Ask any pet owner and they will tell you that their pets hold a special place in their heart. Junior Savita Yopp is no different. Yopp has two dogs: a flat-coated retriever, Jake, and a pit bull mix, Lily.

“We got them both through rescue,” Yopp said. “Lily, she’s been around since I was six. I think I got her in first grade. Jake has been around since first grade.”

According to the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America, dogs like Jake are specialized for retrieving birds and small mammals on hunting trips. They’re known for their sleek build, thick black coat, and stamina, as well as strong jaws that can hold game gently and securely.

Yopp explains some of Jake’s more unique traits.

“Jake will bark at everything,” Yopp said. “He is all bark and all bite, but only with strangers.”

As for Lily, pit bulls are often stereotyped as vicious and uncontrollable, but pit bull lovers around the nation have worked to reverse these harmful generalizations. The American Pit Bull Foundation debunks many myths about these dogs, describing how pit bulls scored 82% or above on temperament tests conducted by the American Temperament Test Society, while the general dog population scored only 77%.

“The achievement of pit bulls in this study disproves that they are inherently aggressive to people,” states the website.

“Lily is such a lemon. Anything and everything will make her sick. It is ridiculous. I totally love her though,” Yopp said.

What does Yopp want people to know about her pets?

“Even though they bark a lot, they’re probably the sweetest dogs in existence,” she said.