Mom saw a story online about one of the Vick fighting dogs. His name is Leo and he went from being a fighting dog ::shiver:: to a therapy dog! I’m sure he likes his new gig MUCH better than the old one.

Us Pibbles don’t really like to fight, contrary to what people think. It’s true that many of us can’t tolerate being around other dogs, myself included for the most part, but it’s not because we LIKE it.

Have you ever been so scared of something that you felt a strong urge to get away from it? Maybe you’re afraid of small spaces or heights or spiders (I’m personally freaked out by toads). Or, maybe you don’t feel good, the pressure in your head makes you almost panic, and you have a strong urge to lay down, you feel like you MUST lay down or you will fall over…

That feelling is the same feeling we get when we see another dog. Instead of running away from another dog we feel like we MUST get to that dog and we must fight until one of us can’t fight any more.

I know this isn’t a good way to be. I’m glad my mom understands this and doesn’t put me in a position to hurt another dog or get hurt by another dog. I wish all dog moms and dads understood this. But what I really wish is that those dog parents who DO understand this and MAKE us fight would stop.

Pibbles, by nature, are very people oriented. There isn’t anything I won’t do to make my mom smile. I try to always behave the way I know she wants me to. Sometimes, though, Pibbles behave in a bad way because that’s how their people want them to act. They menace kids because big people have been mean to them but they know they can keep little people from being mean. Sometimes it’s a matter of self preservation. Or they growl at people they don’t know because their mom and dad “taught” them to be guard dogs.

PIBBLES ARE NOT GUARD DOG MATERIAL! I can’t tell you how many time’s I’ve hid my head under the bed during a storm or under the shelves at Petsmart because the sounds and the smells there are just too darn scary! My mom makes me feel safe. When I’m scared I look into her eyes and then I feel better beause I know she won’t let anything happen to me. Not every pibble is lucky enough to have a mom like mine.

I wish Pibbles weren’t expected to be bad. I wish everyone knew what good dogs we are when we are bred well and socialized properly. I wish there were more good Pibble stories in the papers and on TV than bad ones. And I wish that every dog attack wasn’t reported to be by a Pit Bull…especially when it was some other kind of dog who really did it.

Most of all I wish we could just be dogs…just like every other kind of dog out there. It probably won’t happen in my lifetime but I have hope for Pibbles of the future.