My Life With Pit Bulls

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing With a Dog Like That?

Gale with Blanca, white pitbull puppy - 1999

It’s not often that you find a job that introduces you to the two greatest loves of your life. I didn’t have any particular interest in pit bulls when I went to work for the SPCA of Texas.

And, after almost 20 years of being single, I had pretty much given up on the idea of marriage. But, that was before I met Blanca—a white pit bull pup. Blanca changed everything.

The sign on her cage read "pit bull mix? 4 ½ mos., happy dog". She didn’t look that happy to me.

But, I can’t say I blamed her--living in a stainless steel cage; the air saturated with nose-scrubbing disinfectant and the howls and meows of frightened souls.

Still, I must clarify for the record that it wasn't mere sympathy that caused me to adopt Blanca. On any given day at the shelter, there were well over 100 dogs and puppies; most with that beseeching "pick me please" look in their eyes. I felt sorry for them all. But, I couldn't adopt them all.

Unlike most shelter dogs who rush the doors of their cages for any scrap of human attention, Blanca was calm, serene, and even a bit aloof. Looking at her in that setting was like gazing upon da Vinci's Mona Lisa in the midst of a bar room brawl.

I sat down cross-legged on the floor. Opened her cage door and patted the floor to coax her out. She took her old, sweet time getting to me. Stretching her legs along the way as if to emphasize how totally un-cool it was to be cooped up like that.

Finally, she stepped into my lap, sat down and leaned into me as if to say, "I think we’re both a little tired of this place. Let’s go home." And, we did.

Blanca, 1 year old, posing for a SPCA newspaper ad
Photo by Anita K. Edson

Looking back on it, it really may have been the ear thing that clinched the deal.

While we were sitting there, a sudden noise caused Blanca to prick up her ears. I looked down at her in time to see two perfectly formed angel wings on either side of that bully head.

I swear! Just look at this picture—particularly the ear on the left. Tell me if you don’t see it, and I’ll eat a box of dog biscuits!

In any case, I mentioned there were two great loves in this story. And, the other is that it was through my love of pit bulls that I met my husband, Alain. He is pictured here with his purebred American Pit Bull Terrier, Pierre.

Alain and Pierre

When Pierre was a puppy, Blanca graciously tolerated his razor sharp teeth and manic bursts of energy. Now, that he’s grown; they are best friends.

How do they get along? In the eight years they've known each other, they've had two spats. (How many married couples can say that?) One was over a toy. The other was over a morsel of food the cat left in his bowl.

Bottom line. We manage the situation by being super careful not to leave toys or food around when we can't supervise them. And, we crate one of them when we are not at home. Otherwise, they have total access to the house and each other.

These pit bulls are best buds

Worse yet, is the thought that if they ever accidentally got loose, they might be “put down” by animal control only because of their breed. This website is dedicated to overcoming that kind of ignorance and prejudice.