Let me introduce The Editor to you here, who is the true owner of Sophie (I was adopted by Sophie as her friend and caretaker, as I mostly work from here at the house whenever possible, and caretaker is a rank I hold with some honor, thank you very much.) Along the post here are pictures of the safe-at-home Sophie, just click on them to see larger images and I'd like to add that I hope The Editor could find the time to blog more often, but she is a most busy woman: (NOTE: the story of Sophie's misadventures begins here and continues here. Now, The Editor)
To everyone:
Thank you so much for the outpouring of support while Sophie was missing. It meant so much to all of us here at Casa de Fleaflicker.
When the phone rang this morning and Joe held the phone up to the bowl where Sophie was gulping down water... well I can't tell you how much happiness and relief I felt. It was better than 1,000 Christmases. When I got to the vet and saw my poor beat up baby, I cried tears of happiness as well as worry. Although she is "OK" in the sense that she has neither internal damage or broken bones, she is pretty tattered after her "adventure." think it almost compares to what she looked like when I adopted her--but not quite. The $200 vet bill wasn't much of a surprise (of course, Kelvis topped me on big vet bills when she told me about her cat, Dynamite's, little string incident--this may force her to comment on or write about it herself), but I was more than happy to pay it if it meant by baby was home.
Right now Sophie is sleeping likes she deserves it (and dammit, she does), and I suspect she'll be doing quite a bit of sleeping to make up for lost couch time (and then some). She'll be going back to the vet in 2 weeks to see how she's doing (she takes thyroid medication and was off it for 3 days, so we have to get her back up to snuff on that) and to get her nails clipped (I wasn't about to bring that "injustice" upon her today--it can wait). (Joe adds, no I had her nails clipped today, as the vet recommended.)
Any way, while I have you all here huddled around what is normally Joe's soap box, I wanted to say a few words about pit bulls.
A long while back on my oft-ignored blog, I ran a post on pit bulls after Sophie tagged me in a friendly wrestling match. Link
Over the course of the last 21 years, I've owned or co-owned or co-habitated with a number of pitties, and let me tell you: they are my number one choice of dog. Not as a watch dog, because most all of the ones I've known have been piss poor watch dogs. Sophie is the case in point: she didn't scare intruders out of our house. An intruder had to manhandle her out onto the deck where I imagine her general freaked-outedness at the prospect of thunder and rain finally frustrated the bastard (for the sake of you humble readers, I am not using nearly as strong of an expletive as I'd like in describing this perp) to the point where he (she? nah... HE) gave up.
Pits are the most misunderstood, maligned, misrepresented, and mistreated dog breeds out there today. Shelters all over have no adopt policies on them (mo matter how socially well-rounded the dog). Denver and a number of other cities have banned them (and any dog that even "looks" like a pit). Drug dealers and other criminal elements buy them up, breed them with bull mastiffs and other large dogs and then call them pits, which leads politicos gunning for some half-assed public safety vote to call any dog that is bred with a pit bull a "pit bull" (so if I breed a chihuahua and a Great Dane, then it's still a chihuahua, right?).
American Pit Bull Terriers (real pit bulls, not these 130 lb testosteroid mixes) aren't BIG dogs. They should weigh about 55 - 70 lbs max (Sophie is 70 lbs, but she's also a chubber wubber). They shouldn't stand to your waist; they should be about knee height, and they SHOULD LOVE PEOPLE. They are a terrier breed, so their original purpose was to go after other animals--on the pit bull's case, to take down 2000+ lb bulls for farmers or to aid hunter downing wild boars. But the breed was also meant to be the family dog. Bad people have exploited a pittie's strengths. Stupid people have disregarded a pittie's positive attributes. One of my great worries while Sophie was out and about was that some chucklehead would see a "crazed pit bull," pull out his shot gun, and shoot her. I'm already fairly sure that whomever broke into Casa de Fleaflicker came exclusively for the dog--probably to use as a breeder (until they maybe discovered she was fixed) or as a bait dog.
I'm going to put some links on this site for you to check out if you have a few minutes. I will fight for the healthy continuation of this breed. PeTA won't, and for that reason won't ever get my support. How is calling for the euthanasia of an entire breed "ethical treatment?" Pit bulls continue to rank as amongst the highest scoring dogs in canine temperament.
For the Love of Pit Bulls is a great site if you want the real score on what these good ol dawgs go through.
Pit Bull Rescue Central will help hook you up with a pit.
This site gives an excellent overview of The APBT.
There are LOTS of good sites out there.
But here are some videos I want you to see. (Warning: the second video is HARD to watch if you aren't ready... get a box of tissues if you are prone to tearing up.)
Otherwise, be kind to your animals, and they will be kind to you. Love your animal, and they will be kind to you.
I just have to say "YeY", and thank God!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness.
ReplyDeleteGlad she's back.
ReplyDeleteA lot of those marks are usually from the skin of the breed. My dog's tummy looks like that most days. It's a combination of sensitive skin, grass allergies and scratching it. I mean the scrapes and coloring, not the obvious injuries.
And you're dog looks like an awful lot like an American Bulldog.
Looks a lot like my dog:
http://saysuncle.com/images/attention.JPG
-SayUncle
many thanks, Uncle and to 'Coma and Bill too.
ReplyDeleteThat's a mighty fine looking pup there Uncle!
Yup Uncle, she ain't pure pit by any means. She looks like an AM. Bull or a APBT/Staff mix or a baby hippo. Newscoma directed me to that pic of your pup, and I noted that she has the same looks (not in coloring) of Sophie's old LA pal, Meatloaf. Is she a licker? Meatloaf was a licker. He has those same flappy gums as your girl. Meatloaf was a big baby goofball who always let Sophie push him around (my little dom princess) even though he could have kicked her butt from here to Hawaii. But Meaty is a tremendously good watch dog. I loved being his neighbor, since on her own, Sophie didn't blink about potential intruders.
ReplyDeleteSophie (stature-wise) looks a lot like what the old-time pit bull is supposed to look like but is also a little too round which leads me to think she's got that English Staffy in her. The breeds (Staffy's, APBT, and AmBulls) are all so convoluted in one sense or another that it's not like pointing at a Lab and going, "That's a Lab." Although I have noted that some Am. Bulls look like Sophie while others don't. Some have the turn-up blunt nose. If I could get a contingency of topnotch breeders of all the bully breeds, they'd probably be able to tell me. Until then, she just gets the pittie label from me. Or the baby hippo label. I know that none of us could bring our dogs to Denver, regardless. And I know that Sophie is moving out of Casa de Fleaflicker today to live at my boyfriend's house which has more locks, is more difficult to enter, and is better armed (sorry potential intruder, as much of a tree-huggin, fancy pants liberal as I am, I will not hesitate to pop a cap in the general area of your short and curlies if you mess with my dog EVER again).
There are some really sick mo fos out there, and if I ever catch up with the scum that broke into Casa de Fleaflicker, he'd better hope that he already has children, because when I get through with him, his breeding days will be over.
I have to say that Sophie's a lot less pink than she was yesterday. There's no telling how she got all of her injuries: tearing her way off the deck, jumping the 10' to the ground, running through the woods... But she is quite a mess. For a white dog, she has been blessed not to have all the skin allergies I've experienced with other bully breeds (had an English Bull Terrier that broke out into a rash when he napped in the grass). Since the heavy duty pain killers have worn off, she's a wee bit more animated. She slept all day yesterday and last night, with only a short stint of begging for moo shoo pork. The girl is T-I-R-E-D.
I love the bully breeds. They are so friendly and REALLY funny with such interesting personalities. And yes, when I lived in LA and walked down the street with her, I felt safe just because I trusted in the fact that no one would want to mess with me because of my dog (and no one ever did). I do think that the breeds aren't for everyone, and that you have to understand general bully breed stuff before thinking you can be an owner. But I feel that way about all dog breeds. Pits are actually great apartment dogs, because when they're inside they like to hang out and relax. But a little rat terrier or Jack Russel would go ape-poop in a small apartment.
Any way... I've gotta get my bee-hind in gear and get us off to her 2nd home in the city. My verbosity is tends to get the best of me.
I know what you mean about the breed being misaligned. I had a Pit Bull named Hobo Kelly, when my kids were 5, 4 & 3 yrs old. She slept w/ them, let them ride her like a horse, & loved being a part of the family.
ReplyDeleteIt's the cretin 'owners' who create the fighting mess.
Good post!
"as much of a tree-huggin, fancy pants liberal as I am, I will not hesitate to pop a cap in the general area of your short and curlies if you mess with my dog EVER again."
ReplyDeleteOh, testify! And Amen!
YAY!
ReplyDeleteGlad your lady is safe and sound and lounging at home again.
On a lighter note, I am quite sorry to hear Sophie's story, and am very glad that she is back home again.
ReplyDeleteThanks, David, much appreciated.
ReplyDelete