Happy Tail: Meet Meatball + Doc

pit bulls and kids get along great!
It’s a Meatball sandwich! Trevor and Nathaniel snuggle with their pit bull, Meatball. Like most pit bulls, Meatball loves children.

May 31st, 2015 Written by Leah Kraus This happy tale is compliments of Stephanie Oot from the Syracuse area: “We rescued Meatball a year ago, when she was 4 years old. She was at the CNYSPCA and  won us over instantly. We visited her weekly while she was undergoing temperament testing. Finally, we got the news that she passed with flying colors! We were ready to take her home and introduce her to our sons Nathaniel and Trevor, and our cat Karate…

CATS AND DOGS DO GET ALONG…

When Karate was 7 weeks old, he was almost killed by a dog. So we didn’t know if we could ever bring a dog into our home. We were told by the CNYSPCA that Meatball interacted well with cats. So we were hopeful when we took her home, but we really weren’t sure how it was going to go.

It's a dog pile! (With happy cat Karate relaxing in the background)
It’s a dog pile! (With happy cat Karate relaxing in the background)

Luckily, Karate and Meatball instantly hit it off! Pretty early on, we would find Karate and Meatball cuddled up together. It was a dream come true. Meatball is just a love bug. She likes to play, but knows to be gentle with kids. She is our “gentle giant.” She’s very intelligent and we’ve taught her lots of tricks. Meatball extremely social and loves other dogs and animals. She has been completely wonderful in every way!

ADULT DOGS ROCK

Because of the success we had with Meatball, we knew we wanted to adopt a second adult pit bull, and we wanted it to be an adult dog. A lot of people don’t consider adopting adult dogs – they’d prefer puppies. Some people think that adult dogs in shelters have landed there for a reason and that by adopting them, they are inheriting “someone else’s problem.” Often, though, the reason has nothing to do with the dog and has more to do with the former owner.

I find that there are a lot of benefits to adopting adult dogs. Adult dogs have fully-formed personalities. You can be very selective finding an adult dog whose personality fits well with your family and your other animals.

ADDING ANOTHER PIT BULL

Meatball in a meatball costume, of course.
Meatball in a meatball costume, of course.

I saw a great dog named Doc on the CNYSPCA’s website this past December, but wasn’t sure about bringing home a new dog in the middle of winter or how Karate would handle it. We visited the CNYSPCA a couple months later, and to our surprise, Doc was still there! He’d been there for 6 months. We visited him and instantly fell in love. We introduced him to Meatball, and they instantly took to each other. Since bringing Doc home, Karate has totally welcomed him, rubs up against him, and it’s a match made in heaven.

THE DOC IS “IN” (WITH THE FAMILY!)

Doc spent his whole first day at home curled up on the couch. My sons couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t get off of it to play with them. I explained that Doc was just so happy to finally have a soft, comfortable surface to lay on after 6 months in the shelter. He was resting and his kennel sores were healing. Doc’s other favorite thing has been to look out the window and just watch the world pass by. We think this is because he wasn’t able to see outside during his time in the shelter.”

The Oots believe that pit bulls are ideal family dogs.
The Oots believe that pit bulls are ideal family dogs.

 

“We always say, we didn’t save our dogs, our dogs saved us. These dogs love you unconditionally and will be forever grateful to you for taking them into your loving home!”