A Dog Called MJ

*UPDATE* 

Merry Christmas MJ and family!!!!

12/6/14:  MJ was adopted as soon as the doors to the shelter opened this morning!  Many thanks to all who shared her story and made it possible!



I've met hundreds of dogs over the last 10 years through my volunteer efforts. I like almost all of them (occasionally there is one that is so utterly obnoxious that I get completely exasperated and choose not to deal with it), but every now and then I connect powerfully with one.  They grab a hold of my heart so tight I can physically feel it. The first time it happened was with Jezebel.  The second time was with Admiral.  And now there's a dog at the shelter named MJ.

MJ is a sad case. She was surrendered to the shelter because her owners had too many animals and the other dogs in the house attacked her.  Judging by the scars all over her, it happened more than once. Her forelegs have healing scratches, her knee luxates now, she has nerve damage in her hind end, her tail was broken and has since healed badly (her tail is abnormally short too, but she was born that way), but the most tragic thing about her is how afraid she is.

When MJ looks at you, you can see in her eyes that she wants to trust. She craves affection and kind words. She wants to be able to trust people to keep her safe from danger. She is terrified of other dogs (and rightfully so, considering her experience with them).  She's willing to meet them, but if they start playing roughly around her she starts to pant hard, going into panic.

The first time I took her out of her kennel run it took a couple of minutes to get her on a leash.   She kept backing away, and she was shaking so hard it broke my heart. After offering her a treat, she let me put the leash on and take her for a walk. 

She was perfect on the walk. Walked right by my side, checked in by looking into my eyes every few minutes, and just took pleasure in being outside.  When we saw a dog with another volunteer she plastered herself against my legs and cried. I stayed still with her until that dog passed by and we continued on our way.

I took her inside and brought her to visit the foster coordinator and her volunteers and the four of us sat on the floor and fawned over her.  She warmed up to all of us quickly and licked our faces and sat in our laps. We introduced her to some male shelter workers and volunteers, just to see if she was afraid of them, and she did great!  It seems that if she is being handled by someone she trusts, she is more confident meeting new people and other dogs. It's like she knows we wouldn't introduce her to someone she has a reason to be afraid of.

After that afternoon I didn't see her again for a week, though I thought of her every day.  When my volunteer day came around again, the first dog I visited was her.  She was already more confident, just from interacting with different volunteers and staff! And when I took her outside she actually played!  Watching her made my heart soar!  I took a video and showed it to everyone who would watch, and everyone thought she was just the cutest thing!

A few days later, a friend of mine from the shelter took her home to foster her.  I was ecstatic!  This family is one of the best foster homes the shelter has and they work with timid dogs a lot. She thrived in their home and today the shelter posted her on their Facebook page:

Facebook post can be found here

I believe this dog will recover from her horrific past of being bullied by the other dogs in her home and being neglected by the people in it. I think she has the potential to get her CGC and maybe even become a therapy dog!  She is a true ambassador.  Her temperament is exactly what an American  Pit Bull Terrier should be. I hope whoever adopts her will let her change minds of people who are afraid of pit bulls without ever meeting one. And most of all, I hope her family knows exactly how special she is, and loves her as much as she will love them.

If you or someone you know is interested in meeting MJ email fcpdpetresources@fairfaxcounty.gov