Chapter 1

Hi, my name is Otis.  I am a very happy and playful dog.  I live with my human mom Jane Turner, her husband Derek, and their kids Maddie, Julia, Ashton, and Carson.  Let me give you a little bit of background with how I ended up with the Turner family.  You see, once Carson, their youngest child was old enough to learn how to treat a dog, the Turners already knew that there was a very good chance that they would have to move in the next year or two since Derek was in the military.  The children were quite upset to learn that they would have to make all new friends if they did move.  Jane and Derek decided to look into getting a dog because they felt that the time was right and that a dog would help the move go more smoothly.  They soon visited the local dog shelter and that was where they met me.  The Turners had thought that they should look for a Labrador or a Golden Retriever because they are known to be good with kids.  They changed their minds when they saw me for the first time.

             My mom was a stray pit bull that lived on the city streets.  When a couple of kind people found her, they took her to the shelter.  The shelter worked hard to find her previous owners.  They were successful, but unfortunately once they found out that she was pregnant, they decided to surrender her to the shelter.  About 3 weeks after she was surrendered, she had nine puppies.  The staff at the shelter was quite surprised by this because my mom was a small Pit Bull.  They didn’t know what breed of dog my dad was, but they thought that he had to have been big.  She was a good mom and she taught us all how to be a dog.  As we all grew older, the shelter staff kept thinking that our dad must have been a lab mix.  Once we were eight weeks old, we were ready to join our new families.

             When you walk into the shelter, the first thing you see is us puppies.  Everyone who walked in immediately fell in love with us, but none of them were actually prepared.  But when the Turners walked in, I could see that they were ready for a puppy.  They talked to the shelter staff and they agreed that a puppy like us would be a good fit for their family.  When Mrs. Turner looked at us through a window, she kept pointing me out to her husband.  That’s when I knew that they were going to be my new forever family.

             Jane and Derek walked into the puppy room to meet all of us.  One of the shelter workers came in with them.  After Jane and Derek met the puppies, they asked the shelter worker what breed we were.  When the shelter worker told them that we were Pit Bull mixes, Jane got a scared look on her face.  She then asked the shelter worker, “Does that mean that they are all going to grow up being vicious?”  The shelter worker told them no, because since we were puppies we only knew people to be good.  Usually dogs will act vicious if they have been badly mistreated by a person.  Derek and Jane discussed with each other and soon decided to take me home with them.  I was so excited.  On the car ride home, Derek kept telling me about their four kids and how excited they will be when they see me.

Chapter 2

             When we got to their house, I was very nervous.  Their kids were very rambunctious and it scared me.  Jane had to tell the children to be calm and soon all the children sat down and I got to sniff all of them.  Derek said that the kids should try to think of a good name for me.  Some of the suggestions were Blackie, Oreo, Jelly Bean, and Licorice.  Then Jane suggested the name Otis and everyone liked it.

             Over the next two years, I enjoyed my time with the Turners.  They brought me with them to the beach.  We went to the park together every Sunday, and we would always get ice cream after a scary vet visit.  I was very glad that Jane and Derek decided to adopt me.  They even let me sleep in their bed.  They always called me a nanny dog because I would lay with Carson until he fell asleep and so on with the rest of the kids.  The Turners were also a very happy family, and they were all almost always smiling.  One day Derek came home with a big frown and the whole family knew that something was wrong.

             Derek told his family that they would have to move to Kentucky from Texas next month.  The whole family was upset, but Derek told them that he had more bad news.  He told the family that the house that they would be moving into did not allow Pit Bulls.  I didn’t know what this meant, but I knew that it must have been something bad because the whole family was crying like crazy and hugging me too.  They were very sad about something.  They all started to cry when they saw me and I knew that this sad thing involved me.  All of them were always wanting to hug me and apologize to me.  About a week later, Derek and I got in the car and went somewhere.  It was very weird for the whole family not to come as well.  The whole family hugged me and said goodbye and that’s when I realized that that would be the last time that I would ever get to see them.  During the whole car ride I was whining because I was scared of where Derek was taking me.

             Finally, the car stopped and I realized where we were.  We were at the animal shelter where the Turners had adopted me from years ago.  I was hesitant to get out of the car, but when Derek yelled at me to get out, I jumped right out.

             We walked in the front door and the shelter worker greeted us and asked us why we came to the shelter.  Derek explained that he and his family needed to move in a few weeks and that they weren’t allowed to bring me with them because I was a Pit Bull.  The shelter worker brought Derek some paperwork to fill out to make the surrender official.  While he was filling out the papers, the shelter worker asked what my name was.  Derek told her that it was Otis.  From that day on that shelter worker, whose name was Bridget, always made sure that she checked on me daily, until I got adopted.  Derek finished the paperwork and then said goodbye to me.  He then turned to leave and Bridget wouldn’t let me follow. 

Chapter 3

             After Derek left, Bridget kept telling me that she would watch over me.  She told me that she would find me the perfect family.  She could tell I was scared so she talked to me in a very caring and gentle voice that made me feel a lot safer.  She also told me that she wished she could adopt me, but she already had four dogs of her own and her husband would have killed her if she brought home another dog.

             She then put a slip lead over my head and started to walk. I followed behind her slowly and she encouraged me to follow her through a big door.  I follow and as we go through the big door and as we walk down a long hallway,  I recognize the puppy room that I had been in a long time ago.  Bridget and I approach another door that has a lot of dogs barking behind it.  I follow her through the door and she puts me inside one of the empty kennels.

             She locked the kennel and left.  She soon came back with a toy, food, water, and a name tag.  As soon as she gave me the toy, I immediately played with it.  She smiled at me and told me that she would visit with me tomorrow.

             Bridget came back every day and always played with me whenever she had a break. She would always grab a rope toy and play tug of war with me and I enjoyed it very much.  Everyday for the next three months.  Whenever someone came in looking to adopt a dog, Bridget would always show them me first.  She would always tell them how I was good with kids, unknown with cats and dogs because I didn’t live with any cats and dogs in my previous home.  She also told them that I was house-trained.  Then they would ask the question that Bridget hated answering.  They asked what breed I was and she would tell them that I was a Pit Mix.  Every time that she told them that I was a Pit Bull they would say that they weren’t interested and would move on to the next dog.  Then one day, there was a young couple that came into the shelter. The man was tall and lean and the woman was short and stout. The crazy thing about this couple was that they were still interested in me after hearing that I was a Pit mix.  Bridget was so excited that she squealed.

             She then told them that I was around two years old and weighed about seventy pounds.  When they still seemed interested, Bridget asked them if they wanted to apply to adopt me.  They both said yes in unison and then they all left together.  While they were leaving, I could hear Bridget telling them that I was her favorite and how I had been overlooked the past three months.

             Just a couple minutes later, Bridget came back with a collar and leash.  She opened my kennel door and told me that The Pattersons wanted to meet me before they applied.  Bridget then put the collar on me and connected the leash to the collar.  She then walked me out of the kennel and into a room I had never been in before.  When we went inside the room, The Pattersons were already inside.  Bridget unhooked the leash, but I still stayed near her.  She then told me that The Pattersons were nice and I gained some courage.

Chapter 4

             Mrs. Patterson then leaned down and held out her hand.  I slowly walked over to her hand and sniffed it.  After I was done sniffing her, I could tell that she was nice.  She then started petting me and I started wagging my tail.  This made her smile.  Then I rolled over so that she could rub my belly.  I think I surprised her by trusting her so much so fast.  She then rubbed my belly and my tail started going crazy.

             Soon, Mr. Patterson came over to meet me.  When he came close to me, I stood up.  He could tell I was nervous so he reached out his hand and told me that I was the handsomest dog he had ever seen.  The tone of his voice was gentle and calming.  I could tell that he was nice too.  I rolled over again and showed both of them my belly and they both laughed and then they started rubbing my belly.

             After rubbing my belly for a few minutes, they both stood up and told Bridget that they wanted to apply for me.  Bridget smiled and told the Pattersons to go to the main office and that she would join them after putting me back in my kennel.  Bridget then connected the leash to my collar and on the whole walk back to my kennel, she was smiling and telling me how she had a feeling that they would be approved and take me home today.  I hoped that she was right.  She put me in my kennel and told me that she would see me in a few minutes.  Just a few minutes later, Bridget came back with The Pattersons and that’s when I knew they were approved.  Bridget then opened my kennel and handed Mr. Patterson the leash.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Patterson were smiling and I could tell that this was meant to be.

             Mr. Patterson walked me out of the shelter and towards their car.  Mrs. Patterson thanked Bridget for her help and I swear I saw Bridget shed a tear.  On my way out, Bridget yelled, “Bye Otis!  I will always remember your smiling face.”  Mr. Patterson opened the car door and I jumped in the back seat of the car.  After Mr. Patterson started driving away, I climbed into Mrs. Patterson’s lap.  She grunted because of how much I weighed.  After I laid my chin down on her arm, she pet me and said “Good boy, Otis!”

             After we had been driving for about fifteen minutes, The Pattersons decided to introduce themselves.  Mr. Patterson said his name was Eric and Mrs. Patterson said her name was Jaime.  They told me that they had a big house with a big yard to play in.  I was very excited to hear this and couldn’t wait to see the house in person.

             When we finally stopped, I looked up and couldn’t believe my eyes.  They had a huge two-story home that I couldn’t wait to explore.  Eric walked me up to the front door and opened it.  As he opened it, they both said, “Welcome home Otis!”  When the door opened, I saw that the house was filled with toys.  As soon as Eric unhooked my leash, I started to play with all the toys.  That’s when I knew that this was the perfect house for me.