My Dog Riolife with a rescue dog

We began the search by looking at Heelers and Cattle dogs. It made sense because of our experience with Quin. But we remembered that these working dogs were very active and needed lots of activities to keep them happy and content. Our kids had done most of that with Quin. They are beautiful, especially the Australian Shepherds, but Jay and I are busier now and don’t have the time for that type of animal.

The one dog I didn’t think I wanted was a pit bull. Not because I have anything against them, for my youngest son, Jeramie, has one and it is just a big, gentle, lap dog, and great with kids. But I know that they have a reputation for being mean and aggressive, and I didn’t want a dog that our friends and visitors would be afraid of. So we decided that those dogs were out.

I began looking on the internet for rescued dogs in our area that might fit the bill. We didn’t want a puppy that we had to house train. We wanted a young dog, 1 to 2 years old, one that had a calm temperament, and one that was short haired and good looking. I searched for days without any success. I called about a dog only hours after it had just been adopted. I applied with a rescue group that didn’t seem like they really wanted to give up any of their dogs. They declined us without any explanation. I talked to people about their dogs, asking them lots of questions to make sure it was the kind of dog we would be happy with and that would be good with children (for we have 14 grandchildren). None of them seemed to be right.

Then my husband talked to Patty at the H. A.L. T. Rescue Organization here in Bakersfield and she suggested that we drop by Petco on Saturday when they have their dogs on display. That way we could look them over and spend time with them to see if any of them would be a match. Sounded like a good plan to us.

That Saturday we stopped by Petco. Lots of crates and cages were lined up in the shade along the wall close to the entrance. The sound of barking dogs greeted us as we got out of our car. Lots of people were milling around and most of the dogs were very excited. As we walked along the sidewalk in front of the cages, my eye caught one dog’s face. He was laying down, very calm, and his eyes moving back and forth following the people as they walked by. He had a very sweet and gentle look, and his eyes were a beautiful deep golden color. I pointed him out to my husband who went over to the cage to check him out.

A young woman came up to us and asked if we wanted to take him out of the cage. We did. She told us that his name was Hitch. She put him on a leash and Jay took him for a walk up and down the sidewalk. The dog was very calm, despite all the barking from the other dogs, and the people milling around. He walked very well on the leash, not pulling ahead or lagging behind. He and Jay bonded immediately. As they were walking around, I took a good look at him and realized…”He’s a pit bull!” But his sweet face and gentle temperament made that fact unimportant.

His coloring was different, a light golden color on his face, neck, and down his sides with some darker flecks here and there. He had a darker reddish streak down his back and his legs were the same darker color. His feet were white and his face neck and chest had white markings. He was only about 18 months old, thin and lanky.

With those big golden eyes looking up at us he seemed to be saying “Please take me home.” We agreed that he seemed to be the right dog for us. We just had to think of a better name for him.
Read the next post Our Dog Gets A New Name

He feels right at home in our backyard.