So the neighbors with the adolescent pit bulls, whose last pit bull strangled
when she jumped the fence with her chain on, remember them?

I look out the window, and there's the whole family taking a nice walk, with
the two intact males, Blackie and Junior. Well, isn't that wonderful, thinks
I... until I see that they are not on leashes. And they take off in a
different direction than the family. And don't come when they're called. No
duh.

So I get dressed and go outside. I don't see anybody, the family or the dogs.
So I call them. And they come running from a neighbor's yard. They know the
only time I call them to me, it's to give them loving.

Blackie is an absolute clown. He would greet me, run off to roll on his back
in the tall grass, come back and greet me again, run off say hi to the
neighbor, come back, etc. I tried to get a leash on him, but he was wise. As
soon as he saw me pick it up, he took off. So I left it down, so he'd keep
coming to me.

Junior is the one they want to "get rid of." He learned to sit for petting in
about 10 seconds, and spent the next 10 minutes or so doing it. He *loves* to
be petted, hugged, kissed, rubbed, any physical attention at all. So I guess I
understand why they like Blackie better. He's more entertaining to watch, and
doesn't get too close to them. (Well, they're FILTHY - the dogs, not the
people.)

Next thing I know, here comes the whole family in the car. I guess they went
out to look for them. Both dogs ran excitedly to the family, and I went back
inside.

But I told Junior that if he ever needs anything, anything at all, to come to
Aunt Leah. And tell Blackie the same thing.

The last time I spoke to the neighbor, he agreed to have Junior neutered so
that I could find him a home. That was about a month ago. It hasn't been
done.

I'm very tempted to take him, get him vetted and cleaned up, give him some
basic obedience skills (which, from the looks of it, would be easy peasy), and
find him a home. But I truly can't afford it right now, and he is basically
safe in his back yard. He seems to be getting used to hurricanes. Didn't make
a sound through this last one, howled through the first.

I am going to step up my efforts to try to find him a home, though. Anybody
interested in a very friendly love sponge? :} He's about 8 months old, black
and white, and appears to get along fine with both strange people and dogs.
This is with no socialization, zero, nada. It's just his sweet nature.

I've got to borrow a digital camera...

Canine Action Dog Trainer
http://www.canineaction.com
My Kids, My Students, My Life:
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html