How we became pit bull lovers

(If you have read my blog for a long time ,then you may have read this before and know that my soulmate was a pit bull)

If you are new ...read on and meet the sweetest dog ever.

I will have to start at the beginning here. Ok.

When I first moved in with my last husband, he had a pit-bull. Her parents had been fancy, pedigreed dogs. The breeders were friends of his. This puppy got parvo when she was very young.They were going to put her to sleep but Tommy offered to take her. He managed to nurse her back to health and gave her the hideous name, Shithead.

When I first met her she was about a year old. I pulled up into the yard in my old Ford station wagon, complete with faded wood panelling and one blue door. (The rest of the car was white)
Imagine my shock when this 60 pound pitbull jumps right through my window and into my lap.
It was love at first sight, for HER. I was a little bit afraid of her.
I had never been around a pitbull before. I had just heard the horror stories.

She had previously been chained up, outside like a dog! Well, not on MY watch. Once we were all living in our new house it quickly became apparent that she had the soul of a poodle. She was a total foo foo in a mean body. She slept with the kids, she sat in my lap and she went through a phase where she chewed up everything in her path, including my sons’ eyeglasses.
We tried to change her name, since my kids were not allowed to say "Shithead" They called her "spithead" for a while but it did not fit her at all. "Girl" became her name ....and evolved into "Grull"

One day my husband had left for work and the kids had just left on the school bus .It was just her and I in the living room. She stood up and a puppy fell out of her. She grabbed it and jumped up on the couch. What the hell to do? Was I going to stick my arm in the path of a pitbull (that I barely knew) and her newborn, to remove them from my couch? Um, hell no....I didn't have the nerve to try it. She stayed on my couch and continued to have puppies all day. 12 of them.
I had never seen a dog give birth before.(Hello ...cat mama!) And let me just say.....it was a whole lot messier and grosser than a cat.

Eventually I got to know her so well; I could practically read her mind. She became MY dog. There was nothing to fear from her. She even loved our cats.

She was the perfect dog. Except for that Houdini thing. She was the best escape artist EVER.

She refused to stay in the yard.

Once, I had left her in the truck while I went in the library. I look down and see this dog in the library.
"aww, how funny , there's a dog in here"

Then I realize it is HER!

Another time the dog pound knocks at my door with a red pit on a leash and says "Is this your dog?"
I actually said "No, she's in the house. I just saw her 2 seconds ago."
It WAS her. She had snuck out the window.

We moved from Calif. to Washington State. Our yard had an entire acre of grass and woods. My husband fenced the whole thing so the dogs could be loose.(we kept one of her puppies at this point ,Star)
Well, Grull did not appreciate her fenced acre. She constantly got loose. Once, I went upstairs and watched her from the window, while Tommy called her. She was climbing over the fence just like a kid.
So, bad girl had to be on a chain while she was outside. One time her chain was tied to a railroad tie. My neighbor knocked on my door one day and said "I think I have something that belongs to
you."
HER! She had drug that railroad tie about a block down the street, to his house.

Ok, fast forward a few years. My husband has died. After 6 months, I move to Florida where my sister Soul lives. I drive out there, pulling a trailer with 2 pitbulls, 4 cats and 3 kids.
(That’s a whole 'nother story)

I rent a house a few blocks from Soul and try to put my life back together. I had a fenced yard. And a dog kennel. But naturally MY dogs will NOT stay in the yard OR the kennel.
All they did was escape and go sit in their own front yard. But my neighbors did not take it lightly. They were literally calling the police on me EVERY day . "Oooh! there are vicious pit bulls loose in our neighborhood."

Well, in case you didn't know......they will put you in jail for that. As refreshing as a vacation in jail would have been, I had 3 kids to take care of.

So desperate measures had to be taken. We found a new home for Star. But Grull was way too spoiled, loved and was also 9 years old.

There was no WAY I could ever get rid of her. So I put her on a plane and sent her to California ,to my friend Desert Dirt Diva, who lived out in the desert. I sent her dog support. And Grull continued to be loved and spoiled in the way she had become accustomed :)

By the time I was in a place where I could have gotten her back ,I couldn't bring myself to take her away from Vicki and her kids. They LOVED her too much now.

So she stayed with Vicki, she continued her Houdini ways and she was finally hit by a car and killed when she was about 14. She died doing what she loved best, defying boundaries and running free like the bad girl we all loved.

Pass me a tissue please.

I hope each of you will know a dog as special in your lifetime.

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The kids have nicknamed the poor starving dog "Skeletor".
I guess it does fit him. lol
He'll be going to the vet today.


As you just read above, Jacksonville is not a very "Pit friendly" city.
The no kill shelters there have a "no pit bull" policy.


Skeletor is in such bad shape I would hate to see him in a shelter anyway.Right now he is being kept separated from the resident animals ,2 cats and a dachshund.

After the vet visit ,if he doesn't have anything contagious (please God) I'm guessing he'll be lounging on the couch. :)



Hopefully he will get to stay right where he is while he regains his health. Then they'll work on finding him a good home. I know at that point the pit bull rescue could be of help.


I'll be putting a link up on the side bar for those who wish to follow his progress. Wes will be updating it regularly.


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Hubby is off to Warwick today. It's freezing cold out and lucky me, it's laundry day. bwa ha ha !


Happy Tuesday Peeps!