Vito's Story

Oh, Vito. He's the baby of the family and definitely knows it. He's not even the youngest :), but he is the smallest (even though he has the biggest mouth!!). And he has that perpetual puppy look, everyone who meets him swears he's still a puppy (yea a puppy going on six years old, LOL).

Who me? I can't help it if I am eternally young and handsome...

Small But Intimidating

I've shared Bourbon's Story and so I thought I would share Vito's as his comes with a troubled start as well. Not dramatic like with Bourbon and Hurricane Katrina, but definitely unfortunate. See Vito was dropped off at a shelter when he was only two weeks old with the rest of his litter, but not his mama. Who does that?!? It makes me mad just thinking about it, even after all these years. Some people. Anyways, Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus had arrived at that shelter to pull a Doberman and just couldn't leave the litter behind for an obvious death sentence. So IDR+ pulled the litter along with the Doberman.

Vito with his littermates. There were four puppies total.

Sadly, Vito is the only one from the litter that survived. Which explains his incredible stubbornness - he was too stubborn to die :). IDR+ president Pam had taken the litter to her house (which is dubbed the medical ward, LOL) to bottle feed them and give them the best chance possible. Then once he was older, he moved to a foster home for a while before I decided that I wanted to adopt him. I had no idea what I was getting into but I fell in love with him through the continual updates, pictures, and story shared about him.

He was soo tiny!! Basically the same size as a box of kleenex.

Even when the ball was bigger than his head, Vito was still obsessed.

Everyone who met Vito loved him. He just sucks you in with those puppy dog eyes.

More Than I Bargained For

Vito was 12 weeks old when I finally brought him home. He was definitely a large dog in a very, very tiny package. The moment he came into my house he took over. He had the best facial expressions which instantly had him getting his way time and time again. He also had these cute ears that never went in the same direction twice. They were all over the place!! And his damn spotted nose. He was definitely WAY too cute for his own good (and my sanity).

How do you resist this face?

Vito climbing on the kitchen table. He was not supposed to be up there....but you never could tell Vito what wasn't acceptable, he did his own thing.

He had a love affair with shoes. They ranked right up under tennis balls.

While Vito livened up my house, he also made me learn even more about dogs. Bourbon pushed me to learn more about training, exercise, and dog reactiveness; but Vito pushed me to learn more about fearfulness, anxiety, and resource guarding. Vito is not an easy dog to live with and he's taught me a lot. Over the years, I've had quite the roller coaster ride with the little man but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Vito staring down Tito for his tennis ball. Even that young, he was very intense and possessive.

Vito loved agility but he eventually hated going places because of his anxiety :(.

Vito turns six next month, I can't believe how fast time has gone by. It seems like just yesterday he was a tiny, little imp that was smaller than my shoe. I'm sure he has more 'surprises' in store for me as the years go by. I can definitely say that he keeps life interesting!