Rambo

by Faith Madden
(Sumter, SC, Sumter County)

Two weeks ago I was making a bi-daily stop at a friend's house to check up on him. As I pulled up in his yard, this dirty filthy pit bull walks up, wagging his tail, tongue hanging out of his mouth. I stopped, let him sniff my hand and thought to myself, when the hell did Dez get a pit bull? He was a very happy little boy, jumping up on me and getting pets. Then I saw it. He had a huge laceration on his neck. At first I thought it was from an embedded collar, but there was no collar. After asking Dez if the dog belonged to him, he told me no, that he was a stray. So I packed him into my car and brought him home.

After a bath and a cleaning of his wounds, I realized how much abuse this poor dog had suffered. His throat had been cut by a knife. Consulting with a friend, I found out some gangs do this as part of initation into the gang. They have to kill a pit bull. Well this pit bull got away.

To my amazement, Rambo, has no dog aggression, loves kids, plays with my cats, and has no problem with any dog bigger or smaller then himself. He was even playing gently with a 6 week old kitten in a box. I don't mean he was in the box, but sitting outside of the box, pawing at the kitten who was swiping at him. It was the cutest thing I ever saw.

When my 2 year old ran up on him, I was worried for a second. Rambo did exactly what I hoped he would do. He turned his giant head and licked my sons face over and over again, wagging his little whip tail. He is in love with my son. That is his boy and don't try to tell Rambo any different.

That first day, he took a nap with my son on his bed, and growled at my friend who walked into the room without me. He was exposed the same day to two older children, a 7 and 9 year old who are both hyperactive and rough on a dog. He took it all in stride, loving all the attention.

He didn't even care when one of the kids accidentally grabbed his wound. He didn't even cry or pull away, he just sat there looking at me like "Help Me,".

He's a great dog and it just makes me love the breed more. Knowing this dog suffered at man's hands and he's still just as sweet and loving as any other dog. I love pit bulls and Rambo just makes me love the breed even more. He's my clown, my sleeping buddy, and my car ride buddy. He's my son's best friend.

People just need to give this breed a chance and they will have you wrapped around their paw in a moment.