Maggie: Daughter, Friend, Family Member, Survivor

by Leetah Jones
(Miami, OK, USA)

Maggie Ann-May is my 2-year-old female APBT. She is a sweet, fun-loving little girl who never ceases to amaze her father and me. We've owned her since she was five months old and we've been through tough times, rough times, good times and wonderful times.

When we got her she thought she was a lap dog and only as big as her best friend Taco the Chihuahua. She still considers herself a lap dog although she's grown in her head to Jack Russell. She's our furry daughter, our best friend, our little clown and she's a survivor if I've ever seen one. She's been through so much and came out with most of her personality intact.

Let me explain, when we first got her she knew no stranger whether it be on four legs or two. Close to one years old she contracted Parvo and made it through on willpower and Pedialite (the grape kind). After that happened we tried to get another dog for her to have a sibling and it ended up being food aggressive and attacking her. She attacked it back after it tried to attack me, she wasn't harmed but the other dog will think twice before attacking something else.

After she got over that trauma she tried to play with a small dog that attacked her, she didn't attack back but instead looked at it funny and let it attack her. A month later a stray dog attacked her for coming onto its yard to smell another dog, luckily we kicked the dog before it did any damage. After all this she was a little afraid of dogs but was still willing to go towards dogs she knew. That was until her best friend and her got into a skirmish about the walkway between a chair.

That night she not only lost a friend but almost died from a maniacal man stabbing her in the ribs with a chef's knife. My aunt and uncle patched her up and helped us bring her home. Luckily my best friend had left her pet first aid kit at my house and we cleaned her wounds and tried to bandage her, but you know these dogs- gotta move even if it hurts. My family tried to brand my beautiful baby girl vicious until they learned that my aunt had stitched Maggie's chest wound closed with no numbing agent and with sowing thread a dull needle and Maggie only shed a few tears and wanted love and a cookie.

As she healed and became more active the saw it was not my dog's fault and that she was still as loving as before. Sadly now she doesn't trust dogs but we are working on that.

Another reason she is a great survivor was that last winter we had a small blizzard and my fiance, me and Maggie almost died from the cold. But thanks to her body heat and a lot of blankets we all pulled through.

Now, our time together hasn't been all bad things. In fact, we have a lot of happy memories: taking her to the woods so we could all play in the mud and grass; taking her swimming in a creek and watching her swim for the first time (as well as drag her dad up the creek on his face, she says he didn't move towards the grass fast enough); eating popsicles on a hot summer day; and watching her face as she saw ducks, deer and cow for the first time.

We've played a lot outside and I've learned many things from my wonderful pit. She has even helped lots of people in our town get over their misconceptions about her breed thanks to her playful nature and loving charm.
My baby is everything to me and I would do anything for my spoiled rotten girl.