Pit Bull Finds Loving Home

Mason the pit bulls story started back in the fall of 2009 November to be exact. A man was on a project that he hated. It was one of the most horrible projects that the man had ever taken on. This guy is a project manager for a Masonry company located around the Philadelphia area. The project was long and miserable the day it would end was nowhere in sight. He would have enjoyed never having to reflect back on that project ever! But what happened during the project made it all worth it in the end.

Meeting Mason

After along frustrating afternoon, the man was driving down the road leaving the jobsite for the day. Woods surrounded him on all sides at the end of the driveway he noticed some shadowy figures. At first he thought it was a group of wolves but then realized wolves don’t occupied Philadelphia, it was a pack of wild, raggy dogs. In the dim light he noticed about 6 or 7 of them, out of disbelief he noticed two more dogs. This time coming from the opposite direction, he thought to himself that this is something that happens in a movie.

The two dogs were pit bulls, one was a dark black female she looked older than the other pit bull which was a slim brown and white male. The male looked to be emaciated and was dragging a leash behind him. The man thought this was very strange.

The man came to a complete stop to see what was going to happen once these two groups met. Of course the worst thing happened. The two groups started to fight, the group of 7 quickly outnumbered the two pit bulls. The brown pit bull was taking a beating, the man decided he needed to intervene. He did not want to see the dogs fight or end up killing each other. He rolled down his window and honked his horn in hopes it would break up the fierce fight.

After he got out of the truck yelled at the dogs they took off quickly, it was no surprise to see a group of wild dogs in the city. Especially around the Fairmount Park area, he drew his attention to the skinny pit bull with the leash. He was still curious as to why he had a leash and if he had any tags so the man followed him in his truck. 

The man had dogs of his own and would want someone to try see if they could get a read on their tags if they could and return them to him. He finally got to a point where he could get to the dogs, the black female pit bull growled and took a defensive stance. She didn’t give off the vibe that she would attack, it was more of a scared stance if any.

The male pit bull, a very calm reaction. He did not growl or run he allowed the man to check his collar. Unfortunately, he did not have any tags. Evidence lead to the dog wondering around for some time, since the leash was tattered and the pit bull was extremely skinny. If the dog ever had a home then he had been gone for ages. The dog was probably dumped and left to fend for himself without any remorse. Fairmount Park is a hot spot for dog dumping and this little guy needed medical attention.

He couldn’t bare to see him in such rough shape. He wanted to bring him home with me to nurse him back to health. But he had two small dogs and two small children back home. On top of that his house often had family and friends over. He couldn’t imagine brining a stray Pit Bull home. It felt too dangerous and irresponsible. But he had to do something, he couldn’t just leave him there to die.

So the man decided he would just remove his leash and his collar that way he might have a little better fighting chance. He removed the leash and collar and wished him good luck, got back in his truck and took off.

Mason Makes a Choice

That’s when something happed that scared the crap out of the man. The wild pit bull leaped a crossed him as soon as he sat in his truck. He had a pit bull staring him in the face. He quickly jumped out and closed the door.

It took him a minute to figure out what he was going to do. Not wanting to get attacked he decided to walk back to the job site on foot and seek help from the foreman. He asked him to stand by incase anything crazy happened. He opened the door, and grabbed the dog and pulled him out. The pit bull just stared at him with a deep sadness wanting help.

He stated to the dog “No” not going to happen. The man had to say this while his heart was breaking inside. Because he truly wanted to help him, but couldn’t risk his family. He once again told the pit bull goodbye and started down the road. He couldn’t help but noticed blood all over the brown leather seats and the smell that was left behind. While he was away walking to the site the pit bull had broken into the canvas lunchbox. All the leftovers for the day had been devoured not even a chip was left. He felt horrible. He felt horrible for leaving him behind.

The man remembered that there was a convenient store nearby not even a mile down the road. He bought some paper bowls and some food and drove back to the spot where he first met the pit bull. He seen the dog following an old man. At first I figured he might be his owner but then the atmosphere quickly changed when the old many kept cussing and yelling at the dog to stop following him. He even started kicking at the dog to get him to leave him alone. The dog didn’t want to be left alone you could tell, he would avoid the kicks and screaming and continued to follow the old man.

This broke my heart because the dog was at this low of a point, where he would take any abuse just to have a companion. The man whistled as loud as he could, the dogs ears perked up and he turned and started to walk towards him. He placed the food and water down out of the road where the dog could safely enjoy his meal. He scarfed the food down so fast you would think it was a vacuum cleaner. The man filled his bowl up until the dog was completely satisfied. After the pit bull was done he just looked the man directly in the eyes and he looked right back at him.

Courtesy of Jan Jeffries, Jr.

When Jeffries found Mason, the Pit Bull was not in good shape: He had several deep cuts and scrapes, his eyes were swollen shut and one of his teeth was rotting.

The Moment Everything Changed

After staring deep into each other’s eyes the moment happened. The man told the dog to come on lets go. The pit bull jumped into the passenger’s seat and they were off.

The two headed to the man’s office, across the bridge in New Jersey. Now he needed that leash that he got rid of. But the man just made one out of some spare utility rope. He brought the scared pit bull to the break room, he cleaned him up the best he could with a wet towel. The dog fight that had happened earlier messed him up pretty bad. His eye started to swell shut. The dog had several other deep cuts and scratches all over his body.

The man could tell the dog had been through hell for a long time, because some of the cuts were old but not fully healed. The dog wasn’t very old, but he had a bad tooth that was broken and starting to rot. The dog still had his dew claws, signs that he never was taken to a vet. They had grown so long that they started to curl.

The Pit Bulls skin was loose almost just draped over his Skelton. The dog was in much worse shape than the man had ever thought. With all this pain and suffering the pit bull was calm and didn’t seem to be bothered. He still had a bright glow in his eye, so bright that you could feel the energy pulsing from it.

Later that night the man finished up his work, while the pit bull laid next to his desk. He noticed that the dog was exhausted. The pit bull still mustered up the energy to jump in the truck when the man was headed home. He called his wife and told her that he was bringing a friend home, she was a sucker for dogs and agreed to provide him shelter until they could figure out his situation.

While the two were driving to the man’s home, he had a conversation with the pit bull. He told him that his wife, children and two fur children meant the world to him. He told the pit bull that he wanted to help him but he needed to trust him and vice versa. If he ever did anything out of the way to show aggression towards his family he would have no choice but to give him to a shelter.

The dog must have understood every word that he said to him, because he never once did anything out of the way to show any type of aggression. The pit understood that he was being saved and he understand where he came from

Courtesy of Jan Jeffries, Jr.

Mason snuggles with his canine family.

Meeting the Family

Once the two got home, the first thing he had to do was let all the dogs meet. He did this by leashing them all up and taking them for a walk around the neighborhood. The man had a 30 pound cockapoo named Trace and a 5 pound Yorkshire terrier named Ginger. The three did just fine together and the pit bull would often stop to drink from dirty puddles.

After the walk, the man and his wife give the dog a bath. He allowed them to cut the ingrown nails and place antiseptic on his cuts. They discussed what his name should be, after some pondering they decided on the name Mason. Due to the fact they the man was a Masonry contractor and he was found at his job site.

Two days went by, the couple’s original plan of finding him a new home went out the window. They decided to keep the pit bull. He was a perfect fit for the family. He was taken to the vet to get dewormed and to have the broken rotten tooth removed. His digestive system was messed up so bad he could hardly digest anything. Lucky after some TLC Mason got back on track.

Bonding with Our Family

Mason took a quick liking to the children, and formed an unbreakable bound. The couple was a bit nervous at first but quickly lowered their guard. It was apparent to them that all the pit bull wanted to do was be near the children and be a part of their group.

The couple’s daughter was often seen trying to rid mason like a horse. You would see her little arms wrapped around his neck hugging and hanging on him. A few weeks went by, and the pit bull decided where he wanted to sleep. He ended up wanting to sleep in their son’s bed, every night before bed the pit bull would scurry up to the room and get under the covers.

The two are now sleeping buddies, the man’s son Conner doesn’t like to sleep without mason. The look on masons face is that of the expression of “I’m home”, you will often find him just smiling snuggled up with the children. Conner says that Mason keeps away the nightmares.

Sadly Mason was the one having the nightmares for about the first year. Every time the pit bull would fall asleep he would shake, cry and sometimes growl. The couple would comfort him by petting him in his sleep to let him know that everything would be okay. After being petted Mason would calm down, over time the nightmares stopped and Mason was able to sleep soundly.

Mason is a gentle soul, he loves everyone no matter the age. The man stated that he feels at ease when he’s not at home because Mason is there. He feels like the pit bull would protect his family if he had to. Mason has only showed aggression to cats, probably because he’s never really been around them. So the couple ended adopting one, and slowly introduced Mason to it. The pit bull now snuggles with the cat named Mickey.

Courtesy of Jan Jeffries, Jr.

Mason poses with Mackenzie, the Jeffries family's current foster Pit Bull.

How Mason Makes a Difference

The man stated that he never thought much about pit bulls or ever wanted one. After Mason came along it changed his heart. He discovered how loving, gentle and caring the breed really is. They are a large powerful breed that have been bred for work but have been picked up by thugs as toys and protection.

The family recently took in another pit bull by the name of Mackenzie she will be staying with the family until she can be placed in a forever home. Mackenzie stays close by the wife and suffers from nightmares just like Mason did.

Mason and Mackenzie are lucky to have come across such a caring family to take them in and care for them. Foster comes are an amazing reason why so many pit bulls can be saved. But unfortunately there are not enough foster homes around to help every dog. Many people cannot take in a dog, but there are other ways to help.

One of my favorite organizations is Dog Zoned they sell Dog T shirts to help raise money for dogs in need, they are partnered with SunFrog Shirts a wonderful family owned company that helps raise money for many charity’s

Mason Has added joy to the family’s lives and he has taught them that pit bulls are not so bad they just need a loving caring home. If you want to help pit bulls in need or just want to sport an awesome shirt for your breed then check out the pit bull shirts over at Dog Zoned.