TRANSCRIPT

Tiffani: Hey girl, what you up to?

Janellie: Hey girl, what’s up? Nothing much, just here cooking.

Tiffani: Cooking.

Janellie: How about you?

Tiffani: Me? Well I actually just finished eating dinner. I was starving, so my mom and I went to get some food. So now I’m just kinda relaxing in my room, watching some T.V. and stuff. So, yeah.

Janellie: Nice.

Tiffani: Yeah. Well I thought about you guys today because one of my neighbors, he runs kind of like a dog training center? Like he has-

Janellie: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Tiffani: … a huge backyard, so every day while I’m working at my desk I see all of these dogs going past my window with him walking them. So I thought about you guys. I know you guys have a dog and you love pets. So I was gonna ask you, you know, when did you guys start liking pets? Or like when did you guys start falling in love with dogs over other animals?

Janellie: I don’t know…I mean… it’s been like years and years, for me, because my … I grew up with pets.

Tiffani: Oh really?

Janellie: Like my mom and my dad always were rescuing animals. If it wasn’t rescuing dogs, it was rescuing kittens. And if it wasn’t kittens, it was birds. I mean, you name it, we’ve had it.

Tiffani: Oh, wow.

Janellie: Yeah. (laughing)

Tiffani: What kind of dog, um, do you guys have right now?

Janellie: Um, I have a pit bull right now.

Tiffani: Oh, oh, oh. You know in America some of the Americans are scared of pit bulls. What made you get a pit bull?

Janellie: Um, actually, you know, it’s really sad because a lot of people think that a breed-

Tiffani: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Janellie: … um actually has some semblance into what character or personality the dog has.

Tiffani: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Janellie: But really it’s all about the type of owner that a breed has.

Tiffani: Mm. Mm.

Janellie: And it doesn’t really … some people are really scared of pit bulls because, you know, some owners have treated pit bulls badly and they have reacted bad. But pit bulls are just like really sweet, loving dogs. They’re like little cuddle bugs. They like to cuddle and they’re really, you know, chill and really loving.

Tiffani: Yeah. You know I … actually, I can feel that. One of my closest friends, her and her husband, they had two pit bulls and before I hung out with them, I also had that kind of in the back of my mind that pit bulls were dangerous dogs, because of what you see on the news and all of these stories. But, my friend, her two dogs, I mean, for years I would always go to their house and hang out and I was always around their dogs, and like you said, they were very lovable. They always wanted to cuddle. I mean, they were big dogs. So at the time when I’d go to their house and they’d sit on my lap, I mean, it was- it was heavy.

Janellie: (laughing)

Tiffani: (laughing) They were some heavy dogs, but they were really like … my fear or even apprehension towards pit bulls actually went away when I went to her house. So yeah, I can feel that. I can feel that.

Janellie: Good. Yeah. I’m a big advocate for pit bulls now, because I have one.

Tiffani: Yeah. How old is your dog now?

Janellie: She is going on 11 months.

Tiffani: Oh wow. She’s growing fast!

Janellie: And-

Tiffani: I saw a picture, she’s growing.

Janellie: I know. It’s so sad, I want her to stay a puppy forever. Just don’t grow up. (laughing)

Tiffani: Yeah. Does she have any-

Janellie: But actually-

Tiffani: Hm.

Janellie: … oh, sorry. No, actually it’s kind of cool that you told me about the trainer, um, near your house because we’ve been training her a lot lately.

Tiffani: Oh really?

Janellie: Mm-hmm (affirmative). We’ve been taking her to some training classes and we’ve been teaching her basic commands-

Tiffani: Yeah.

Janellie: … as well as some advanced commands.

Tiffani: Oh, wow. So will she do like the-

Janellie: Yeah, I’ve very-

Tiffani: … handshake, or what does she do?

Janellie: Yeah. Yeah, she can sit and stay. She can do the handshake with both paws.

Tiffani: Aw.

Janellie: Um, she can … I- I’ll put out my hand and she’ll like tap my hand with her nose.

Tiffani: Aw.

Janellie: Um, I can … now I’m trying to teach her how to pick up something that’s fallen, from the floor.

Tiffani: Oh, wow. She’s learned a lot.

Janellie: Yeah. We- we’re so excited ’cause she’s so smart.

Tiffani: Aww. I think it’s really good for the dogs, too. It’s like they have so much energy, and it’s like someone’s actually channeling that energy to learn something, so, helping them learn stuff, so that’s good.

Janellie: Yes. It’s really helped a lot with her attention and just being a good dog. I want her to be a good advocate and a good example for pit bulls, because I don’t want people to be afraid of her.

Tiffani: Yeah. Well you sound like you’re an amazing owner.

Janellie: Well, you know, I try.

Tiffani: (laughing) That’s what’s up. That’s what’s up.

Janellie: (laughing)