We’ve actually had Shandy since January, 2024, but with what happened to me in April, 2024, I’m only finally getting around to doing a small write-up about her now, in June, 2025.
We have a soft spot for dogs that are unfairly labelled as dangerous or aggressive for no reason, other than their breed. So much so, that after enough time had passed since Brody left us, we actually sought out a Pittie as our next (and almost certainly, last) companion. We were hooked the minute we saw her photo at the Richmond Branch of the BC SPCA, and only became more sure we’d be taking her home after seeing her in person. She’s small at 40-45 lbs, is as soft as velvet and has eyes that can melt the hardest of hearts. Her personality is somewhere between stupidly cute and beautiful, and she’s never been a problem to train, catching onto most things quickly.
Once we got her home we noticed a distinct head bob / limp, and, long story short, we’ve had to spend about $12,000 and counting on having both elbows scoped and a right ulnar osteotomy on her front legs due to having elbow dysplasia on both sides. She is almost perfect now, but will always have arthritis, which will progressively worsen the older she gets. We keep her body weight light at under 45 lbs, get her monthly Cartrophen (a canine arthritis treatment) injections, and give her daily Cosequin and hemp seed oil supplementation for joint health.
While we are very glad we could afford this, I had to guilt the SPCA into refunding her adoption fee, because the only way they could have missed the limp (which should have triggered them doing the x-rays and CT scans we had to pay for) would have been by wilfully ignoring it. They relented fairly quickly after mild protesting, so that tells me they knew she had issues and they were just hoping Shandy’s adoptive family wouldn’t complain. Nonetheless, she has proven a spectacularly good companion with lots of young dog energy, while also settling down quickly and having a very relaxed side most of the time when at home. She has had some separation anxiety when left alone, but ensuring she gets lots of mental stimulation before and during her walks, and doing two walks of 3-5k per day, has really calmed her down noticeably in recent weeks.
It’s probably worth noting here that my wife really deserves a ton of credit for Shandy’s rehab after her surgeries. Not only because trying to keep a young dog with tons of energy to a limited walk schedule means putting up with near-continual monkey mode at home, but only a week after her final surgery, I had my bike crash. Ultimately, this really meant Connie was rehabbing the dog and me simultaneously. It was a lot, and I’m still not sure how she didn’t lose her mind. Happily, both Shandy and I are pretty fully recovered, though I took a lot longer.
As with all our dogs, we dress her up silly on special occasions and she does an almost endless array of cute things every day. True to her breed, she has little concept of personal space, is a gigantic baby, and nibbles and licks faces, ears and most anything within reach, a lot. I’m very glad she’s a manageable weight and not the 60-75 lbs that many bully breeds are. She has also gained quite a following around our neighbourhood. All the staff at the vet love her to bits and look forward to her regular visits, she has a human buddy she meets on many walks, who is always packing treats and even the security folks at the BC Legislature seem gaga over her. She even routinely elicits smiles from people she doesn’t know, who are just walking on the street.
