When we arrived in Dubai 20 months ago I had the opportunity to start working as a dog trainer (slightly different from working in the Police!) and I soon found myself surrounded by unwanted dogs. My boss at the time had a very big soft spot for one particular dog that was found at the side of a road extremely skinny and looking very ill.
This dog was taken to the nearest vets and then went on to recover and get better at a nearby animal shelter. Here she slowly gained strength and got her health back, here she stayed for 8 months looking for her new family members.
This dog was a Pit bull who was named Hope!
Hope attracted the wrong kind of interest from people as it was obvious she had been used for fighting previously and because Pit bulls are on the ‘band breeds’ list here in the UAE (I will talk about this fantastic list later!) they aren’t easy to get hold of.
I was sat in the car one busy afternoon with my boss and I mentioned how much I miss having a dog around as I grew up with them, as I starred at him I could see the grin getting bigger on his face. I knew what was coming….
So a few days later I went to visit Hope at the shelter, I felt an instant bond!
Hope settled in so well with me and my husband, she started off going for walks wearing a muzzle as we had no idea what she was going to be like around other dogs and we had to work on a level of trust with her. Pit bulls have been breed so that they have this amazingly strong jaw muscles exhibiting a bite, hold and shake method that can be impossible to get them to let go. Hope demonstrated that she had an extremely high pray drive, with the slightest of squeak or animal sound she wanted to bite.
“The Pit Bull Terrier was created by breeding Old English Terriers and Old English Bulldogs together to produce a dog that combined the gameness of the terrier with the strength and athleticism of the bulldog” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_bull)
Gradually after months of training her, learning about her, developing trust with her and learning to read her the muzzle came off. We came to learn that HOPE LOVES BOYS! Boys with their manhood still intact even better 😉 She has a bunch of friends now that she plays with and goes for walks with but one eye will always be watching her.
Just to clarify Hope adores people, she has never shown any signs of aggression towards people she just wants to be loved! Unbelievable considering what some humans have done to her.
Me trying to teach Hope to swim!
This blog will follow the life of Hope and her fellow dog friends here in Dubai, the life that they lead. The other half of her story we will never know, but her scares remind us everyday of the reality of what some dogs go through here in the Middle East.
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