Monday, December 22, 2014

He's Not Aggressive. He's Just a Big Baby.

Y'all! I have fantastic news to share today! As of this past weekend, we are the proud parents to this sweet boy. Internet, meet Gambit!!

I'm sure as most of y'all are well aware, we brought home Gambit on Saturday. He's a rescue baby. The family we adopted him from had been fostering him for a few months. He showed up in their front yard in the fall, and they spend several weeks trying to find his family. After a month of no one calling from flyers, they decided to foster him and try to find his forever home. They got him neutered and got all of his shots up to date.

If y'all didn't know: Josh delivers medical equipment for hospices. This past week, he happened to get sent to this family's house to pick up some equipment because the family's father passed away. Josh is very good at what he does in that he does a lot to make a family feel comfortable given that he's there in very unfortunate circumstances. After talking with them for several minutes, they asked if he knew of anyone looking for a dog. That's when they took him outside to meet Gambit. Only they had been calling him Leo. Josh fell in love! Shortly after, I got the text with "Can we keep him?" Long story short, I said yes.
The "Can we keep him?" Picture.
Here's where I would like to step onto my own personal little soapbox for a moment. Last week when I announced via social media that we would be getting Gambit, I immediately started getting bad feedback from friends and family. Comments like "That's a full bred pitbull, Melissa. He shouldn't be around kids." Or, "you can't trust that dog. WHY is he a rescue? He's not a good family dog."

Stuff like that pissed me off. Esp since some of the comments came from my father. Someone I thought would've been fully supportive of us getting a rescue. ANY rescue. Nope. He was the biggest naysayer of them all. It upset me to the point of ranting on Twitter, and calling both Amanda and Cassie to vent. I knew they would be willing to be angry with me and remind me that pits ARE sweeties at heart.

What a lot of people don't realize is the dogs that are typically "misunderstood" or the ones that people tend to be "scared of" are the sweetest little cuddle bugs. Like Gambit. I'll tell y'all like I told my dad: the breed that people should really be worried about are Dalmatians. When 101 dalmatians came out from Disney in 1996, my step dad bought a dalmatian for my step sister. She was I think three or four at the time. She was a puppy, and grew up with us. She was really great with all of us, but no matter how hard we tried we couldn't socialize her to be friendly with anyone outside of the family. She was just mean. The vet said it's in their nature to be like that. There's several dogs out there like that. Pitbull's however: are not those dogs.

I found this article on Saturday and shared it via Facebook. A friend commented saying "Omg, I was suspicious of this article at first, but most of these breeds are spot on!" She works at PetSmart in the grooming and training departments. It's a list / slide of the top 10 most aggressive dogs. Pits aren't on the list. Imagine that. 

So to those of y'all that are convinced that dogs like Gambit are mean and vicious, I have a few pictures. Because what's the saying? One picture is worth 1,000 words? 

I mean just look at that face, y'all! He's the sweetest boy and the biggest baby of the family! 

Given that it's Monday, I'm linking up with Emily to start the week with a Grateful Heart. I'm grateful that we were able to adopt Gambit and bring him into our family. I'm grateful that the kids get to experience the joy of growing up with a dog. Gambit is still very much a puppy and we have many more years with him in our family. 

He's still adjusting to being an "inside dog". I'm not sure what happened to him before he showed up at his foster family's house, but it's very clear that he was never an "inside dog". On his first day with us, he literally put all of his body weight down, refusing to come into the house. He had severe anxiety about being inside. Either he was mistreated inside, or he was trained not to come in the house. Either way, it took Josh carrying him inside the house. He's absolutely happy to be outside. 
"nope... not coming in... you can't make me"
As the days have passed, he's gotten better about being in the house. We don't have to carry him in the house anymore, and he'll come freely. However, it's very clear that we need to get several large area rugs as he hasn't quite figured out how to walk on hardwood floors and tile. Poor baby. For now we have lots of blankets on the floor so he feels comfortable walking. 

I'm beyond grateful for this sweet boy to be in our home and in our lives. 

What are you grateful for? 
Ember Grey: Grateful Heart
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35 comments :

  1. I am so sorry that you have experienced this negativity, I find it really shocking! I grew up with a boxer dog, he was a cutie. Gambit looks like a sweetheart!

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  2. This little guy has found his forever home!! Sadly, there are so many breeds who have received such a bad reputation. It takes education to show they are not what they are thought to be. Congratulations!!!

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  3. I truly believe it is all in how the animal is raised. Our first dog when I was little was a pit and he was the sweetest dog ever! My dad actually got him when he got out of the Navy and so he was around my brother and I when we were born and babies, toddlers, growing up and he was never ever aggressive with us.

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  4. What a cute sweet doggy! <3 Honestly I feel like no matter how an animal/dog is raised or how sweet it is, any animal/dog just like a human can snap. That is why we use caution around our outside dog when Kenzie is with him. He is super sweet & a big baby. But like anyone or anything else in this world- it only takes one moment for him to snap or get angry. [ he is a Siberian husky & american bull dog mix ]

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  5. exactly! the dalmatian we had was raised in a sweet loving home... she was just a real "b-word" lol. but you're right though... for the most part it's absolutely how the dog was raised! We're so happy to have Gambit! :)

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  6. thanks so much! We're so happy that he's in our family. He's adjusting so well to his new home and fitting in perfectly.

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  7. he really is a sweetheart. My mother in law was one of the naysayers but she met him yesterday and fell in love. he's just a big sweet baby

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  8. oh we're still keeping an eye on Gambit around the kids too. We had to teach them both not to get all in his face.. Just in case. because yes, he is a rescue and we still don't know his past 100%. he's still very much a sweet big old baby though. he loves the kids so much already. they're his kids for sure.

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  9. He looks like a cutie Melissa! Sorry you had such negativity surrounding him. I think it's all in how a dog is raised and treated. Poor thing...I'm glad he found his forever home with you all! :) Merry Christmas!

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  10. I LOVE HIM! I can't wait to meet him next time we come visit. I've always loved pits as a breed and feel that they are severely misunderstood and have gotten a bad rep from people mistreating them (i.e. training them to fight). I'm so glad you found him, he truly has one of the bestest families out there now.

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  11. Merry Christmas indeed! :) this week is going to be full of amazing memories and I'm so glad we have Gambit in our lives now

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  12. he is THE SWEETEST baby! I know he and Bear would have so much fun together.

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  13. BABYYYY. Also it makes me crazy when people say any breed is a bad breed. dogs will be the sweetest if you treat them right. plain. and. simple. he looks like he loves those babies already!!!

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  14. How awesome that those people fostered him until they found you guys! Your whole soapbox? It was hard for me to even read what people were saying to you - makes me SO angry! He's a DOG and just like EVERY OTHER DOG, you need to spend time with them so that they know your expectations, etc. It's just like any other animal. I know I told you- my brother has 2 pits and they are the absolute sweetest dogs. I have lots of other friends who have them too and again- sweet as pie and very good with their kids - they are protective over their families, just like my little itty bitty dog is with me ;) WHEW - don't even get me started haha! Did you try walking with him inside while giving him a treat as you walk through the door? That might be encouraging and make the experience of going inside not as bad ;) I'm so glad you guys adopted him too!!

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  15. we did try a treat, but he refused them. Honestly he didn't eat anything until last night. (poor baby had to adjust) this morning's Gambit was not the same Gambit as Saturday. I took him out to let him do his thing (knowing he'd eaten last night and it HAS to go somewhere!!) he is always excited to go out, but when it came to coming back in he RAN for the door, practically PUSHED me into the house and immediately started to play with his new fox baby from my mother in law. it made my heart SO happy to know that he's adjusting!!! but yeah, I'm with you. it's all about the families! Gambit is learning quickly that this is his forever home and what he can/ can't do. and he absolutely LOVES the kids!

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  16. EXACTLY!!! he absolutely loves the babies. It's amazing. Zander is 100% his calming factor in the house. he gets sooo wiggly and excited when Zander comes to cuddle him. he's just the sweetest baby EVER!

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  17. that makes my heart so happy!!! you're totally right- he's just adjusting!

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  18. Love him! I fully believe that ANY dog can be vicious, it's never because of their breed. I know pits get a bad rap, but as the saying goes "don't judge a book by it's cover". Every pit I've met has been incredibly sweet. So happy for you, and for him :)

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  19. exactly! :) I'm very happy we found him. Josh has been home with him today and said he's been doing wonderfully!

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  20. Good for you girl! I'm glad you took a stand. I've met so many pitbulls and they are so sweet. My mom actually got bit by one when she was a child but still does not think negatively about them at all
    She antagonized the dog..haha. I love Gambit! He's such a cutie pie! I can't wait to hear all about the new adventures he endures with you!

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  21. Looooove it!!! He is sooooo cute :) So happy to see that you said "yes"! My sister works for a vet's office and will tell you the same thing...dogs are generally a product of their owners and environments, and I bet he will be such a sweet, loveable, protective and fun guy to be around and for your family! What a great story!! xoxo

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  22. Awwwwwwww what a sweet baby!!! He has the sweetest face!!

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  23. Aw so sweet! Congrats on such a wonderful addition to a beautiful family!!

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  24. he's SO SWEET! he's getting better each day, too. :) he's quickly adjusting as the spoiled puppy of the family

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  25. he's seriously SO SWEET! he's quickly adapting to being a spoiled baby. he LOVES the kids so much!

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  26. thanks SO much! we adore him. he's so sweet and gentle with the kids. they're 100% his calming factor.

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  27. Just stumbled across your blog. :) What a sweetie this dog is! He was so lucky you guys adopted him, 'bully' breeds have such a hard time getting adopted at shelters. :( I am happy that the community I live in right now is very accepting of 'bully' breeds, and people generally don't have so much of that fear. This is so awesomely generous of you guys to just take him in! XO -Alexandra


    Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things

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  28. Aw thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! :)
    We're very lucky to have him in our family now. he really is the sweetest baby! He's adjusting SO well to being an indoor dog, too. he's a quick learner. Merry Christmas eve!

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  29. AWWW He looks so sweet with the kids! Enjoy him!

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  30. I've been loving the pics of Gambit all week! He seems like such a sweetie. And I'm all for rescue dogs, I just don't feel good about the 'puppy mills' that feed into many pet stores. We always had rescues growing up! Enjoy your time settling into life with that doggy!!

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  31. Sadly, I experience some backlash when we adopted Brick too, and he's only part pittie! My parents were worried he would attack us, and it was really frustrating. I mean, I expected strangers to be scared on the street, but my own parents should have known better. We just had to keep our calm and explain to them the myths about pitbulls and educate them. Six years later, they've gotten to see how sweet and gentle he really is, and they've seen the light. It's really sad that pitties are so discriminated against and so misunderstood, but with good owners who can show others that they're great dogs, we can slowly start to change perceptions. #teampittie

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  32. Oh, I should also add: I've been bitten by chihuauas several times, and my friend who worked in a doggie daycare for years, was bitten by labs and golden retrievers, but NEVER a pit bull. Yes, there are some aggressive pits out there, but it just goes to show that it really can be any dog, and it's all up to how the dog is raised and taught in their homes, regardless of breed. It's just that pitbull bites are the ones that make the news. Sigh.

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