I am the proud owner of a 4 year old Pit Bull mix named Sierra. My boyfriend Wes and I adopted Sierra in August of 2009 from the Baltimore Humane Society. If someone would have asked me a year ago if I wanted a Pit Bull I would have definitely said no. With the name Pit Bull comes all the stereotypes such as: vicious, aggressive and, of course, dog fighters. I, like many others, believed all these stereotypes to be true of every dog associated with the name Pit Bull.

So how did I end up with Sierra and are all those Stereotypes true? Well for starters, I am the store manager of a coffee shop and we partnered with the Baltimore Humane Society in June of 2009. They held an adoption event at my coffee shop and Sierra was one of the pets they brought along. I fell in love with her the moment I met her. She was so friendly and sweet! The Humane Society held an event in the summer called Wednesday Night Hikes and I asked for them to hold Sierra for me so I could introduce her to Wes. He fell for her too and worked with the staff to adopt her as a surprise for me!

I'll admit when we first brought her home I was nervous and thought “What did we do?” We have two cats and I was a little nervous about how she would interact with them because of all the stereotypes surrounding the aggressive nature of the Pit Bull. The Humane Society puts all their potential adoptable animals through a series of scenarios to see how they interact with other dogs, cats, children, etc. and they assured me she would be fine with our cats. Of course the first couple days there was a lot of smelling and getting to know one another but the cats put Sierra in her place and they love her!

She is also fantastic around people. In fact, I don't think she has met anyone she does not like! I took Sierra with me to my mother’s house for Thanksgiving. She has a huge Irish wolfhound named Jasper and was extremely nervous for us to come up and visit since Jasper is the only dog of the house. Sierra and Jasper got along great! It was fun to watch them get to know each other especially since Jasper is 150 pounds and Sierra is 45!

Around Christmas we had our family down to visit and have dinner. Among them was my two nieces ages 4 and 7. I cautioned my brother that I was not sure how Sierra was with children and I think he was a little nervous about introducing his girls to my “Pit Bull.” Sierra loved them and where the girls were, there was Sierra playing and following them all around.

The floor is her territory so if you sit on the floor be prepared for a 45 pound lap dog ready to give lots of kisses!

Now that I have Sierra I cannot imagine my life without her. Since adopting her I am now a firm believer that stereotypes are just that, stereotypes. Any dog, no matter size or breed, can be dangerous so you should always adopt your next pet from a professional that can match you with the perfect fit. I recommend the Baltimore Humane Society and keep in mind, just because the sign on the pen may say Pit Bull does not mean you should walk past without introducing yourself!

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