The Unexpected Pit Bull

Piece by: Hanna Fushihara Aron
Our most recent video contest first place winner Jessica Funderburk caught our eye even before the final results were in.

She is a wife, mother, life long animal lover, and photographer extraordinaire living in Louisiana. She shares her home with an array of furry friends including four dogs, two of them pit bulls.

When we saw her video entry of her youngest dog Johnny running on grass in his wheelchair along with one of her children holding the leash of her other dog Bella, who happens to have three legs, we thought it embodied the spirit of The Unexpected Pit Bull. Many may have said, "Oh, poor things! They are both disabled." But what we saw was pure joy, happiness, and love. When we investigated further, we found that Jessica writes The Crooked Dog Blog, a journal of sorts, about her pit bull pup Johnny who was born without full use of his back legs. We were able to catch up with her right before the holidays. Here is our little interview.

- When you first agreed to foster Johnny who was only a week old and obviously physically challenged, before you even laid eyes on him, did you know that your family would end up keeping him? Had you fostered before?

Yes, I did know and yes, we had fostered in the past. Just a few short months before Johnny arrived we had decided that we wanted another pit and we were open to a special needs dog. I knew somewhere out there, there would be an unwanted, handicapped pit bull that will have 2 strikes against them for being born a pit bull and having a disability. I work from home and have help so we would be the perfect home for a dog like this (It's not for everyone). Bella our 3 legged pit had been with us for about 2 years(we were not looking for a special needs dog, we fell in love with her face then learned she had 3 legs when we watched her video). Reggie our scruffy adorable terrier had been with us about 5yrs and Toby our Brittany spaniel about 11yrs. And though I love them all there is something different about Bella. Toby is my loyal old man, he's my shadow. Reggie is our happy little watch dog with the huge personality. Bella however, is so incredibly in love with us. She looks so deep into our eyes, she gets her heart broken easily if scolded yet forgives so quickly. I tell people all the time, pit bulls are the most loving, big hearted, sweetest dogs in the world.. So I knew another was in our future I just didn't realize how soon (I was thinking a few yrs, lol!) . So we decided we would not go looking for a dog. We would wait and when the time was right "our" dog would come find us. Sure enough, Johnny found us a few short months later .

- What kind of physical therapy does Johnny get? (both at home and at the clinic) Does he need to be on any kind of special diet?

Johnny goes to therapy at LSU and we also have therapy at home along with acupuncture each week. At LSU he "walks" on the underwater treadmill along with stretches and massage. Here at home we continue the stretches and massage and I have added our own aqua therapy in the bathtub each morning ( I lure him from side to side with food, he's VERY food motivated). We started acupuncture a few weeks ago and are praying for better bladder control and of course for him to walk. The surgeon at LSU seems to think that there might be something "off" with the mechanics in his hips. If so, surgery might be in his future but we won't know for certain until he is finished growing and new x-rays are taken in a few months. He is not on a special diet, though we do have to keep him on the lean side. I cook for all of my dogs when time allows, I have kibble on hand for those super busy days.

- Some singleton puppies end up lacking in dog social skills because they didn't get enough dog time with littermates. Johnny was separated from his litter pretty early but was lucky to come to your home with three other dogs as well as your neighbor/mother's dogs with whom he plays with daily. Do all of your dogs get along with Johnny?

Yes, he was separated from his litter at about a week old. All of our dogs (mine and my mom's) get along great. The only one that could careless about him is Toby. But my old man is about 14-15yrs old so it's understandable. Bella played a huge roll in raising Johnny. She is his very important canine momma. She cleaned him, played with him, nipped him when he got out of line. She is the most gentle, loving dog. She never once was too rough. I sit and watch the two of them play with one toy for what seems like hours sometimes.

-How did your senior dog Toby handle suddenly having a puppy in the house?

Eh, I think he's waiting for us to send Johnny back to wherever he came from, lol! He is good as long as Johnny doesn't rock the boat too much. I have pictures of them curled up together sleeping which warms my heart. It's as if Toby says," You can come lay here only if you keep still, move a muscle and you're outta here." And Johnny obeys! I love to observe the whole picture though. Johnny knows he has to be gentle and quiet around Toby but can rough house with Reggie and Bella. He will even be scooting really fast then will slow down when he passes Toby then will pick up speed again, they are so funny!

- From reading your blog, I found that your daughter Sam helps with the animal care around the house a great deal and really enjoys it. Can you tell us a little more about her?

Sam is incredible. We could not have Johnny if it were not for her. There is no way I could do it all by myself with everyone gone during the day. Sam is home schooled and I work from home so we tag team him during the day. She NEVER has complained or even gets frustrated when he poops and scoots all over the wood floors. They sleep together every night, play outside during the day, she calls and checks on him if she is out at a sleepover. They truly are best friends.

- Johnny seems to have inadvertently lucked out by having to have a lot of supervision as a young pup. When he was very young, you had to carry him with you everywhere in a sling. I'm sure all of the extra exposure to new people, sounds, and experiences helped add to his early socialization. I feel like many puppy parents don't take early positive socialization as seriously as they should. Johnny seems like a confident, well socialized dog. Is that the case? Is there anything that he is afraid of? Is he your first puppy or have you raised your other dogs from puppy hood?

I had 2 puppies of my own growing up. My mom worked for a veterinarian when I was younger (and she still does) so I was always taking nursing litters home for night shifts. Now that I am grown I am a huge believer of adopting adult dogs, there are so many pros! I had no intentions of adopting a puppy. Personally I just thought we would adopt an adult like we did in the past (all of our dogs were rescued adults). I would never turn away a puppy by any means, but I know the cute lil' puppies will find homes. I want the older scared dog in the corner that has been thrown away because they are no longer cute and little. They know that they were thrown away and they also know you saved them and will love you even harder for it. So Johnny came along and yes, we carried him around in the same sling I wore my babies in. At the time we were told he had no hips or knees so I was keeping him stable for that reason. Shortly after receiving that news from a local vet I took him to LSU. There we learned he did in fact have both hips and knees and also a broken back and broken thigh. The surgeon told me the best thing I did was carry him around because it kept his spine stable. He came everywhere with us. Target, birthday parties, festivals, the mall and restaurants... you name it and he was smuggled in. When I couldn't hold him my daughter Sam was holding him. You would not believe the people that would come up and say," Oh my goodness look at the sweet lil' puppy! What kind is he? A beagle?" I would reply, " He's a pit bull." Then they would grab their chests, gasp and take two giant steps back. He weighed 1.9lbs at this time. It was all I had in me to remain a lady...I mean come on! He's less than 2lbs, has a broken back and leg, but because of the stigma attached to his breed these people were terrified! I saw little kids' faces light up when I opened that sling and the parents would snatch them back and take them away. About one out of every five people were positive and I can remember this one 83yr. old lady at Target. She was in a scooter waiting for her ride at the door. She scooped him up out of the sling and put him in the crook of her neck and thanked me for loving him. As she nuzzled him and smelled him she shared with me how she was an animal rescuer back in the day and how it was her birthday and Johnny made her birthday perfect. Oh how I wish I would've had my camera with me at that moment. Little does she know that she made all the rude comments from others slip my mind that day and I will never forget her. Johnny is scared of nothing, lol! In fact he is quite the watch dog. If someone is at the door, he quickly scoots to it and makes a fuss, then once the person is inside he attacks with lots of kisses! Once the holidays are over I plan on taking him to visit hospitals and retirement homes, he LOVES people!

- I'm actually somewhat surprised and saddened to hear about the hostility you faced when Johnny was still a little pup and you carried him with you everywhere. I feel like I must be spoiled living in an area where for the most part I have the opposite interactions with strangers on the street. Maybe one out of four or five people will make a nasty comment or give us a funny look but the rest literally are stopping me at gasoline stations to ask me if the dog in my car is a pit bull and how beautiful he is and then showing me pictures of their pit bulls on their cell phones. I don't know if it is because our area has two rather long standing pit bull rescue and advocacy organizations who do a lot of education work or just the general demographics of my area. What do you think would help the pit bulls and pit bull owners in your community the most?

That's one reason I love New Orleans, which is where I adopted Bella from though Sula Foundation. There are lots of pit bulls around and it's a very dog friendly city. I brought Bella along for a photo shoot in N.O. once and she was welcomed into a restaurant among other places (art gallery, Cafe Du Monde, shops, etc). I have volunteered as photographer for "The Pit Bulls of New Orleans" calendar and I LOVE meeting the families and their dogs. My own town however, is not very dog friendly for the most part and for whatever reason is anti pit bull. I was once turned away from an outdoor movie in a park with Bella and our family because dogs were not allowed. I think if it were cute lil' Reggie with me rather than Bella there would have been no problem. I'm guessing it's just lack of education? There is a lot of dog fighting down here so I think people have those images in their heads...fighting, wild beasts that will attack anything and everything in their paths. I don't have the answer to fix this huge problem but I think what would help is if everyone who had a well balanced pit would take them out and let them "speak" for themselves. I was at a festival recently and this couple had a beautiful black pit that their little boy was walking and of course I was so excited to see this! I then heard two older ladies behind me," Now why would anyone bring a pit bull out here with all these people?!" And he was so happy in that crowded street with a big ole smile on his face, not hurting anyone, just loving life! But so many people witnessed it which is awesome! I've brought Bella to home improvement stores and parks where people think she's a boxer at first and are quick to pet her then when I correct them they leave quickly. Once in a blue moon you will find someone with positive feed back. I bring Johnny out when I can, I find people are drawn to him being that he is in a wheelchair. You can tell they are torn...they feel "sorry" for him in spite of his breed. What's crazy is more people will pet him now being that they can clearly see he is handicapped rather than when he was so tiny in a sling because they thought he was "normal" (they could not tell his back was broken) I'm guessing they feel safe because he can't walk? I will continue to use his handicap to lure people in. I hope they will see and understand that his "brain" is not damaged. His personality has nothing to do with his handicap. Even if his legs worked just fine he would not "turn" on them and attack with locking jaws. He is a well balanced, socialized, family pet who is lovable, goofy and very happy!

-Do you have any future dreams for Johnny?

Of course I dream of the day he walks but in my far out, wildest dream Johnny changes the world's view of the breed! OK, maybe just in our little neighborhood?

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