#my dog's already part pittie and she's perfect

[fleshdyk3]

dalmatians are like the most gorgeous dogs i love them so much. kind of a shame im a bird guy bc i would love to have one

[naritaren]

I'm a little new around here, so sorry if you have already talked about this. Do you have any pets? If so, tell us a little bit about them!

Not only do I have animals, I have a tag for my babies! If you scroll through #cara and nibbles you can see pictures of them, but let me explain them. Cara is my 2.5 year old cat. She is part Norwegian Forest Cat and is the perfect little autistic creature. She only likes to snuggle with us if we're under or near the blankets she likes. She is also passive aggressive about not being fed on her terms. But when you feed her, if she's near you she'll give you a kiss to say thanks. She also bullies the dog. A lot. Mostly so she can lay on the dog beds. Nibbles is our dog. She's stupid. She's a lab pittie mix and she's all of the stupid of a lab and all of the friendly of a pittie. She loves to sleep and be cozy, but will often have puppy energy. She's 11 years old and my partner had her way before him and I met, but she has adopted me as one of her humans. I need to stress that she is very stupid. Just last night she ran into the wall. She also doesn't like being wet and cold, which is rough because I live in Minnesota. She also loves the concept of outside but not actually being out there. She also doesn't know any commands in English. My partner trained her in Chinese so he's the only one that can somewhat get her to do something. Somewhat.

[prorevenge]

A complete lack of foresight.

To preface, the scenario involves my roommate (lets call her Callie), her ex (lets call him Tweakie McGee), myself, Tweakies fling, Nikki, and my roommates dog, an adorable bluenose pittie (lets go with Derpy)

Keep in mind, I myself am 25, Callie is 25 as well, but Tweakie McGee is 19. This will be relevant later.

TL:DR at the bottom. This is a long one.

Now, this story begins with my roommate. She had just gotten out of an exhausting, but not necessarily abusive relationship, and she was on lookout for something casual while she regained her independence and reclaimed her life. Unfortunately, Tweakie McGee came around and made himself at home in our house.

At first, it wasn't too bad. We're all moderate stoners, and he knew the right people, so it seemed like a fair give and take, considering we didn't pay for much smoke throughout the time he was essentially squatting, but he put forth nothing when it came to groceries and bills.

Now my roommate was far enough removed from her previous relationship at this point to be fiercely protective of her independence, but given the age difference, she chalked up some glaringly obvious red flags when they began to present.

Tweakie got his pet name for a number of reasons, but the main one was this: he had an adderol prescription (20mg). As he was prescribed the meds, he chomped on quite a few, but it quickly spiraled into a 10 pill per day habit (first, he was just chomping, but began to snort them off our livingroom table after about 2 weeks).

As his habit progressed, Callie also partook, as she has a very demanding job, and the extra energy helped her through her 70 hour weeks. I believe that this is another reason why she put up with it as long as she did. As their 'relationship' progressed, the oh so common side effects of stimulant abuse began to creep onto both of them (irritability, poor short term memory, inability to accurately communicate emotions/thoughts). Since I did my best to stay out of their relationship, (as it's not my place to interfere in something I know her to be smart and mature enough to handle) I never really got involved, but she and I had many deep conversations while he was out on runs.

I felt like our talks were making headway until one day, Tweakie McGee got a bug in his ass and started impetuously bringing up the idea of getting a dog. Keep in mind, we live in a college town, and while we're both out of school, we work full time in a very small 2 bedroom house. She was apprehensive at first since she was already going through the motions of cutting him off, but she had also wanted a dog for years at this point.

After 2 weeks of Callie and Tweakie visiting various shelters, they decided on Derpy.

Derpy was an absolutely adorable 6 month old bluenose pitbull with one of the most prominent personalities I have ever seen in a dog (my family used to train dogs professionally). Incredibly playful, super smart, and the perfect demeanor for a small house with a bigger backyard.

Now, only being your friendly neighborhood stoner, and not partaking in the speedy delights, I saw it for what it was, but she was blinded by the adorable pup. Tweakie knew that Callie was setting the stage to kick his ass to the curb, and thought that a dog was the perfect ball and chain for the situation, but his age (and addiction) caught up with him.

All the paperwork and payments were made in Callie's name, including the registration paperwork, initial vet visits, professional pet sitters, toys, ect... Since she works incredibly long hours, and Tweakie essentially being a bum, he got the thought in his head that the dog was his, and when push came to shove, he could keep him.

Well the day of reckoning came after about 3 weeks of escalating early morning arguments and general irritation, and while I was at work, the breakup finally happened. Cops ended up being called, but no blows were thrown. Tweakie packed all his shit up and drove it back to his mothers, then came back - told Callie he was leaving, and took Derpy with him. At this time, the cops that showed up had no idea what had been transpiring, and let him walk off with the dog.

Less than 24 hours later, Callie had made so many calls to the police department/lawers/pet advocacy groups, that she had her course of action laid out. After the filing was complete, she was beyond paranoid because of the threat of retaliation. (I'm a pretty big dude 6'4" 235, so I knew I could stand my ground, but she's a tiny lil' thing, and i have a full time job)

In my state, any disputes regarding animals are to be settled in civil court, and the pets are treated as property. Now I don't know about y'all, but pets are family, and do not deserve to be treated on the same base as property.

The next day, she had filed a civil suit in an attempt to get Derpy back. At her first court date, she presented all the evidence of her ownership of Derpy, as well as the resources she has available to her in order to provide the best level of care for the pup. Tweakie countered with a slew of baseless accusations essentially claiming that she had been abusive to Derpy (false) and that she doesn't have the time nor resources to properly take care of him (also false).

Unfortunately the civil court system tends to draw these things out. The court eventually ruled in her favor and ordered Tweakie to return Derpy, but when the cops turned up, apparently Derpy had "ran away". Before this, she was only trying to get Derpy back, and not really seeking any financial compensation/punishment.

By this time (Approx. 2 months after the breakup, which is bullshit on it's own) he had already been in and out of a relationship with another woman, Nikki.

Nikki had been around, and heard about the court shit, but didn't know the other party. Once she found out it was Callie who Tweakie had fucked over, she started messaging Callie, telling her a bunch of info about Derpy, as they were friends back in the day.

It turns out that in the time since the breakup, Tweakie had been staying with his mother, and honest to goodness hoarder with about 10sqft of usable space in her apartment. Tweakie was also unable to take Derpy out on walks or on pup play dates due to the fact that there was still a return order for Derpy.

One day, he took Derpy to his dealers house who also has 2 pitties of his own, however Derpy is in his teenage stage, and began.. uh.. getting fresh with one of the other pits, and ended up getting pretty brutally attacked. Since the return order was still in effect, and the info about him and the dog was given to every vet within 50 miles, he couldn't take him to get treatment.

** Tweakie also made a deal with this dealer to essentially pimp out Nikki, which was one of the many reasons she was on our side.

Upon hearing this, Callie (now off the uppers and much more clearheaded) absolutely fucking lost it. She went to her lawyer to see if there was anything she could do to expedite the return of Derpy. Turns out she had a few options.

Cut to today. Tweakie has officially been charged with felony theft and animal abuse/neglect charges, and they're wrapping up the legal process with pleas and other legal whatnot. He faces up to 8 years in prison, and if he doesn't return Derpy within 1 week from today, he will receive the maximum sentence. There is also a separate case in the works from Nikki regarding the whole shady pimping shit he tried to pull, as well as (unsuprisingly) charges for possession/manufacturing with intent to distribute Meth and Cocaine.

Part of me feels bad for him because he absolutely nuked the rest of his life at such a young age, but Callie and I both know that he wasn't going to get any better regardless. He had his chance, and he squandered it.

​

** Sorry for any formatting issues. I work third shift, and have been a walking zombie for a long ass time.

TLDR - My roommates casual tweaker boyfriend coerces her to get a dog, then proceeds to break up with her and keep the dog for himself, even though he has no right, and absolutely no ability to give the dog a comfortable life. Tweaker ends up trying to pimp out his new girlfriend and the dog had gotten attacked. Roomie only wanted the dog back with no financial compensation, but now the tweaker is looking at a minimum of 8 years in prison plus more for various drug charges.

(source) story by (/u/suicidal_ideation_)

[weloveallanimals]

Rescue Dog Comes To The Aid Of Teenager With PTSD By Giving Extra Cuddles

A teenager named Naomi with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) met Twinkie a training service dog and her life is already changing for the better.

“She has changed our lives forever,” Patty Gosdin, Naomi’s mom said.

Twinkie, a 1-year-old pittie, was adopted from a South Carolina shelter. She is now in training to be a PTSD service dog. Her job includes staying close to Naomi in crowds and leading her out of stressful situations. She also carries Naomi’s medication.

One of Twinkie’s most important duties will be to snuggle up close when Naomi is experiencing a panic attack or anxiety.

“It is actually very impressive how Twinkie runs to Naomi and starts laying on her when she sees her laying down and hears her crying,” Gudrun Kaiser, a dog trainer said.

Gosdin said that Naomi stopped participating in activities she previously loved, like kayaking and surfing and became isolated.

“Naomi felt lonely and closed off inside. She had trouble expressing her feelings and felt fearful, judged and pushed around by many,” Gosdin said. “She was extremely insecure and it started to affect every aspect of her life.”

But Naomi has always felt a special kinship with animals, and the family looked into whether a specially-trained service dog could join their household.  Their home already included two other dogs, a cat, and a snake.

The cost for an already-trained dog was prohibitive and can run into tens of thousands of dollars. Kaiser, a dear family friend, knew that she could train a shelter dog for virtually no money with just as good results.

“It is one of the favorite parts in my line of work as a professional dog trainer, to find a rescue service dog for someone and train them with the person together,” Kaiser said.

Kaiser works with local shelters, doing temperament testing of their dogs. She began letting people know she was looking for a dog with some specific characteristics: The dog should be friendly, good with people and other dogs, and “eager to please, liked to be touched, loves affection, doesn’t startle with loud noises, not afraid of strangers or groups of people,” Kaiser said.

Naomi put in her request: that the dog is large enough to really hug.

Beaufort County Animal Shelter had a couple of good prospects. In late September, Kaiser and her business partner met the dogs and neither seemed like a perfect fit.

“While we were ready to leave, the staff was insisting that I would look at another dog, a 10-month-old pitbull girl named Penny,” she said.

Penny was found as a scar-covered, emaciated stray after Hurricane Irma. Her background didn’t give Kaiser pause, but the trainer did have reservations about Naomi having a pit bull as a service dog.

Kaiser worried that having a pit bull could draw negative attention to Naomi but those concerns slipped away when Kaiser met Penny at the shelter.

“She sat right in front of me and put her head in my hand and that was it. She kept wagging her tail like crazy and passed the temperament test with flying colors,” Kaiser said.

Kaiser brought the dog to the Gosdins’ home and she fit in right away.

“The first thing we remember seeing was that wiggle butt,” Gosdin said. “[She] showered us with love the moment she arrived. And all of us realized the change that started, that day, in our daughter’s behavior.”

Naomi renamed her new dog Twinkie. “And she thought a name like Twinkie could bring awareness to the fact that she is sweet on the outside but even sweeter on the inside,” Gosdin said.

Naomi and Twinkie have been inseparable ever since.

“Twinkie is now Naomi’s little shadow,” Kaiser said.

Kaiser works with the two every week. They do bonding exercises and practice basic commands like sit and stay.

Twinkie learned the “cuddle” command as her first trained task.

Gosdin already sees a big change in her daughter.

“Once Naomi adopted Twinkie, her confidence shot through the roof. One day she came home and told us she found herself talking to other students. And of course, Twinkie was the subject matter. She told us she felt like a proud bragging mom,” Gosdin said. “After months of isolation that was truly incredible. Her happiness and joy regarding the little things of life returned.”

Kaiser wants to shine a light on the positive role that shelter dogs, pit bulls in particular, can play in a person’s life. She hopes that others who need and train service dogs will consider a dog like Twinkie.

“What could be better than [when] a shelter dog, who might have faced euthanasia, is saving a human’s life by becoming their service dog?” Kaiser said. “This is a win-win situation for anybody involved.”

Gosdin hopes her daughter’s story inspires others.

“From the moment Naomi saw Twinkie she loved her for what she was, regardless of her past or looks. And Naomi, if I may add, turned out to be the best mom, friend and protector Twinkie could ever have,” Gosdin said.

Gosdin relayed something very moving that Naomi said about Twinkie: “All the scars on her body are my scars too. She has taught me never to give up, but bear the scars without looking back. And healing, Mom, healing — that is what we are learning to do.”

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