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| Name: |
Odie
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Age: |
Eight years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Akita, Pitbull mix |
| Home: |
Pennsylvania, USA |
This
large fawn colored dog - his name is Odie, and the name fits him.
He is eight years old now, the pictures were taken last Christmas or this
past summer. He is, as far as our vet can tell, an Akita/Pitbull Mix.
He has a purple tongue and an attitude that doesn't quit. He weighs
about 100 pounds, and is the most loyal, obedient (most of the time),
intelligent (next to our first shepherd), sweet hearted, pig-headed
(especially toward mommy), biggest baby on the planet.
We came about "Odie" in the strangest way, and he has a very odd
story to tell. Many years ago my husband and myself really didn't want
any more pets (dogs, cats, and a new farm for horses), we already had
three dogs and many cats and horses on the way, so we thought, shortly.
I was working as a waitress, and going to college (at age 28) for the
first time, building a new house and living with friends with three
dogs, in one room, because our first house sold too quickly. A few
months went by, and a woman I was working with had this dog she got
from her neighbor, and she was trying to take care of him. He was a
handful, broke out of every cage, ate her furniture, etc. etc.
She couldn't handle him, but didn't want anything to happen to him so
she was toughing it out. She was told he was scratched by a cat and it
just wouldn't heal... Well, this is where the story begins. I got to
know this puppy (bundle of energy and too little for his very long
legs) and he had this eye thing. Again, he was said to have been
scratched by a cat, so he was being treated for just this. His poor
eye - he was constantly winking and his eye would water and you could
tell that it bothered him terribly. My friend was so sad that she
couldn't handle him and was ready to take him to the local shelter.
She tried once before to take him and they told her he would be put down
due to the eye issue. They were not willing to foot the bill for the
treatment for the scratch that wouldn't heal, and knew they would not
be able to place him due to his breed and the eye issue. I had to
have him - I begged my husband until he gave in and he has been a
wonderful part of our family ever since. He is my protector, my friend,
my child, my sanity.
Anyway, the weird part is this: we took him to be fixed and get his first
shots, and the vet took one look at the eye and was amazed. It turned out to
be a birth defect, one the vet had only seen once in his 40 years of
practice and that was in a cat. Here the lower eyelid was growing in
toward his eyeball, and the winking and watering was due to always
feeling like there was something in his eye. After a few months of
rubbing and scratching, it was now very sore.
The vet practically begged us to allow him to do a simple surgery to fix
the eye. Unfortunately, it was one he had never done before. Of course we
said yes after much explanation, and short of a quick five-minute snip,
a few stitches and a very small scar, Odie has been perfect ever since.
He is one of the most unique, most beautiful, dogs I have ever
seen... and believe me, I have had many great pets in my life.
I hope you enjoy him as much as we do.
I have to go on to tell you how smart he is. We give all of our large
dogs very large bones to chew on in the yard while we are working. Well,
one of the dogs left the bone directly in the path of our very large
lawn mower. My husband asked the dog that left the bone to please
retrieve it and move it out of the way... "Get your bone..." with no
response. He just out of nowhere decided to ask Odie. "Odie, go
get your brother's bone and move it out of daddy's way..." And doesn't he get
up from his own bone, walk over to the front of the lawn mower, pick up the
bone and move it out of the way! We looked at each other in
astonishment at the fact he actually understood exactly what daddy was
asking... who'd a thunk?
Odie live in Pennsylvania on a five-acre farm where he loves to play
with his brothers and the neighbor deer.
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