Thread:Crowsoul50/@comment-33229352-20200116030855/@comment-33229352-20200202063343

I so badly want a dog, as I've alluded to my parents for months. It's a war of attrition, baby! The house is finally getting put back together after the rennovation, so it's getting close to the time we could actually do so. I want a pitbull or some other bully breed. I love them so much, and they're so misunderstood. The local shelter has a lot. Like, a lot. The list on their website of dogs up for adoption is almost 80% pit bull/mix at any given time. And that's just the ones on the website. Dogs usually have to be there for a couple days before they get added to the online list. The turnover for that place is insane. A lot of the non-bully breed dogs, especially puppies, are adopted the day they're put out on the adoption floor. I want to give them a chance because they're so overlooked.

My parents aren't as enthused about that prospect. And I understand their reasoning. A lot of the dogs that come in are seized from illegal situations. We have a huge dogfighting problem in nearby cities, which fall under their jurisdiction. There's a lot of unknowns. Many of them need special attention for medical issues, or cannot be in a house with small children or other dogs. You don't know what kind of background they have, and my parents have concerns about that.

They also tend to be bigger dogs, and my mom has stated multiple times that she'd want a canine that could fit in a crate under an airplane seat. That's asking for an animal that's barely a foot tall, and a few airlines have a ban on "pitbull type" dogs. Which, by the way, is completely unfounded. I'd take my chances with a pitbull over most small dogs any day. Many people undertrain small dogs, or flat out don't train or properly socialize them at all. A lot of pitbull owners take special care to make sure their dogs are well trained because of the stigma that surrounds them. In my experience, I've met more small dogs I would consider nuisance animals than I ever have with bully breeds. It's ignorance at its finest, but that's a rant for another day.

But there's some hope! My parents are very open about the idea of fostering service dogs. I'd love to do that. I'd love to foster dogs for any reason, but that's especially meaningful. They would probably be older dogs, around 1-2 years old. Not quite puppies, not quite adults. We would be in charge of taking them places, to give them experience with different surroundings. Football games, concerts, grocery stores, restaurants... almost anywhere. Most places are very open about allowing SDIT, but they don't have the same federally protected rights as full service dogs. Most businesses wouldn't question it, though. I'd love to do that honestly.