American Pitbull Terrier.

I was volunteering in a shelter and I met him there. He was anxious and barked non stop when he was by himself, and as a result, no visitors wanted to interact with him. I was afraid of him at first. But another volunteer wrote a note on the back of his kennel that said ' he seems wild in his kennel but is really nice once you take him outside." So I surmounted my fear and took him out. He turned out to be really nice once you spent some time with him, and we bonded.

After knowing him for two months, I adopted him and took him home. The barking stopped completely. However, he wasn't obedient at that time, and there were some rough patches at first, but with the help of a behaviorist, we changed things around.

It took me months to start to understand him. Now, we read each other perfectly, in tune with each other's every thought and feeling. I learned about dog selectivity, and how to know how he feels about any given dog. (Thankfully, he is consistently good with little ones.) It also turned out that he is very gentle with small children.

I keep him leashed always when outside. Although he loves all humans, I exercise common sense care with other people. We are careful with dogs, and avoid cats.