The Ruby Effect

edited August 2009 in Other Breeds
My daughter Raye and I went to the zoo a week or so ago with Jessica (Rabbit to many of you) and of course no visit to Rhode Island is really complete without visiting Miko and Ruby, who made a delightful impression on Raye, as we knew they would.

Raye is pretty dog knowledgable, but still a 10 year old girl and what she KNOWS is better than how she can't resist ACTING, so she was a bit squealy with Ruby kisses, but overall Raye did well meeting the girls.

Knowing Ruby, I wanted to be sure Raye could meet her and know her so that before she got any other ideas, her default impression of pit bulls was going to be a fair and positive one. And of course it WAS, because Ruby is such a lovey, silly super dog.

Today I brought Raye over to visit her friend Sara, and the girls were talking about dogs (they both love animals and Sara has a boxer puppy) and I listened while Sara talked about their boxer's last training class, where they were approached by a trainer with a pit bull who was working on her dog-dog reactivity. From how the story goes, the trainer allowed the dogs to interact too long and should have ended the greeting while it was still going well and both dogs had succeeded, but she was impressed with how well the dogs were greeting and they soon got tangled in leashes and there ensued a noisy scary scuffle, which Sara was describing to Raye. And this IS scary for Sara, to be sure.

Well, Raye jumped right in to explain to Sara all she had learned about pit bulls, and about her friend Ruby, and how ANY dog can get upset and well cared for pit bulls don't actually want to fight, that they are bred to be very people-friendly, and that it's lousy owners who make pitbulls behave badly. You'd have to add exclamation points to all that and some enthusiasm, but no bitterness, to get the full effect.

They talked dogs some more and then went off onto cats and other playing, but I think Jess would probably have been proud of Raye if she coulda been there to hear it!

Thank you, Ruby- you are having a spreading PR effect already even at your young age!

Comments

  • edited November -1
    Ahh I love this story! :) I agree, you BOTH should be very proud!
  • edited November -1
    Wow, That is awesome.

    Knowing Ruby and Jessica I can say they really have a wonderful vibe to them and I don't think anyone wouldn't come away meeting them thinking anything but positive things about pibbles.

    And Miko is just a cute, silly little Shikoku, whom I adore...
  • edited November -1
    IMO Pit Bulls are one of the most wonderful breed of dogs there is. They are so eager to please their humans, and everyone in the home, not just one like a Kai. I used to be involved with a Rott Rescue group in the Bay Area and I had to watch videos of dog fights. The ones with Pits would make me cry. You could see the fear in their eyes going into the fight. Then they would look back at their owner who would be yelling and telling them to go for it. The dogs only fought to please their owner not because of dog aggression. I also do not believe in putting previous fighting Pit Bulls down. We have a group in SF called Bad Rap. I visited with the owners, a married couple, to do some work with Bear. He had some fear/aggression issues when it came to men approaching me. They worked with us pro bono and as an adult Bear never showed any scars of what he had been through.
  • edited November -1
    That's awesome!
  • edited November -1
    AW, Chrystal, What a great daughter you have
  • edited November -1
    Thats beautiful! Raye and Ruby ROCK!
  • edited November -1
    I have to say it means a lot to me, that when people think of a great example of a pit bull they think of my little girl.

    My dogs have horrible manners (they will knock you down and lick your face off, we're working on it).
    They spaz when they see other dogs (just hyper silly dogs, we're working on that too).
    But both of them have so much love to give.
    Ruby is insecure (god knows what world she lived in before we got her).
    And every day we work to nurture her confidence, and make her feel safe and loved.
    But despite some quirks her soul mission in life is to show people how much love she can give.

    I'm glad Raye is a member of the Ruby fan club. Who knows, maybe in a few years we will have a future Pin Up for Pit Bulls....
  • edited November -1
    That's great guys. We saw a little pibble in the pet store the other day, it was so sweet and friendly. I said to Dawn that it reminded me of Ruby, only not as cute.

    Chrys, that's really cool that your daughter is that into dogs and is really learning her stuff.
  • edited November -1
    I don't know if you mentioned this or not, but are you bringing Raye to the meet up?
  • edited November -1
    I really only think about things pretty shortly before they actually happen, so I only got as far as thinking about Reilly and I, but it occurs to me that Raye would love to meet all these dogs...
  • edited November -1
    Raye is welcome of course!

    Im sure an opportunity for her to play with lots of crazy Shibas would be a good doggie experience for her. There will be lots of snarkies Im sure, and you can explain to her about different breeds play styles, etc. Could be a great learning dog language day!
  • edited November -1
    She's used to dogs playing rough. In the house. Dogs that probably still outweigh her. :) I'll see how she's doing after her first week back at school and if she's up for it, I'll bring her along. Thanks!
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