Fruity Cherry

I’d like you to meet Chloe, the stray pit bull.  She was hanging out in our neighborhood for a few days before we noticed that she had been spending her nights on a small cushion on the other side of the fence in our neighbor’s back yard. The neighbor’s yard is huge with bushes and trees along the back fence line.  I don’t know where the cushion came from to begin with.  The neighbor didn’t know there was a dog living back there until we told her.  We suggested she call animal control.  I called them, but they could only enter her yard to look for the dog if SHE was the one to call, which she never did.

Chloe had clearly been abused and abandoned.  I don’t think she had been stray for very long.  She appeared to be in good health, from what I could tell.  It was hard to get a good look at her because every time I got near her she’d take off running with her tail between her legs.  I left peanut butter sandwiches and kibble for her every day and even rigged a bowl on a string so that I could leave her some fresh water.

She was my first thought every morning when I woke up.  I’d go out and leave some food for her first thing in the morning.  She was usually curled up on the pillow, snoozing.  As soon as she would see me she would get up and sulk off into the bushes.  Of course, she always came back to eat and drink. On more than one occasion I went over into the neighbors yard to try and get her to come to me, but she would either run off or hide back in the blackberry bushes where no one could get to her.  Other neighbors had noticed her, as well, and were trying to catch her with little success.  She seemed more than leery of humans, she seemed downright terrified.

I continued feeding her over the next couple weeks.  I noticed that when I went out to check on her with my dog, Lily, she seemed to be less fearful.  From then on I brought Lily out with me every time I went to check on her.  She quickly became more sure of herself and even took food out of my hand a few times.  I would crouch down by the fence near her with Lily at my side.  I would pet Lily and talk nice to her, which seemed to show Chloe that I could be trusted.  It seemed Lily actually liked this dog.  She never barked at her, which is strange for Lily.  She usually likes to bark and charge the fence at pretty much anything that moves.  Lily would just stand there and look at her.

I had thought about taking Lily over to the neighbors yard on a leash to try and lure Chloe out of hiding.  I was afraid to do that though, with Lily being frail and all.  Plus, you never know how a fearful dog will react when you put them on a leash.  It was pretty clear to me that if I didn’t find a way to catch Chloe, I’d probably be feeding her over the fence forever.  So, I got brave and strapped the leash on Lily.  We walked over to the neighbors.  I knocked on the door, but no one answered.  Lily and I walked into the back yard and I started calling Chloe.  After about 30 seconds I see her peeking out from the bushes.  When she saw me standing there with Lily she came running at us, full steam.  It actually freaked me out a little.  It turns out she just wanted to play.  She was running around and around us acting like a puppy.  She let me pet her, but flinched every time I touched her.  There was no way I could get a leash on her by myself.  I had Lily, who kept getting in my way.  Also, Chloe was afraid of the leash.

After about a half an hour of hanging out with this dog, I noticed that one of our neighbors who had been trying to catch her had just arrived home.  I led Lily out of the neighbors yard, hoping that Chloe would follow.  I was pretty amazed when she actually followed us!  I gestured to the neighbor to be quite while we walked back into the parking area for our 4-plex.  I suggested he pet Lily, to show Chloe he was nice.  Also, he had his 3 year old daughter with him, which seemed to make Chloe even more confident.  I handed him the leash and he was able to get it on her.  It was a very exciting moment for me.  Chloe let the little girl pet her, and even gave her slobbery kisses.  She was very good, not jumping on the kid or anything.  I would have kept this sweet dog in a heartbeat, if that were even a remote possibility for us.  Sadly, we aren’t allowed more than one dog…especially not a pit bull.
I took Chloe into my back yard and tied her up while I tried to figure out what to do.  I didn’t want to take her to the Humane Society.  I gave her food and water and petted her some more.  She still seemed unsure, but she was much more relaxed.  I went over to the neighbor’s house to see if they could help find a place for her to go, even temporarily.  He said he might know someone who would take her.  I went back and untied her and brought her back out front.  The neighbor was already waiting outside to tell me that his friend was coming over right away to meet her. He showed up not even 10 minutes later.  I am pretty sure he fell in love with her the minute he saw her.  He checked her out, making comments about getting her shots and giving her a bath.  I felt pretty confident that this guy would take good care of her.

So, I knelt down to say good bye to my friend.  She came right over to me and let me hug her neck.  She gave me a bunch of kisses and even nibbled my ear a little.  I seriously teared up, it was hard to let this dog go.  It felt good knowing she would have a warm and safe place to live.  I got an update later in the evening from the neighbor saying that Chloe was doing well.

Here are a couple pictures I took of her in my back yard before sending her off.