Chester was unplanned. Yvonne and I had talked about someday, maybe, getting a dog. We both liked ridgebacks. She talked about a mastiff but never convinced me. We wanted something sizable but not massive. Certainly no high-strung little purse dog. We’d decide “later.”
Then Chester came to us, brought home by our son. What?!! A Pit Bull?! Who does he belong to? What are we supposed to do with him? We already have two rabbits, three cats, and two parrots!
Within a few weeks it was an accepted fact that Chester was ours. Our friends weren’t interested in adding him to their families and the pound had unpleasant plans for him. Besides, he was a pretty cool dog.
In fact, Chester’s sunny disposition and goofy-cute appearance were irresistible. Even friends and neighbors who thought keeping a Pit Bull was sheer madness got to know and love this fireplug, this barrel-shaped clown with the big smile. Over the next six years, I would often refer to Chester as the “best dog in the world.”
But Chester always wanted a delivery truck to call his own. One afternoon, bad timing and a reckless van driver left our friendly, funny guy lifeless in the street. Yvonne and I were numb. The loss of Chester hit us harder than we imagined.
I wasn’t sure how long it would be before we considered getting another dog, but I had a sneaking suspicion that when the time came it would be a Pit Bull.
About two weeks after we buried Chester, I came home to find Yvonne surfing Pit Bull rescue sites. Okay, I thought, we’re considering another dog right now. I jumped into the project and we started checking all the shelters and organizations in Northern California. We followed up on many of the photos, but a lot of the dogs whose faces and stories spoke to us were quickly snapped up by other Pit lovers.
Our search kept coming back to an East Bay organization called BAD RAP (Bay Area Dog lovers Responsible About Pit Bulls; www.badrap.org). The group’s website is well maintained and provides lots of information about the breed. At any given time, it features several Pit Bulls who have been specifically selected as promising candidates for new homes.
To be eligible to adopt a dog through BAD RAP, Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds want to get to know you and make certain you’ll be a good Pit Bull parent. These two are considered among the foremost experts on the so-called “bully” breeds and have made several national media appearances discussing their work with Michael Vick’s dogs. Thanks to them and other bully experts, all but one of the more than three dozen dogs rescued from Vick’s fight compound have been saved.
We drove to Berkeley from Sacramento several different Saturdays, intent on learning more about Pit Bulls while we kept an eye out for our new canine family member.
Pit Bulls have a millions different variations in size, shape, color, and pattern. We talked about finding one that didn’t look like Chester. One day we made plans to meet a handful of dogs over a 200-mile range in the greater Bay Area. One of them, as it happened, looked a lot like Chester.
When we met Ace at his foster home, Yvonne and I immediately were smitten. He was playful, energetic, charming. We let it be known that we were interested. But it wasn’t just a matter of picking out a dog; things move at a careful pace with BAD RAP, and that’s a very good thing. They want their adoptions to stick. The dogs they rescue have been through enough trauma already.
After several more weeks of Saturday classes, now with Ace as our trainee, the adoption went through. We decided “Ace” was too terse and tough-sounding. A friend called him Whitley and the name stuck.
Whitley is a “soft” dog, sensitive to new things and commotion. He was initially afraid of the stairs in our three-story house. He didn’t like the “glub glub” of the water cooler. Dropping something on the floor would send him running. In short order, though, his comfort level improved. He’s still scared of the ice maker.
We immediately signed him up for obedience classes and things went very well. Whitley did as well or better than all the other dogs in class, and we realized he had the makings of our new best friend.
In the early part of the twentieth century, Pit Bulls, Staffordshires, and similar breeds, were considered “America’s Dogs.” Helen Keller had one. Pete the Pup, or Petey, was a star of Our Gang/Little Rascals. These breeds tend towards goofiness, and contrary to popular myth are very people oriented. Whitley has learned his commands and is eager to please.
The misguided, even criminal, efforts to make these dogs mean and fearsome have left the nation’s animal shelters overrun with puppies and older dogs who apparently didn’t live up to their irresponsible owners’ outlaw pretensions. Tragically, up to a third of shelter dogs at any given time are all or part Pit Bull. Many of them have terrific potential as family pets. If you decide to rescue a Pit Bull, educate yourself about the breed and have your potential pet’s prey drive, dog sociability, and cat compatibility evaluated. Come to think of it, this is good advice for any breed you consider.
Take it from me: Pit Bulls are essentially sweet, loving, and playful. Now that we have Whitley, I know that Chester wasn’t an anomaly. The misunderstood Pit Bull really is the best dog in the world.
Dennis Newhall is a media producer in the Sacramento area.
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