Pit Bull – My Pet Monster
Many of us have probably seen it. A big-headed dog on a leash walking around the neighborhood. We might have thought to ourselves any of the following:
“That pit bull is dangerous. I can’t believe those people have a pit bull on my street. I have kids. They just better keep that dog away from my kids… away from my dog… away from me…” You get the idea.
But maybe there’s something we don’t know. There’s a lot that the rest of us missed. His owners used to have the same fears of pit bulls. They were hesitant to take the pup in too, for many of the same reasons. Here’s the story.
When their friends found this pup, he was 14 months old, and 25 pounds underweight. He was weak and dehydrated, roaming the streets of Chicago. They found him, and he just wanted some 
food and positive attention. We weren’t there when he slowly walked up to them on the street and everyone else backed off to get away from the big bad pit bull. But their friends looked past his big head, and realized the rest of him was tiny. They could count the ribs on his side and the bones on his back. They noticed that his coat was far too thin to protect him from the cold weather, which was lingering notoriously late that year.
So their friends took him in, and brought him to the vet. The vet gave him a checkup, and said the pup was a wonderful find. He was excellent during the checkup, letting the doctor run all the tests he needed to do without so much as a growl or a whine. The doc, who works with hundreds of dogs a week, knew what he was talking about. And so the friends knew they had found someone special. They called the police to see about missing dog reports, and called the pound to see if anyone had been looking for him. But no one was looking for this poor, hungry, dirty pit bull pup. And sadly, they weren’t able to keep him either, and needed to find a good home for him. And so those people walking him around right now decided to take him in. Though having some of the same fears of the breed, they met this pit bull pup and fell in love with him.
Because the rest of us weren’t there, we don’t remember that they were initially scared of letting him interact with other dogs. They had the same fears about pit bulls that many people do. But they brought him to a day care (Playful Pets) one Saturday to see if he might be able to get along with other dogs. When they picked him up at the end of the day, the owner told them that their pit bull pup did great, and that he was one of the best dogs there. They could bring him in every day.
They loved taking him to daycare then, but had to stop in January almost a year ago, when he developed Myasthenia Gravis, because of the risk of pneumonia due to his paralyzed esophagus (megaesophagus). He used to run around and play with other pups all day, and then, one day, he couldn’t. They cross the street whenever other dogs are headed their way, and we might judge that’s because they have a dangerous dog. Really, they are crossing the street because their pit bull pup loves other dogs so much that he just wants to run around and smother them with attention. But their dog’s disease affects his esophagus, and they can’t let him get too excited or run around too much because he might puke and accidentally inhale it, and that could cause pneumonia (aspiration pneumonia). They’re afraid of him getting pneumonia because it’s a killer for many dogs with his condition. Maybe we don’t understand that they cross the street because they know that no matter who’s dog starts a fight, their dog will take the blame for it simply because he’s a pit bull. But all their pup really wants is to run and play with like-minded friendly pups.
Or the time when he played tug of war with a german shepherd for 20 minutes. He’d set the rope down and wait for the other dog to pick it up. Then he would follow him around the table in a game of hide-and-go-seek, until he could finally grab ahold of the other end of the rope and they would tug back and forth. Then he’d win, only to set it down and wag his tail, eager to play again.
They’re not afraid of him biting a child so much as jumping up to lick the child’s face and accidentally knocking the poor kiddo down. It’s not always easy to remember that before pit bulls were the “dangerous” dog on the block, they were the “nanny” dog. Getting to know this dog, they realize that it was dogs just like him that drove that old reputation. Remember the Little Rascals? Their dog “Petey” was a pit bull. In fact, they know that their pit bull pup will be great with kids because they’ve seen him with kids. But they know that not everyone is a dog person, not everyone is comfortable around him, and they don’t want to make their neighbors uncomfortable. So they avoid neighbors on the street when walking him.
We haven’t seen him come rushing in to make sure everyone’s ok when his owner yelps in surprise as a dish crashes to the ground. And we weren’t there when the pup’s disease took away the use of his hind legs during the middle of winter. Then they had to carry him outside and watch him drag himself through the snow trying to go to the bathroom while he couldn’t hold up his rump. All the while, they were quietly hoping that he would start responding to the medication. We didn’t see them argue with each other because they were overwhelmed with a disease for which they were doing everything right, and still not seeing results. And we weren’t there when they finally saw the vet again, who prescribed the addition of another medication. When the woke up the next day, the man actually cried because the new meds finally got their pup walking again.
We don’t know that throughout the whole ordeal, they weren’t sure if they should be spending so much money on the dog. For several months, the hope of eventual remission is all that kept them going day-in and day-out. They quickly learned they had keep the pup’s head elevated so he wouldn’t choke on his food. So, unknown to us, the man drove through a snowstorm to the hardware store and bought saws, wood, nails, and a sander, everything he needed to build a Bailey Chair for feeding his pup. We didn’t see him work four hours that evening to build the chair, or see them use it for the first time later that night, and breathe a sigh of relief when their pup was able to keep his food down. Then, three times a day, they fed the pit bull pup in his chair, and kept him in there for 30 minutes after each feeding to make sure everything went down. The pup doesn’t even put up a fuss.
And months later, we didn’t see them jump in the air when the results of another blood test told them that their pup’s disease was finally in remission. And then realize that his esophagus still didn’t function properly, and that it might never function properly, so they had to keep using the chair anyway.
It’s easy to look at a dog with a big head and think “monster”, but what about the people who left that pup on the streets of Chicago to fend for himself in April? It’s easy to see him and think “killer”, but it’s harder to know that his previous owners might have let him go to his death, rather than give him the attention and training he needed. The reason they’re always walking him around the neighborhood is because this dog loves the exercise, and needs it.
We don’t know that as he approaches three years old, they realize that he’s not slowing down, so they have to speed up. And so they start running with the dog. Now, this pup that had been found in the streets, dirty, starving and smelling like a dumpster, who had been nursed through dark winter hours without the use of his legs, and who finally came out on the other side of winter walking is now running and inspiring his owners to run too. So they begin to run again, and find new inspiration running with him. Now they eat healthier because they need to in order to keep up with him. They drink less because they need to get up earlier to take him out. They are more reliable because they begin to understand that at least one thing in this world depends on them being reliable. And when they see that doggie grin, they remember everything they’ve been through together, and grin too.
The world is full of monsters, but not always where we think they are. So next time we think we see a monster, maybe we should reconsider. There’s likely something that we don’t know.
Check out my poem about Basil: Basil – A Doggie Poem
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