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The Fetch! section of the Albuquerque Journal (Feb.20) follows the activities of pit bull puppies in a class offered by Animal Humane that is turning out a parade of well-behaved dogs. Read the full article below.
[ABQ Journal.com: GOOD DOG, BAD RAP on Page B1 of February 20, 2009 issue of Jnl Final Edition 8/2005-today]
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Shannon MonDragon holds Sally, who came to Animal Humane as a stray. MonDragon, who works at Animal Humane, adopted Sally after others looking for a dog passed her by.
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Story by Isabel Sanchez Of the Journal
Photographs by Marla Brose Of the Journal
What are you, crazy? Kassie Brown and Rena Distasio hear that a lot. So will the owners of Akira, and Ava, and Austin, and Sally, puppies that as part of their education are rollicking around the sunny room, chasing and being chased.
The pups are pit bulls. They’re attending a Saturday morning class for dogs of their breed, in part to help them become wellbehaved, obedient pets, and in part so their owners aren’t asked if they’re crazy.
The puppies, all less than 5 months old, behave as puppies do, and learn quickly as puppies do, and the room is filled with “Good girl!” or “Good boy!” as they come when called, or drop a toy, or sit when told to sit. The only difference is that when they’re grown, they could strike fear in the hearts of people who don’t even know them.
Distasio is one of the founders of RAAP, for Responsibly Adopting Albuquerque’s Pit Bulls, a nonprofit advocacy group that was born when she and two other volunteers at the city’s shelters realized how many good dogs suffered and died because of bad reputations.
“We know they’re family pets, and responsible owners know they’re family pets,” she says, “but what do we do to stem the tide? We often say the very best people own pit bulls and the very worst people own pit bulls.”
RAAP’s dual goal is to lower the number of the dogs that end up in shelters — roughly a third of the dogs in the city’s two shelters are pit bull or part pit bull — and to get the “vast majority” that are stable adopted.
Brown and a friend started Burque Babes and Bullies, also an advocacy group that aims to shatter images — the pit bull as the pet of pretty young women instead of the spiked collar threat accompanying young men. The Babes also foster dogs and help raise money for rescue efforts.
The puppy class, held at Animal Humane, teaches the owners and their dogs basic obedience but also socialization, to people and especially to other dogs. There’s a lot of mythology about pit bulls, and a lot of negative press, but pit bulls do have an issue particular to the breed: what Distasio calls “reactivity to other dogs, an inability to socialize with their own kind. As much as we abhor dogfighting, the reality is that that is the task the dogs have been used for over the centuries.”
Another task from centuries ago: Pit bulls were used to help butcher livestock, trained to catch and grip animals for slaughter. A dog could bite and hold a bull, for example, preventing the animal from goring the farmer.
“Many, but not all of them, retain this instinct to this day, which is what makes them a terrific allpurpose working dog and super-friendly with people,” Distasio says. “But like any high-drive working dog, if a pit bull’s mental and physical needs are not met on a daily basis, it can redirect that energy in other ways.”
The discussion about what pit bulls were bred to do came up after a recent deadly attack by two pit bulls on a group of alpacas in Placitas.
The dogs were euthanized. Days later, a bill was introduced that would add “pit bull” and “Rottweiler” to the state’s legal definition of dangerous dogs. It has since been changed, deleting the names of the breeds; the bill calls for stricter requirements for owners of dogs deemed dangerous or potentially so.
As for the killings in Placitas, any number of “high-drive” breeds could have done the same, Disastio says.
“The fault lies strictly with the owners for letting their dogs roam and act out in that manner,” she says.
Yet another trait of pit bulls is that they are “biddable,” easily taught and willing to learn.
The puppy class, by teaching the dog to focus on its owner, to handle being around other dogs, she says, aims at producing “a wellmannered, socialized dog, that when (their owners) take them out to the public, they become ambassadors of their breed.” A class for adults will start in spring.
They *heart* pit bulls
Ava and Akira are not quite there yet. A barkfest erupts when they meet, and each dog strains at the leash. Akira needs to learn “that being around other dogs is OK,” Distasio says. As for Ava, trainer Pat Anderson says, she’s “a little rough in her play style.” Anderson wears a T-shirt that says, “My dog is a RAAP star.”
Akira, who wears a pink collar and a pink heartshaped tag, is asked to let go of a toy in a “take it and drop it” exercise. She does so immediately, a fast learner. She has learned to focus — treats are crucial here — and focus is what helps a dog ignore distractions and pay attention to her owner.
“It’s basically ‘nothing in life is free’ dog training,” Distasio says. “If you want something, you have to earn it.”
Fear and loathing
Brown is here with Austin, a 4½-month-old she’s fostering; his mother and siblings had been poisoned. She has two pit bulls of her own.
She’d heard of the pit bull stereotypes, she says, and didn’t believe them. But other people did, such as landlords who wouldn’t rent to her, and relatives, such as an aunt who didn’t want to come visit. Even just out on a walk, “people would cross the street if they had kids or another dog with them, automatically thinking my dog is vicious. She’s not.”
Pit bulls were once America’s dog — movie star, our mascot during World War I, companion to Helen Keller. Trends in dogs rise and fall; where Rottweilers and Dobermans once ruled as the “bad” dogs to fear, pit bulls, a conglomeration of bull/terrier breeds and mixes, now reign.
Their advocates say it’s not the dog but its owner; Burque Babes’ motto is “Punish the deed, not the breed.”
“The pit bull is the dumping ground dog, for all our fears and hysteria about potentially dangerous canines,” Distasio says.
Every now and then, Distasio says, she’ll see a graduate out in public.
“It was wonderful to see those dogs grow up into beautifully behaved adults,” she says. “It’s kind of cool to go out into the community, and ‘Hey, that’s a RAAP dog.’ ”
Puppy training classes
Responsibly Adopting Albuquerque’s Pit Bulls holds classes from 9-10 a.m. Saturdays.
They are free for pit bulls or pit bull mixes, ages 8 weeks to 5 months, that were adopted from Animal Humane or the city shelters in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. The pups must be up to date on shots.
Classes are at Animal Humane, 615 Virginia SE, on the southwest side of the campus. For information, call Rena Distasio at 281-4864.
Posted with permission from the Albuquerque Publishing Company.
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