by Tammi Graciano

Tammi with Sera, her boxer/pit mix adopted from Animal Allies four years ago. "She is the dopiest, sweetest dog on the planet!"

With so many adorable puppies waiting to be adopted, the thought of bringing home a pit-bull mix never crosses most people's minds. The negative press and stories of attacks can actually make the idea quite scary, and at the least, "irresponsible." With a daughter and five cats, I certainly didn't have any plans on adopting a pit bull when I decided it was time to add a dog to our family. However, seven years and two pit-bull mixes later, I'm actually known for my "I Love Pit Bulls" attitude.

If you think it couldn't happen to you, here's my eye-opening story of the unexpected breed that stole our hearts forever.

Seven years ago, I began searching petfinder.org for a puppy. I had put no thought in to exactly what type of dog I was looking for. But was just waiting for that "something special" to catch my eye. I'd been volunteering for years and made sure to check out all the shelter dogs, but I just couldn't find "the one."

Then one day while making a routine search online, I found myself looking into the hazel eyes of a gorgeous, red-colored puppy that just took my breath away. It was love at first sight, but in the back of my mind was a nagging thought that he had a little bit of a "pit-bull look."

He was actually listed as Doberman/lab mix, so I applied and went to visit him. He was so sweet, and absolutely adorable, but looked enough like a pit bull for concern. So I visited a few other puppies that the rescue had to offer, but just couldn't get the hazel-eyed dog out of my mind. I showed his picture to everyone I knew, including my friends in animal rescue. "Do you think he's a pit bull"? I must have asked two dozen times. I was always told that pit bulls weren't family pets. They would eat your cats & terrorize your children. My daughter was only four at the time - just about the age you seem to hear all the terrible stories about.

Well nobody could tell if he was or wasn't. We all just knew he was a mixed breed puppy that was dumped off in a box in front of a shelter in New York and left for someone else to deal with. After I did some research on pit bulls, we decided to trust my intuition and to give him chance. We adopted him and brought him home! We took him the doggie park (Amazingly, he did not eat any of the other dogs), I jogged with him, (He did not drag me away to maul a toddler) and my daughter even enjoyed "dressing him up." (He never flinched) He excelled in puppy obedience classes. I was more then delighted at what a wonderful and gentle companion he was.

Then one afternoon about a year later, I saw this big, plump ridiculously cute puppy in PetSmart who was up for adoption through a local rescue group. I questioned her breeding and was told that she was a Boxer/pit bull mix. By this time, that information didn't even faze me. In fact, it was a good thing. I ended up applying and taking her a home a few days later. Turns out, I have the best two dogs! They protect, love & obey us. My dogs are what I define as the epitome of a great family dogs.

Over the years, I've gone on to foster pit-bull puppy after pit-bull puppy. My daughter is now 11 and I have a son who is 2 and they both enjoy playing with the puppies, helping to socialize and train them while they await their "forever home." Dozens have gone on to be adopted and have grown into wonderful adult dogs.

When deciding to adopt, keep in mind that many puppies rescued from large cities and urban areas that end up in our local shelters are some type of pit bull mix. But that certainly doesn't mean they will grow up to be bad dogs by default. I encourage you to have an unprejudiced mind and consider opening your heart to these gems in the rough. If you are like me, you may be pleasantly surprised at what a great dog you get!