Mitzipit!

So I have an unexpected houseguest of the adorable and expensive kind. As if I didn’t have enough work to do!

Nearly two weeks ago, before I was really up and dressed, having just sat down to submit some more stories to a few lit mags, my landlady knocked on my door and said, “Uh, Mike, there’s a strange dog outside and he doesn’t look too good.” I put on a shirt and went out to look, and what did I see but a poor emaciated little pit bull. We took him in the backyard and gave him some food, and I called my girlfriend. While she called around, finding that all the shelters in our area were full, I set about to taking a better look at the dog.

First thing I noticed was that he was a she. Second thing I noticed was that she had a collar (no tags) that was thoroughly grimed up. Third thing I noticed was that she wasn’t nearly so bad off as I thought. She was clearly malnourished, underweight, and weak, and she had a heap of mange about the face, but I had exaggerated her condition at first estimate. Part of her small size and wobbly appearance was because… she’s a puppy! We took her to a vet who wasn’t entirely the best vet, and he recommended we put her down. She had a limp, the mange is demodicosis (better known as demodex), potentially generalized, and this was before even checking for worms and such. He told us she was probably between 6 to 9 months old.

We picked up a lot of supplies while the girl, who we’ve named Mitzi, slept on an old mattress in the back yard. Got her a crate, bought her some healthy food and gentle shampoo to soothe her skin, and picked up a couple toys. That was about, oh, 400 some odd bucks ago. We’ve since taken her to another (better) vet, gotten her more medicines including a dewormer, flea and tick stuff, an antibiotic, and an anti-inflammatory, and most of the other little things one needs to properly care for a dog. We didn’t get x-rays for her leg, hoping that the swelling in her elbow would go down with the anti-inflammatory and it wouldn’t turn out to be broken or fractured, and it looks like that’s paid off. She’s turned into a completely vibrant puppy, running and jumping and falling all over the place like she’s never known pain in her life, even several days after the pills ran out.

We’ve still yet to finish everything she may need, however. She needs to have the rest of her vaccinations once she’s healthy enough for them (likely at her next appointment, because she’s doing great now), she needs to be spayed and checked for remaining parasites, and we have more work to do for her demodex, including using some internal stuff to kill the mites, applying some essential oil blends topically to kill mites and help with the itching, and boosting her immune system to correct the deficiency that got her in that spot to begin with.

Originally, we were hoping we could watch her for a day or two until we could get her to a shelter. Then we thought we could rehabilitate her until she was healthy enough to be adopted. Now it’s starting to look like she’s doing so well so quickly that I’m not the best foster she could have, and though I would take her as my own in a heartbeat if I had the time, money, and space, I just don’t. I’ve canceled my trip home to California for Thanksgiving to make sure I can be here to take care of her until we can find her a good home or someone who could be a better foster to her than I can. She’s such a love, and so happy to be here. As I write this she’s sleeping peacefully next to me with the little zebra toy that Heather bought her (it has chewy feet, and dear God does she love to squeak it).

She’s super friendly, hasn’t shown any aggression of any kind toward people or dogs, and isn’t food aggressive at all. She’s been pretty good on a leash and has taken well to training. So far she knows when we want her off the bed, knows how to sit and lay down, and has done well staying for several hours inside a small crate when I have to leave the house. She whined a little initially but training has gotten her to quiet down, and she’ll do well enough with a few chew toys for 4 or 5 hours. She’s learned quickly not to chew on things in my room, and she’s more or less housetrained. We’ve had a few pee accidents, but she knows to do her business in the backyard and does so 99% of the time. I did originally keep her in the crate at night, but have started letting her out. She seems to do fine with it.

I’ve looked everywhere that I know to look to see if anyone has lost her and haven’t found anything, and I’m reluctant to post ads in most places because we live in a pretty iffy neighborhood with a lot of people who would love a pit bull for all the wrong reasons, likely including the people who may have owned her previously. I’ve even heard rumors about dogfighting rings in the area.

If there’s anything you can do to help us, it would be greatly appreciated. Her sweet temperament should make her a fantastic pet for anyone willing to help her with the demodex (she may fight it off entirely, it’s hard to say), someone who can be a strong pack leader, who will give her not just love but also reliable discipline, and lots of exercise.

She loves everyone, and all we want to do is see that love returned to her a hundredfold. Your prayers and support are very much appreciated. If you can foster her, know anyone who might be willing to foster her, or would be interested in adopting her, please contact me. And please spread the word. This little girl is counting on us to help her find a better life.

Oh, and for those of you finding this via search engine or who may be otherwise unfamiliar with me: we’re in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, in North Texas.