Three years ago this month, somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line, a pit bull/lab mix was born. She quickly worked her way to Augusta, Maine, where my wife Liz and I adopted her from the animal shelter in January 2009, when she was only eight weeks old.
Martha was so tiny back then you could easily hold her in one hand. I was reluctant to bring her outside to do her business that first night at home because the temperature had dropped below zero and the poor little thing only weighed eight pounds.
Martha was so tiny back then you could easily hold her in one hand. I was reluctant to bring her outside to do her business that first night at home because the temperature had dropped below zero and the poor little thing only weighed eight pounds.
But Martha, it turned out, was one tough cookie. Almost three years later, she's still on the small side for an adult dog with pit bull and lab genes - a slim 40 pounds or so, with long, thin legs and tiny paws. Yet she's stubborn and very strong - strong enough to pull me down the street with the "dog power" of a pup twice her size when she's in a hurry to get home.
It goes without saying that labs have a reputation as the perfect dog (or so our chocolate lab, Aquinnah, claims). Pit bulls, on the other hand, get a bad rap because bad owners allow or encourage them to do bad things. Yet it's well-known that "pitties" are people lovers, and Martha is no exception. She's ready to go home with most anyone she meets on the street, and she loves nothing more than pretending she's a lap dog, even though she's a bit too big to fool anyone on that score.
In fact, Martha takes being part of the family to the extreme. During our 25 years of marriage, Liz and I have always been among that incorrigible set of dog owners who allow their pets to sleep on the bed. But that's not good enough for Martha, who insists on sleeping in the bed. Every night, she burrows her way under the covers and plops herself down by our ankles. There she stays until she gets too warm. Then she emerges from her lair, cools off for a few minutes, and nuzzles someone's face, to let Liz or me know she's ready to slide back under the covers.
Martha definitely has her quirks. That's what makes her who she is, as Liz and I have learned while watching her personality unfold over the last three years. But some things haven't changed during that time. Martha still doesn't like the cold - she sometimes sits on the hot-air vent in the dining room when the furnace is on. And she still likes being picked up, even though I now have to use both hands, and do a bit of heavy lifting.
It goes without saying that labs have a reputation as the perfect dog (or so our chocolate lab, Aquinnah, claims). Pit bulls, on the other hand, get a bad rap because bad owners allow or encourage them to do bad things. Yet it's well-known that "pitties" are people lovers, and Martha is no exception. She's ready to go home with most anyone she meets on the street, and she loves nothing more than pretending she's a lap dog, even though she's a bit too big to fool anyone on that score.
In fact, Martha takes being part of the family to the extreme. During our 25 years of marriage, Liz and I have always been among that incorrigible set of dog owners who allow their pets to sleep on the bed. But that's not good enough for Martha, who insists on sleeping in the bed. Every night, she burrows her way under the covers and plops herself down by our ankles. There she stays until she gets too warm. Then she emerges from her lair, cools off for a few minutes, and nuzzles someone's face, to let Liz or me know she's ready to slide back under the covers.
Martha definitely has her quirks. That's what makes her who she is, as Liz and I have learned while watching her personality unfold over the last three years. But some things haven't changed during that time. Martha still doesn't like the cold - she sometimes sits on the hot-air vent in the dining room when the furnace is on. And she still likes being picked up, even though I now have to use both hands, and do a bit of heavy lifting.
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