Blogging Buddies: Benny, Czara, Rob & Nicole

Hello! I’m Nicole and I am the proud mama to two adorable doggies (and am currently pregnant with my first human baby). Our dogs are Benny, a 7 year old pit bull/American Bulldog mix and Czara, a 3 year old boxer/black lab mix.

When my husband and I first started living together back in 2006, Rob was set on getting a dog. I was a little hesitant, but since I was completely in love, I went against my better judgment and agreed to it. We looked at shelters all over Denver, but never seemed to find a dog that clicked with us. Around this time Denver began more strictly enforcing its pit bull ban (one of the harshest breed specific laws in the country). Since Rob and I lived about two miles outside of the Denver city limits, we decided that we should think about rescuing a pit bull. We went to animal shelter that at the time was about 90% pits (now down to about 75% pit bulls) and Rob peered in and saw the most adorable white dog. After a few seconds of interacting with the dog, we moved on to look at the other available dogs. After walking through the whole shelter, Rob still couldn’t get the white dog and his paws out of his head so we took that dog into the meet and greet room. Two minutes in and the dog climbed up onto Rob’s lap and fell asleep. That sealed the deal, and Benny came home with us that day.

Because of Benny’s breed, we are always very careful about how we present him, how much interaction we let him have with other dogs, etc. Not because we are worried about him (he is a total sweetheart), but just because his breed faces so much controversy. We didn’t take him to dog parks and we didn’t let him approach strange dogs on walks. But the pitiful cry that he gave every time he saw another dog eventually convinced me that if we couldn’t feel comfortable with him around other people’s dogs, we were just going to have to get him his own puppy. And in May 2008 a woman at my work was giving away little boxer/lab puppies, and I knew it was meant to be.

I brought home the last dog left, the runt of litter that we named Czara. It amazes us to this day that she was last picked because she is the cutest, sweetest, and most affectionate dog I have ever met. She was only 8 weeks old when we brought her home, so we were very careful about how much interaction we let her and Benny have at first, but there was no need to worry. Benny was so gentle and patient with her and her little puppy bites.

These two get into so much trouble together. Benny is obsessed with being high up off the ground and will climb on whatever is around (jungle gyms, picnic tables, and even our grill once or twice) and the prissiest pit bull I ever met. He refuses to lay down on any hard surface without a blanket or dog bed and hates water. Needless to say we laugh at him almost daily. Czara is the lover and climbs into our laps every chance she gets (she doesn’t seem to realize that she is 65 lbs, which is a little larger than the average lap dog). One of the funniest quirks she has is when she is “in trouble” or feeling guilty, she flattens herself as much as she can and squeezes underneath a futon we have in the back room. Whenever we can’t find her, that is the first place we look.

Based on our experiences I would certainly recommend boxers, labs, and pit bulls to anyone looking for a medium sized family pet. They do need exercise so that is a consideration, and pit bulls are outlawed in a lot of places so you need to be aware of your area’s laws. If you are interested in learning more about pit bulls and breed specific laws, check out these websites to start: http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/legislation.php
http://www.pbrc.net/breedspecific.html

No doubt that this breed has had their share of problems, but with proper breeding and good families, you will never find a more loving and protective pet. In fact pit bulls are known as nanny dogs in England! And I am not at all concerned with Benny and the baby we are bringing home in a few short weeks- I am way more concerned with Czara since she will need to learn that she is no longer the baby! (Seriously, if I saw the word baby, Czara looks up because she thinks we are talking about her!)

One other important consideration is health issues. Benny is piebald (meaning mostly white) and as a result has very bad skin allergies. We have tried several treatments throughout the years and have finally settled on daily steroids. It’s not the most ideal solution, but the only thing that makes him comfortable on a day to day basis. Dealing with an itchy, miserable, and often broken-out dog has not been easy, and I do wish I had been more prepared about that aspect prior to going through it.

I love my dogs and consider them a part of my family and I want to thank Crystal for the opportunity to talk about them!

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Thank you, Nicole for such a great, thoughtful post about your two beautiful pups!

If you would like to read more about Nicole's expanding family, please visit her blog

Highway 101

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