Pepper – Find Out For Yourself

by John Flores

Pepper on her way home to Arizona with her new dad

“The best way to find out about someone is to find out for yourself. Don’t believe what other people say because you will either be disappointed or you will be proven wrong.” – Mom

Pepper was my first pull from a rescue.  She had been labeled aggressive, not getting along with other dogs and not good with people.  Priceless Pets had asked me to do an evaluation to see if what was being said about her was true or not.  I was so excited that they trusted me enough to do something like this. Especially since I had not been volunteering with them that long.

So off to the pound I went.  When I met with the girl there, she gave me the rundown on Pepper.  She had told me that she thought that Pepper had never been with an owner before and that was part of her behavior issues.  All sorts of things were going through my head but I knew I had to get over it because these dogs can sense every ounce of energy you put out there.  So I took a few deep breaths and thought happy thoughts to control my breathing and my heart rate.  By the time she brought Pepper to me, I was completely calm and ready for whatever this new adventure had in store for me.  Long story short, Pepper passed every test I put her through.  When I put her on a leash, she walked PERFECT for me.  I took her by the area with all the small dogs and she could care less about them even though they were barking in her face.  So off to Priceless Pets she went!

I thought Pepper was perfect but a few other people did not agree with me.  She was labeled a “door dasher” and was horrible on a leash.  Slowly but surely she began to get restless.  She would jump all over me every time I went to see her and it took at least 5 minutes for her to calm down so I could get a leash on her.  She did pull more on the leash, but as we got further from the rescue she would calm down and become the perfect dog I met at the pound.  It was hard for me to explain this to potential adopters because all they would see was the pit bull that jumped all over everyone.  However, about 3-4 weeks later, Pepper got adopted!!  And then returned.  She apparently did not get along with the neighbor dog.  I did not get the entire story but I do know that pit bulls have a smaller margin for error than other dogs get.  I saw her the day after she got returned and she just had this confused look on her face. Maybe she wasn’t the perfect dog…maybe I was wrong on my evaluation.

Around this time, Kurtis had just come to us and people were sharing his story across social media like crazy!  Pitbulls of Instagram, one of the BIGGEST pit bull pages on Instagram had shared his story.

They have over 400,000 followers so they reach a considerably larger audience than most people can.  A few days later we got an application by a man named Cody, wanting to adopt Pepper.  He lived in Arizona and was willing to drive to California for her.  He already had 3 dogs at home with 2 of them being female pit bulls.  Cody had seen Kurtis’ story on Instagram and it led him to Priceless Pets.  He saw Pepper and fell in love.  I gave him a call and when I told him I felt a little uncomfortable about Pepper living with 2 other females, he quickly put to rest any concerns I had.  I can’t explain it but I just knew this was the right guy for Pepper and I had never even met him!  Long story short, Cody got in his car and left for California to meet his new family addition.

The day Cody and Pepper met was straight out of a movie.  I got to the rescue early so Pepper wouldn’t be so crazy when he got there.  I remember sitting out front with Pepper just thinking about different scenarios and wondering what would happen if they didn’t click.  Poor dude would have driven 5 hours for nothing.  At the moment, a car had pulled into the parking lot and parked a few rows away from where we were waiting.  As this guy got out, he opened his back door and Pepper literally drug me to this guy and she jumped into his back seat.  I looked at him and said, “I really hope you’re Cody because if you aren’t I’m really sorry.”  Sure enough it was, and as soon as Cody took the leash from me, Pepper became that perfect dog that passed all her temperament tests.  I KNEW this was the right home for her.  And all this happened because of Kurtis’ story and the power that social media has when used the right way.

These days Pepper is getting along just fine with her new family.  Cody was a true pack leader and has put to rest any concerns we had with having multiple female pits in the same house.  He’s one of my favorite adopters and you just know he loves his dogs like family, but also gives them the proper structure and discipline that all dogs need.

Cody is an MMA fighter who hopes to one day be in the UFC.  He has expressed to me on multiple occasions how bad he wants to get there so he can use it as a platform to promote “adopt don’t shop”.  He always sends us pictures and posts about how good they are doing.  Pepper couldn’t be happier. Who knew all she needed was to leave California?

People like Cody don’t come around too often.  If they did, there wouldn’t be so many dogs in the pound dying everyday based off the shear fact that people are irresponsible pet owners.  Thanks for being such an advocate for this breed and dogs in general, Cody!  We are excited for your future and wish you nothing but the best!!

John Flores

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