Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

is their memories of them prior to bsl and the hysteria that surrounds the breed today.

I stopped into the shoe store for special socks and brought Birdie in with me.

An elderly lady in her nineties was getting fitted for new shoes, but wasn't co-operating because she couldn't understand that they needed to try the taupe ones on to make sure the size was right so they could order the red ones she wanted.

She saw Birdie and her whole face lit up. I brought Birdie over to her and she told me that when she was a girl on the dairy farm, her father had several pit bulls and that they were the best dogs that she had ever owned in her entire life. Mean while, Birdie hopped into the chair next to her and had her head in the ladies lap and the lady was petting her while Dave tried the offending taupe shoes on her.

She said her brother used to use one of the dogs hooked up to a small wagon to deliver milk to a few customers like a paper route and that she and her siblings used to have dogs races with carts and the dogs would pull them in the snow.

She said her Father had gotten the dogs from a gentleman in Massachussets named John! (I wonder if it was John Colby?)

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

WOW! that is truely awesome. I just love to hear stories about back in the day from older people. we should listen more closely because after all they have been here alot longer than most of us, and have seen more than any of us. I bet that also made her day, just remembering those times with the dogs. thanks for sharing...

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

ya know it very well might have been john.back in them days these dogs were a pretty common site not only on farms but even folks when you went into the city had them as well.you used to would see ladies of high society as me and my dad called em (them was your rich ladies) walking these little dogs around with them.you would see children running around playing with them,you would see them laying in or in front of stores it seemed a lot of folks had these little fighting dogs,where i grew up they called em yankee terriers.i sure do wish we could go back to them days it sure would be nice.

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

I've heard several stories too from elderly folks. Everytime Sukari & I have visited the nursing homes, I hear so many stories & they usually are about how great the APBT was as a farm dog & how many had them but they never had the problems we have now. I love hearing stories from those much older than I am about days gone by.

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

yeah there never ever was a problem with these animals back then,i heard of dog bites around the area where we lived usually we heard them at church on sunday after the service was over but not a one of em was from a APBT.it was always mongrels,hounds,other hunting dogs,or livestock dogs but never ever a bulldog.

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

I hear ya on that. Usually, just mentioning the word "bulldog" brings back all sorts of memories for these folks. Hell, I remember the first time it clicked in my grandmothers brain that my bulldogs, were the same dogs her family raised/kept/bred as a child. I spent the next couple hours listening to stories of them "big headed, stubborn little shits". I love watching her eyes light up as she recalls their first litter, a white/brindle patched dog they kept, and the trouble that ensued. She remembers vividly her mother (my great grandmother) being quite proud of a brand new, blanket she got as a gift, if I recall right from my great grandfather. She had it hanging on the line one day, and walked outside to see the brindle dog, and another one I dont recall, playing tug-of-war with it, and just ripping it into all sorts of shreds. She tried to fix the problem before momma arrived, but she caught em, and all three of em got quite a whoopen I guess. Keep in mind my grandmother is 89 years old, and was just a child at this time, so this was quite some time ago. She recalls they were quite a bit larger than the "bulldogs" I keep, probably closely resembling an American Bulldog. She said almost all of them were mainly white. She wasnt involved in matching them, but most of the rest of my family was, a bulldog had to have a job. Said they were as game as the chickens they raised, and then the story led into gamecocks. Its a story I've heard probably close to 50 times, and I like it better each time. She recalled none of them would ever bite no one, and even if they would of, poppa woulda shot em immediately. Everybody had them, and the only trouble you would hear of them getting into was killing Farmer Joe's chickens, or a pig, or such. She says its a shame whats happened to the breed today, so many people breeding them to be human-aggressive, and causing all sorts of problems. She reckons if things dont change they will be illegal, but knows the breed will never die. They bring too much laughter, happiness, and joy to their owner. When you talk with another bulldog owner, its almost like your family, you can tell countless stories of your dogs, and the other will nod and have similar fond memories with their bulldogs.

She also recalls when I would visit with her as a young child, how the neighbors who were gone all the time had two bulldogs chained in the backyard. Said nobody could go near them, as the owners beat and neglected them unmercefully,and they were too fearful to approach a person. They didnt want them, and literally were just waiting for them to die. She always fed and cared for them as best she could when they went out of town, and told me stories of me and her walking over and sitting in the chainspace, roughin the dogs up for hours hoping the owners wouldnt come home and get caught. I remember those two dogs vaguely, from when I was a little older, but the vivid stories she can tell makes both of us beam with happiness. Happiness only this breed can bring.

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

yeah i like when old people tell you storys about the good ol days i had an older couple come in at the petsmart i used to work at they had saved this pitbull pup from a byb that was going to put pup down cause it had cought parvo so they took the pup in took care of it and the pup made it men this dog turned out to be real nice looking dog it was active they gave the love it was spoiled to death they would always buy the dog a toy when ever they went into petsmart it was funny the old lady told me that dog is by far the best dog she ever had the dog did'nt even look like it had parvo really nice looking.

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

....hmmmmm????.....

great, feel good thread.

all the stories told just put a smile on my face.

I worked with the elderly for 10 years, prior to working for vets. Wasn't like a "job" at all.... always,
entertaining.

nice post!

 

Re: Cool thing about elderly people & pit bulls.....

I take Birdie with me just about every where and I'm finding that we get FAR more compliments and requests to pet her, than people making negative comments or shying away from her.

Alot of people will ask me questions about the breed and we stop and answer them if we have time. If we don't, I give them my e-mail address and I actually get e-mails from folks. I have had to add in 10-15 minutes per errand to make sure I have time to finish my tasks AND answer questions.

If you think this was a great, wait until after the Cake (husband's B-Day today- getting ready to sing and have cake). I have to share what my neurologist said. THAT will blow your socks off! We had to send out a SAR for mine.