When Jamie and Zack first saw Skip’s picture on the PAWS Chicago website, they just knew he was going to be a part of their family. Already the owners of Zoe, an extremely well-behaved and loving Pit Bull/Labrador mix, they were familiar with the breed and quickly made their way to PAWS Chicago to proceed with the adoption.

“Skip’s picture on PAWS Chicago’s website was very striking. He is a very handsome boy with bold colors and sweet, loving eyes. His profile included a very detailed account of what Skip had been through in the short time PAWS Chicago had known him, which meant that there was testimony as to Skip’s personality in a home setting available for us to review before adoption,” said Jamie and Zach.

During the adoption process, which Zoe also attended so she could meet Skip, Jamie and Zach were informed that Skip would be required to enroll in obedience training. “We planned from the beginning to give Skip obedience training, however, we would have done so with any dog we adopted, regardless of breed. The training allows us and Skip to enjoy each other more, build trust, camaraderie, establish healthy boundaries and enables us to spend more time doing the fun things life with a dog has to offer,” said Jamie and Zach. Thanks to his training, Skip now practices basic commands and is learning leash etiquette. 

Skip and Zoe after playtime

According to his adopters, “Skip has definitely blossomed since he’s been home. For the first few days after the adoption, Skip spent much of his time visiting family members; a few of which do not have dogs. Everyone was very impressed with Skip’s calm demeanor and good behavior. When Skip got to our house for the first time, it was as though he knew this was his house. He was so excited to sniff every corner and explore all the rooms. He really came to life in a way we had not seen him before.

Skip has also had play-dates with a bunch of other dogs and our friend’s little girls ages 5 and 3. The girls don’t have a dog of their own and aren’t completely aware of the “do’s” and “don’ts” of playing with new dogs, but Skip is very patient and thrilled to have people his size to love and play with. The girls just adore him,” said Jamie and Zach.

“As the owners of two Pit Bull mixes we can confidently say that there is nothing that should deter someone from considering a Pit Bull for adoption. Our two dogs have demonstrated on many occasions the ability to love unconditionally, learn quickly, respect rules or boundaries, listen to commands and have patience. Just like any other dog, Skip successfully made the journey from stray, to Adoption Center and finally, has integrated himself as a very important member of our small family.

Just like children can have good parents and bad parents, dogs can have good pet-parents and bad pet-parents. Sometimes children learn bad things from bad parenting just like dogs can learn bad things from bad pet-parenting. With the right amount of patience, love and training, any dog can be a “good dog” no matter what their breed. Discrimination based on breed is the exact equivalent of discrimination based on race, both are senseless.”

 Jamie, Zach & Skip