Thinking About Adopting a Pit Bull?

Ruby

Despite having the qualities that we most love in dogs ... loyalty, sweetness, affection, and a generally happy disposition ... Pit Bull Terriers and their cousins (I hate the term "bully breed") are often overlooked when it comes to adding a new member to the family.  And while they are gentle and loving in nature, they are too often portrayed as being viciously unpredictable and dangerous.

If you're thinking about adopting a Pit Bull or similar breed, it's so very important that you educate yourself about all aspects and characteristics of these dogs.  Despite their sweet, friendly nature, they are probably not a good choice for many people, especially first-time dog guardians.  This is true for any dog, however; too many dogs end up in shelters because they were "so cute as puppies."  But once they become adults, they're not as cute and may not fit in well with your lifestyle.

I'm not an expert on Pitties, aka Pibbles, so am not writing this from that perspective.  There are lots of great sources online, if you want to learn more about them.  But I do want to introduce you to one very special Pibble ... Ruby! ...

My rescue group pulled this sweet girl from our local pound after her human disowned her.  She had obviously been well cared for and loved, and was well socialized.  But because of her breed, it's been a challenge finding her a new, loving home.

To keep her balanced, socialized and as happy as possible while waiting for her new home, I've been taking her out of the boarding facility where she's staying temporarily, as often as possible. 

During our latest outing, we stopped off for some ice cream.  Ruby was very polite and loved her special treat ...

"Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos."
                ~Don Kardong

Despite her excitement over the ice cream, Ruby continued to be the perfect angel.  When I pulled the cone away from her, she sat patiently waiting to see if she'd get another few licks. 

And of course, I indulged her .....
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Next on the agenda, I wanted to let Ruby run, sniff and explore.  She isn't getting enough exercise at the boarding facility ... she's only about one year old and, like all Pitties, she's a very strong, athletic dog.  So I took her to a large, fenced yard where she got to just be a dog for a while .....

Ruby is a bit taller than the average female Pittie and weighs right around 50 pounds.  Her brindle coat is very striking. 

.... She's beautiful, isn't she?



Despite being cooped up most of her days at the boarding facility, rather than explore the yard on her own, Ruby preferred to stay by my side for most of her visit.

It's pretty obvious that her heart's desire is simply to have a human to love.  Even though she doesn't see me every day, she bonded with me very quickly.  Whenever I got up to walk around the yard, Ruby walked right by my side.  She wandered and sniffed a bit, but always looked to see where I was and never strayed more than a few yards away. 



You can see from her bald belly, that Ruby was spayed recently.  She'd had all vaccinations, but hasn't been microchipped yet.  Other than that, this girl is R.E.A.D.Y. to love and be loved!


I got LOTS of Pibble kisses .....

Fortunately, Ruby has good doggie breath.  :-)

It was a really nice Spring day.  Ruby and I relaxed and enjoyed the view and each other's company ....

"Dogs are a link to paradise ... to sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring.  It was peace."  

~Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being                                                    


As we sat and relaxed, we got a little visitor.

Ruby rushed to investigate ......

Oops! ...... killed by curiosity.

Nope.  Still not moving.

Apparently, spider-killing services are an added bonus.  Included free with your adoption fee!

Update:  Ruby is no longer available for adoption, but I hope you enjoyed this post.

Please visit my rescue's Facebook page.  We're the Circle of Life Animal Rescue Society (COLARS) ... COLARS on Facebook  Please Don't Shop!  ADOPT instead!

And please don't litter ... S.N.Y.F.F. instead!  (Spay/Neuter Your Furry Friends)

Start the Day Without Caffeine?

Here's another clever email message I'd like to share ...

"If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, 

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

 
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

 
If you can relax without alcohol,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs, 

...Then You Are Probably .........The Family Dog."

Does My Dog Have a Tumor?

Happy Sammi

When my boy Sammi started to lick an old scar excessively, one of the first things to pop into my head was, does my dog have a tumor?

Sammi just turned 9-years-old this month, but is in very good health.  But even though it was just a small bump, I didn't take things lightly.  He originally got the scar from an old "war wound" ... a fight between Sam and his former nemesis, Teddy.  The scar formed a bump on his front right leg and didn't seem to be any problem for over 3 years.  But about 3 weeks ago, Sammi started to lick the bump.  Then the bump became irritated and inflamed.  And then it seemed to be growing under the skin. 

So off to the vet we went on Friday, March 9th.  Our veterinarian, "Dr. Ben," was concerned enough that he recommended removal of the bump and surrounding tissue, and to also have it examined at a laboratory.  Even though Dr. Ben is extremely busy (he's very popular), he didn't want to wait long to remove Sam's bump.  So the surgery was scheduled for 5 pm the following Wednesday.  Because it would be easy to remove, Dr. Ben planned on a quick out-patient procedure so Sammi could go home afterwards.

Sammi was looking a bit apprehensive on the way to the vet clinic, perhaps simply a reflection of how I was feeling at the time.


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Even though Sammi was nervous, we made a new friend while we waited our turn at the clinic.  Meet Ama, the 1-week-old baby goat.

She was the sweetest thing!  She was sitting on her human's lap and kept nibbling at her human's clothing.  Then she'd reach her head up and nibble on the woman's chin.  When the woman put her down on the floor so I could take her photo, Ama bleated very quietly.  As you can see, she didn't mind posing for a picture.  Sammi couldn't figure out why this odd-looking dog was making such weird, non-dog noises.  ;-)

We didn't have to wait very long after meeting Ama.  The vet tech took Sammi's blood, then she and Dr. Ben came into the examination room to sedate Sammi.  I waited while the drug took full effect and helped the vet tech place him on a cart so she could take him in for his surgery. 

The surgery itself only took a few minutes.  Within 15 minutes, Dr. Ben administered a sedation-reversal drug and brought Sam back to the exam room.  After about 10 more minutes, Sammi was almost ready to go home, sporting a new black bandage.  

Since it was late in the day, the tissue Dr. Ben removed couldn't be sent to the lab until the next day.  But he expected to have the results back before the end of the day the following Monday.  I asked him what he thought.  He's been taking care of my dogs for about 11 years, so I trust him to be honest and not sugar-coat things just to make me feel better.  He said that the tumor came out easily and although he couldn't be sure, he was fairly confident it would just be an infection.

Being the dog-mom that I am, I was still a bit anxious all weekend.  After taking the bandage off on Friday, Sammi's incision didn't seem to be healing very well.  Dr. Ben hadn't prescribed any antibiotics yet since he didn't know what the results would reveal ... instead, he said to just keep Sam quiet and the incision clean but uncovered unless Sammi started chewing on it. 

So, of course, Sammi started to lick and chew on his wound!  I ended up re-bandaging it for several hours here and there, so he couldn't bother it as much and so I could treat it with antibiotic ointment.

Sam was such a good boy and put up with my "nursing" and constant attempts to distract him from his preoccupation.  And of course, we had to take a couple of walks in the woods ... although Sammi couldn't figure out why the heck he had to be on a leash most of the time ...

And then, Shasta and the other dogs had to check out his wound now and again ...

.... So, yesterday (Monday), the waiting was finally over!  Dr. Ben called with Sammi's diagnosis:  "Deep dermatitis and cellulitis, pyogranulomatous, severe, chronic, regionally extensive with intralesional free hair shafts, intralesional cocci, acanthosis and dermal fibrosis."  Huh?

In other words, Sammi has a deep tissue infection.  Whew!  Better that than the dreaded "Big C."  So now, I just have to get him through 3 weeks of antibiotic treatment (two kinds of antibiotics), which make his tummy upset, so I have to make sure he eats before taking the meds.  But the drugs still make his tummy a bit upset, so he doesn't want to eat as much ... and on and on ....

But my boy Sammi is worth all the trouble!