10/02/2026
OCTOBER IS NATIONAL PIT BULL AWARENESS MONTH ❤️🐾
If you know me, you know that pit bulls hold an incredibly special place in my heart. Some of the biggest, most important parts of my life have big heads, goofy smiles, and a history that people are often too quick to judge.
October is National Pit Bull Awareness Month, and I think it’s so important to use this month to talk about these dogs for what they REALLY are not what society has decided they are.
Because behind every label is a dog.
A dog who wants to be loved.
A dog who wants to feel safe.
A dog who wants to play, explore, cuddle, learn, and be someone’s best friend.
A dog who deserves to be judged as an individual.
❤️ And I have two very special reminders of that.. Savannah and Bailey. ❤️
🐾 Savannah was my first pit bull and one of the dogs who changed my entire life. She has taught me so much about rescue dogs, trust, patience, and unconditional love.
Savannah isn’t some scary stereotype.
She’s my girl.
She’s the dog who has been there through so many chapters of my life. She’s stubborn, she’s sassy, she’s got a personality bigger than herself, and she has absolutely no problem letting everyone know what she thinks. 😂
But she’s also loving, loyal, affectionate, goofy, and incredibly special to me.
She has taught me that sometimes the dogs who have been through the most need the most patience. You can’t always expect a dog to immediately trust you, immediately understand you, or immediately feel comfortable in every situation.
Sometimes you have to meet them where THEY are.
You have to give them time.
You have to listen to their body language.
You have to respect their boundaries.
And most importantly, you have to show them that the world can be a safe place.
Then there’s my boy Bailey. ❤️
Bailey is the definition of a lovable bull in a china shop. 😂 He’s goofy, clumsy, energetic, affectionate, and somehow manages to turn even the simplest thing into an adventure.
He’s the kind of dog who makes you laugh when you don’t feel like laughing, The kind of dog who doesn’t understand personal space, The kind of dog who can look at you with those eyes and make you forget whatever you were upset about five minutes earlier.
And Bailey has reminded me over and over again that pit bulls aren’t the one-dimensional dogs people sometimes make them out to be.
They have personalities.
They have preferences.
They have fears.
They have quirks.
They have different temperaments.
They have different experiences.
Just like every other breed.
And that’s something I wish more people understood.
There is no single “pit bull personality.”
Breed alone cannot tell you everything about an individual dog.
A dog’s behavior is influenced by many things genetics, early socialization, environment, learning history, health, handling, experiences, and the individual dog themselves.
And yes, responsible ownership matters.
Training matters.
Management matters.
Socialization matters.
Understanding your individual dog matters.
Knowing your dog’s limits matters.
Keeping your dog and the people around them safe matters.
Loving a dog does NOT mean pretending they have no flaws or never need boundaries.
It means understanding them well enough to help them succeed.
It means being responsible for the dog you chose.
It means advocating for them instead of expecting the world to simply accept every behavior.
It means giving them structure, enrichment, patience, and guidance.
And it means remembering that a dog is not a stereotype.
I’ve met so many dogs throughout my life and through my work, and one thing I’ve learned is that you cannot look at a dog and know their entire story.
You don’t know where they came from.
You don’t know what they’ve experienced.
You don’t know what they’ve been taught.
You don’t know what they’re afraid of.
You don’t know what they’ve overcome.
You don’t know how much love they have left to give.
And you certainly can’t know who they are just by looking at them.
Pit bulls are often judged before they’ve even had the opportunity to be themselves.
People cross the street.
People stare.
People make comments.
People assume they’re aggressive.
People assume they’re dangerous.
People assume they’re unpredictable.
And sometimes people assume the worst simply because of how a dog looks.
But ask someone who has loved one.
someone who has rescued one.
someone who has spent years learning their dog’s individual language.
Ask someone who has watched a once frightened dog finally trust them.
Ask someone who has slept beside a sick dog, cried over one, celebrated birthdays with one, raised one, trained one, rescued one, or simply had their life changed by one.
They’ll tell you that these dogs are so much more than the stereotype.
❤️ Savannah and Bailey are more than their breed.
They are my family.
They are personalities.
They are memories.
They are lessons.
They are laughter.
They are comfort.
They are my entire world
They are two completely different dogs with completely different personalities who just happen to share a label that the world has already decided means it knows who they are.
But it doesn’t.
I do.
And I will always advocate for them.
This month isn’t about pretending every pit bull is perfect. No breed is.
It’s about awareness, education, responsible ownership, compassion, and giving individual dogs a chance to be seen for who they actually are.
It’s about learning instead of assuming.
It’s about understanding instead of judging.
It’s about recognizing that responsible ownership and breed advocacy go hand in hand.
And it’s about remembering that every dog deserves to be treated as an individual.
So this October, hug your pitties a little tighter. ❤️
Celebrate the goofy smiles.
The giant heads.
The wiggle butts.
The snoring.
The cuddles.
The zoomies.
The stubbornness.
The ridiculous personalities.
The dogs who think they’re lap dogs despite being 60+ pounds. 😂
Celebrate the rescue dogs who found their forever homes.
Celebrate the families who gave them a chance.
Celebrate the people who are doing the work to educate themselves, train responsibly, advocate for their dogs, and help change the way these dogs are viewed.
And most importantly…
Look past the label.
See the dog.
Savannah isn’t “a pit bull.”
Bailey isn’t “a pit bull.”
They’re Savannah and Bailey.
And to me, they’re two of the greatest gifts I’ve ever been given. ❤️🐾
Happy National Pit Bull Awareness Month. ❤️
LOVE THEM. LEARN ABOUT THEM. RESPECT THEM. TRAIN THEM. ADVOCATE FOR THEM. And most importantly see them for who they are🥹❤️🩹
