha in the relationship.” Then he would fix it. Or we would fix it per his advice. I love watching Cesar work his magic. It’s cool. I think maybe I’m subconsciously causing this behavior from our dog so that I can be on his show. Anyway, I hope we’re not in trouble with the whole neighborhood. That’s just awkward.

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