Dog-friendly neighbors and adoptable Ashley

Tags

animal rescue, pit bulls

When you have cool, dog-friendly neighbors, you should never take them for granted. We haven’t always been so lucky.

The neighbors on one side predate us by a couple decades. The single mother is all right, but one of her teenaged kids has just recently taken to teasing Bowdu during his late afternoon backyard basketball sessions. A sharp word from mom, directed to her son, seems to have halted any escalation of problems. Hopefully this is all I’ll need mention about the neighbors on that side of the fence.

The neighbors on the other side are really good dog people. Like, foster parents good. They’ve housed several pit bulls over the years, the irresistible ones they’ve inevitably fallen for as volunteer walkers at the local animal shelter. Over the July Fourth weekend, we met their latest foster, Ashley.

She has perfectly folded rose ears and strangely evocative eyes.

She watches her surroundings very intently…

… but very calmly, and with great restraint, considering the amount of food that’s being passed around!

Maybe she knew it was a vegetarian feast.

Kind of a bummer when you’re a dog at a barbeque. Well, she’s supposed to be on a diet, anyway…

Good thing the occasionally squirrel runs along the back fence to remind her of the promise of meat!

Okay, so she does have a bit of a prey drive — not uncommon, but always something to be aware of. She also seemed a bit leery of RJ, whose height and lankiness elicited some uncertain barking. However, when he sat down, she approached with no trace of aggression. She also refocused towards her foster parents quite easily.

Definitely a people-oriented pittie, with just the kind of settled, mellow temperament that I appreciate in mature adult dogs.

Ashley is currently adoptable through Home at Last Rescue.

California Bay Area residents should check out her adoption listing here, including a very thoughtful video.