Our Back Story

As pictured above ... 

        This is what started it all.  When I got my first pit bull, I said I was going to rescue one from a shelter.  After scouring a few, I came across this girl.  I was told that she was 100% Dog Aggressive, was three days away from being put to sleep because no one wanted her, and almost got in a fight when I threw a ball for her.  When it hit the fence of the neighboring play yard, she charged the dog, instead of going after the ball.  Of course she bounced off of the fencing, and the other dog reacted a bit.  Her saving grace ... when I called her, she ignored the dog and returned to me.  In that moment I seen a spark of light, hope if you will, and even as I called it a connection.

         Of course in the process of this, trying to explain things to my wife about how she functioned and responded, she had some ... concerns for her own dog, naturally.  Just the same, the day came for me to bring Dosha home.  I called my wife on the phone, told her to leash her dog, and have a firm grip on his leash.  I obviously did the same with Dosha, and walked through my front door ... with my first pit bull.  Can I say I was a little nervous about the task that I had just taken on?  YES!!

        However, I couldn't of asked for a better result, I introduced "Dosha, this is Buddy." I told her as I walked in with leash firm in my hand, but not taunt to send stress, anxiety, or fear down the leash.  Dosha barked a loud bark and stamped her feet on the floor.  Buddy returned the action, and then the least expected thing happened.  They both started wagging their tail at the speed of light!  Twelve hours in, Buddy was totally off leash, and Dosha was dragging hers around.  We were still being a bit cautious.  However it just kept getting better.

       As time went on, Dosha started hitting on when my seizure meds were low, and brought my attention to something I had never realized.  I just always thought I was awkward in social circumstances due to my diagnosis of High Functioning A Type Autistic.  However Dosha showed me that it was more then just that.  I had social anxiety when it came to socializing with people.  However, with her head under my hand, as I rubbed the top of her head, and stroked her ears.  She sat at my side, tongue out, big smile on her face, just happy to be helping me.  We quickly researched and started ADA guided training for her to be my service dog.

        This whole adventure started a spark in me, and I started wanting to help these breeds of dogs.  If she was willing to change how she was in stores towards other dogs, and function normally, including ignoring dogs completely, just so she could help me ... how many other dogs of this breed was being misunderstood, passed by, and mislabeled just because of their breed and stigmatism.

        Sadly because of how Dosha wiggled to excitement of dogs and people alike, she wore out a vertebrae in her back, which put an end to her working as my service dog at 10 years old.  She was still by my side as much as possible up until her dying day.  Hell, I had to tell her, "Anastasia has your post now, you can go."  For her to quit fighting the euthanasia drug, give me a final kiss, and take her last breath in my arms.  January ninth, two thousand nineteen, a legacy took her final breath at 2:14am, and in a heartbeat, her last heartbeat, my world shattered.  I didn't want to live, I didn't want to breathe, I didn't even want to eat.  Hell, I was ready to close this rescue and give up on life all together.

         One of Dosha's final acts of kindness in her last week, when she had quit cuddling up to me at night to sleep anymore, was she started cuddling up to a tripod blue American Pit Bull Terrier that was returned to the rescue.  She had been returned three times in a year for fighting with other dogs, the last one being the longest, adopted to a vet tech.  When Dosha passed, some of my final words before I shut down was, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Dosha wanted Aspen to stay, and I'm going to honor it."  With that being said, my final promise to Dosha still holds true just a little over six years later (written 4/19/2025).  "For as long as I can muster to continue rescuing, you will always be in our logo."  Back to the story ... that final act of kindness from the best dog I ever had the pleasure to call "My furry little soulmate" at my side, is why I am still rescuing today.  That three legged dog that fought everywhere else, but lived in peace in my pack, slowly inched her way up the bed, day by day, until her nose touched my arm.  The next day, her cheek and muzzle lay beside my arm, and the next she pushed her head under my arm and army crawled up next to me.  Other then to go potty twice a day, that dog never moved.  She didn't even untuck her neck from under my arm to eat.  By the second day of her being by my side, I broke down and cried into Aspen's neck.  After two weeks of being in bed with little movement, little nutrition, and lots of crying, I looked deep into Aspen's chocolate brown eyes, and I remembered why I do what I do.  It is in Dosha's Honor and Memory, and the kindness of Aspen, which owed me nothing, other then I drove to Bakersfield, California to save her life, that I am still here doing this.  The two dogs in our logo is my first and second service dogs.  Dosha, and Anastasia.

Our mission:

         To Break the stereotype that these dogs carry, advocate, and educate the public, and find these amazing dogs the homes they deserve, when they are ready for that.  My Biggest Advocacy Tool ..... My Current Service Dog.

Thank you for reading!