Chessure & Alice, Philadelphia, PA

Hi! My name is Chessure and this is my sister, Alice! You may know us as The Daughter-Bulls.

My story begins on a cold December day about two years ago. “Pit bulls for sale!” a man shouted as he held up two puppies. “Get them now! They were born October 15!” yelled the man. This “breeder” was trying to sell me—as well as other pups—out of crates in the park.

There I was, emaciated and dehydrated lying amongst my brothers and sisters. The runt of the litter, I was freezing, filthy and scared—it didn’t look good for me. I was around one month and a half when I found our mom (yes, I found her!). This young lady passed and I just stared at her, “Hey, you will be my new mom!!” and that was the charm!

She came over and as soon as we made eye contact, I knew I needed her and she needed me. There was something missing in both of us and the day we met, that void was filled. She also knew I needed medical care right away: I was very emaciated, my skin was yellowish, I was lethargic and just very sick.

She picked me up, gave the breeder some cash (and a piece of her mind for his obvious neglect) and we were on our way. She wrapped me in her shirt and kissed me! She became my mommy!!

My mom named me Chessure Caina after the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland and my white coat (Caina means white). In my new home, I wasn’t feeling so well. I was vomiting and I had blood in my stool. Mommy took me to the vet who said I had an advanced infection of Coccidiosis.

They wanted me to stay in the hospital but my mom insisted on taking me home and treating me herself (she’s actually a veterinary nurse at a nearby shelter). The vet agreed so I went home and for the next month, she gave me IV treatments. She had to practically force-feed me, slowly bringing me back to life.

My mommy is the greatest! For as long as I can remember she has done everything for me. Daddy would take me with him to pick her up from work. We’d hang out all night and sometimes, she even falls asleep petting me (but I don’t wake her up). I love learning from Mommy and hanging out with her friends (especially the other pit bulls she fosters).

Six months into my new life, someone was banging at our door at 3.45 in the morning, waking all of us up. My parents went to the door with me right behind them. To our surprise, it was my “breeder’!!

Somehow, he tracked us down! And worse, he was dragging a scared, nervous looking white female puppy! “You want her?” he shouted. “Get her or I’ll just shove her out on the street!”

Mommy could take no more and quickly removed the rope and snatched her up. Daddy closed the door on the guy’s face. Then my parents stared at her: She was dirty, thin, had many bite marks all over and what looked like mange. She was a sad-looking little girl with a cute fawn spot on her left eye.

When I saw her, I started to wag my tail and pranced around, and she started to follow me all exited!  I was happy to have a new sister and we spent that night together cuddled on the doggy bed at the foot of mommy’s bed—her daughter bulls. (Oh I forgot to tell you: She is actually my litter mate!)

Mommy called her Alice Hybana (which means ‘Noble Spark’) and although I loved her, she sure cried a lot —sometimes through the night. The neighbors were not too happy about that because when Alice cried, she screamed like a human baby!

So one day, Daddy made Mommy take Alice to the shelter where she works. Mommy came back crying. She was heartbroken and cried all day holding me close to her chest. The next day she continued to cry and was not eating. My daddy couldn’t bear to see mommy sad and we all went back to the shelter right away to take Alice home for good!

She got spayed and came home with us that day. Mommy learned that Alice had separation anxiety and that’s why she would cry so much. So to help out, I sleep with her at night and that seems to work. 🙂

Mommy trained her like she did me and we both passed our CGC test! My parents and grandparents are so proud of us! Our trainer kept commenting on how awesome our smile was! ♥

We are all one big happy family. We’ve lived with over 7 cats on one point, 3 other dogs…and two ferrets! We looooove other animals. We are the teachers of many foster bulls that come here. Our best friend is a Daschund named Scoobie!

We also love meeting new people!! If you see us down the street, don’t be afraid, come and say hi! When we go for walks in the park and meet fun new people, sometimes they are afraid of us but mommy soon explains that there’s no need to be scared, we’ve just earned a bad reputation through no fault of our own. And that if you get to know us, we are all about peace, love and loyalty!

Our mission is to make a difference, change people’s perceptions and show the true nature of the breed. That’s why it was so exciting when Mommy told us that we’ve became part of the StubbyDog’s SuperHero Squad! We are Superbassadors, working paws in paws with StubbyDog Project and the other amazing dogs and their parents!

And Mommy? She couldn’t be prouder!! 🙂 Thank you for reading our story and follow our adventure on Facebook!

Chessure + Alice

Parent: Kiara