DOG PROFILES

• K-Bear

K-Bear was likely over-bred, and suffered a broken leg that was never treated.

K-Bear is a three-year-old, dark brown female pit bull that we rescued from Clackamas County Dog Control when she was about to be euthanized. When we first met her in early 2003, she was named Ruby and was reportedly dog aggressive. Unlike most shelters, CCDC kept her for eight months before discussing euthanasia or rescue. We had met with Ruby previously and played with her in the exercise yard. We deemed her a great candidate for adoption, so we were very surprised to hear that she had not been adopted in the 8 month time period.

She was not spayed yet, and appeared to have given birth to several litters of puppies. She has a slight limp in one of her back legs. Our veterinarian examined her and believes that she may have cracked or even broken a bone in her leg. It apparently was never treated, so it didn’t heal correctly, resulting in her limp. She seems to have a great temperament with both adults and children.

K-Bear was very excited to come home from the shelter with us. She's been a loving member of the family ever since.

However, after spending that long in a shelter, we were concerned that she would start to exhibit symptoms of going kennel-crazy. This is when a dog has spent a very long time in a shelter environment with too many other dogs, cramped living conditions, too much noise, and not enough individual attention, love, and exercise. Dogs that go kennel-crazy typically become depressed and withdraw, lose energy and become ill, and become agitated and aggressive, biting and growling at everyone. Some dogs begin chewing on themselves. All of these reasons make them unadoptable, and usually results in the dogs being euthanized.

If you let her, she'll kiss and hug you!

We decided that we would take her home and introduce her to our group of dogs. She was so grateful and excited to finally leave the shelter, she beamed and shivered all the way to our house. We re-named her K-Bear due to her love of kissing, and how she wraps her arms around your arms like a koala bear. She also is dark brown like a bear. The names ‘Kissy Bear’ and ‘Koala Bear’ aren’t quite as distinguished as K-Bear. If you let her, she will kiss your chin relentlessly and may even try to lick out an earring or two. She is very quiet and hardly ever barks. She has befriended Drunken Noodle and many of the other dogs in our family, and has never shown any signs of dog aggression. She enjoys going on walks, dancing with her humans, and, of course, kissing. She is one of the most loving and affectionate dogs we have ever known.