They Call me June

It was the first day of the sixth month of the year as I trembled there in fear, a car pulled up and I found hope did my family come back for me were they really here? I jumped up from under the porch, my eight puppies left all in a bunch. I ran to greet my family but stopped short in my tracks, who were these two strangers of whom I had never seen. I barked and growled and showed my teeth I had my puppies to protect I had to be mean. These girls were different though, they weren't scared of me, "Look how skinny she is said one, she's terrified said they other." One was scared to come near me but not the other, neither knowing at the time that she would become my mother. They came to me on the first day of the sixth month and not a moment to soon, so they called me June. They earned my trust so quickly, these kind and gentle strangers, they trusted me too as they saw I was no danger. I was skin and bones and covered in infection, I was flea bitten and half my hair was missing but my mother to be didnt care as I sat there in her lap taking in all this love, these were my Guardian Angels sent to me from above. One took care of me while the other found my puppies, she checked them over one by one and when she finished counting with eight, "she looked at me and said these puppies are perfect, June you've done great!" I wagged my tail a little, proud of all I'd done but deep inside my heart hurt, for the family who left me, I must not have been so great. I must not have been good or they would not have left me to this fate.  My new friends left me that night and I did not understand why, I had been good I had shown love I really did try. I know now my friends had left a note for someone to pick me up. It read; "Please be kind for this dog is scared. We found her yesterday and not a moment to soon so we call her June."  I waited all day and no one came, finally around 5:00 I heard that car again. I jumped up and saw my friends they had come to check on me. I heard one of them say, "Hey sweet June Animal Control did not come I see, well this is your lucky day you're coming with me." They loaded my puppies and I in the back of truck. I knew deep down that I had struck Luck. Our first stop was a shelter where they took me in, they lady saw my puppies and with a look sad and deep, said" I am sorry we are full and these animals are to young we have no choice, they will be put to sleep."  My friend looked at me and said "Oh no, sweet girl, that will not be your fate, you and your puppies are going with me I am your new family."

My new Mommy lived in a two bedroom apartment with two fur kids of her own, even though she wanted me she could not take me home. I saw her make a phone call and heard a few "pleases and I promise she is good" and at last I heard a "Thank You, when it comes to boyfriends you're the best!" Looking back on it now I am sure my Mommy was putting my Daddy through a test. My mommy loaded me and my puppies back up and away we went. A few minutes later we stopped at building, where a man I had never seen came out to meet me. He was a gentle soul, I knew it from the start and from the very beginning I stole his heart. That night, for the first time in forever, I had a roof over my head, plenty to eat and the most wonderful place to sleep. I was in a new place and my new mommy and daddy did not want to leave me there alone so they stayed there too with me, their sweet June. I wanted to show my gratitude, so I brought my puppies one by one and laid them where new family slept. My mommy could not believe this sweet gesture and silently she wept. My mommy and daddy took care of me and my eight puppies as if we were their own. They took me to the vet and got me all fixed up and even went through a rescue and found homes for all my pups. I even heard recently that one is magazines, I cant quite remember but I am pretty sure she looked like me.  My new family tells me often, they know at some point I had another family who loved me and took care of me. They say I am to smart to have learned all of the things I know on my own. I sit and stay, I shake and lay, I never ever jump on company and I've never had an accident in the house. I even help mom and daddy train new rescues they find just like me, I am working with a puppy now who was in a situation a lot like me, beaten and broken, lonely and confused but I tell her everyday Mommy and Daddy will never let that happen again as long as she stays under their roof, trust me I am living proof. As I lay here at my Mommy's feet, her eyes are filled with tears. She often thinks about my life, what did I go through in my earlier years. I nuzzle her eyes to dry her tears, I know it is because of her I will get to live out the rest of my years. I had a name before, but I do not quite remember, for on that first day of the 6th month of the year, my life was saved by a forever family of my own, they came not a moment to soon and THEY CALL ME JUNE.

This is my puppy Lily, the one in Magazines

My brother and sister!

I guess daddy passed the test because Mommy married him! This is our family picture!

Lennox- another life lost to ingnorance

  My heart broke in to a million pieces yesterday when I learned that another innocent life had been take by Breed Specific Legislation. Two years ago, a black bulldog mix named Lennox was seized from his family by the city of Belfast for simply looking like a pitbull. For two years, Lennox had sat alone in a cage on a cold cement floor, away from the family who loved him dearly, not because he hurt someone or did anything wrong but instead because of the way he looked. Sadly, Lennox is not the first dog who has fell victim to this  horrific legislation thousands of pitbulls die everyday because they are the most misunderstood breed of dog in the world.


  These dogs are being killed by a bunch of lawmakers and politicians who have probably never been around a pitbull in their life. In fact, I know they probably haven't because if the people who made these decisions had to first spend a week, hell just a day with a pitbull then BSL would not even exsist. Instead of assuming all pitbulls are dangerous and killing them in masses, why not do something to the pieces of shit who are breeding them, beating them, fighting them and starving them? 

  I am so passionate about this breed because my own fur baby is a pitbull. He is everything I could ever ask for in a dog and more. However, because he is a pitbull and our society seems to feel instead of a dog at the end of the leash he is an 80 lbs serial killer I have to hold him and myself at a completely different standard. I make sure he is always an advocate for the breed.  In the past 8 years I have been surrounded by hundreds of pitbulls and not once have I ever seen this monster that the media portrays. Never once have I ever felt threatened in anyway by a pitbull. In fact, only once, has Bucky ever been in a fight with another dog. He was sitting in my lap at my Aunts house when her German Shepard broke loose and came after me. Bucky stood his ground, protecting me and as soon as I yelled for him to stop he submitted and the other dog had to be pulled off of him by two grown men. It was not my pitbull who would not let go of the other dog, it was my pitbull who was the one injured. I bet if I had started that story a little differently most people would have automatically assumed Bucky started the fight and that the other dog was torn to a million pieces. Everybody knows what assumptions do.
  I am also not saying that a pitbull has never hurt someone. I do know that any pitbull attack that has happened where I live has happened because of neglect and abuse. Sadly, dog attacks happen every day. It is only pitbulls that make the news and half the time the dogs they are calling pitbulls are not even pits.

   I want to make sure that long after Bucky has passed that I can still have pitbulls in my home. I want my kids and grandkids to be able to experience all that this breed has to offer. This is why all pitbull lovers have to unite and fight for our babies because if we don't it could be our doors that our being knocked on next and our babies who being killed simply because of a false identity given to them by an ignorant world.

Little Ollie

First, I have to admit that Little Ollie is not actually MY dog.  She is my best friends dog. However, because my best friend Hoot and I have lived together since before we met Ollie I consider Ollie MY dog too. Second, Ollie is a fighter. Ollie is also the first dog we rescued in Knoxville. Just like all of the dogs we have rescued we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  At the end of June 2008 Hoot and I were at her parents house when this real moron of a guy pulled up in a pickup truck with two tiny pitbull puppies in the back of his truck. The problem was we couldnt tell what they were because they were covered in fleas. There was no way these two puppies were leaving with this man that they came with so Hoot and I took one puppy and another lady took the other. I immediatley took this cute little girl puppy with one blue ear and one white ear put her in the bathtub and picked every single flea off of her tiny body. Since I already had Bucky and Hoot was looking for a dog anyway Ollie became her dog. Hoot wanted to name her Ali but her mom and I decided that was stupid and convinced Hoot it should be Ollie.
                                             

                                           Laying on my brother with my broken leg.

  There are many reasons why I say Ollie is a fighter. Here they go; Ollie was 5 weeks old when we took her and she had already been stolen once when her other owner had her. After we took her home she battled and beat a severe virus. Then, when she was about 7 weeks she ran under Bucky and he accidentally stepped on her leg and broke it. She was in a cast for 6 weeks. Next, when she was about four months old Ollie at a piece of string and she had to have stomach surgery. About four months later surgery number two and finally about four months later stomach surgery number three. During Surgery number three the vet gave Ollie a 30% chance of survival. After several touch and go weeks and Ollie looking like a skeleton she ended up surviving. The vet told us after that it had been more like a 10 percent chance of survival but she did not want us to be upset. She also said she believes without a doubt that Ollie survived because she is a pitbull and pitbulls have a fighting spirit that no other breed has and by fighting spirit she did not mean the fighting normally associated with pits.  Luckily Ollie has not had to have any surgeries in a while but now she fights allergies and UTI's. Hoot and I think she is making us pay what she thinks she is worth since we got her for free. So far that is about $10,000, for this reason I am glad she is actually Hoot's dog.

  I have to admit Ollie is worth every dime we have ever spent on her. She is the perfect pitbull. She posses every amazing quality the breed has to offer and we use her every chance we get to advocate for the breed. Ollie does not judge anyone or anything. She loves each and every person for who they are. She also does not hold it against anyone who discriminates against her. Stick your nose up at her and call her another pitbull and she will nuzzle her nose into your hand and forgive you for your ignorance. Take the long way around the sidewalk to avoid her and she will sit patiently wagging her tail asking you for a chance to love her. Show her any amount of attention and she will immediatly flop on her back, all four legs in the air waiting for a belly rub. If you are a child in a stroller or a person in a wheel chair she will politely lay her head in your lap and softly lick your hand. And if you have four legs and want to play Ollie is always up for a game of chase.

                                                     She still does this to him now.

  The beginning of Ollie's life may have been a struggle but Ollie will only be four on June 1st and she has so many things ahead of her in life. Hoot and I both have big goals for Ollie. We want her to become a Canine Good Citizen and then a therapy dog. Ollie truly is the best of the best when it comes to Pitbulls and that is a lot coming from me because I am pretty convinced Bucky is the best dog in the world and then again maybe he is the best dog in the world, I mean he DID teach Ollie everything she knows.

                                                           Doing what she does best!

My bestest good friend!

I figured that since I decided to name my blog after Bucky then he should be the first animal I should write about. Although I knew I had a passion for animals long before Bucky came in to my life and I have had many influential animals in my life, none of them have touched me quite like this rolly polly pitbull with big almond eyes and a toungue to big for his mouth.
 Bucky came in to my life four years ago and it is probably safe to say he saved my life. I was a senior in college at Belhaven University. I played softball and had great friends but I was not happy. I was struggling with finding my identity and what I wanted to do in life. I had become obsessive about food and exercise in a matter of a few months I and had gone from a healthy 145lb college athlete to a 115lbs college athlete who had no energy and only one goal, to lose more weight. I was hiding my struggles from my family and friends and although they showed concerns I always found ways to cover myself. I was at my lowest point in March of 2008 and thats when Bucky came into my life, just in the brink of time. I had been looking for a dog and had been to the shelter many times and my friend Hoot had been sending me pictures of pitbull puppies (the breed I had wanted ever since I fell in love with her families pitbulls 3 years earlier), however, none of them clicked. Well, one day I recieved a text message from Hoot and when I opened it I knew those big brown eyes looking back at me were meant to be in my life. Bucky also shared the same birthday as my Mamaw (November 25th, so that also meant he had to be awesome). A few weeks later Hoot made the 9 hour drive from Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi with my new best friend in tow. It was love at first site. Bucky even peed on my foot the first time he met me. I like to think it was his way of saying, "yes, you are my mommy!"
If there is one thing I can say about Bucky it is that he is full and I mean full of love and he makes everyone he meets laugh. He has the biggest smile and a toungue so long it hangs out of the side of his mouth half the time and he can shake his tail harder than any dog I know. He will leave you with bruises.
  Anyone who knows me knows about Bucky. He is my best friend. In four years Bucky has been the most constant thing in my life. He has watched me graduate college. He has moved with me to Tennessee, watched me get a big girl job. Watched me date numerous guys and caught my tears through heartbreaks. He has been with me as I fell in love and even smiled big for the camera in our engagement pictures and even though I am married now, when the lights go out and it is time for bed he still jumps on my side of the bed, paws at the covers until I lift them up, then gets under them and lays against me and falls asleep just like he has done ever since that first night four years ago in March. Bucky will only be 5 this year and I have told him he has to live to at least be 16 so we still have a long rode left together. I know that no matter where life takes me Bucky will always be along for the ride because quite frankly neither one of us would have it any other way.



  Bucky and his best friend Ollie

Buck and Ollie today

                                            


                                              Engagement Pictures

                                                   He is a frequent traveler so he needs his Shades