Kara: Big Baby, Hero, and All Around Great Dog

Today, I am 'sharing' my blog with one of the amazing volunteers at The Pet Rescue Center in Mission Viejo. She has written a beautiful post about one of our rescued dogs, Kara.

Written by Edie Montgomery-Pool, photos courtesy of Scott and Edie Pool

My name is Edie, and my husband, Scott, and I volunteer at The Pet Rescue Center (The PRC) whenever we can. I was recently very surprised to learn that Kara, who has been at The PRC for about 6 months now, has never had a single adoption appointment. I think it must be because she looks scary to people when they see her picture on the internet. She is big and black and a pit bull, and she looks like a tough chick, but I'll let you in on a little secret:  Kara is the biggest baby in the world. 

The first time we walked Kara, she was so scared that she cowered at the back of her kennel and then shook for 45 minutes of our hour-long walk--not trembled, but shook violently. At one point, she was so overwhelmed by her new circumstances, she just lay down on the pavement in the middle of her walk. She needed a moment. On the second walk, she shook for 30 minutes, and by the third walk, she recognized us and came over to the front of her kennel to greet us, happily wagging her tail. After that day, Kara stopped shaking and enjoyed her walks with us a lot.

We were told that before she came to The PRC, she was a "backyard dog" and never went anywhere. For that reason, she was very nervous about anything new, including new people and new places. So, we've made a special effort to take Kara out and expose her to new things in order to build up her confidence. We take her to dog-friendly restaurants with patios. She loves this because she gets water and a chew stick while we eat. We take her to the beach, too. She is definitely a California beach girl and loves romping around and playing in the ocean. We take her home with us sometimes where her favorite thing to do is nap on the couch while we watch TV. She is extremely well-behaved and does not get into things like some of the other dogs we've taken home. We even took Kara to a concert in the park once, and she loved it.

We also walk her around outdoor shopping centers where we often get stopped by passers-by asking to pet her. Because of all of her exposure to people, both through us and other volunteers and staff at The PRC, Kara has learned to like strangers and accept petting from all sorts of different people. Surprisingly, she is especially popular with little girls who don't have the stereotypes that a lot of adults already have set in their minds. They see Kara for what she is: a beautiful girl with a sweet soul. Kara gets a lot of little-girl-love whenever we go out.

Even though she is much more confident now, there are still reminders that she is a sensitive dog. Lately, the local birds have been moulting, and we found out something new about Kara. She's afraid of feathers! If she sees a feather lying on the ground, she will approach it slowly and cautiously and sniff it with a very concerned look on her face. If the wind moves the feather even a little bit, she will get startled and suddenly jump backward. Sometimes she even jumps when the feather hasn't moved at all. It's very cute to watch a black, muscular pit bull jump around because of a feather. We've been hoping that Kara will get used to them because she has come across a lot of feathers during our walks, but so far, feathers are still pretty scary.

Another reminder of just what a baby she is happened when we were walking her yesterday. A lady with two dachshunds in the car stopped at a stop sign when we were using the crosswalk. The dachshunds freaked out and barked wildly at Kara as we walked past their car. Poor Kara not only did not bark back, but she had her tail between her legs and a sad look on her face as if to say, "Why are they being so mean to me?"

Even though Kara is a big baby, she's also a hero. We recently had a puppy come into the clinic from another rescue. The puppy was near death because a virus had virtually wiped out most of its red blood cells.  Kara donated blood and saved the puppy's life. Kara is a fantastic dog all the way around.