Going in, I have heard all the stories about the Pit Bull breed of dogs, with their potential to be aggressive and even dangerous, but my experience with Peppa, the Pit Bull owned by my stepson Alex Arjoon, my wife Annette’s son from her previous marriage, has been a total joy in the going on two years we’ve known her.
To start with, although she’s very up on certain words – no, stay, come, upstairs, lie down, inside – she’s also very good at reading your facial expressions accurately based on reactions she has seen before. My reaching for the car keys hanging behind the front door has become an immediate signal for Peppa to bolt outside and sit by the van, tail going at a rate, by the time I get there. She’s also good at picking up Alex’s smell every time he arrives at the front gate and will take off to get there to greet the young man.
Inside the house, Peppa is often stretched out under Annette’s hammock on the verandah and will stay there quite content, but at the slightest invitation from Annette, she will launch herself, in one powerful leap, right into the hammock, totally delighted by the call.
I read on Facebook, that dogs can read our facial expressions and behave accordingly, and I have several instances of that acuity with Peppa. I am guilty of spoiling her with fingernail-size morsels at the dinner table, and she has learned to come and place her head on my lap when I’m eating, until I give in and provide something. In parallel, when I tell her “no more’ and show her my empty hands, she will immediately walk away with no more pleading.
Peppa and the all-black German Shepherd, Jet, sleep upstairs with us in the bedroom, but Peppa always ends up being under the bed, instead of on the bedding nearby….some kind of security feeling is in play that is beyond me to explain.
I have no idea of Peppa’s history before she came to us via Alex, but in light of all the “take care” warnings, I’m willing to concede that we may have an unusual dog here in her. Our experience with her is generally positive, no angst apart from a couple of short, barking sessions, with all the members of the family delighted with this bundle of joy.
