i was at a car show today, showing off my new ride (just got a new VW),
when i saw an adorable red APBT hanging out in one corner of the lot. i
went over to ask permission to say hi, and the man standing there said,
"he's her dog, ask her", and pointed to a 5 year old girl. the girl walked
over and solemnly said that yes, i could pet her dog, but i had to follow
the special rules.
"i know how to take care of pit bulls", she said. "you have to follow the
rules. first, you let her smell your hand, like this" and she held out the
back of her hand to the dog. the dog licked her. "that means she wants to
be your friend, and you can pet her. you try it now." so i did, and got a
quick lick on the hand. "good, now you can tickle behind her ears, but do
it very gently." so i gave the puppy some skritches. "that's good. see
how her foot is moving like that? that means she likes you. you have to be
very careful with pit bulls, you know, because they're very strong." i
thanked her for the very important lesson and went on to look at some more
cars.

see, they're not all bad. :-)

-kelly