New Dog

Caution:  At the very bottom of this blog is a graphic picture of Resi when animal control picked her up from the man who abused her.

After Bear died, we agreed that we wouldn't get another dog for awhile.  After all we have a lot going on this summer already.  And Bear was Bear.  You can't just replace one dog with another.  It doesn't work that way.  But in the same way that you can have as many children as you want and love each and every one of them for their own unique personality, you can love another dog without it replacing the one you lost. 

So just a month after Bear died, I was feeling down and a bit lonely and unneeded.  Really for many years now the only ones who both needed me and loved me were Michaela and Bear (Bill, too, but that is a different thing entirely).  With them both gone, I was feeling a little useless.  So I started dropping hints (which weren't well received) to Bill about getting another dog.  We had already decided that we wanted a young adult dog who had already had some training and needed a new home, so I started looking at adoptable dogs in the local area and sending him pictures.

I came across Resi and put her at the top of my list for several reasons...she had been trained by certified trainers, she was housebroke and crate trained, she didn't chew things up, she was in a foster home with cats, she was the right size, but what really caught my eye was that she liked to run with a bicycle.  One of the reasons I wanted a new dog was to have a good reason to get off the couch when I just didn't feel like it.  An active dog that could run beside a bike sounded like just the thing.

Police Report:  Click to enlarge

Then I saw the video.  This poor dog had been cruelly abused.  In fact, the abuser was charged with felony animal abuse.  Yet she had healed and was still a loving pet.  The video made me cry to think that someone would do that to an animal.  But it also gave me pause about adopting her; Resi is part (probably mostly) Pit Bull Terrier.  I don't have anything against the breed.  In fact the ones that I have known have been exceptionally smart, well behaved animals.  But if this man had beaten this dog so badly, would the dog (any dog) turn out mean?  Because a Pit Bull Terrier is a strong animal, one that can cause considerable damage if it is mean. 

We decided to go see her though and it was love at first sight for us.  She showed off her tricks and walked on the leash for us.  She climbed up on my lap and licked my face and nibbled my ear.  She was just an absolute love.  Other than the scars on her face and ears, you would never know she had been abused.  Her foster family had done amazing things with her in the year she had been with them healing both emotionally and physically.  I knew before we left the house that we wanted her to live with us and after a weekend visit we decided to go ahead with the adoption.



Apparently she has a problem
with Snoopy too.



But apparently there is some residual emotional damage.  Resi has some issues with feet.  We have seen her get upset about someone's feet and it is a bit scary.  She will lick the person and be happy to see them, but nip at their feet.  We still don't know how prevalent the problem is going to be, because right now she is in a stage of learning to live with us without a lot of strangers coming to the house.  We do take her out in public and in every environment outside of the house, she has been fine.  She has been ok with everyone she has met and every dog that we have encountered. 



  Soon we will be introducing her to more people in our home and we are very hopeful that this behavior is rare and can be untaught.  She learned it somehow; she wasn't born that way, so we believe we just need to have the patience and perseverance to figure out the best way to help her get over it.  We hope our friends and family will be patient with us while she learns what she needs to know to be a great pet and part of our family. None of us are perfect and most of us never had to endure what she has gone through in her short life.