tavi
10-11-2010, 03:58 PM
A briddle pitbull showed up at my mothers work about a month ago. She works outside in an open area, so the dog just wandered up from the highway. For the first day, she and her co-workers didn’t pay her much attention in hopes that she would go away. She was making the customers a little nervous, understandably, since she was a completely strange dog and a strange dog of any breed can be a bit unsettling. Her temperament was very fearful, and a customer even commented that he wouldn’t return until the “unstable dog” was gone.
The next day, however, my mother discovered that she had laid down in one of their sheds and was too weak to even stand. From that point on, my mother took food to work for her every day and tried for a week strait to find a new home for her. Eventually, she warmed up to the people that worked there, and they realized that she was a very loving dog, just scared. After a week, and after finding out that all shelters in the area put dogs down after just seven days, my mother brought her home.
We previously had a pitbull and boxer mix, who was the smartest and sweetest dog I’ve ever seen. She was loved by the entire neighborhood. So we thought that we had a little experience with breeds such as this and could handle it- We certainly didn’t want to turn her over to any of those shelters. We named her Layla, started fattening her up, and she has a vet appointment pending.
She is a full breed, though. A friend of ours who previously raised pitbulls told us that she’s still young, has had one litter, and the scars on her legs were likely from being chained for an extended period. He said that she was likely used for pups, then disregarded. She is completely fine with our two small lap dogs and doesn’t really pay them too much attention. A hound next door barks constantly, and she never even so much as barks back. She doesn’t bark at visitors, or pay any attention to the horses. She eats very gently from your hand, and will lay on your lap for as long as you allow her. She sits on command, and today, she rolled over for me too! She likes to chase cats though, which worried us a little bit at first. Then we seen her chase one, actually catch up to it.. And instead of trying to grab it or something violent, she just ran along side it as if she didn’t know what else to do! We have not seen any sign of aggression from her. She has growled a few times (three in remembrance), but that was followed by wagging her trail and trying to get our attention, so we assume that’s just her way of saying “Hey! Look at me!” She doesn’t chew things up and is generally just a very, very well behaved dog. It’s almost as if she’s appreciative.
I suppose I wrote this, and found this forum today, because I realized this evening what a vast change she has gone through both physically and emotionally. She was once too scared to approach us without a lot of prompting, now she runs right up and flops down on your lap, trying to lick your face. I have no idea what her past is like- There are scars on her legs, as I mentioned, and a few on her head. She studies things instead of barking at them. With meat on her bones now, she’s turned into a very stout girl. The only thing she’s been aggressive towards was her stuffed monkey (she ripped it apart, it did not last long.) I hope that people can learn to view these types of dogs on a case to case basis. My mother is and always has been afraid of every type of dog (she was attacked by a charpay when she was younger) but she put Layla in the truck with her and they rode home side my side- Had my mother not given her this chance, I’m sure that she wouldn’t be with us today, which is extremely saddening. She’s a great dog.
The next day, however, my mother discovered that she had laid down in one of their sheds and was too weak to even stand. From that point on, my mother took food to work for her every day and tried for a week strait to find a new home for her. Eventually, she warmed up to the people that worked there, and they realized that she was a very loving dog, just scared. After a week, and after finding out that all shelters in the area put dogs down after just seven days, my mother brought her home.
We previously had a pitbull and boxer mix, who was the smartest and sweetest dog I’ve ever seen. She was loved by the entire neighborhood. So we thought that we had a little experience with breeds such as this and could handle it- We certainly didn’t want to turn her over to any of those shelters. We named her Layla, started fattening her up, and she has a vet appointment pending.
She is a full breed, though. A friend of ours who previously raised pitbulls told us that she’s still young, has had one litter, and the scars on her legs were likely from being chained for an extended period. He said that she was likely used for pups, then disregarded. She is completely fine with our two small lap dogs and doesn’t really pay them too much attention. A hound next door barks constantly, and she never even so much as barks back. She doesn’t bark at visitors, or pay any attention to the horses. She eats very gently from your hand, and will lay on your lap for as long as you allow her. She sits on command, and today, she rolled over for me too! She likes to chase cats though, which worried us a little bit at first. Then we seen her chase one, actually catch up to it.. And instead of trying to grab it or something violent, she just ran along side it as if she didn’t know what else to do! We have not seen any sign of aggression from her. She has growled a few times (three in remembrance), but that was followed by wagging her trail and trying to get our attention, so we assume that’s just her way of saying “Hey! Look at me!” She doesn’t chew things up and is generally just a very, very well behaved dog. It’s almost as if she’s appreciative.
I suppose I wrote this, and found this forum today, because I realized this evening what a vast change she has gone through both physically and emotionally. She was once too scared to approach us without a lot of prompting, now she runs right up and flops down on your lap, trying to lick your face. I have no idea what her past is like- There are scars on her legs, as I mentioned, and a few on her head. She studies things instead of barking at them. With meat on her bones now, she’s turned into a very stout girl. The only thing she’s been aggressive towards was her stuffed monkey (she ripped it apart, it did not last long.) I hope that people can learn to view these types of dogs on a case to case basis. My mother is and always has been afraid of every type of dog (she was attacked by a charpay when she was younger) but she put Layla in the truck with her and they rode home side my side- Had my mother not given her this chance, I’m sure that she wouldn’t be with us today, which is extremely saddening. She’s a great dog.