One thing we have wanted to do when we move is get a dog for the girls. We have a cat, Killer, a stray that adopted us a few years ago. But she's definitely a stray at heart, and mostly uses us for food. She will love on Bill, but doesn't bother much with the rest of us.
There is a program here called Paws In Prison, where shelter dogs are taken to the prisons to be trained by the inmates. My sister has a PIP dog. I thought that would be the perfect solution, a rescue dog that is already trained. But the adoption fee is steep, so we would have to save up and wait.
So that was the plan. Move, save up some money, then get a dog.
Today, my brother-in-law came home and found a dog in their carport. The dog chained to the pole. He isn't sure if someone thought it was their dog, they have a similar looking dog, or what. But there she was, a white pit bull, dirty, scrawny, and obviously having recently had a litter of pups.
She was scared, but he managed to get her to let him look at her, and give her food and water. Given the circumstances, he was pretty sure she had been dumped.
He posted about it in Facebook and my heart just went out to this poor dog. It's weird, but I instantly felt like this was meant to be our dog.
We did search the lost and found sites, and will continue to do so, but we don't think we'll be able to find an owner that is missing her. She's a pit bull... chances are she was kept for breeding and they felt she had had her last good litter and got rid of her. She doesn't appear to have been in fights herself, but she doesn't like other dogs at all. My sister has two dogs and she's not able to bring the stray inside because she's too aggressive towards them.
That worried me a bit. I have kids, obviously, I don't want to bring an aggressive dog near them. We went to go see the dog, and she couldn't have been more docile with the girls. Isabelle wasn't afraid of her at all, and she's usually nervous around dogs, if not terrified.
I talked to Bill and we're going to take the dog. She'll stay with my sister a few days while we prepare. We were going to wait until we move but it's very hot outside right now and I hate the idea of that poor dog being outside too long.
We'll probably name her Zio. After the girls, it's the first letter from each of their names. Hopefully she'll adjust well and become a nice addition to the family!
That is very compassionate of you. I would have very very strong reservations about everything to do with Zio - the breed, her past life, her aggression towards other dogs, the fact that you have youngish children. It sounds like a pretty scary and risky idea.
ReplyDeleteBut as I just bought an expensive fluffy "designer dog" I can see that we have very different ideas about what makes a nice pet!
I honestly do think it is lovely of you to be willing to help an abandoned dog. Rescuing animals is awesome. Just be careful, ok? A scared, mistreated dog can lash out unexpectedly.
Poor baby. People do suck. We had a stray pit come around here for a while earlier this year, he'd come by daily, knock (stratch) at the door, and then him and Orion (my mastiff) would play for a few hours before he'd wander back off to where he came from. They're such sweet dogs and it's terrible that people have used them for such horrible things and that they have an undeservedly bad reputation now.
ReplyDeleteAlso, she doesn't look like a full-blooded pit bull, she looks more like a pit-lab mix.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, people suck...but, it was nice of you to give this dog a chance. Most people freak out when they hear "pit bull" and assume that the dog is going to eat your face off while your sleeping. My husband and I rescued a pit bull-terrier mix almost three years ago and she is the sweetest, most loyal and loving dog I have ever met. She's never shown an ounce of aggression toward anyone and she's been such a blessing to us, I can't imagine our lives without my sweet girl. I hope Zio turns out to be the same thing for your family!
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