Positively Pit Bull: Meet Sadie
Meet Sadie!
How cute is she?!?
Name: Sadie
Age:5
City: Portland
Favorite things: Her favorite activity, hands down, is giving and receiving love. She gives the best kisses. Next to love, she’s slightly obsessed with swimming. She’s been known to swim alongside me when I take a long walk on a nearby beach and hates when it’s time to get out of the water. Her favorite backyard game is “defensive” fetch as I call it. She has absolutely no interest in retrieving the ball, unlike her ball-obsessed lab sister, but she sure enjoys tackling sister Maggie before Mags has a chance to grab the ball.
Sadie’s story, as told by her person Sarah of marriedwithdawgs.blogspot.com:
We adopted Sadie, our pitbull mix, several years ago. It all started out when we decided that our black lab, Maggie, needed a big sister. The search came with a list of restricted breeds – no pitbulls, rottweilers, German shepherds, etc. I had no experience with any of those breeds, so my exposure to them was limited to what is in the media. I don’t think at that time I actually thought all dogs of these breeds were aggressive, but I certainly did not think I had the experience and knowledge to deal with aggressive behaviors. So how on earth did we end up with a pitbull mix with fear aggression issues?
It started with a craigslist ad, one which advertised a lab mix and pictured a dog that was not at all Sadie. A few days later, we were in a field meeting Sadie for the first time. It was apparent from the get-go that this was more of a pitbull mix than a lab mix but there was one person there who didn’t care about the type of dog she was: Maggie. From the first second they laid eyes on each other, Maggie and Sadie were BFF’s. Maggie chose Sadie; thank god, we were smart enough not to get in the way of her selection.
Sadie’s fear aggression issues presented themselves rather instantly that first day. She was cautious with us, and we were cautious with her. When a friend came over and she shook in the corner for hours, snarling at anyone that came close to her and snapping when anyone tried to touch her, our fears and uncertainty grew. It was obvious that she was terrified; it was not so obvious if we were equipped to deal with how her fear caused aggressive behaviors.
I spent that first week rather fearful of my new dog. The week capped itself off with a trip to our vet. I barely had finished my description of the behavior issues we were seeing before my vet insisted upon a muzzle and proceeded to lecture me on my new aggressive, dangerous breed of dog. She barely observed Sadie, who patiently allowed me to put her muzzle on and mostly hid between my legs shaking. That visit, besides being the last time I ever set foot in that vet’s office, was the day I decided to change. I knew that I did not have a dangerous, aggressive breed. I knew that I had a terrified pooch and that the way she dealt with her fear was the problem.
It has been a long road with our dear Sadie. And it’s taken a lot of love, encouragement, socialization and training. She’s not 100% perfect, and many may not consider her an ambassador for her breed. She still is fearful of anyone new who comes to our home. After those first few minutes where she barks and is cautious of newbies, not many will continue to deny her ambassadorship. Once she warms up to you, she. warms. up. to. you. Her favorite activity in the world is giving and receiving love.
True to her breed, she gives the best kisses. What I think is the best example of how she is an ambassador is that she is like every other dog and breed in the world. She is an individual and has her own personality. She is as worthy of the work we put into her to make her a happier dog as any other breed.
Note: This is the FIRST Positively Pit Bull story! My inbox was flooded with submissions (yay!!!) after the Blog the Change post. I’ll be posting them on Fridays then archiving them in the Positively Pit Bull tab above. Please share your story! All the Positively Pit Bull details are here.
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Thanks for rescuing a pittie and putting so much love and effort into her!
Awww, Sadie is so cute! I luv her smile! Whew, she is one lucky girl to get adopted by the humans she did. I think it’s super hard for doggies who are skeered of stuff cuz we don’t have words to tell humans what’s wrong. So we just have to use the only language we have and sometimes that language skeers people. Like, Sadie can’t say, “I’m really nervous around new people. Would you please back off?” So she has to go, “GRRRR! WOOF!” instead. And people think that’s bad when she’s just really trying to talk to them.
Anyways, I’m just REAL happy for you, Sadie. And you look real happy for you, too!
Wiggles & Wags,
mayzie
Sadie was an awesome choice for your first pit bull. She is absolutely gorgeous. And despite whatever fears she is dealing with, she still keeps that huge grin on her face. Sadie is a hero.
It is just too bad there are vets like that in the world, people who should know better than to stereotype a breed like that. I am glad Sadie’s family had the ability to realise how wrong he was and the strength to find their own way.
Sadie is beautiful!
I am so disappointed to hear about your first vet- public perception is one thing, but you hold a vet to a higher regard, you know? Hopefully she is better informed on the subject now!
Congrats on a beautiful addition to your family
Sadie is so cute! So happy you didn’t listen to the vet and recognized you had a dog with fears. Sadie deservers the best, and she found the right place with you!
Thanks for posting Sadie’s story! We are tremendously honored to be the very first Positively Pitbull story on here. She is one special lady who has changed my life…and much for the better! I am so glad all of you think she’s as gorgeous as I do.
What a beautiful story! I commend you for looking past her issues and really giving her your all. And I am shocked and mad at that vet of yours – vets should not perpetuate the reputation of bully breeds and should have recognized her behavior for fear, not aggression.
Looking forward to more stories!
Love this project! What a great way to show the world that the reputation of this breed is unfair. Sadie is absolutely adorable. I love that first picture, of her big smile.
I love reading these wonderful stories and more importantly I love that Sadie and Maggie have parents like their’s. I have witnessed Sadie’s beautiful nature and the fun she has with her friend Maggie. She is a very lucky girl and I know from watching her family with her that they are the ones that feel lucky. Keep up the great work…
Thank you so much for sharing Sadie’s story with us. I’m so proud of you – and Maggie, of course – for working through all the fear. It’s not easy (at least, I’ve struggled with the fear aggression with Lucas…), but she’s clearly a sweet, wonderful girl! And so, so precious!
Sadie is gorgeous – and I love what Sarah said, she’s an ambassador because she’s just like any other dog. Dogs are dogs – any of them can have behavioral issues and they all deserve our help and love.
And, I’m so happy for you Maggie! Good luck with your new project.
Thanks, Amy! I’m LOVING reading everyone’s stories. There are such great dogs – and people! – out there, that I’m happy to get to show them off!
I know I’m late to this story, but just found it today. I just adopted a lab pit mix and I never wanted any dog that would have any pit in it because of what I knew from the media. The rescue told me she was lab boxer mix and I didn’t really know much about pit bulls or what they look like. Everyone can clearly see my lab mix is part (if not most) pit! But she is so loving and sweet to me and my children, I don’t care. That said, we recently found out she has serious fear aggression issues. She will snap (very scary) at any strangers that try to pet her, but only when we are at the kids soccer games, so I am trying to figure that (is it the large crowd? the wide open space? the way i’m holding the leash? etc…). Unfortunately, everybody looks at her like “yep, aggressive pit bull, boy are you an idiot” so for now I’m keeping her away from the soccer fields and any crowded public spaces. I have an appointment with a behaviorist next week and I hope we can solve this! I was just glad to read a story from someone who sounds just like me.
Hi, Kathy! Welcome, and thanks for taking the time to comment! It sounds like you’re on the right track, meeting with a behaviorist. It could be any number of things – those you mentioned, plus noise or light or the fact that people are running, and so much more – so it’s important to identify triggers then work to condition her out of that same old response. One of my dogs, Lucas, shows fear-based aggression but only when on leash. We’ve been working for years to help manage that, and I just have to say… we’ve made strides, but it’s a work in progress. Stay patient and positive! Best of luck!