Wet, but not Wild!

June 27, 2014

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So Penny and Elvis got to go to the beach a few days ago. It wasn’t their first time there but it was their first time being at the beach since they got their CGC certification and you know what I noticed about them? Not much…Penny was still well behaved, stayed right next to us while we walked on the beach. She always had her eyes on us unless she was jumping into the waves chasing the ball. And Elvis? Well, Elvis was Elvis…greeting just about every girl (human and dog) that crossed his path while literally stopping for people to take his picture.

Sometimes I feel like I focus so much on them being good “pit bulls” that I forget that they’re good dogs, in general. As a bully owner, I’m very protective of my dogs and I never want to put them to be in a position to fail. I hear and see so many negative things every day that I think I put a lot of pressure on them to be extra good. I feel like if Penny or Elvis even so much as bark that people will freak out. It’s like any other dog can do anything they want and people will just chalk it up to them “just being a dog” but if Penny or Elvis breathe wrong, they’re being “unpredictable”. But then we go somewhere like the beach and I just watch them socialize with other dogs, greet other people and mind their manners (except when Elvis isn’t jumping on a table to get a kiss from a girl. Lol) at a dog friendly restaurant and it makes me realize that I have nothing to worry about. Sometimes I think that CGC certification was for me, and not them. They’ve always been good but they’re extra good because I’ve taken the time for them to stay that way. Two dogs even got in a fight on the beach and while all the other dogs ran over there, Penny and Elvis never did. They stayed right where they needed to, which was by me.

I guess the point of today’s blog is to remind myself that while the 3 of us are on a mission to prove these negative stereotypes wrong we can also have fun while doing it. And when I say “we”, I really mean, “I”. I swear there were times the other day where Penny looked at me as if to say, “Lighten up, dad! We got you just like you got us! Now go talk to that girl that Elvis is randomly sitting next to.”

Who would’ve thought I would learn so much about life through two dogs?