Pit Bull Plaza

My name is Susie. I am a brown and white Pit Bull Terrier. I was found in a rural area all alone without my doggy mommy in March, 2009 when I was very, very young.  Mesa County Animal Services picked me up and took me to the animal shelter in Grand Junction, Colorado. The kind and caring shelter staff took great care of me until I could be transferred to a foster home provided by Grand Rivers Humane Society.   They knew I was just too young to stay in the shelter. In this picture, I am about 5 weeks old and snuggling up in soft blankets at my foster home. See the three pads on my bed?  One is green and two others are beige?  Those are special puppy pillows made for me by my foster mom's daughter, Clair.  They help me sleep. They are all natural - no chemicals!  The pillows contain a relaxing and soothing mixture of rice and lavender.  My human mom heats them up in the microwave at bedtime and I cuddle up in them.  Funny thing is, now, whenever I smell lavender, I get sleepy! 

SSHHHH......I'm not supposed to be on the couch.  This week, I learned about my foster home; where to sleep, where to eat and drink, and where the bathroom is.   I was going to the bathroom a whole bunch so my foster mom had me checked and sure enough, I had a bladder infection. Listen up, you puppies out there...I LOVED my medecine.  Mom says I ate it like candy.  I think it tastes like that so picky, sick puppies are sure to take it and start feeling better.  Mom said something about the carpet appreciating it too.....

This is my foster brother, Casper.  See those two round brown marks with white around them on his side?.  It looks kind of like a ghost floating by.  That's how he got his name. Casper adopted my foster mom many years ago.  He had fallen out of the back of a pickup truck on a highway.  His owner just kept on driving.  Casper was only a year old at the time.  He suffered several injuries. My foster mom's veterinarian talked her into taking him.  They've been inseperable ever since.  Now that he is older, he has arthritis and is grouchy much of the time.  However, since I got here, he does alot of playing.  

This is my foster-sister, Gina.  My foster mom adopted her from the Durango Animal Shelter where she had been for 7 months!  Mom had been looking and looking for a dog who was addicted to tennis balls and retreiving - for work purposes.  She found Gina through www.petfinder.com . Boy, did she find the right dog!  Mom has trained several scent detection dogs so she knew what she was looking for. Gina became a certified Cadaver dog.  She is retired now and gets to play with tennis balls whenever she wants - which is all the time unless she's sleeping. In this picture, I am about 8 weeks old.

Here we are during Easter 2009.  Mom says I need to be "socialized."   Wait, did I say "Mom?"  Well, guess what?  My foster mom is adopting me!  She says that after fostering approximately 20 dogs in the last year and a half she is finally going to "flunk" foster care!  I'm so happy.  I have a wonderful family and mom has alot planned for me.  She says I'm going to be an "ambassador" for all things that are positive about the American Pit Bull Terriers.  I'd settle for just being a princess!

In this picture, I am meeting some children and another puppy. I was being squirmy so mom had her hands full. 

                                                                                      The black colored dog is "Skye".  She's from Chicago.  I think she likes it out here in Colorado much better than back east.  She says the summers are not quite so hot here. The other puppy is "Puzzles". He's really nice but a little bit shy.  I tried awfully hard to play nicely with him. But, gosh, when I play, I play hard.  I'm a typical American Pit Bull Terrier with lots of muscle.  Even for a baby, my muscles seem to be far more developed than those of most of my puppy friends. 

We had such an exciting day today!  We socialized! Petsmart was our first stop. Take a look at these beautiful and handsome Labrador Retrievers!  When they pulled into the Petsmart parking lot, I just couldn't take my eyes off them!  Even though they made a good picture, Mom explained that dogs riding loose in the back of pickup trucks is dangerous.  She said to ask Casper if I didn't believe her. She said she thinks he must have bounced on his head a time or two when he fell out of the back of a truck when he was younger. I think she was being funny.

As soon as we entered the doors at Petsmart, I was swarmed by people!  Mom says I did a great job and reacted very well to strangers.  The loud noises didn't seem to bother me, I was so happy sniffing all the new scents and seeing new sights. Lots of people came to see me.  Under careful supervision and direction, mom let children hold me.  Oh...I loved that so much.  Pit Bull Terriers are excellent family dogs and I'm no exception! 

Mom's been trying a little test with people.  She says it is very interesting to see their reaction when they ask what kind of puppy I am.  Sometimes mom says I'm a Pit Bull and sometimes she says I'm a Terrier.  If she were a Ph.D, she would probably do a formal study on this interesting phenominum.

Anyway, I got to meet people, kids, dogs, bunnies and cats.  I strutted around with my tail held high and my ears pointed forward.  Mom says I am a natural Pit Bull ambassador.  Guess what? I got a collar!  It's my first one!  It is very pretty pink.  Mom also had a pink name tag engraved with my name and phone number.  She put the tag on the collar and then put the collar on me.  Boy! Did I feel good - and a bit sassy - wearing my new collar!

When we left Petsmart, a car honked from across the parking lot.  Mom didn't think anything of it until the car intercepted us before we had a chance to cross the street.  The driver of the car wanted to know where to purchase a Pit Bull just like me.  Mom said that I had been abandoned when I was very young so she wasn't sure of my origins. The man in the car, along with his four children petted me and talked about how pretty and sweet I am.   

Next, we went to a farm sale to look at machinery. There were 3 Rottweilers and 1 Australian Shepherd loose there.  You won't believe this but they all liked me!  Even all the people liked me.  We stayed for quite awhile at the farm as mom got sidetracked talking about dogs.  Turns out, the owner of the farm is a Rottweiler breeder. He explained that a puppy he sold two years ago was going to have to come back to his farm because his humans couldn't keep him any longer.  So, I was thinking, if any of YOU know of someone who might like to give a handsome two-year old Rottweiler a home, please let us know!  We've got the dog for you!

Near the end of the day, we went to Aunti Kimberlee's house.  She is fostering an emaciated Coonhound named, "Beau".  Beau was so nice and gentle with me.  Even in his condition, he was happy and thankful to be at Aunti Kimberlee's home.  You can see him by going to my Aunti Kimberlee's website at www.dancingpawz.biz .

I napped for an hour in my crate in the back of my mom's jeep until we got home.  Then, I helped  dig holes and I helped her plant flowers.....I can tell you this much, I love mud!

Night night, everyone!  More later-I'm a tired little girl!

Sunday - April 19, 2009

This is my mom and Gina and me on the 4-wheeler!  We kind of match with our brown colors on. (Casper was just out of view - he is afraid of.. well...everything). 

My mom says her daughter, Clair, is coming to visit in a couple of weeks.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!  I love company.  If she is anything like my mom - and I'm sure she is - we are going to have tons of fun!.  I am hoping Clair will take me somewhere to SOCIALIZE.  I've gotta tell you, socializing is the best!  Today, mom said she saw two friendly Pit Bull Terriers at Home Depot.  I wish I could have seen them. 

I want all you dog owners to know how much it helps us puppies to be socialized at an early age.  Only put us in situations that are safe and watch closely when we are around children.  It's not so much that WE might hurt a child but the CHILD might hurt us!  Also watch adult dogs around us.  Sometimes they aren't too tolerant of puppies.  We depend on you to keep us safe. 

We are going back outside to plant flowers now. My white fur is dirty from helping so much with flower planting earlier today. Mom said I should stop eating the pansies. They look so good though!

April 22, 2009 - Earth Day!

When mom got home from work today she said I seemed to be full of energy and could use a hike in the canyon by our home.  It was fun!  Check out more pictures on the photo gallery page!  Here I am drinking muddy water from a recent spring rain.

9 months!

It's been awhile since I've written.  Alot has been going on in my life.  I am now 9 months old and have several dog and puppy playmates.  You can see the ears of one of them in the picture above.  More pictures are posted in the photo section.  I'm doing great!  I was a little bit food aggressive and a bit dog aggressive when I was 6 months old but I've long-since out grown that and realize that I don't have to worry about other dogs or my food disappearing.  Sometimes my mom takes me to the dog park which is a bunch of fun for the most part.  I find that alot of the other dogs there - who arent's Pit Bulls - are more aggressive than I would ever be. And, to top it off, many of them are just down-right rude!  My mom doesn't tolerate bad behavior in dogs or their people. She's raised me to be a very polite Pit Bull. 

We are contemplating Canine Freestyle when I'm a bit older.  Right now, we are working on my Canine Good Citizen (CGC).  See the "links" page for more information about these fun dog sports.  Personally, I would like to try some herding and perhaps some lure chasing.  I'm very, very fast and very, very athletic.  Besides all the hiking I do with my mom, she thinks I need more exercise. More on that later.

With love,

Susie Pit Bull