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Im in the process of entering my dog in agility classes, only to find out i will be the only person there with a pitbull. Im expecting to get the bad looks and be the talk of the group for awhile, but im really hoping to open some of these peoples eyes and show them that pitbulls can do anything any other dog can do, if not better (;. So i wanted to ask you;
Are you and your dog into anything like this? maybe obedience or weight training or even agility like me? share your stories! (:Kayla went through a real basic agility class this fall, and we are going to get her into the real classes starting this spring. It takes a lot of classes and home practice to have a successful agility dog. There was a GSD, an Aussie, and 2 labs in her class. Funny thing was, Kayla was the most skilled and most focused than any of the others, and she came home with a ton of blue ribbons!
We go to watch agility competitions almost every weekend, as there are many different sanctioned groupings. AKC does things one way, and another does something else. We aren’t sure where to enter Kayla when the time comes, or if we will just do it for fun. My husband has built a full agility course at home, as the real equipment can get pricey!
Out of all the competitions that we have been to, we have seen ONE American Staffordshire terrier. It was an AKC event and the AKC doesn’t recognize the APBT, so he was an Am Staff. Needless to say, he did really well.
Agility is an event that works for all breeds, pits included. One thing you will need to realize is that you will get looks and scorned from other people who just don’t like pits. Suprisingly enough, a majority of the people we have talked to who are involved in canine sports understand the plight of the pit and are totally sympathetic and feel for what we are going through. They understand that it isn’t the breed. At the same time, there are those snotty people out there who believe that their breed is superior to any other breed and they will use the pit bull issue to their advantage. Ignore it.
There isn’t any weight pulling in our area, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have your dog do it for fun at home. Kayla has a padded harness that we had made for when we go rollerblading (though she doesn’t pull us, she runs along side of us) that is acutally a weight pulling harness. This spring we may look into carting so she can get involved with organizations that use dogs and carts (like at Christmas tree farms).
Another thing to look into is flyball. I have seen many pits doing flyball, but you need to have a dog that is great with other dogs, since it is a relay competition.
Have fun and the possibilities are endless.
My pittie is involved in Flyball. Due to some training issues when I first started with her (handler error, not my dog) she has only been in one tournament. However, I go to many tournaments with my other team, and compete with my other dog. Pit bulls are not at all unusual to see in the lanes, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are really popular in the sport, both as purebreds and as mixes. The fastest team in the world right now set their record with a team of Staffy mixes in fact.
Congragulations!! I have two bully breeds my oldest has competed in NADAC agility trials and has received three titles in his first season!! I was the only one with a bully breed and dealt with a lot of dirty looks for the first few trials. Luckily I got to know most of my competition and opened their eyes to a working bully breed. It helped that my dog (Bosley) was awesome and not at all ruffled by the yappy shelties and hi energy border collies.
I would warn you against AKC trials. Maybe they have gotten better about breedism but all I’ve seen are border collies, aussies, herding dogs and people with a narrow purebreed mindset.
be a bully advocate!
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