ATTN: DOG LOVERS! We Are Fostering Two Awesome Dogs That Need A Good Home (Or Homes). Please Help!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Posted with moderator approval …

Hi Dog Lovers!

Spiny Norman and I are fostering two dogs that belong to a neighbor who can’t (read: won’t) keep them anymore. When she and her husband had a baby a year ago, they locked their two beloved dogs (Lola (the brindle), who is 8, and Duke (the beige one), who is 4) in the cement back yard … and kept them there day and night.

Feeding consisted of opening a 35lb bag of dog food and letting them free graze from it until the bag was empty. It was a really, really sad life. :frowning:

In March I met a roommate of theirs who told me about the dogs’ plight. Given the length of time they were kept back there without being let out, I’m sure you can imagine how nasty that yard was. Petrified piles of dog poo were everywhere, not to mention the steaming fresh piles and streams of pee all over the concrete.

At first I started walking them with the roommate every morning. Then she found a new place to rent, and Spiny walked them with me every evening. When the poop in the yard kept accumulating we increased our walking schedule to twice a day, which helped a lot.

Then week before last the owners told us they’d decided to get rid of them. They let us take them home until a new home can be found for them, which makes the walking schedule easier on us and gives the dogs a much better life in the meantime.

But we simply cannot keep them ourselves. We live in a tiny beach cottage (only 800sf!) with a very small yard and even smaller patio. There is no proper fencing to keep them safely in the yard, and while the patio is screened in and they couldn’t get out from there, we screened it in so our (also rescue) cats could safely enjoy the outside, and now they won’t go out there, which is making us really sad for them because they love it so much.

They are really, really good dogs. They original owners had them both since puppyhood and have trained them really well to obey many commands, including to sit and stay when other dogs are passing nearby, to come when called, to stop at intersections where there is a traffic light, etc. They are affectionate and loving and very well-behaved.

Here’s an online album with more pictures and more of their story.

Dopers have come through for us in the past, adopting a kitten we rescued, so we really hope there’s someone (or someones) out there who might help us again. For those who don’t know, we are in the Los Angeles area. We have contacted the local rescue group both by phone and by email and have not heard back in well over a week. I also have an email plea out to Cheri Lucas, also with no response (yet — I’m sure she’s busy).

Thank you so, so, very much in advance.

Shayna (Jill) & Spiny Norman (Thomas)

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P.S. If you can’t personally help with the dogs themselves, if you would post this plea to your Facebook page and/or Tweet it to your followers, that would also be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!

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What breed are they? I’m on my phone and the pics are rather small.
Also do they both have to go to the same home or can someone adopt just one?

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They are purebred (which is better) American Pit Bull Terriers.

Pit bulls score better on temperament tests than the general dog population

They can be separated, but if they are, they should be continually socialized around other dogs via walks, etc.

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Done! :slight_smile:

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Thank you, my friend. :cool:

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Posted to Facebook & Twitter. I don’t know a lot of people in Los Angeles, but my circle of friends is geographically diverse. You don’t necessarily need a lot of eyes on it, just the right ones. I hope you find them a good home.

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I’m really in no position to be able to give the dogs a home, but I love pit bulls and these two sound like really nice dogs, and I wish you the best of luck. :slight_smile:

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I’m in Tennessee and I don’t have any friends in the area, but I wish you the best of luck. I also love pits and they look like a couple of sweethearts. Way to go, helping them. You’re doing a great thing.

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Thank you so much. That really means a lot to me.

Thank you, Emily. They are super nice dogs.

Thank you, miss elizabeth. We just couldn’t let them wallow in that squalor anymore. They really are so, so sweet. It will be hard to let them go, but they deserve a big yard and a house they can come into with their family. They’re just way too big for ours. :frowning:

Lola is already heel-trained, but Duke is a puller, so today we took them out to a big, open field in Palos Verdes and practiced this technique with him and he really took to it quickly. He breaks out of it now and then, but this was just the first day of training, and it will take a lot more repetition and consistency, but we were really proud of how he did for his first try.

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First of all, thank you for taking in and taking care of these dogs! I don’t understand people like your neighbors, but sadly encounter people like them far to often in my work with pit bull rescue here in Sacramento. My group is Chako Pit Bull Rescue, but we are mostly in Northern California.

Have you checked out the resources at Pit Bull Rescue Central. Lots of information and networking resources. You also might be able to find resources (and possible new homes) by checking out Los Angeles Responsible Pit Bull Owners group.

Have you considered making them their own Facebook page and sharing it around? I would certainly be happy to post it to all my dog rescue people. Good luck! And feel free to PM me if you want.

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Shayna and Thomas, this is going on my facebook page and to my close friends who, while they may be here in Illinois, would move heaven and earth to help these dogs - they’re Pit lovers themselves. I’ll PM you if I hear something.

God love ya for what you’re doing - I wish I could take them - and I’d pay for their airfare - but I’m afraid the Baby wouldn’t like it. :smiley:

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Have you tried BADRAP?

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I don’t live in California any more, but I posted it to my Facebook and tagged my niece the vet tech in Antelope Valley! She knows a lot of people!

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It’s mind-boggling what people will do to their once-beloved pets. They adopted these dogs as puppies and took them everywhere with them. Then as soon as they had a baby, they were sent into solitary confinement without any human interaction, let alone love and cuddling. Not even regular walks! I Just. Don’t. Get it.

I had not. Thank you for the lead. I just spent over an hour reading through their site and have some ideas, but no time any more tonight, so I’ll contact them tomorrow.

They don’t seem to be the kind of organization that helps find homes for bullies, but organizes people who already own them. But I’ll reach out and see if they have any suggestions. Thanks for this one, too.

I also registered with Pit Bull Chat Forums, but discovered that they don’t allow “advertising” your own (or foster) dogs for adoption, since there are so many pit bulls in shelters that need adopting.

We had not, so Thomas just set that up. Great idea — Thanks!

A million billion thanks, Missy2U! And I can see why Baby wouldn’t be too happy with a new doggie in the house. That’s one heckofa baby! Gorgeous.

Hi sailboat! Long time no talk! We have not tried them, if only because they are out of our area. But if necessary, we might have to expand our circle, so thanks for the tip!

That is so awesome, Cheez_Whia! A gazillion thanks to you, too!

We have a vet appointment tomorrow, so I’ll see if my vet can help us, too.

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Yeah, I think it’s a common issue; one of the boards I frequent is quite specific that they will allow you to post only dogs whom you are personally responsible for, simply because otherwise they’d be flooded with links to hard-luck cases being shared around from various social networks.

Those are good-looking dogs. Hopefully you can place them together to minimize their loss of family.

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Thank you — I hope so, too.

Duke has broken out in what looked like a rash on his tummy, and he’s been biting furiously at his feet since before we brought him home, so I took him to the vet today. Turns out it wasn’t a rash, but pustules from an infection that was caused by an allergic reaction to something, most likely the fleas he had. I spent $191 just at the vet’s office between the office visit and medication (he needs to be on antibiotics and an antihistamine and steroid combo). And we had to buy him new food, epsom salts to soak his feet in, and Greenies pill pockets to give him 4 pills at a time twice a day for two weeks.

When I texted the original owner and told her the diagnosis and cost and asked if they would help with the bill, she told me since I didn’t consult with her first, we were on our own because … get this … she would never have taken him to the vet for a rash like that, she’d have taken him to Petco and gotten something over the counter. And the vet is being overly dramatic and trying to rip us off to make money. She knows because he always gets rashes when he lays in grass for long periods of time.

Lady, your dog doesn’t have a rash, he has an INFECTION. The doctor said it was clearly something that had been festering for a long time, that no way would he have those kind of sores from something that just came on.

And for the record, your dog doesn’t lay in grass for long periods of time. Hell, your dog doesn’t lay in grass at all. He lounges on a blanket on top of pillows on a bench two feet off the ground during the day, and he lays on a bed at night.

Then she had the gall to tell me I could bring them back any time, but she’d have to talk to her husband.

Uhm, no. I have no intention of taking the dogs back to you. I’ve been taking care of them for months now, the last three weeks at my own house. You said you didn’t want them anymore and clearly you want no responsibility for them either, so we’ll be keeping them.

Unbelievable. (Though I have no idea why I’m surprised, given the squalor they forced these dogs to live in for a year before I got there. Bitch.)

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First, I’d also like to say how wonderful and admirable you are for taking these dogs in. Dogs are the sweetest animals on earth and deserve to be loved and cared for in return. Sounds like you’re giving them lots of love and kindness.

Secondly, Your neighbors sound like real assholes. Have you thought about getting something in writing from her saying she’s given up the dogs to you? I’d be worried that she’d try to take them back at some point. I know she doesn’t want them anymore but if she’s still actively trying to find them a new home, from past and present behavior, she’s not really gonna care or be sure it will be a good home for them as long as they’re gone. Verbal agreements can turn into a she said he said kind of thing, especially when dealing with someone like her.

Technically, they still belong to her, right? Just a thought … Just speaking from past bad experiences with people like her.

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I love Pitties, but they are illegal to own in my stupid city. Good luck!

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Thank you, IaMoDiNaRy. And you’re exactly right about her. I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her (and since she weighs at least twice as much as I do, that would be nowhere).

She had the gall to tell me last night via text message that I should bring the dogs back to her. I responded that since she not only doesn’t want the dogs anymore, but clearly doesn’t want to even take any responsibility for them, that ain’t gonna happen; that we are keeping the dogs. She interpreted that as our intent to keep the dogs forever and responded with syrupy sweet gratitude so thick I wanted to puke on her through the device. No, dumbass, we’re keeping the dogs FROM YOU, but we’re still working on finding them a permanent home (but I did not say that to her).

As for what she has done to find them another home: Posted one plea on Facebook three weeks ago.

That’s. It.

My next step is to have her give me any documentation she has on them along with written confirmation that she’s relinquishing custody to me so I can have their licensing information changed.