Dog News

Rescued Pit Bull Learning How to Be a Dog

by Melanie

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5.26.13 Learning to Be a Dog
“Dogs from this situation aren’t willing participants,” Jean Keating, of the Lucas County Pit Crew, said of the group’s newest foster, one-and-a-half-year-old Monty. “They’re victims, and I’d hope we’d treat them like we would any other victim of drama.”

 

Back in April, 63 dogs were rescued from a property in Idaho where a grisly triple homicide took place.  Eighteen-month-old Monty was among them, and now the traumatized pit bull is learning how to just be a dog.

Initial examinations of the dogs found them to be in very poor body condition. The majority of the dogs are underweight and suffering from malnutrition. Many of the dogs had open lacerations and extensive scarring from old wounds. Many are suffering from skin, eye, and ear ailments resulting from neglect of their basic care. A few dogs have old injuries of broken bones that were left untreated,” the humane society wrote on its blog.

Having only ever lived in tiny, cramped spaces, with social interactions being limited to fighting, the dogs are just now learning things that ordinary dogs experience as puppies.

Our goal is to teach Monty how to be a dog and enjoy all that life has to offer,” said Jean Keating, executive director of the Lucas County Pit Crew. “The world he has known has not been kind to him.”

The friendly, sweet boy has been nicknamed Pancake because of his tendency to drop to his belly when encountering unfamiliar or scary surroundings.

But there’s a fun-loving dog just waiting to come out of him,” Keating said. “He just hasn’t had any typical life experiences.”

Recently, an ice cube fell out of the refrigerator door and clattered to the floor, sending Monty into pancake mode.

He pancaked and commando-crawled back into his crate,” Keating said.

Earlier in the day, however, he sat mesmerized, watching a birdbath.

It’s very, very weird just to watch him looking at things that he’s obviously seeing for the first time.”

Though Monty has much emotional damage, he is friendly and does not show aggression toward other dogs. He will need time to adjust to a normal life. For the time being, he is being kept in a foster location that is currently undisclosed due to neighborhood concerns that they might have a “fighting” dog in their area.  When he has healed from his trauma, he will be ready to adopt.

They (Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds, the Pit Crew’s co-founders) thought it would be good to pair him with a confident dog,” Ms. Keating said. “He’s basically a scaredy-cat. He just needs time and he’ll come around.”