This morning while eating a relaxing Sunday morning breakfast, my 9 year old daughter noticed a dog sitting in the street. It ran off when she tried to approach, but she’s a huge animal lover, so she patiently sat there, using food to lure the dog closer and closer. As soon as the dog got close and came to trust her a little, the dog just collapsed in my daughter’s arms. It was like she was saying, “Thank goodness I’ve found someone who cares!”
So we brought her inside, she ate a lot, drank a lot, immediately became fast friends with our dog, got beat up by the cat, and seems quite content. She is a brindle and white pit bull, or maybe a mix, with those ugly cropped ears. She is totally friendly, now that she’s not scared anymore, and loves playing with tennis balls with the kids.
We took her to the Humane Society to have her checked for a chip, but there was none. They say she is 8 months old, and that her ears were not done by a professional (i.e. a vet) but rather probably by someone with scissors. Horrible! They think she was likely dumped since she is no longer a cute little puppy.
Now what do I do? I already have a dog, 2 cats, 4 kids, and we are planning to go on vacation in a few weeks. Now what do I do?
You’ve done the right thing. You can of course leave her at the shelter, and no one could condemn you for that – I’ve done it myself in the recent past.
But I hated having to do it. Generally any dog’s best chance is with the family she’s already with, rather than the hope of finding another.
good on your daughter for rescueing the pup. what ever y’all decide, the puppy is now safe, comfortable, fed, watered, and loved. that is so very much better than in the street scared and hungry.
How cool that your daughter cared enough to try to help the dog. I think that shows very good character, a lot of compassion.
Pit bulls are the most mistreated breed out there nowadays. They have a hard time finding homes in shelters because so many people are afraid of them and think they’re all vicious. As you’ve seen, though, they’re not monsters. Pit bulls were bred to fight other dogs but also to be docile to humans (so their owners could handle them at the dog fights).
Some people do say that because pit bulls were bred to fight other dogs that they should not be allowed to be unsupervised with other animals even though they love people.
For that reason, if I were you, I would probably try to get the pit bull used to a crate so that you can crate him when you’re not at home with him just for peace of mind when he’s an adult. That’s not really such a big deal though. I crate my cockapoo even though I’m not worried about her hurting my cats just to make sure she doesn’t pee all over the house when I’m not able to watch her.
If someone will walk me (slowly and gently) through the process of how to post pictures, I’d be happy to. It is necessary, as I may need help coming up with a name. We’ve been calling her Sugar, but surely we can come up with something better.
I hope you keep her. If you do decide that she can’t stay, please look for a rescue or a no kill shelter. In many areas any dog that looks even remotely like a pitbull will be euthanized, friendly or not.
