Shortly after we purchased our first home I saw a post on Facebook that caught my eye as well as my heart. A friend of mine had posted about a dog who desperately needed a home to avoid euthanization. The owner was outside of my "friends" circle, so i knew very little about this dog. the one thing I did know; it broke my heart to think he was going to be put down just because of his breed. Pitbull.
I started asking questions about him. Having 3 small children, I was nervous about how it might go if we chose to foster or even adopt him. She said his name was Red, and although he seemed to be full grown he was only 2. He had never been to a vet for shots or a checkup, and the woman who had him was his 3rd home! The more I learned about what he had been through the more my heart broke. He had been left outside through all types of weather as a puppy. He had even been beaten. As someone who had fostered pits before, I knew this could make or brake a dog, especially at his age.
I asked why he needed a new home. This answer was a lot more relaxing then I expected. It wasn't Red at all, but that the woman (90 lbs soaking wet) had just had her second child via c-section. she lived in an upstairs apartment and was finding it impossible to match Reds energy and to even take him out to the bathroom.
I slept on it. The next day I messaged her and asked if we could come and meet him. I wanted to see how his temperament was with the girls. My husband swears that I had already decided Red would come home with us, but it was how he greeted me that won my heart forever. I entered the apartment, and Red instantly came to me to "hug" me. There was no aggression. His eye shown bright with love and excitement. For an hour or so before we left he played with the girls. He was so gentle with them. He was the son we had always wanted.
Our first night home with Red wasn't easy. After being re-homed so many times, he was skeptical. He cried out at night. It broke my heart, especially knowing first hand how being "re-homed" really felt. I had promised my husband that Red would not sleep on the bed, but just as I would never let my girls cry alone in their rooms, I couldn't let him either. Just as I did with my own, Red would sleep with me until he was ready to sleep alone.
Red has been with us almost a year now. He has grown both in size and his manners. He has learned so much. Red is truly one of the family. When I think back to a year ago when I thought I was saving him, I was wrong. Red saved us. Through teamwork training him we became closer as a family. He has taught the girls responsibility. Most of all, he taught us all how to love the broken, no matter how many shoes they destroy.
