Don’t judge all pit bulls after brutal UPS attack

Listening to the 911 call  yesterday of the UPS driver in Pierce County as he was attacked by pit bulls was horrifying. It revived the heated debate about “aggressive” dog breeds.

I’m so glad that the driver had his cell phone and was able to escape. I also believe what the owners of those dogs did is criminal. In that instance, that pack of pit bulls was a deadly weapon.

RELATED: Woman prevents rescue of UPS driver under attack by dogs

But I’d like to encourage everyone to pump the brakes on having a knee-jerk reaction to banishing an entire breed.

I went on a walk today with my canine pal Louis. He’s a pit, and he’s an awesome dog; handsome, loyal, and obedient. No doubt he’s a powerful pup. When we play tug of war, he can darn near pull me across the room. But here’s the thing, when it’s time to stop or time to release the toy, I just have to give the command, and Louis obeys.

Amazing, right?

Turns out, when you take the time to train your dog, you have a well-behaved dog.

Ron Upshaw and Louis, a pit bull mix. (Courtesy of Ron Upshaw)

My old dog Lulu was not a pit, but she was way more aggressive than Louis. I’ve never been scared when hanging out with Louis. A dog wandered onto my property back in the day. When Lulu saw it, she charged and went on the attack. She was super territorial and I had to physically pull her off of the other dog. It was frightening. I was freaked out with how quickly things got out of control. The other dog was shaken up, but not injured.

Lulu was a Catahoula Hound. She was also super sweet and loyal and goofy. But in the right circumstances, she could be aggressive. Does that mean that all Catahoula Hounds are aggressive? Clearly not.

I get it that big, powerful dogs can be intimidating. But a lot of stuff in this world is big and powerful and intimidating. Aren’t we really talking about a human problem and not a dog problem?

In the UPS driver story, the dog owners admit that they specifically trained those dogs to be vicious. They just happened to be pits. They could have easily been German Shepherds or Dobermans. It was the human that purposefully trained the dogs to attack.

So where does this leave us? If you’ve been bitten or scared by a pit bull, my argument may not convince you to change your mind. I understand that.

But at least do me a favor and check out our Facebook page and read about all the amazing dogs – amazing pit bulls – that are important members of families here in the Pacific Northwest.

The bottom line is that — yes – you can train certain breeds of dogs to attack and even kill. But you can also train those same dogs to sit, shake, and be your best friend. It’s up to their guardians.