The one good thing to come from the Michael Vick Saga...

[Draegerman]

Posted on Iceberg's board first but I still wanted to share it with all of you too.

As some of you already know about me, I was involved in a horrible car accident that ended my Army career in the Special Forces over three years ago. Being completely disabled, my life was turned upside down where even the simplest task for me was difficult to perform. I became a bit of a recluse preferring to stay inside my house most of my time. Both of my two sons were now off to college, leaving me with an empty house except for our pitbull mix to keep me company while doing my physical therapy on a daily basis. Well, as fate would have it, our pitbull (Ginger) passed about six months ago after being a part of our family for about ten years or so. I was completely lonely and had often discussed with my wife about the possibility of getting another dog to fill the void in my life. The problem was that I just wasn't really ready to get a new pet and thought it best to wait until the timing was right.

Then, about two months ago, the Vick story hit the newswires and I followed it with keen interest. Having had Ginger for ten years, I knew that her breed was constantly getting a bad rap from the media reports. The thing is though these dogs make wonderful pets and one should look no further than it's owner for how this particular breed behaves. When trained correctly, a pitbull is one of the most loving dogs a family can have. They're fiercely loyal and extremely affectionate - just an overall beautiful dog to have in your life.

Following all of the links to the Vick saga, I was able to find a specific organization that specialized in the rescue of pitbulls, bringing them back from almost certain death (since most states prefer to euthanize them rather than allow it to be adopted by needy families), with a mission statement of finding these abused animals a good home to be raised and cared for by good people who have a special understanding for this type of dog.

When I scrolled down the list of dogs that were ready for adoption, it was there that I found one that looked exactly like Ginger. With the approval of my family, I immediately sent an email to them inquiring about the adoption of the dog named "Sunny". I was contacted the next day and asked to fill out an application and within the week I was greeted by one of their inspectors who was sent to check us out and ensure that we were indeed right for this particular type of dog. The inspection went extremely well and we were given the "greenlight" for immediate adoption.

Yesterday, Sunny arrived to our home and into our lives and nothing could have made us happier than what we're feeling right now. She immediately took to all of us and has brought us nothing but pure joy so far.

So, without further delay and with thanks to Michael Vick, I present to all of you the newest addition to our family, "Sunny", (she's the 3rd dog down from the top with the link I'm providing):

http://www.ringdogrescue.org/bullies.php

 

[Kilyin]

Congrats on your new dog. She's definitely a heartbreaker. It's good to know there are still people who treat their pets with kindness and respect.

 

[skinsscalper]

If my wife would let me have another dog I would take "Brody"in a heartbeat.

SS

BTW congrats on your new companion. Pits DO get alot of bad press, but to ignore their violent nature towards other animals (dogs in particular) is foolhearty. I've been around Pits all my life and haven't seen a single one that didn't have a "surprise" moment. The simplest thing can trigger an attack from these dogs (mostly to other dogs).

I have a friend that lived down the street from a lady (POS BTW) that had two pits. The dogs were notoriously friendly to all the neighborhood kids.They got out of the yard as often as they were IN the yard. And, with a neighborhood full of kids, were never short of ball tossers or play buddies. But, one day something just snapped in one of them. My buddy's 5year old daughter was playing in her front yard one minute and the next minute, my buddy hears his daughter screaming for her life. Nobody knows exactly what prompted the first dog to attack her, but when the second dog saw what was going on he jumped right in. She was dead before my buddy could get from his alley to his front yard.

The dogs have since been euthanized and the owners (a lady and her daughter) have been convicted of negligent homocide.

Actually, I have been around ONE pitbull that didn't "snap" and injure another person or animal at some point in his life. His name was Boss and he froze to death outside during a cold Wyoming winter because the people "watching" him while my buddy was on vacation didn't want him inside with their cats (this dog was known for his uncharacteristic love of cats). He even spent the previous week over at the people's house during the evenings with Boss just to ensure to the houseowners that the dog was in no way a threat to their cats.

My buddy went to the house after returning from vacation to pick up his dog. He saw his dog's carcass frozen to the ground and chained to a fence. He lost it. He blasted through the front door and kicked the guy's *** right at his dinner table. The whole time his kids were screaming at him "I told you not to leave him outside". My buddy is lucky that the guy (or anyone in his family) didn't call the cops. He would undoubtedly be a convicted felon over that whole incident.

Anyhoo, I just realized how much I've rambled on this post. Back to your regularly scheduled program.

SS

 

[03EBZ06]

Congrats Draegerman. I wish Sunny and you best of luck.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Sunny...say hello to Dashiki (black dog on left) and Dobby (pit on right).


http://img236.*************/img236/378/dobbyanddashikiku9.jpg

Sunny looks like she could be a long lost relative.

Also we lost a female pit a couple years back. We had her for 12-13 years so it was a big blow to our family. Dobby looks just like her (although dobby is a male) .

I hope Sunny helps bring some love to your house as Dobby has to ours.

Oh and we got dobby from an animal shelter. They had to give him three flea dips before we got there as he was so infested. Someone just dropped him off on the side of the road and someone turned him in. He was malnourished and when we first got him his Ribs jutted out his side so much they looked sharp...sounds odd saying sharp but that is the only thing to come to mind.

But he is fit as a fiddle now and a great dog who is also lovable.

 

[MapleLeaf]

...to figure out. They are canines who rely heavily on the understanding of where they fit in the pack.

That's why it very common to see dogs in a family who are submissive to the father who they see as the alpha and competitive with the rest of the family.

Dogs are animals plain and simple. Many are bred with specific traits. To expect a dog to completely lose it's nature and become human is foolhardy.

Never leave your dogs alone with small children. It goes against their nature to understanding the hierarchy of the pack. If the children break the hierarchy don't be surprised to see ole lovable Snoopy give a nip or worse to the child to put them back in their place.

This behavior is often most prevalent when the dog is eating or sleeping. Never take your dogs for granted and never think they are people despite what popular culture portrays them as.

They have only been domesticated for the last 10,000 years with the canine genus being on the planet for at least 700,000 years. Not all of the wild is bred out.

If vets and professional dog trainers encourage people not to leave their dogs alone with small children why would you?

We have two cats, a dog and a bunny and we love them all to death. But we never leave our little dog alone with small kids.

 

[Yeagermeister]

draeg, I have been saying the same thing for the longest time about pits. Mine is a pit/boxer mix that comes in at a healthy 123 pounds.....yes he's a fat boy. He's been a great dog. I have had him for almost 11 yrs and I don't know how much longer he'll be around. He's a big baby to myself and my wife but he doesn't like strangers and definately not other dogs other than our other dog.

But here's my big boy Angus

http://img.***BLOCKED***/albums/v316/Yeagermeister/Dog%20Pictures/Photo_012906_0011.jpg


And BP man Dobby has filled out and is looking good.

 

[Big Dakota]

Terrier's are the ONLY dogs i've ever owned and my one and only Pit was the best of the bunch. Nice going for rescuing that wonderful animal. May Vick rot in Hell.