of Pit Bulls and morons....: YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE!

Our family is expanding. It turns out that Pit Bulls are just like those potato chips in the old commercial: You can't have just one. So, the newest member is Tisza, another American Pit Bull Terrier.

People ask me how I named my dogs...

Tisza (pronounced Teesah) is a major river in Hungary (from where I came to United States almost 50 years ago). I was born near it and it's beautiful... just like the new puppy.

Sándor's (Shahndore) name came from Rózsa Sándor (my last name; in Hungarian it means rose). Rózsa Sándor was the Robin Hood of Hungary. In Hungarian the Family Name goes first and the Christian Name is goes second.

I posted on Sándor (the male) before, when he he was a pup, then again as he was growing up. He is a rescue for whom I drove 7 hours to Tennessee to make sure he was not going to get killed with the rest of his littermates. Sándor is 2 1/2 now.

Tisza (the female) is 6 months old. We just got her spayed. She is also a rescue... she and her sister were foundlings, but the family who found them has about 5 dogs already. Luckily, the lady who found them works at a vet's clinic and we have a nice little network here, so we hear about all the bullies that need help. I moderate the Alabama Pit Bull Lovers' Group on Yahoo, which is the support group for Bama Bully Rescue Alabama's Bully Breed and Pit Bull specific rescue. So, all the announcements about bullies go through there. We have over 110 members and most of the people are either volunteers, fosters (like me), or officers of BBR. So, Tisza (she had a different name) came up... I visited her, fell in love with her and offered to foster her, but after 2 weeks I knew she was the one for us. Sándor REALLY needed a companion...he is so dog friendly that he will play with one until they drop. After the last foster I had was placed, I started looking and the rest, as they say, is history.

Right now the poor things are so tired (I always make sure of that - play fetch hard, treadmill for 20-mins, then walk up and down the hill - every day) that could barely drag themselves into their respective crates, so, instead, Tisza just crawled into Sándor's crate and they are fast asleep, spooning each other. A delight to my eyes.

The whole family, including my wife, who is a cat person, absolutely adores both dogs. The little one goes to eat, takes a few bites, comes back to me for some petting, goes back to eat... and does this for a half an hour. Sándor (he is very dignified, says my wife), just walks under my thighs as I sit and watch them eat. He is self-petting. :-D The funny thing is that both think they are lap dogs, but I can have only one in my lap at a time (he is 65-lbs, she is 40-lbs), so whichever is not in my lap complains. I no longer have to take baths... they give me two tongue-baths every day. I got the cleanest ears in Alabama.

It's interesting how God works sometimes... I had always loved dogs, but never had the time.. schools for ever, then my 18-hr/day career didn't leave much time for anything else. As I started winding down, we got into ballroom dancing and one of our new dance friends, who just happens to be a vet, said to me,"You know what you need? A Pit Bull dog." I thought she was crazy, but I stated reading about them and the more I learned the more I knew she was right.

Beside my wife and son, these dogs are the best things in my life!

Here is a pictorial history

Sándor at 4 weeks old