A Big Lesson

I look down at this homeless dog at my feet who found its way into our yard in the middle of the night a week ago.  Sam woke me up growling, and I got up to check and walked down the hall to the door and found it ajar. That's creepy anytime, but at 3 in the morning it freaked me out. I peered out and the world looked still, and then I saw an iridescent white Pit Bull in the moonlight quietly staring up at me.

Ghost Dog! Slam door! Was that really real?

Sam and I eventually settled back down to sleep but it took a while, and in the morning the GD was still there.  She was about 40 lbs, playful, friendly, hungry, with no collar. It took every fiber of my being to reach down and pat her head because I was afraid.

I am one of those people who believes what they read about Pits, and how dangerous they are. I judge their owners for being reckless to have these dogs around children or other pets, because you just never know.

All that was before Lili arrived on our stoop. All of my Absolutes were put to the test as we began to warm up to her. The first couple of days we fed and played with her outside, and left her to her own devices during the day. She had a bed out there, lots of water, and was waiting for us when we got home.

When the weather turned hot it was decided to move her indoors. She had exceptional manners, was potty trained and gentle indoors. No calls came in from the flyers we posted, and we began thinking she might have been dumped.  What a cruel thing to do.

That's not the only cruel thing she endured. We started looking at her closely. The vet estimated she was about a year old and she has thick callouses under her arms from where a leather harness rubbed. She was bred at 6 months and again at a year, which left her with a slightly prolapsed vagina.  That would mean to a breeder she had outlived her usefulness.

She has worn patches of skin under her neck from a collar that was probably a little too tight. And yet, with all of that, she has a sweet disposition and wants to please. A kind word and pat has her tail lapping against the sofa and nuzzling her face into our hands and laps. When I sit on the stairs out front in the evenings, she wraps her paws over my shoulders and licks my ears.

Some killer. She reminds Sammy how not to beg from the table.  She quietly goes into the bathroom at night and onto her bed, without so much as a whimper, and bounds out in the morning ready to play. She appreciates every bowl of food, every treat, because we have a feeling she has been without them at times. She watches Sam, and then eats the raw vegetable snacks. 

We are considering what to do. Out here there are no fences and the land is constantly being worked by many Spanish speaking farm workers. All the farm dogs roam free and play in the fields, but our community is uncomfortable with Lili, so she would have to be in a run or on a lead. We just can't do that to such a sweet and sensitive dog.

Sadly, that is what helped us decide to be her foster home and look for a loving permanent home. She still needs to be spayed and have vaginal tissue repaired, and get her shots. We put the word out today to some Pit People who know what wonderful dogs they are and will help spread the word. And in the meantime we will keep learning about life from her.

Things like, it is always a bad idea to judge without personal experience, because you're usually wrong. Things like, even when life is hard, you can still be kind.  And, even when you think it is impossible, you can learn rather quickly how to cuddle up on the sofa with a Pit Bull and give her head a kiss before bed.

Lili makes me laugh with delight when she turns inside out when I get home from work.  But maybe I shouldn't be surprised about that: a wonderful dog is a wonderful dog.