XP from ML: Pit bull Owners, Please Talk Me Down

[expatpumpkin]

I'm having a dinner party tomorrow night and one of the guests has requested to bring her pit bull. We have a 16-pound male Shih tzu, a sweetie pie of a dog. I've never met the friend's dog, but here's what I know:

- 8-9 year-old male, neutered
- Rescue dog; she's had him for a very long time (6-7 years?)
- She says he very sweet
- I have no reason to believe she's anything but a responsible dog owner
- Surely she wouldn't bring a dangerous dog - she knows about our dog

I know this is flammable, sorry to pit bull owners, I don't mean to offend. But I can't help to be afraid. Having my dog attacked is one of my phobias - I've actually had nightmares. But I don't want to discriminate against her dog, who's probably really sweet. So I said yes. But now I'm freaking out.

Please talk me down? I'm overreacting and it will be fine, right?

Any pit bull owners who can tell me about successful interaction with small dogs?

Please no horror stories - it will seriously give me nightmares. I just can't.

ETA: We live in London, which is a VERY dog-friendly city. Bringing your dog to a dinner party isn't strange in my circle. Among fellow dog owners - in our circle - it's actually the norm. Dogs come to our parties all the time. So the issue isn't the dog, it's the breed. Which is why it's probably flammable

Read more: pandce.proboards.com/thread/251072/pit-bull-owners-talk-me#ixzz2k5VCnoEy

[niemand88f]

You definitely have the right to refuse having any person or animal in your home that you're uncomfortable with. However, I think it should be fine and you're overreacting a little- but I understand your reasons. You should keep an eye on them and have a place to separate them if they don't seem comfortable together (and should with any dog that comes to visit).

You already said yes, so that makes it awkward to back out. If you're very concerned about it you could always make up a white lie about your dog getting sick or something.

[dearprudence]

I'm not a pit owner, but my mom has a mix (American Bulldog/pit - 80lbs). She is the sweetest thing ever, and frankly, she is much more patient, loving, and kind with my 2 year old than even my non-pit, gentle, sweet dog (40lb lab mix).

She's a rescue, 7 years old and I have never seen her attack another dog.
But because of the negative stigma attached with the breed, my mom is very cautious about bringing her "strange" or "new" places. I think this is fairly typical of pit owners. The theory is, if anything goes down, your dog will get blamed, even if they weren't involved. With that in mind, I would think your friend must be very confident about her dog's behavior/interactions with other dogs. Which should alleviate your concerns.

[expatpumpkin]

Thanks for your input. I agree that if she says her dog is safe, he must be safe. I'm going to allow him over - I've already said yes, after all! We'll walk them together when they arrive so they can meet on neutral territory. Worst case scenario, my dog can spend the evening in another room. I'll update tomorrow and let you know how it went.

[expatpumpkin]

UPDATE: The dinner party went great and I was comfortable with him after the first 2-3 minutes. It was nerve-wracking at first - mine kept following him around. I was sure that he'd snap at any moment from this aggravation, but he wasn't even slightly interested in - or bothered by - my little guy. As it turns out, he's a senior dog at 12, so he just wanted to sleep. He found a comfy spot and pretty much stayed there all night. My dog is lazy so he did the same thing. They happily co-existed for the evening. Success!

[expatpumpkin]

Nov 9, 2013 21:29:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

On another note, this post is interesting to me; I thought UK had BSLs banning bully breeds. I'm happy if that isn't the case.

I believe pit bulls are banned here.  He's a Staffy, which is a different kind of pit bull?  

[redheadbaker]

Nov 11, 2013 4:05:39 GMT -5 expatpumpkin said:

Nov 9, 2013 21:29:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

On another note, this post is interesting to me; I thought UK had BSLs banning bully breeds. I'm happy if that isn't the case.

I believe pit bulls are banned here.  He's a Staffy, which is a different kind of pit bull?  

"Pit bull" is not a breed. It's a social construct, made up of American Pit Bull Terriers (banned in the UK), the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and then there are another 3 dozen or so breeds (from Boston Terriers to Boxers to mastiffs) that are commonly confused with "pit bulls." 

Glad your dinner party went well. 

[niemand88f]

I'm glad they got along

DH and I actually found a lost pittie running around in the road yesterday (I have no idea what specific type he was), and he hung out with us for about 6 hours until his owner saw our "found" ad. He was the sweetest dog, so now I'm actually considering adopting one when we have a house in a couple years (heart)