Friday the 13th (and May 13th heretofore ) is now officially Bushi Day on the Critter Project calendar. Yesterday we adopted our second pitbull. What a fortunate day for us.
Bushi (pronounced BOO-she) means "warrior," as in Bushido, the "way of the warrior" of the Samauri.
We'd planned on getting a female Pit, as a companion for ourselves as well as for our Pit, Zen, and had already named her. Now it was just a matter of finding the dog that fit her name and our life.
She turns out to be a delicate young lady with some Pit ancestry and some that is just a guessing game. Finer boned and more terrier-like than Zen (who is definitely Boxer/heavy molosser blood) we're guessing that she may be part Bull or Fox Terrier, maybe some Heeler, German Shepherd or Lab.
After looking at her online via Petfinder, we finally got our car stuff together (more about that in a later post) and went down to the shelter to meet her. We were already 99% sure that she was the right dog. Her photos were just adorable, she was the right age (about three). We wanted a dog who would be a stabilizing influence on our "bunctious" Zen, so a slightly older dog was called for. A friend tried to pawn off a couple puppies on us, but a puppy was the last thing we felt would be right for us or Zen, and unfair to any puppy involved (too much chance of getting trod on and not safe to have puppies outdoors here yet) in the small space we're presently living in. Besides, puppies are a lot easier to home. We wanted to give space to an older, and potentially less adoptable dog.
The video (so glad the shelter included it) cinched the deal. We could see that she was calm, intelligent, friendly and responsive.
After a while, I put them both back on their leashes, and gave them a walk together, while Quantum went and got the paperwork done. To my surprise, walking two of them was actually easier than walking Zen by himself. He tends to pull on the leash and sometimes goes into whirling dervish mode. With her, he was calm, focused and the two of them were beautiful together.
Turns out she was a stray, and was pregnant when she arrived at the shelter. Not sure if she was aborted or if they found the puppies homes, but she was spayed last Monday, and though still a little delicate, is coming along well. Tomorrow she goes to the vet for (hopefully minor) postpartum bleeding and her shots.
On the long ride home she lay in the backseat of the truck and was a great calming influence on Zen. On the way down, he'd been bouncing off the walls and all over the truck. On the way back, he let her pick her territory and then lay down on the seat and relaxed with his head in his daddy's lap.
48 hours later, the impact that Bushi has already brought to our household is amazing. If I ever wondered at the influence of a steady and "calm-submissive" dog, I no longer do. They walk great together, and our house
has felt more peaceful in the past 48 than any time previous.
The cats still aren't sure about her, but she's relaxed though interested, and I have no doubt that it will work well.
Bushi is intelligent and alert. Her antenna-ears are always listening, but she feels comfortable enough to be laying next to Zen, right now, with her eyes closed and having little puppy dreams. She's going to be one of those easy-to-train dogs. Eager to please and super smart. By the time we'd left the basketball court yesterday she already knew her name.
Zen, full of energy and never the most graceful dog, had been romping around and somehow slammed into me, giving my neck a bad jar - I almost blacked out. Bushi, who barely knew me, was the first one to come over and say, "Mommy? You okay?"
One of the first things we discovered when we got home is that she was nearly terrified at being invited onto the couch. She had obviously lived in a home where getting on the couch made you a "bad dog". Yet, after a few invitations and gentle lifting up she's now sacked out on the couch next to me, and has several times jumped up on her own volition. (Now you might be of the theory that dogs don't go on the couch, and that's fine. In our household we WANT the dogs on the couch with us, and this is our choice and preference. LOL and we have little enough floor space in this trailer, that they're actually more in the way of our narrow hallway if they're on the floor.) Yet, in less than 48 hours, she's realized that it's okay to be on the couch and that she's enjoying it. Very adaptable.
While Quantum was in the shelter doing the paperwork, a woman came in and wanted a look at the available dogs. Turns out the shelter was having a big adoption special the following day. Fortunate for us we were able to make it down in time to snag our girl. The chick went into the kennel, and came back saying, "Do you have any puppies?"
"We only have one puppy, right now," the shelter-woman said, pointing out a Pitbull puppy.
"Oh, I really wanted something fluffy and a family pet," said the chick.
Quantum couldn't help adding in, "Who wouldn't want a Pitty puppy?"
The woman looked at him like he had two heads.
"They're the best family dogs for kids," he said. "Very loyal and protective."
Chickiebabe gave him a dirty look.
"You do realize that Helen Keller's dog was a Pit Bull?" he said.
The bitch left without getting a dog, but the shelter-woman gave Quantum a huge grin. She knew Bushi was going to a home that not only knew and loved Pits but would be Pit advocates.
I don't know how many times we got thanked on the way out for giving Bushi a home, but we're the ones who are thankful.
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