Hello world!

Hey there, my name is Suzanne. Admittedly I am a blogger virgin - or is that, blogging virgin? Either way this is my first blog and my first blog based post. I've decided to give this a shot, maybe this will be my only post I guess we'll see.

Hmmm so the title of this blog is 'Live, Laugh, Love, like a Pit Bull.' This blog is mostly going to be focused around the past year of my life as I became a first time Pit Bull owner, things I've learned, how life has changed etc. But it's also going to be about the things we're currently doing, not just the Pit Bull and I, but also my other dogs. Not gonna lie, if I owned my own house I would be a hoarder. I've currently got three awesome dogs and I definitely intend to talk about them all in this blog.

I'd like to introduce the Pit Bull that has inspired everything. Because of him I have taken the opportunity to meet different trainers and try different training methods, to try the sport of Schutzhund, he encouraged me to learn about the breed and expand my horizons and beliefs about dog ownership. He has opened my eyes to what the breed really is and has helped me to further accept him for what he is: A Pit Bull.

This is Seppel.

In 2011 I logged onto a dog forum that I frequented only to find out a dear friend had passed away. I wondered about her three dogs, two pit bulls and an older border collie but in the beginning nothing was said about her dogs, just that they were okay. In the weeks leading up to the dogs eventually needing a home the thought had crossed my mind "If only I lived nearby..." It was only a fleeting thought, until it became a reality. Eventually it was posted that one of the Pit Bulls and the Border Collie would be needing a home. At first I jumped at the Border Collie because she was OLD - it would be a short commitment, however, when it came to be known that she was roughly 15+yrs flying her out to Oregon from North Carolina did not look like a good option. In the midst of jumping at the Border Collie posting, a posting for Seppel appeared.

I don't really remember the pm's that transpired, but it involved me messaging the forum admin and saying if we could get Seppel out here I would take him. The thing is, Seppel's owner sent me money to pay for my late dog Sofie to get an MRI and the money she sent also covered some of her chemo. It sounds super easy to take money from someone but it was something I seriously hesitated to do - did my dog deserve it? Did I deserve it? I would never be able to pay her back. The thing is, Seppel's owner wanted to help me. She helped many people and many pets in this way. It was humbling, and eye opening. And now, in Seppel's time of need, in his late owner's time of need, I knew that the way I could repay her was to promise to give her dog a good home to live out the rest of his life. I got into contact with Seppel's late owner's daughter, told her why I wanted to offer him a home, explained how appreciative I was of everything her mother had done for me. I also explained that this would be my first time ever owning a Pit Bull, that most of my experience with them is through working in a veterinary clinic and that my parents were not big fans of the breed. Fortunately for me everyone involved felt I could offer Seppel a good home.

Through the efforts of the dog forum, and Seppel's late owner's daughter, Seppel was flown out here October 22nd, 2011.

Seppel has been here a little over a year now. I feel like I have grown so much as a dog handler. I know if he hadn't come here I would not have had the opportunities I have had now, I would not have met the people I have met, I would not understand all of the Anti-BSL stuff going around, nor would I understand how useless it is, mostly - I would have no idea how AWESOME the Pit Bull breed is.

Stay tuned for post #2, I'll get into the nitty gritty of picking up a dog up from the airport, how to fail at the two week shut down, discuss the annoyance of humping, tell you how to effectively get your anti-pit bull parents to let-you-have-one-under-the-guise-that-you-are-fostering, oh - and we'll talk about how cage protectiveness does not mean your dog is a man eater!