Is that a pitbull?!

I'm sure anyone out there who owns a pit has been asked this question.  You're walking your dog, or at the beach, or (if you're me) hiking somewhere, and someone coming the other way slows down, looks for an exit, and finally asks the dreaded question.  Skye is 40 lbs, and about the size of a Springer Spaniel, and yet we can't seem to go anywhere without some kind of interaction with nervous people.  I typically enjoy educating people about how amazing this breed is, but at this point it has been every day, and I'm not exactly the most patient person.  I started this blog as an outlet for some of my frustrations that Skye brings out in me.  So anyway, I thought I'd share my "favorite" undereducated encounter, and thought other people may also have some fun stories. 

I was walking both my dogs along the boardwalk at the beach, and stopped to watch a surfer.  A woman and her husband were walking their Pomeranian my way, and they stopped about 10 feet away, staring at Skye.  I noticed, and told them my dogs were friendly, no worries.  She said, "Well that one looks friendly (aka Parker), but that one looks dangerous." Skye was standing right next to Parker, who was the same size as their dog, and was fairly disinterested.  Eventually I convinced them that Skye would not maul their dog, so they let them sniff etc.  A Husky (and owner) stopped, and Skye was still very polite.  The pom's husband told me that he was personally shocked, as he thought all pits were naturally viscous.  Neither actually touched Skye, they only pet Parker.

In other news, I'm dogsitting this week for a good friend.  Her dog Ava is Skye's best friend ever, and they always have a great time romping together.  Skye was the first dog Ava was comfortable around after she was adopted, and they are a very unlikely pair.  Unfortunately, Ava has never been away from her human parents since they got her 5 months ago, and she is a velcro dog.  She loves me, but is very timid around most people, and is having a tough time figuring out what to do with herself.  Yesterday she bit Skye over a bone, which was completely unexpected.  Luckily, Skye didn't retaliate, and only has a puncture under her eye, and the two still seem to be besties.  Not sure why I'm including that, but it's still on my mind.  Obviously there are no more high value resources available to the dogs, and no other issues have occurred.  It is too bad that it happened this week, as Skye is currently covered in scrapes.  She ran into a fence and scratched her head, was "herded" by a German Shepherd and ended up with 4 scratches on her sides, and ran into a tree at the dog park and scrapped her back leg.  If you didn't pick up on it, she is a total klutz.  And now her eye is swollen as well.

I guess people have a better reason to think she is a fighter now than they did before....

Best Friends!!