I work in a clean room (a sterile room). Because I work in a clean room I cannot carry my cell phone with me. Those things are harbors for all sorts of bacteria. No one wants bacteria in their sterile IVs that go into their veins... So... We don't do that at work. Remember that later, it will help.
My husband went out of work about six months after we got Jax. He started going to the dog park near our house with Jax almost everyday. The exercise and fresh air was good for both of them. Many times people will ask if we rescued Jax. My husband will say, "No, Jax rescued me." Us having Jax gave my husband a reason to get up on days he felt like staying in bed. Adjusting to life with a chronic illness was (and is) brutal and depression is a real part of that. So some days he didn't want to get up and get out of bed and get dressed. But he did because that precious little red puppy gave him the umph to.
So they had been going to the dog park regularly since Jax was just old enough to go (4-5ish months, he had to have all his shots). We had made many friends there and still love them all. One day when Jax was about a year old they were there in the mid morning. Now this was before the C19 pandemic so it was not very crowded, in fact it was just my husband and Jax and our friend and his two dogs there that day. Our friend worked for himself so he had a fairly flexible schedule. He has two deaf dogs, Phantom and Edison, who are absolute sweethearts. So Jax, Phantom, and Edison had a private dog park that morning.
(L-R) Orion, Jax, Rico, Avery, Tut, Phantom
A man came in neither my husband nor our friend knew. He had a small, 10 week old brindle puppy with him. My husband has never met a stranger so they started talking. It turned out this man and his wife had taken the puppy from her nephew who "raised" pit bulls. We love pit bulls, in fact, about 2 days prior we had decided we were going to get a little girl pit bull to play with Jax. But this nephew of theirs wasn't "raising" pit bulls. This nephew was training them to fight. This little ten week old puppy had been used as a bait dog because he was small and not a full pit. For those unaware, a bait dog is a smaller dog trainers will use to teach their fighting dogs to beat up on as a stepping stone to actual dog fights. To say it was not a good situation was an understatement. So this man and his wife had taken this puppy away from there. Unfortunately they learned he would grow too big for their apartment. They had a 35 pound limit and this puppy was projected to go well over 50 pounds. So the man said he brought him to the park to play before he surrendered him to our local animal care and control later that day.
My husband began thinking. And he says without really realizing he heard himself saying, "He's been abused. You say he is a pit mix. He won't make it out of the pound. I will take him home right now."
The man said he had to talk with his wife and after they discussed it they agreed. My husband could tell looking at him he was not a pit bull mix but wasn't sure what he actually was. It didn't matter, he had played with Jax that morning and they got along well. And my husband couldn't bear the thought of that sweet baby not making it out of the pound. The man brought his food, leash, harness and other items they had for him. He offered my husband the puppy's crate. We did not crate Jax but my husband thought if it was comforting and familiar he might want it. He asked if he liked his crate and the man said, "No, he hates it. He cries the whole time he is in it." My husband told him "No, sell it on craigslist. He won't ever have to sleep in a crate again."
So home they went. I got out of the clean room at close to 1:00PM for lunch. I turned my phone on. Text messages began to load: There's a puppy here.
He's really young.
They can't keep him.
They are going to have to take him to the pound later today.
He plays with Jax well.
They asked if we wanted him.
My heart just sank. Was I too late? These messages had been sent hours ago. I texted him back as fast as my little fingers would move:
Oh honey, go back and get him. Even if we rehome him, don't let them take him to the pound!
Minutes passed, "Oh no," I thought, "I was too late. They've left and we don't know how to reach them to tell them we can take him." Then my phone buzzed. It was my husband:
I'm really glad you said that. He's in our living room.
Yup. Our home had been enlarged by four feet. And he would never have to sleep in a crate (except for medical reasons) or get beat or yelled at or terrified again. Ever. Rico was home and he was ours.
We never did get that little girl pit bull but we haven't noticed. Maybe one day.
Did you ever have a surprise baby?
Be well, y'all.
We firmly believe in adopt, don't shop. Animal rescue is a wonderful endeavor and always needing a little help. Our local Humane Association has an Amazon wish list which can be used to drop ship needed items directly to them. Check out NHA's wish list here: https://smile.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3I6EQPZ8OB1DT?ype=wishlist&filter=unpurchased&sort=priority&viewType=list