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« on: August 12, 2008, 06:48:36 pm »
Roxxi
Rest in Peace
~2006-2007~
I have always loved dogs. They are someone to talk to and always love you conditionally, no matter what. They are my best friends, my life. But there are always those special ones that pull on your heartstrings. Roxxi was one of those dogs. She had so much to give and was misunderstood by many. She was one of my best friends. This is her story:
Usually, every Wednesday we would take my sister, Jamie, to her kickboxing class. We would watch her train and also watch my sister, Sarah, train for her big fight. It was a pretty hot and god, was it ever smelly down there, from all the people working out and training! So, Mom and I decided that we would go outside and find something to do and then come get Jamie after practice was over. We ended up in the truck with nothing to do. Then my Mom said she had to call one of the people at work, to talk about something. So, they talked and talked, then I heard something about a puppy! My face lit up, I thought YAY! Another dachshund puppy! When Mom got off the phone, she told me that there was a stray puppy in the lady at work's neighborhood, and that a neighbor was temporarily keeping it. If no one wanted her they would just let her back out on the streets. I asked Mom, "Well What breed of dog is it?" She said, "They think it is a 8 week old boxer puppy."
We decided to go look at her. Of course, Mom said that she was'nt sure if we were going to get her or not, but I really knew the answer would be yes, no matter what. So, We arrived at the lady at work's house and had to wait, what felt like an hour! I played with her dogs will we waited. Then the wait was finally over! The person who temporarily had the puppy were home. So, out came running on the leash, pulling this lady, was what was suppose to be a 8 week old boxer puppy; when really, she was a 5 month old liver and white American Pit Bull Terrier. I screamed with joy. You see, I have always wanted a Pit bull. I find them to be such a beautiful, misunderstood breed. So, I was very excited. Her story was that she was living on the streets, the streets of downtown Memphis. So her fate was would not of been good unless we took her. She would have ended up at the local shelter and been put to sleep, someone turning her into a fighting dog, or she would of lived on the streets her entire life. Mom was a little reluctant to the whole idea, but we decided to take her! The whole back to go pick up Jamie, she just looked at me like, "Thank you so much!"
So, when we got back to pick up Jamie, we got out with the puppy. Jamie and Sarah fell in love with her and of course, she loved it! On the drive home, all we taked about was her. She was just wonderful. Well, at our house then, we had 6 dachshunds. We knew they would not like her and we were not sure if she like other dogs. We walked into the house(first Mom put the little terrors outside) and examined her. We saw the full effect of her life on the streets. She was very emaciated, had fleas, and had two big patches of fur missing on her tail and they were bleeding. She was a mess. To say the least, we did not introduce her to the dachshunds to her. It would of been to much for her first day. That night, She slept in a big crate with nice, cozy blankets in the bottom. She did not make a peep; She loved it and she knew she was safe.
The next day, Jamie and I went to school and Mom took her to the vet. The vet did a fecal exam on her and she had whipworms, roundworms and tapeworms. The vet gave us wormer and gave her, her shots and Mom was on her way. When I got home from school, I played with her in the front yard. Boy, was she a handful! She was dragging me all over the yard, and she was hyper! She also played way to rough. She would play-attack your ankles. None of this was her fault though, She just had to be taught the right behavior. She was also very afraid of brooms, newspapers and mops. She would run and hide when she saw these things. She would also attack brooms. Obviously, She had been beaten and abused. So, you are probably wondering, what is her name? That night we discussed many, many names. We decided on Roxxi.
The next week went by, It did not go to well. The dachshunds hated her and she was scared of them. The only one that got along with her was Lucy. Lucy was ten years old then, She is a red dachshund. She was actually dominant over Roxxi. The other probelm, was Roxxi's food aggression. She was people food agressive and other dog food agressive. She did finally get over her people food agression, but she never got over her other dog food agression. So, sadly we had (or "tried" is a better word) to find her another home. We called all the local rescue places that were no-kill. No one wanted to take her because she was a Pit Bull. I guess "Don't judge a book by its cover" does not apply to people when they think about Pit Bulls. Even the vets told us to put her to sleep. It was not fair to her. She was a sweet, wonderful natured dog and would never hurt a person. We were also told by the rescues to take her to the local kill shelter. That next week, Mom said that she was probaly going to take Roxxi to the kill shelter. I was devasted. That was a really, really long day at school. I was just wondering if she was still at our house. When school was over, I ran home and did not stop till I got to the front door. I opened the front door. I started to cry, she was still there. I was so happy. We still had no idea what we were going to do with her.
That same week, my Papaw decided to come and get her. There, she would have other big dogs to play with and 32 acres to run on. They also had Trigger, a shepherd/great dane mix, who became her best friend. The other dogs became dominate over her and she also got all the food she wanted and lots of love. She was in paridise. Roxxi was also very jealous of the horses. When Jamie and I would pay attention and give love to the horses. She would go up and nip them on the nose. She was so goofy.
So Roxxi's life was going pretty well. She had alot of dogs to play with and 32 acres to run on. She was so very happy. But Roxxi had grown alot. When we got her she weighed 26 lbs and now at almost a year old, she weighed over 50 lbs. Roxxi grew to big to play with the other dogs and was way to rough. She also became very dominant and her food agression came back. She was growing up. Roxxi also started to fight with Baby, a chow-pitbull mix over dominance. Every chance she got she would fight her. Though usually, Baby started it. Roxxi then had to be put up. Papaw built a pen that was a half an acre. He put Spud in there with her. He was the only dog she was able to play with, without accidently hurting them. Spud was a Lab/American Water Spainel mix. So everthing was going pretty well. Spud left her alone when they ate and they loved to play together. Everytime I would come to visit, I would go to the barn(where the pen was) and play with Roxxi. I loved so much.
Then Mama and Scarlett gave birth to foals. They were so adorable, but to Roxxi, they looked like prey. Roxxi would tear up the fence, over and over again. Then one day when she was in the red zone(as Cesar Milian calls it), and was attacking the fence and tearing it apart. She was very focused on that. Papaw came up from behind her and grabbed her, She bit him 3 times in a row. After that, I was the only one that loved Roxxi. I was the only one who understood her. She was my best friend. So, then of couse, Roxxi was put in this thing kind of like a horse stall. I felt so sorry for her; none of this was her fault, it was mine for not teaching her. I felt horrible. So that is where Roxxi lived--in that stall.
Then one day, Papaw Clarence let Roxxi out in the pen with Spud to play for awhile. So, Roxxi was eating and Spud came over to her food bowl to see her. She attacked him. Papaw tried so hard to get them apart, but she would not stop. She was killing Spud. So, Papaw had to put Roxxi to sleep, or she would have killed Spud. Before she was through, Spud had big, huge gashes in his neck and had a big hole in his ear. He was a mess. Now, Roxxi did not do this because she was a big, bad, mean pit bull. None, of this was her fault. I will explained to you why she did this: Roxxi had been in that stall for a few days. She was bored, so that turned into frustration; also Roxxi was very hyper, so all that pent-up energy turned into frustration, making her a ticking time bomb. Therefore, Roxxi was already food agressive, so this made it even worse. That is why she attacked Spud.
Roxxi was one of my best friends. She had so much love to give. She was such a goofy goober and would wag her butt, along with her tail. She was something else. That day in March was one of the worse days in my life. I cried so much, I could have filled a lake. I felt so bad for her and also felt bad for Spud. What happen to both of them, I blame myself. Roxxi is buried in Papaw and Sharon's front yard. I visit her often.
But she decided to come back to me in a dog name Bruce. You may not believe in reincarnation, but I surely do. One day, a chocolate lab/pit bull mix came up to Papaw and Sharon's house. He had an embedded collar and was skinny. We named him Bruce. When I first laid my eyes one him, I knew it was her. He acts excalty like her. He wags his butt, is very hyper and his face looks just like hers. They also both have the same expressions and that look in their eye. When he grew up, he also had one of her flaws, he was food agressive. But, this time Roxxi is willing to learn and I am willing to teach. He is not food agressive anymore. I have her back. May my best friend Roxxi, Rest in Peace.
~Katy~
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Also, a lot of neglected chained up dogs. It is so sad.