One of the best parts of our SociaBulls group is meeting all the dogs with unique backgrounds and experiences. Enter Honor. Honor is a gorgeous, sweet, courageous gal who lives with a pitbull brother (Jason) and foster brother (Lil' Leroy). Though you would never expect it from meeting her, Honor had a horrific past: she was shot in the head with 12-gauge shot gun. Though she lost one eye, she never did lose her spirit, and has always been a happy and loving pooch. Given her background, little Honor never had proper socialization as a pup, and began showing frustration and leash reaction if she even saw another pooch from afar.
Read below as Honor's person tells her story and works to give her the gift of a happy, relaxing life.
When I adopted Honor I expected a dog with challenges. I didn’t know how she couldn’t not have issues with all she had been
through. In fact, several people close
to me thought I had very much lost my mind for even considering a dog with such
a traumatic past. Variations of “There
are plenty of dogs with less ‘history’ who need homes. Pick one of them.” or “Who gets shot in the
head with a 12 gauge shot gun and is normal and happy?” were thrown at me so
often I stopped discussing my intentions with all but one person – my Dad. From the moment I had read Honor’s profile
and looked at the pictures of a dog who was moving her tail so fast it was a
blur in every single shot I had resolved myself to do two things: bring her
home and make a promise to her that her bad days were over. So as far as I was concerned, there were two
things that needed to be done. The rest
of the world could just mind their own business.
I remember the day her foster mom brought her to my
house. Honor was so politely
inquisitive. I remember how she
carefully greeted Max, my senior pug. I
remember how she trotted around and investigated the backyard. I remember how her one eye got huge with
shock when she first saw my cats and how she backed away from them in awe. I remember how gently she took her first
treat from my hand. Also I remember how
Honor crawled up on the back of the chaise lounge in front of the big bay
window and watched as her foster mom drove away without her. My heart broke for her a little right there
and then. So I did the only logical thing I could think of. I decided we needed a distraction and a
leisurely stroll in the new neighborhood was the perfect next thing to do. So stroll we did and what a joy it was. Ha!
This sweet, one-eyed nugget of fur WAS perfect. All the naysayers who
had been bending my ear had no clue what their lips were flapping about. Or so it all appeared.
I suppose our first few walks were uneventful because Honor
wasn’t feeling confident enough to really act out. In hindsight I see and understand this but
imagine the surprise at my end of the leash when my well-behaved dog lunged at
another dog for the first time. I admit,
I was very much surprised but I wasn’t too concerned. I don’t like everyone I meet so Honor doesn’t
have to like every dog she meets, right?
But then the lunging began to get worse.
Quickly. Even as the distance
between neighborhood dogs increased.
Soon a dog on the horizon was reason enough for Honor to create a
scene.
For the most part I had created our world to be an island
unto ourselves. My Dad was 16 hours and one time zone away. The few friends I
had been giving updates to were not people I wanted to hear “I told you so”
from. Fortunately, I had been
volunteering with what was then called End Dogfighting in Chicago and could get
some really sound advice from the lead trainer.
I was even able to bring Honor to some weekend training classes. But having the knowledge to help Honor be the
good girl I knew she was is different from putting it in practice. Practice, actually, is exactly what we
needed. Finding willing and
understanding parties to participate in practicing our good behavior skills
proved the biggest challenge of all. By
mere visual appearance, Honor was not a dog a lot of people were willing to
take a chance on. Especially not
complete strangers we met on our walks.
They’d rather keep their distance than risk their dog being in proximity
of the lunging, loud one-eyed menace coming down the street.
Over time we met a few people who were understanding and dog
savvy but arranging schedules to coordinate walks was a chore unto itself. Our progress was minimal at best and probably
undetectable to the Average Joe walking down the street. We needed more consistency to have more of a
chance. So I consider Lady Luck to have
been shining down on me the day I surfed the web right onto Two Pitties in theCity Facebook page. And when I further
read about Chicago Sociabulls, the clouds parted, the sun shined down and the
birds began to sing. THIS is what we
needed! People who understood, dogs to
practice with and a commitment on calendar!
Yahoo!
Having been part of the Sociabulls for some time now I can
honestly say this group was a game changer for us. Although it wasn’t easy in the
beginning. Not by a long shot. My Honorbelle is not perfect on leash and
very well may never be but, I do have to say, her improvement is remarkable. Walking in the Sociabulls pack has become a
bit of a social extravaganza. Honor would
rather try to sniff the dog in front of her’s butt than show off her bravado
and challenge another dog walking in the pack.
And on our own, dogs on the horizon don’t register on her radar. Dogs across the street are of interest but
more often than not she doesn’t think they’re worth the effort. Dogs in closer proximity she still likes to
yell at. (Meh, can’t win them all. We’re still a work-in-progress, after
all.) By and large, though, we now spend
so much more time around the neighborhood stopping and sniffing and caring less
about who is around that I fear my dog may have discovered a way to avoid
exercising. Fair enough. In my opinion, after all she’s been through,
the gift of learning to relax is the least Honor deserves and the most amazing
thing for me to be part of. Thank you
Sociabulls.
Please Note: As the weather has warmed up, bikers, runners, dogs, and kids have come out in full force in many of the areas that we walk. While we had previously been introducing new members a few at a time to each walk, we've decided that in order to continue to keep our group safe and make our walks a positive experience for everyone, we are putting new members "on hold" for the summer. You can still submit an application, and it will go on our wait list in the order it is received. Once things quiet down a bit more in the fall, we will resume introducing new members a few at a time to each walk, and will be contacting people on the wait list in a first-come, first-served manner.
