September 30, 2005

A month has passed with lots of events. I got into big trouble twice in one week. Jane’s angora rabbit died one day and they buried her in the garden……how was I to know I shouldn’t dig her up again….twice!! Jane also had a kitten die and we went through the same ordeal except I waited till he was a bit ‘ripe’ before digging him up. Oh, my, the lessons a guy has to learn…

Most of the rest of the month has been pretty uneventful. John brings new cattle in and I usually go and look them over. They are too big to be of much interest to me though…now let a CAT run and wow, that’s cause to play!!

I like to sleep with the cats on the porch and they snuggle all around me in the warm sunshine. Occasionally, I will pick one up and carry it out into the yard…just for fun. I never hurt them but it is fun to “select one” from the group and carry it off! I got in trouble for that, too, but not a big deal.

I love to play and roughhouse with Grant when he comes by and John when he comes home in the evening. Grant likes to roll me over and get me off balance. (I’m still a little clumsy….guess that’s because I’m still growing.)

I weigh about 60 pounds now and wow, am I a “looker.” Everyone says I’m quite the handsome fellow.

I’m not much of a "house guard" though, I just love to greet everyone that comes in the lane. I always get petted when I run to meet new people! Jane just shakes her head and laughs, says something like, “I’m a silly puppy!” Guess she’s right but I sure do enjoy people. I think they all are pleased with me and the way I relate to the human-folks.

The Leesers have decided to officially make October the 8th my birthday. Now, we’ll see if they decide to make a cake for me or not….just “treats” would be fine with me. I love the rawhide dog bones and a good knuckle bone from the butcher is an excellent choice, too.

Well, I must close for this month. I’m so glad you were able to purchase the ground for the Kansas Pit Bull Rescue facility. It is a great step forward. I wish every discarded dog could find someone to love them as much as my new family does me. There’s an awfully lot of love in a good pup like me!!

Hi to Suzanne and to Peggy, too. Keep up the good work….there ARE people who want to give us good homes.

Dalton

August 2005

Well, it’s August 3, 2005 and I’ve been in my new home for a month tomorrow. I love it here and they all love me. I rarely get into any trouble, just a time or two for barking at the horses... I just wanted to say “hello”…didn’t chase or anything…Woke up Jane though….oops!!

I have gained some weight and still love sitting on Whitney and keeping her “down”. She thinks it’s funny and scratches me on my tummy. I get a good wet kiss in every once in a while too! She always looks surprised and hollers “Dalton!”but I know she loves my kisses..:-}

Grant comes by to play with me a couple of times a week. He’s the one I get to “roughhouse” with. He likes to “wool me around" and get me to fetch stuff. I’m very good at fetching. Jane even says so…I always bring things back to her, but like to tease Grant so sometimes he has to work a little harder to get things returned.

John likes to take me on walks with him. We go around the lake and down to the dam and play. He’s the “easy-going” sort…good for a few scratches behind the ears and some pats on the back.

I have made friends with nearly all the cats and now only occasionally get a slap on the nose…still from that haughty little mama cat, Spice. The rest of them sleep on me when I go outside and lay down in the daytime. I particularly like “Fang” the big black tom cat. I lick him right in the face when he walks up and also chew on his tail if I can get it. He just looks at me with that adoring look and flops down next to me. If I get too rough though, he just walks away for a while.

Well, life is good here on the ranch for “rescue pup.” This is a perfect match! Everyone came out the winner on this one!!

Must go for now. I’ll write more, later. Give my love and a big wet kiss to Peggy and Suzanne.

Dalton Leeser

“the rescued pup”

Dalton's New Home! - The Story from the beginning ;-)

Dalton’s Diary.

I was rescued from a kill pound facility in Topeka Kansas around June 30, 2005. I was to be put down around July 2nd.

A lady had seen my picture on the internet at www.kspitbullrescue.com and had sent pictures and an application to adopt me. Usually the rescue team does an in-home inspection of a prospective home but the lady lived clear across the state of Missouri so they had her send pictures of the outside of the house and the inside rooms.

Monday, July 4, became my Independence Day. Suzanne loaded me up into her Bronco with two of her Am Staffs and we went on a long road trip. We stopped at Marshall, MO where we met John and Jane LEEser, my new owners. I licked Jane’s face immediately and she seemed pleased. I got my feet all muddy when I got out of the car but she just wiped them off and gave me some cold water in a travel bowl she brought. She also offered me food and a treat….I had no idea what a treat was so just sniffed it and went on about my business.

The people all took pictures of me, I’m such a handsome fellow, and then I transferred to the ‘new” vehicle. They had a big cushy pad in the back for me and I sat and watched the scenery for a while and then just sighed and went to sleep. I slept most of the way home, occasionally letting out a big sigh. They stopped in Moberly to “piddle me” (though I didn’t) and we ran around for a little while. They went into Pizza Hut to get some people food and sat right by the window so we could see each other. I was a good boy and just watched the silly people across the street buying fireworks.

We got “home” about 3:00 in the afternoon and I got out of the car on my new lead and was promptly smacked across the nose by a skinny mother cat. Ouch! I did nothing, aren’t you proud of me? I went into the house and did the tour thing…looks pretty good to me. Jane walked me around a bit and I saw the strangest things…they were huge and “mooed”. I just stood and watched them for the longest time. Guess they live here, too.

Grant came over to check me out. He’s the son of these folks and has a pup-dog like me only he’s quite a bit older, Jake. Grant played with me for a long time and we did the outside things. I have no idea what to do with “toys”…guess play wasn’t a part of my former life….I’ll learn though. I’m very smart!!

Whitney and her boyfriend, Brad, came home and also played with me for quite some time. The neighbors down the road were shooting off fireworks but I didn’t seem to mind at all.

O got taken outside quite a lot and did my affairs outside, good dog that I am. I went into my new crate (Dalton’s Den) for the night and slept quite well…I was really tired from all the transferring and investigating.

Tuesday was a more laid back day. I did the usual puppy things, ate, snooped around the house and outside. I got slapped again by another cat. I think they think I am a threat but I just want to see what those little fur-balls are. I’m not aggressive at all toward them.

Jane and Whitney decided I needed a bath, so that was the event of the morning. They used warm water and some oatmeal soap for dogs on me. I kind of liked all the lathering up with the warm water and soap. The rinse was a bit startling as the water was cooler but we did fine with all of it. I promptly did what all dogs do and shook the excess water off and got Jane soaked. That was fun, so I did it again and got Whitney, too. They laughed at me. Fun times!

John came in at noon and played with me a bit. I think he’s o.k., too. We went for a “run” around the pond dam and in the baseball field. I love to check out the grass, smell and run, smell and run.

The rest of the day was just spent being a “dog”. I went to bed around 11:00 in my den.

Wednesday is off to a good start. I did my morning duties outside and checked out more territory while I was out.

.Jane had garage cleaning to do today so Whitney played with me a lot. She tried and tried to get me to play with some sort of disk like thing ….I just didn’t “get it.” We had fun outside any way.

Jane took me in her truck to the truck stop to show me off. They all were quite impressed at how handsome I am. Some stranger came up and petted me saying she raised boxers and so had a love for the “bully breeds”. I was afraid Jane was going to take me someplace else to live so I was really happy when we got out of the truck and were back at my new home. I literally ran for the door!! Too much travel and change makes one a bit cautious, I think.

Grant came by again. I think he’s checking up on me to see how his mom is doing taking care of me. He’s fun.

This evening we had popcorn. I sit really quietly and look cute till she throws me a piece of it. I like the taste but she said I only get a piece or two because it isn’t “puppy food”.

Whitney and Brad took me outside to play again. I don’t know what they like about that Frisbee thing, I just don’t get it! Oh well, the attention is great.

I went to bed in my den about 10:00 and slept all night.

Thursday, I got up early with Jane and we went out for a walk and to do my duties. It’s a beautiful day and I love the feel of the grass. Jane thinks it’s funny when I stretch out completely on my tummy and just smell it.

She’s going up to pick sweet corn today and then finish the garage, so I’ll be playing with Whitney some I imagine. That’ll be fun.

Sylvester, the cat, and I are coming to an agreement and getting along better. I promised not to try to “smell” him and he promises not to “slap” me. So far so good!
The weekend was a good one. Lots of playing outside and I finally figured out what to do with the rawhide bone they kept giving me…YUM! I first ate the middle out of it and then have had a ball pouncing on the ends and watching them skid across the tile floors. Then I sit and chew on them for a while.

This weekend I broke out in a kind of rash on both sides…or stings…or?? Jane decided it might be my new bed pillow since it was only on my sides. She took it out and replaced it with another and soon the welts were gone. She said she thinks I am allergic to something in the pillow, maybe the cedar.

Monday we got into Jane’s truck and went for a ride to go see the vet. He’s a friend of the Leeser’s and really loves big dogs so she thought he’d be perfect for me. It turned out Bill was on a large animal call by the time we got to town so plan “B” was put into action.

We drove out to some other friends’ home. Good grief, more critters that I’ve never seen!! They had little bouncy things that kept saying ‘maaa’. (baby goats) Jane wouldn’t let me get as close a look as I’d have liked. Met more people there, too. Everyone thinks I’m soooo handsome of course.

Tuesday, Jane tried again and we did catch Bill at the office. He was quite impressed with how beautiful I am and how well behaved. I let him take those stitches out and just laid back and enjoyed the attention. He checked me over from stem to stern and said I’m in good shape. He gave Jane some heartworm preventative “chewys” for me since I have the ideal skin type for those darn mosquitoes, light thin and warm. Next year he said I can have Ivomec instead. He thinks I’m somewhere between 8-10 months old….. whatever. I think they’ll just pick a birthday for me and that’ll be fine. Jane asked about the rash/ hives incident and Bill confirmed he agreed I must be allergic to the cedar in the pillow. He said that is not uncommon, just to use the polyfilled ones for me.

We went to the antiques store for a little while and then picked up some fresh corn and headed home.

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