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We have very recently adopted an adult pit bull/? mix from a nearby animal shelter. We had all of the bad stigmas in our head when we walked in.This day they only had adult dogs to show, no puppies .Boss was the first in a line of about 9 or 10. We walked up and down the row quite a few times and I kept trying not to think about the quiet, massive dog with sad eyes in the first cage. My husband and I kept commenting to each other about how he looks like a complete monster, a head bigger than mine and a nasty, huge raw spot on his hind leg from being eaten up with fleas. I still couldnt consider a pit bull but I wanted to get a little closer to say hello and see if he would bark agressively like the other dogs. So I slowly walked up and placed my hand against the top of his cage, which shook when he hopped up on hind legs to lick my fingers (and give more sad eyes of course.) Although I was afraid to even approach his cage, I couldn’t help but kind of melt when he silently hopped up to say hello. The shelter worked strolled through, and asked my husband if we would like to take Boss to one of the acquaintance rooms to see if he would be a match. I knew he wouldnt be, but I felt pretty safe with my husband there and wanted to see what would happen. The worker opened up his cage and attached a leash and we began to make our way past all of the other cages full of adult dogs who were agressively barking and growling. Boss stopped at each one to sniff and moved on, as if he were saying “How uncivilized!” My husband and I knew that was a good sign as we walked into the room. My eyebrows shot up as the worker said he would leave us alone with the dog for a while to see if we wanted him. Noticing my apprehension, he smiled before walking out the door and said that we have nothing to worry about with this one, he’s a good boy. The door closed and we were alone…in a tiny room…with a ferocious monster who I knew was giving me the sad eyes so that I would take him home and he could eat my young. He ran up to greet us, grazing our legs and a little too overexcited for my comfort. “Sit boy!” my husband blurted out, and to our amazement, he did! We looked at each other in awe. We have never had a dog who would sit on command. Feeling only a little less scared, I grabbed an orange ball and rolled it gently across the floor to see if maybe he would play. He quickly got up to put the entire thing in his mouth and drop it at my feet. This was getting crazy. The worker came back in and said “Oh yeah, he shakes too!” Boss demonstrated his shaking skills and got a treat. We decided if we were going to take one of them home, it would be him. He seemed so gentle, and so in need of a good home and family. We looked over his paperwork, no name, no knowledge of previous family, brought in by a citizen who found him on I-44 eaten up with fleas bites. He would come home with us. We loaded him up into the backseat of my tiny red sportcar and hoped he would stay there. He nearly did. He put his head about half an inch away from mine the entire uncomfortable ride home, which included a nasty sneeze and several terrifying yawns which kept prompting my husband to comment about how that dog could eat my entire head. We finally arrived home and after a few exclaimations about how we made it alive, we opened the car doors. He bolted out of the car, giving my quite strong husband a run for his money right to the front door. He is such a huge part of our family already, and people are getting sick of me talking about how when I lay down on the couch he comes to sit in front of me on the floor and puts his head down by mine. Or how he whines to sit on my lap for a belly rub, not knowing that he isnt a 10 lb puppy. He turned out to be completely housebroken and our biggest problems with Boss are summed up by rare bad toy behavior and an affinity for burrowing in between my husband and I when we are trying to sleep. He’s very obedient for the most part and loves affection so I find myself wondering where the family is who took care of him, and if he is still heartbroken about their absence. I feel guilty for saying that I think this monster dog belongs with us, no matter which path brought him there. I still get a little scared of him sometimes, such as the time when he let out his first bark. He rarely barks and let out the first gutteral bark when sitting beside me on the couch with his head directly behind mine. I nearly peed myself. Having Boss is an adventure, and every day he is breaking down stereotypes of what kind of dog a pit bull is, forcing us to look past appearances and into the reality of having a gentle giant. And for my family, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
This is a wonderful story, it is a lot like mine. I found Lillie, and have never had a dog, let alone a pitbull, I have 3 cats for crying out loud!I found myself laughing at the things you’re going through, because all pitbull’s do those exact same things! From the bark, to the wiggling their way between you and what or whoever is between you and them, they are great dogs, and there will be many things that you will laugh histerically at, they’re the clowns of the dog world, and it seems that you found the perfect friend for your family. Congratulations, and never stop loving your big moose/ox (depending on your view, mine is an ox, and tramples me regularly :), I don’t know what it is about these dogs that makes them believe they are 70 lb. lap dogs, but, I wouldn’t have it any other way!) Another site you may like, that has lots of good info, and cute pics and poems is http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com scroll down to “inspirations”, and under “pet pitbulls” tab.
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