It ALL started with ‘Busa . He was my first rescue and my first Pit Bull. He was skin and bones and terrified of his own tail, literally. I didn’t have any experience with the breed. All I had ever heard about these dogs was negative, but I found it hard to believe that an ENTIRE breed of dogs were vicious man eaters. So I decided to give ‘Busa a chance. He escaped from a fighting ring where he was used as bait. Yes I said bait. This innocent, trusting, beautiful soul was used as live bait for the fighting dogs. At the hands of a cruel human ‘Busa was beaten to submission, muzzled and thrown in the rings unable to defend himself ( he was muzzled as to not injure the money making fighter dogs). He was deathly afraid of men and anything that resembled a stick. I had every intention of only fostering ‘Busa until I could find him another home. That idea went right out the window the moment I met him. He was so tiny and so afraid. We had to carry him in the house because he was so understandably untrusting of humans. I wanted terribly to keep him but I knew that could only happen if he was able to get along with my Pomeranian, Bella. So we brought ‘Busa inside and put him down, he saw Bella and his tail immediately went from between his legs to straight up in the air. He no longer cowered but seemed to have all the confidence in the world. He ran straight towards her. My heart fell to my feet, I knew what was about to happen was not going to be good. What was I thinking bringing this Pit Bull in my house? He is going to tear Bella to shreds and there will be nothing I can do to stop this “vicious” Pit Bull once he gets started. This could not have been any farther from what was actually about to happen. As soon as he got close to Bella he stopped, began wagging his tail uncontrollably, he bowed his head and lifted one paw and swatted at her, begging her to play with him. Well true to Bella’s diva like nature she growled, barked and snapped at him in one fell swoop . How dare another dog try and play with her. Well ok this was sure to start a fight right? She just tried to bite him. Nope, he just rolled over on his back as if to say he was sorry. That was it for me, he was now my baby.
Little did I know that this one precious dog would change my life forever. As most Pit Bull owners know the moment you tell your friends and family that you have a Pit bull they freak out. You receive all sorts of negative feedback : “that dog is going to turn on you one day “,“ that dog is going to kill someone” and just about anything else that you can think of. I became incredibly frustrated at the amount of ignorant statements geared towards my beloved little boy. So I set out on a mission to help change the image of this breed. I researched ( and continue to do so) anything and everything about the breed: history, temperament, training methods, the best local dog trainers, just anything and everything . I can’t get enough . After all knowledge really is power. So I joined a Pit Bull advocacy group but I couldn’t stop there. I began rescuing (over 20 dogs in 2009) and through rescue I came across miss Beulah Grace my second Pit Bull .
Oh Beulah…. That’s all I can really say about her. She was only 5 months old and frankly she was a holy terror. Once again I was going to foster this beautiful little dog. I didn’t need another rescued Pit Bull of my own to train and socialize. But Beulah and I bonded immediately and I mean immediately. She had a rough start as well in life. She was with a drug dealer who got arrested for his third felony drug charge and when the warrant was executed animal control was called to pick up Beulah ( well at this point in time the shelter had named her Mary Jane…. She was a drug dealer’s dog…. Get it?)She had an open wound on her hind leg that was infected as well as a few other cuts and she had an attitude that would have scared the hell out of Satan. Which is also where her nickname Lucy comes from, that’s Lucy as in Lucifer. She was in the shelter for a little over a month. Which I don’t know if any of you have been back in the kennels at an animal shelter but it is incredibly stressful just to walk through there much less live there for a month. She developed some resource guarding issues in the shelter such as guarding her food and anything else that she perceives as high value such as toys or her spot on my pillow. And she also had some dog aggression issues, not with every dog just the ones that she doesn’t like. I’m telling you she’s a complex creature. Lol Anyway, so I picked her up from the lady who actually went and got her from the shelter and who would also later become a very dear friend of mine. I put Beulah in the car and off we went. She was a little intimidating. The others involved in her rescue were actually concerned about her riding home with me because she was pretty unpredictable. On the way home she tried everything possible to be able to sit in my lap and she finally settled on just resting her paw in my lap (which she still does to this day). And when I actually just looked into her HUGE green eyes it made me cry. She just had this look that longed to be loved and pet and it seemed that the only thing in the world she wanted to hear was that she was a good dog. To make matters worse that song “somebody’s baby” came on the radio while we were driving home….. yeah, yeah I know it’s a song about a guy and a girl but it made me so sad for Beulah because, well she was nobody’s baby .This confused little dog belonged to no one. Well not for long. I had to have her. I mean who else was going to deal with her antics? Keeping her was one of the best decisions. Some who know her would argue because she is a handful and she is pretty intimidating in attitude and appearance but she is mine and I think she is perfect. And she just so happens to be incredibly fond of me as well.
So long story short, ok there is nothing short about this post, I love my bulls. They have taught me not to be so quick to judge, to trust even if you have been hurt and more than anything to forgive. I can’t imagine my life without these two silly dogs! Giving them a second chance at life is the least I can do for all the laughs, licks and love they provide me! So to all of you Bully haters out there all I have to say is you truly don’t know what you are missing out on!
