Happy ending to a stray dog story (pics)

[skygazer]

Mr. Sky and I were finishing dinner around 6:30 or so when we heard a noise like a cow bell jingling down our path. We looked out and saw this dog go lolloping by. I stepped out and looked but he didn't seem to be headed in any particular direction so I called him.

Long story short, none of the neighbors knew whose dog he was, the only tag he had was one with the name and number of a vet clinic on it and since the vet's was closed and it was getting dark, we elected to keep him for the night and call this morning.

So we set him up with food and water and a bed. He was SUCH a good boy, a real sweetie, happy and funny and very well-behaved. I lost my heart almost immediately. He was an angel all night, never heard a peep out of him.

Mr. Sky called the vet on the tag and took him in this morning and they recognized him immediately - his owner works there. She's on vacation and her parents are watching him. Evidently, he got away from them and came to see us.

I miss him now.... :cry: but I'm happy he has a loving home. :party: I was afraid someone had just left him or something.

And thanks to flvegan to the offer of help - I'm glad I didn't need it. :hi:

[applegrove]

1. Oh I would have been terrified. I saw a pit bull on the loose in May I think. I tried

to call the authorities to get him picked up but got the wrong number through 411. I would have been very scared. :scared:

[skygazer]

3. Scared of what?

It's a dog. It's not a zombie, an axe murderer or a Republican. It's a lost dog.

This misguided panic about pit bulls is so unfair. It is sensible and rational to approach any stray dog cautiously whether it's a pit bull, a collie or a Labrador retriever. But to automatically assume the worst because of a dog's breed is just absurd and is the reason dogs like this get shot or deliberately hit with vehicles (two of the reasons I elected to keep him overnight).

Please educate yourself on dogs in general and pit bulls in particular. Just because some irresponsible people raise dogs to be vicious does not mean all dogs of that breed are. :banghead:

[Hawkeye-X]

7. I've met pitbulls that are extremely friendly.

I love dogs, and most of the time I can tell which dogs have the right temperament, and which doesn't.

Good for you, skygazer!

:hi:

Hawkeye-X

[applegrove]

8. See I don't have that sense of dogs because I didn't grow up with them. I have

to know a dog before I will know how it acts. So I go by breed when avoiding dogs. And that day I saw the loose pit bull a young lad was walking by me before I came upon the dog and he warned me. He said "there is a dog on the loose back there" (or something like that). I didn't know why it was a big deal until I saw it was a pit bull.

[ET Awful]

13. Golden Retrievers bite humans more often than pitbulls do. n/t

[applegrove]

17. There are more golden retrievers and when they bite down they don't have jaws that lock. Why do I

all of a sudden feel like I'm in the gungeon.

I just prefer my dogs not trained or bred to be guard dogs. That is my preference. I don't wince away from pit bulls walking down the street on a leash because I assume the master has control over them. I just don't like certain breeds free roaming. And certain breeds shouldn't be more than others. I grew up in an area that had free range dogs (no law that said they couldn't wander). So I've been chased by the two bouviers up the street on my way home from school very often. Chased by a friends Saint Bernard once...fortunately I knew the breed and knew not to keep running but let her smell my friend and I. Cause a neighbour had a Saint Bernard who always came running out like a tank...only wanting a little sniff....every single day after school. So I have a well earned fear of some dogs..not of others. Breed matters.

[skygazer]

19. It's funny you mention St. Bernards

When I was a kid, St. Bernards were a dog people were nervous about. The reason was that they had become very popular, were rumored to be bred indiscriminately and were purported to have behavior problems as a result. The hype was no more true about them than it is about pit bulls.

Breed matters to the extent that a minority of people latch on to a breed and breed it irresponsibly, handle it irresponsibly and train it irresponsibly. It is, however, a minority, and for every breathless, lurid media story of an attacking pit bull that you read are hundreds, or probably thousands of others living happy lives with families.

In addition, for every breathless, lurid media story of an attacking pit bull that you read are another hundred stories of biting dogs that you don't hear about because they aren't pit bulls.

The point is, you cannot fairly condemn an entire breed for the over-reported minority of unfortunate incidents involving a miniscule fraction of the whole. It's not logical and it's not fair.

[applegrove]

20. You can say that some breeds are more aggressive than others. And if you don't

like aggressive dogs..you have the right to be away from them. I would never be comfortable with a pit bull. I used to walk a neighbour/friends dogs when she was sick with MS. I didn't like walking that particular dog but my need to help her out overuled my fear. And it went okay. It wasn't a pit bull but some mixed guard dog breed that had obviously been abused before my friend rescued him.

I know that pit bulls often make great family members. And their owners are protective of them as a breed. I just don't want to run into one loose on the street. I should be able to trust that I will not be attacked as I walk down the street. I shouldn't be in fear as I walk down the street. Some breeds inspire fear. You've said it. And it isn't all rumour and inuendo. They can be very dangerous pets. Fear is there for a reason in our brains. To keep us from getting hurt. We have a right to fear aggressive breeds.

[ET Awful]

23. Sure fear is there for a reason, but when the fear is based on hysteria rather than actual risk

it's worthless.

When you perpetrate the myth that a breed is aggressive you simply spread the same baseless fear that you feel.

[ET Awful]

21. Because you're repeating the same kind of paranoid falsehoods? Locking jaws???? That's a myth.

http://www.dogwatch.net/myths/lock_jaw.html

If you'd educate yourself instead of repeating lies and falsehoods, you wouldn't need to be corrected.

[applegrove]

26. So they don't have jaws that can "hold on"? Nice to know. But I don't believe it.

[ET Awful]

28. LMAO . . . You don't believe facts.

Good for you.

Irrational hatred is not a democratic value.

Sorry, but your illogical comparisons to gun control are also flat out wrong, guns aren't living creatures that require compassion.

[applegrove]

36. I meant the arguments I am facing here are like talking to the NRA types in

the gungeon.

[skygazer]

37. I will make the same request to you that I made to ETAwful

This thread is not about the relative merits of pit bulls as pets. You are obviously not going to change your feelings on the subject and neither am I, nor is ETAwful. In light of that, let's please drop the debate. I'm just glad the dog is safe and happily at home. :hi:

[applegrove]

41. Yes I am glad the dog is safe at home too.

[Tyler Durden]

39. Pit Bull jaws don't lock.

No dogs have jaws that lock. It's not physiologically possible.

And they are right: By PERCENTAGE, more Goldens have bit than Pits.

[ET Awful]

12. Why? It's just a poor dog. Look at this face and tell me he's scary

[applegrove]

18. Better to chew you up with says the dog to little red riding hood.

[ET Awful]

22. I love it. You've never actually MET a pit bull, never had any encounter with one, yet you

believe the lies and b.s you've heard.

So tell me, when the news tells you bad things about how all black people or all Muslim people are born criminals do you believe them as well? Do you cross the street when you see a young black male coming toward you or clutch your purse more tightly? It's the same kind of irrational fear.

It's the same thing, speaking from what you've been told in a sensational manner instead of personal experience just proves that you're easily manipulated. It's the same mentality that led to witch hunts in Salem. A few people start making rumors with no basis in truth other than "I was bitten". They then spread those rumors around, find the very worst example they can (such as a Michael Vick situation) and use that as "proof" that pit-bulls are dangerous, and you buy right into it.

Ignorance is bliss eh?

Now I know you aren't a stupid person. But you really do need to educate yourself and become less ignorant of facts.

[applegrove]

25. That is it. I am officially in the dog-geun. And you are with the National Pit Bull Association.

Same insulting arguments as the NRA. That was a joke by the way little red riding hood.

[ET Awful]

29. So you're unwilling to educate yourself, but would rather live in fear.

Nice.

[skygazer]

30. Do me a favor and let it drop

It's unfortunate and I'd like to educate as well but you can't educate when someone is unwilling to learn.

Rather than clutter up a thread about a happy ending with such a futile exercise, let's let it drop. 'Kay? :hi:

[ET Awful]

32. For you, certainly. Thanks again for takin' care of the guy :) n/t

[PeaceNikki]

2. He's beautiful!! Good for you!!

I am so very glad that you did what you did. So many people with irrational media-hyped fears would have not helped and possibly hurt!

Yay, you!! :bounce:

[skygazer]

5. Our neighbor told us she'd been called earlier about a stray dog

Probably the same one. The people up the road had told her that there was a stray in their yard so they ran out and hit it with sticks to chase it away! :wtf: Possibly the worst thing you could do with a dog you don't know.

I'm so happy he's home and I do miss him. In the short time he was here, he crept right into my heart. :loveya:

[ET Awful]

33. They WHAT????

What the hell is wrong with people?

[skygazer]

35. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

One more pic - I took about 30 in the short time he was here but it was hard to get good ones because he was so happy and wiggly. :loveya:

[ET Awful]

38. The biggest problem with mine is his desire to chase our cats

:P

So, instead of living in the house with us, he has his own enclosed porch (that's the size of our bedroom). It's air conditioned and has lots of windows, he seems to like it.

[ThomCat]

4. That it totally Awesome!

:lovey:

I'm glad you took him in, and I'm glad he'll be going home. It all works out well for a change. :)

[DarkTirade]

6. Good thing he was found by somebody like you.

:)

[flvegan]

9. Glad it worked out.

Thanks for taking the time to care for the pup. A great many folks would never have done so, especially one that looks "pit-esque".

:thumbsup:

[Ahpook]

11. I don't understand the hysteria.

A buddy has two, and they are the most playful dogs i can imagine. I ring the bell at his house and can hear those two sliding across the wooden floor to say hello:)

The only threat i have is getting soaking wet from drool:)

[flvegan]

15. The media is responsible.

Overhyped idiocy causing fear from the masses, which is their specialty.

[ET Awful]

24. Bingo.

The ignorance surrounding the "pitbull" breeds is astounding.

[Gormy Cuss]

34. Don't forget to lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of nitwit owners too --.

--the ones who think a dog is a furry weapon, the ones who breed them for aggression, use them in dog fights, beat them, and otherwise guarantee that they're poorly socialized.

It's not just media hype-- pit-types are the dogs preferred by these nitwits and as long as that's the case these dogs will be the most feared --that and the fact that they are built like tanks, LOL.

[DeepBlueC]

10. Her parents must be relieved

Hugely.

[ET Awful]

14. Good job! Thank you for taking care of him!

:)

[fizzgig]

16. what a cutie!

thank you for taking care of him

[driver8]

27. What a sweetie...

I'm glad that everything worked out!!

I would be worried sick if our dog was lost!!!

[dropkickpa]

31. Awwwwwwwww!

He looks like a total sweetie!!! And he has a totally smooshable face!

[Tyler Durden]

40. Look at that third picture...what a doll.

Sweet little Pittie boy.

[ceile]

42. What a cutie!

Glad to know his owner was found.

[Dogtown]

43. What a sweet boy!

You did a very kind thing, skygazer!




:hi: