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Write a letter to a stranger you see out and about

Dear Owner of the Pit Bull My Dog Barks At,

I'd like to start by saying sorry. I have absolutely no idea why my dog (Hoban) barks at your beautiful pit bull. Your dog is so well behaved and seems to pay a great deal of attention to you which is something I envy. How did you train your dog so well? Do you have any tips? Anyways, sorry again that you now cross the street when you see us.

I am working on training with my dog and we have made some great progress. If you can imagine his reaction to your dog but every time there was a jogger, bicycle, skateboard, or nearby car then you can begin to imagine how life was for me. Recently, he's gotten a little more reactive to dogs and I'm taking some more precautions with him now. He's no longer going to greet random dogs he meets as he can sometimes be reactive in those scenarios (for the life of me I can't tell a pattern though) and I don't want him to start fearing dogs (my dog trainer said that this could happen if he kept ending up in situations that didn't go well). I am also getting him to focus on me when there is another dog and then I give him a treat so he builds up a good association with other dogs. I guess I'm telling you all of this so that you don't think I'm unaware of the problem. I work diligently with Hoban and his trainer to improve his behavior and, while we have made excellent progress, we still have a ways to go.

I often wonder into the mind of dogs. Why does my dog react to yours? He doesn't react to all pits, your dog hasn't done anything as far as I can tell, and you haven't done anything. Maybe your dog smells weird to him? Maybe my dog is somehow jealous (though not sure how this would work and I think it could be anthropomorphizing to assign jealousy to a dog but here we are)? Maybe your dog peed on something my dog had claimed as his (though I think he'd be way more reactive to many more dogs if this was the case)? How and why does my dog pick others to react to? I truly wish I knew so I could help him with it. For now, it just seems to be mostly random dogs.

Well, not all are random. There is one German Shepherd that jump scared us one night. You know those metal gate-like doors that are along my street (the street you've run into us on)? Well one night the German Shepherd was just suddenly there barking at us really aggressively and ever since then Hoban has been reactive to that dog. I cross the street when I see this dog coming because I know Hoban will react to them. Now this one I can get and can wrap my head around, but yours remains a mystery.

I have noticed how beautiful your dog is too. White with large spots of brindle and bring out one of their eyes. I love the brindle pattern and just the name in general (I kinda think Brindle would be a cute baby name to be honest) as I think it looks strikingly beautiful on dogs. I would tell you this in person if I wasn't focused on getting my dog to just calm down (maybe my dog just has too much enthusiasm for how your dog looks? Nah, that's probably not it).

Anyways, I wish you and your dog the best and maybe one day my dog won't make you cross the street. I promise that I'm working on it (remember the one time you were able to pass us without my dog reacting because I just gave him a bunch of treats? Yeah, that's the goal).

Sincerely,
The Apologetic Woman with the Way Too Barky Dog

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
"The Pit Bull Press - Pit Bull Photos" by PitBull Press

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