Breaking the Stereo-Type: Deputy Daisy

 I’d like you to meet someone very special. She’s incredibly loving, a great cuddler, extremely good with kids and babies, and loves cats.

This is Daisy, Our PITBULL.

Sadly, pitbulls have a bad reputation as monstrous beasts that attack everything that come into their path. Many counties are instituting a ban on this breed, and currently the town I live in is trying to pass it as well.

We got our bully (we named her Deputy Daisy) out in the “sticks” for $50. We met the momma, obviously full bred Pit, beautiful black brindle coloring. Her name was Princess. Sweet as could be! Out of 8 little pups, I chose Daisy because she was the reddest in color and the most affectionate. DH (then my boyfriend, now my husband) and I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home with her to pick up some puppy chow. When we came back to the car… she had puked all over my backseat! Ugh! I spent the rest of the night cleaning out the backseat and picking ticks off her poor little body.

We already had two cats (Koda and Chili) at home and I wasn’t sure how well they would respond to each other. But everything was great! They played chase through the apartment and slept in close proximities to each other. She never snapped at them, and didn’t growl when they close to her bowl at dinnertime. A year later we got another kitten (Daytona) and they slept together in her cage (we were trying to kennel train her, and that just ended up being her "time out" spot)! Daytona was her best friend. We have since had to find homes for the cats because of the upkeep on them and because we kept moving around (I still miss them all the time though).

Here's Daisy and Koda. I always thought Daisy and Daytona were besties, but as I looked through the pictures in my computer, there are a TON of these two chillin' together.

Koda, Daytona, and Daisy watching the field mouse run around outside the door. Oh, yeah, add mouse-hunter to Daisy's resume too!

Chili and Daisy were napping on the bed together, but when I came back to snap a picture, Daisy woke up!

We have also added two little ones to Daisy’s family (our children), and she has always done extremely well with them. When I first became pregnant, I was a nanny to two wonderful little girls, and when I would pick them up from school I would always talk to the other moms. Quite a few of them gave me “Ooh, you have a pit? Better be careful she doesn’t attack your baby” shtick. It really was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and just nod my head at their complete and utter ignorance of the breed.

She took an unusual amount of punishment from my son when he was younger, but all she had to do to get him off was lick his face.

My daughter loves her so much! They are always cuddling and playing together.

Daisy is such a nurturing soul. She ran ahead of me to get to the baby who was crying, she plays on the floor with them, doesn’t snap, doesn’t snatch food out of their hands while they’re walking around the house, she’s an awesome dog.

The kids use her as a horse, a pillow, a chair, a best buddy. All of our friends love Daisy, and our parents (collectively) call her their “grandchild” because she really is one of the family. More people should be aware that the media frenzy surrounding pitbulls is wrong. It’s not “pitbull nature” to be vicious. It’s the people who raise them who decide whether or not the dog will be mean or friendly. My husband and I hold our heads high when we tell people we have a pitbull.

She may be a tad bit goofy, but she's ours <3