Break the Negative Stereotypes! – Welcome Natalie, Our New Guest Blogger!

by John Flores

My sole purpose for starting this website was to break the negative stereotypes and show people the REAL side of the “pit bull”. When my childhood friend, Stephanie, asked me if one of her friends could come meet Penny and Elvis I had no idea what it would turn into. Without giving too much away, she basically comes over a few mornings a week (before work) to learn everything she can about the dogs. When she asked if she could be an ongoing guest blogger, I was ecstatic. Plus, about a week after I met her, I found she’s the editor and one of the writers for West Coast Magazine which means I wouldn’t have to run a spell check or edit her grammar or punctuation!  But little did she know, I was already going to ask her. So without further ado, this is Natalie, and this is her story…

I have loved animals all my life, but I grew up not knowing much about them. In fact, I think I had blinders on, only seeing what I wanted to see, what was shown to me. To me, all dogs were sweet, caring, loyal, faithful and loving. I never knew about any heartache or sadness. Dogs were man’s best friends, simple as that.

It wasn’t until I got older that I realized people were picky. Dogs were only man’s best friends if they were hypoallergenic or under 50 pounds or low maintenance. I especially heard that dogs were man’s best friends only if they weren’t a pit bull. Regrettably, I let that stigma affect me. I’ve always thought pit bulls were beautiful, but in my mind, I knew I would never get one. They were too strong, too unpredictable, too scary. The only time I would come in contact with one is when I passed by their cages while at a shelter.

Even as I got older and became more informed, I was still wary. I knew pit bulls represented the largest percentage of dogs in animal shelters, that most of them were highly adoptable, and that thousands of them were euthanized every year. I knew the sad facts.

I also knew that pit bulls were used for dog fights. I knew the horrible, albeit sensationalized, stories of people who were maimed or died because pit bulls attacked them, and I let that guide my thinking. I weighed the pros and cons of pit bulls, and I realized that fear suppressed any desire I had to actually get to know this breed.

Luckily, I was able to overcome my fears. I grew up in Chino Hills, went to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo for college and moved back to Chino five years later. During that time span, Priceless Pet Rescue became a fully functioning, amazing animal shelter. Of course, I had to follow them and immediately became invested in all the dogs’ stories, both sad and successful. One in particularly completely drew me in, and it should come as no surprise that it was Kurtis.

Kurtis was everything I was taught to love about dogs – he was sweet, cute, loving, and most of all, he was innocent. Yet, he was a pit bull. I justified my genuine interest about this adorable dog by saying he was an exception to the pit bull breed, but as I saw his health improve and his personality shine through (especially with Penny Lane and Elvis by his side), I knew there was more to it. I also knew that the only way I could completely shatter the pit bull stereotype plaguing my mind was to get out there and prove to myself how loving and kind pit bulls really are. I finally decided that my determination to change was bigger than my fear.

Rehabilitating the way I thought about pit bulls began with meeting John. We were introduced through a mutual friend, my co-worker Stephanie, but I already knew so much about him. I followed his blog, Facebook and Instagram (after all, him, Penny and Elvis are basically like celebrities), so I was nervous, but excited to meet him. At the time, he had Lucy, and I knew from the pictures and his stories that he was a great foster dad to her and Wally and regular dad to Penny and Elvis.

As I mentioned before, I love dogs, but I don’t know much about them. I knew John would be the perfect person to teach me – not just about their personality and how best to train and interact with them, but also about all the amazing attributes of one specific, picked on breed: the pit bull.

So, I hope you’ll follow my journey to get to know dogs as John knows dogs, and to help break the negative stereotypes about pit bulls that anyone is capable of believing. I’m so glad that I was able to open my heart up to change and that I was introduced to John, Penny Lane, Elvis and all the Priceless Pet fosters because without them, I would have missed out on so many fun memories and valuable life lessons!

John Flores

Recommended Posts

Through No Fault of Their Own Part V

September 12, 2017

A Letter To The Men of Pawsitive Change at Corcoran State Prison

September 06, 2017

No Fault of Their Own Part IV

August 22, 2017