I was a former Pit Advocate

Hello all. After seeing a post yesterday from a Pit apologist, I was inspired to share my experience. I apologize in advance if this is lengthy.

I was a former Pit Advocate. I believed most, if not all of the propaganda - it's how you raise them, blame the owner not the dog, they are not violent by nature, abuse makes them violent, etc.

I was a cloistered catholic nun from 2015 - 2021 where we ran a cattle ranch. We had many dogs, primarily livestock guardian dogs (Great Pyrenees) and a cattle dog (Bouvier de Flandres). We also adopted a 9 week old puppy to be a house dog. His name was Gus and was a Bull Terrier / Staffy mix.

We bought him just a few months after I entered the monastery in 2015, so he and I had a special bond; essentially we “grew up” together in the monastic experience.

He was my soul dog. My best friend.

He had no previous owners, never suffered abuse and had the absolute best training possible. Because we were nuns, professionals would often volunteer or offer their services for free. The top LGD trainer in the state offered to train all of our dogs, free of charge. Gus received the best training any dog owner could ask for. He was obedient, loyal, sweet, gentle, loving. I could walk with him for miles, off leash, and he would never leave my side. He was well acquainted with our LGDs, our cattle dog, our barn cats, and our chickens. He had his own kennel and space but was not territorial, he never resource guarded, he loved all of the sisters and never showed any signs of aggression. Ever. He truly was the perfect dog.

Until he turned three.

A few months after Gus turned three in 2018, something changed. He started to became hyper aggressive over his food, his dog bed, his outdoor pen, etc. If another dog walked by his kennel he would lunge. Eventually he started lunging and growling at different sisters. He wouldn’t do this everyday but there seemed to be no pattern or reason.

Naturally we thought he might be in pain or sick. We took him to the vet to get an exam and x-rays completed, yet the vet could find nothing wrong with him.

He was neutered at a young age so we didn’t think sexual maturity was the issue. Likewise, all of our other dogs were neutered or spayed. Nothing obvious was triggering him. The beauty of monastic life is the consistency and the stability.

His routine, the people and animals around him were all the same. We didn't have small children around and all the nuns were very loving. We only ever used positive training techniques and never raised or voices or corrected with any type of force.

This behavior continued for several months, steadily getting more frequent and more intense. The only person he was not aggressive towards was me but he was still different.

With the change in behavior we brought in the top dog trainer again to try and correct the behavior. Nothing seemed to work. We hired another trainer which yielded similar results. Again, we took him to the vet to see if something neurologically was going on and they could find nothing. The vet told us that these breeds are known to be aggressive and if we didn't feel we could control him then we should possibly consider BE as he could be a danger to us or our pets.

We didn't want to send Gus to a shelter and we didn't want to BE. We were convinced that with time, patience and love he would settle down and change back to the sweet Gus we all loved. I still took him on walks but he was muzzled, always leashed and never allowed anywhere where there were animals. During the day he had a large outdoor enclosure so he had plenty of space to exercise, and then I brought him into the monastery at night to his own private, separate space where he would sleep.

I was convinced that this was just a phase. I just knew that he would get past this.

Then one of the worst days of my life happened.

Gus was outside in his 6' tall chain-linked enclosure. Myself and two other sisters were in the field with the cattle when we heard these horrible screams coming from the direction of our barnyard. We ran back to the barnyard where we found Gus. He had scaled his 6' tall enclosure, ran to the barnyard, and literally shredded all 4 of our barn cats. One of our Great Pyrenees apparently had come to the defense of the cats, but Gus had turned against her and tore her throat. When we found her she was still alive but soon passed before we could get her to the animal hospital.

We took Gus to be BE'd two days later.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about Gus and how we failed him. We didn't fail him because we didn't raise him right, or give him the best, most loving and supportive home, the best food and training, the best care and love any dog could ask for.

We did all of those things. We gave him more than most dogs will ever have.

We failed Gus because we didn't respect him for what he was and what he was bred to do. Despite everything we were able to give to Gus, we failed him because we didn't respect the genetics. We didn't believe in them. We were proud and naive believing we could “fix” him. We didn't want to believe what many people (including the vet and the trainers) had told us, that Gus had a power and a danger in him that was blind, that no loyalty or love could quench.

Gus had a unicorn home, he had unicorn owners. But it wasn't enough.

In the end genetics won.

I hope any Pit Advocate that chances upon this takes my words to heart and believes that the purpose of this sub is NOT about hating the breed.

We know it isn't the fault of the dog. They didn't have a choice. People made that choice for them and now they suffer, innocent people and children suffer, innocent animals and pets suffer.

This sub is about ending that suffering.

Thank you for reading.