Hannah Staffordshire Bull Terrier Mix Mission Hills, CA

*COURTESY POST*
**Please contact family directly regarding adoption*
Michael mmmdupke@aol.com

Meet Hannah. This adorable girl has been a part of our family for 5 years. She loves cuddling with our kids, sunbathing any chance she can get, rolling around on her back (She’s the horse I never had,) and snoozing next to me as I work each day. She also unfortunately needs a safe home. We were very green pitbull parents when we met her but she was a greeter dog at the South LA Shelter whom they said was good with kids, dogs and cats. She also earned an A+ at doggy daycare after we adopted her too. Less than a year later, our family was torn apart when my three year old son was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Cancer. We were forced to give up our home and move in with my elderly parents. Hannah was too much for them to handle and needed to go into foster care for the next year and half. She was placed with 4 different fosters through the help of friends and rescues in that time but did best living with an experienced dog trainer, her family and 2 large dogs.



Hannah came home in summer 2020 and since then has become more than we can handle. We learned the hard way that Hannah is selective about which dogs she likes to make friends with. We had made the rookie mistake of adopting her when we already had an older female pit/husky mix not knowing that two females do not go well together. Hannah has boarded at her trainer’s facility and done free play with other clients’ dogs without incident but she and our other dog just do not mix and this culminated in two fights in the last 3 years.

Hannah also gets nervous sometimes when unexpected people enter her home and has nipped a couple times. She sometimes meets new people without any trouble and immediately gives them kisses but she can be selective about who she trusts too. We’ve learned that she does best meeting them on leash with the command, “Ok, say hi,” after being told to sit and wait. She has never bitten a person and left a puncture wound but the nips are still scary. We have had her in training, installed baby gates and tried to make changes to our lives so her situation with us can work but my parents are no longer comfortable having her in their home and we understand. We unfortunately could not have predicted the pandemic and housing crisis when we moved in with my family and have no way of relocating and taking her with us at this time either.



We tried rehoming her with some kind friends about a month ago who wanted to give it a chance. She got along great with their male dog for about three weeks even letting him lick her face. However, she unfortunately slipped out this week through their front door and raced toward a larger dog who was on a walk with his owner. This didn’t end well for Hannah and she was left with puncture wounds in her face and dangerously close to her eye. We are now on borrowed time. Her trainer thinks she’s redeemable (in the right situation) and has generously offered to board her for a couple weeks while we look for a safe space but after that we are out of options. Hannah needs to find a secure place with a pit-savvy owner who understands dog behavior and whom she will respect like she does with her current dog trainer and with the dog trainer who previously fostered her for 8 months as well without incident. She’s capable of being a good doggy citizen when she knows her place in the pack with a firm owner who can read her tells. We’ve just had to accept that we are not equipped financially or with the necessary pitbull knowledge to give her a home that is safe for her, our other dog and visitors. I know it’s a big ask but we wouldn’t have put all of these years of work into her if she didn’t have an amazing little heart. If you have any leads on someone who can take her, we really appreciate it.