We lost our 15-year-old mutt (corgi/jack russell maybe?) Olive on Jan 3, 2014. We were all heartbroken and it was the first time our family of four was without a dog. I was distraught and not ready to fill the hole in my heart with another pup. I lasted three months before I realized that our house needed a dog more than I needed to grieve my Olive.
I had been watching our friends Brick and Teddy foster some puppies on Instagram and thought, heck, we can do that so I reached out to ALIVE Rescue. After we were approved, we got the call about Porterhouse. Porterhouse was an owner surrender at Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) and he had pneumonia.
When asked if we would be willing to take him in and heal him up, I said of course because there was no way that we would be keeping a large, male pit bull. Perfect for a first foster! Porterhouse arrived, took his nebulizer treatments very calmly, slept most of the time and was kind of perfect. I was confused. None of us had had any experience with the bully breed and here was a giant pit bull curled up in my lap snoring.
It became very clear, very quickly that Porterhouse was never leaving and so we adopted him in April of 2014. Best decision of our lives! We believe that Porterhouse was two years old when he was surrendered and was probably used as a basement puppy-maker; he has horrible calluses on his elbows most likely from sleeping on concrete. Now, he is King of the Household! He sleeps in our bed with his head on our pillow or spooning his canine sister Bittie under the covers next to me. He enjoys small spurts of energy with sneaky velvet potato wrestling moves and really has not missed a meal. He smells like maple syrup and he is our everything.
When we saw Bittie’s photo on the internet, well everything kind of stopped. Her ears!! Her weird overbite!! Her baby corn teeth!! Her Lana Turner eyes!!! She was a stray from CACC who came in with giant milky boobies and no babies. Emily Porter took her in as a foster and I couldn’t stop obsessing. When she was ready for adoption, we knew she would go fast so we took the risk and never looked back. Where Porterhouse was a giant chill moose, Bittie was a ball of energy and strength. At one point, I did think that maybe she was too much dog for us and I can understand how some people panic and think that perhaps they have made a mistake but it really does take some dogs more time than others to adjust to their new life. We put in the time and made some small adjustments (shorter walks, walking them separately, avoiding other dogs) and of course, she has mellowed out over the years. When I think back on that time, I can’t believe that we almost gave up on her as I cannot, for one second, imagine life without Bittie. She is funny and happy and goofy and so full of love. She has the very softest fur on the planet and she is our everything.
Seeing the bond that Porterhouse and Bittie have with each other is also breathtaking. Whether it’s Porterhouse using Bittie as a pillow or snuggling together on the couch or simply lying next to each other in the sun, it’s just a joy to watch.
They have brought so much love and happiness to our lives. We are better people because of Porterhouse and Bittie.
You can follow along on IG @bittieandporterhouse or on FB @bittiethepittie.
Written by: Anastasia Hinchsliff
