Louk, Evansville, IN

Hallooo! Hola! Salutations! Hi!!! My name is Louk (pronounced like Luke), and I am a one-year old brindle, black and white pit bull terrier.

My story is funny, interesting, and intense all rolled into one big ball. My mommy was on winter break this time last year, when she first saw my picture on Petfinder. Mommy had been wanting a puppy for quite a long time, and new that she loved pibbles more than any other dog.

I had been dropped off at a tractor supply store along with my brothers and sisters in a box marked “Free.” I was way too young to leave my doggiemom, but some big mean man had taken her away and left all of us babies to fend for ourselves, and we eventually ended up at the shelter. A few weeks went by, and by the time mommy saw my picture I was the only one left besides my other brother (who has now since been adopted! He was always the good lookin’ one, so I wasn’t worried). She was so excited when she saw my photo, that she couldn’t wait to get back to Muncie (where she went to school) so she could adopt me before classes started for the semester.

But it wasn’t going to be that easy. (It never is!) A giant ice storm slammed into Indiana and prevented my mommy from adopting me right away. The roads were awful, and most of the city lost power, including my shelter! I was left stranded with my brother while I waited for my forever home. My mom doesn’t take “no” for an answer when it comes to us pitties, and she was definitely not going to take the shelter’s recommendation to “wait a few weeks, or you can always go to one of the shelters in Indy.” She wanted to adopt me, and that’s exactly what she set out to do.

On a extremely freezing day in Muncie, mommy put her car into 4 wheel drive, grabbed the coats she had bought for me, and set out to the shelter. No one answered the door at first, so she went and pounded on the door of the shelter owner’s house. After getting some worker’s attention, she made them walk over and unlock the shelter. I was free! I was out of the metal cage, and in my mommy’s warm arms in a matter of seconds.

I always say that my mommy saved my life, but she always says that I saved hers. I didn’t know this, but just when I knew I needed her most, it turns out she needed me too! Mommy was going through a really rough time when she adopted me, she was beginning to realize that she was different. She liked girls! I don’t think that’s so different…after all, love is love!

But mommy didn’t want to disappoint her family and friends so she struggled with the decision to come out. She even went through a period of time where she wondered whether or not she should be alive. But she knew she needed to stick around, because she had me, and I depended on her.

I would always sit up with mommy when she would cry and just lean against her. I wasn’t sure how to show all my love, but I did know how to show that I was there. We’d sit forehead against forehead, and I wouldn’t go to sleep until she did. I understood that she felt alone, scared, and unsure…I felt that way until I was adopted! And now I guess you can say that we’ve both been adopted!

After a year of bouncing around from house to house we have come to call Evansville, IN, home. We live with the best two guys ever, my “grandparents” Michael & Chris! They love both of us very much, and have really helped mommy get past all of her fears and depression. Of course, she says that I’ve helped too!

Now I spend my days laying in front of the electric heater, watching Pit Bulls and Parolees, managing my Facebook page: Louk “the powderpuff pitbull” Dicanter, helping with drag show costumes, promoting a loving images of pibbles, and trying my hardest to learn new tricks.

Mommy wants to train me to become a therapy dog or a seizure assistance dog, but in training me she noticed that I learned differently than other doggies out there. I would be on track with something, then all of a sudden I would just stop. She thought maybe it was just typical puppy and pittie attention problems, but she noticed other traits about me that made her do some research.

I have a tendency to be very much in my own “world.” I love my humans but I show affection in my own way, and sometimes I can seem a bit vacant. Mommy first noticed it when it took me around 4 months to learn my name, and again when simple tasks would suddenly become a challenge for me. I also would be perfectly fine, relaxing at home, but if someone’s schedule changed even the slightest little bit, I would have a giant emotional breakdown and begin screaming frantically.

At first, it scared my mommy that something could be seriously wrong with me, but after some research she has come to the conclusion that I may have a form of Canine Autism. It’s never been officially diagnosed, but it has been recorded that some doggies can exhibit signs similar to those found in humans with Autism and/or Asperger’s Syndrome.

I am very, very routine-based (I even will line up my toys before I destroy them!) and I have a difficult time interacting with other dogs. It’s not that I’m aggressive, my brain just has trouble figuring out exactly how to “play.” Even though I have special needs, I am loved more than any other dog I know. I have so many people who love me, and I love them all (even if I have trouble showing it sometimes).

Some day mommy and I will open a rescue sanctuary for pit bulls here in Indiana, but for now we are content in our little house in our circle neighborhood with our lovely “famdamily.”

I will continue to be an advocate for pitties and support “bully” breeds as well as the GLBT community! After all, those of us deemed “different” or “weird” or “abominations” have to stick together! Mommy is even talking about starting an after school program for kids called “Bullies for the Bullied” where victims of bullying can come play with us pibbles and maybe even adopt!

I hope you all can pass my story, and all the other stories, along to those that may not see our amazing potential. It’s not fair to judge us, or even humans that you don’t know, before you get to meet us.

I sat with mommy last night, with my nose on the computer screen, as we watched a video on YouTube about a pitbull named Stallone. It made me sad, because Stallone was a fight dog and he didn’t make it. But through more education and wonderful sites likes “I’m Not a Monster,” we can help end breed discrimination and help save so many doggies, which will in turn save sooo many humans.

Lots of love!
Louk “the powderpuff pitbull” Dicanter

Parent: Rose