The Wild Man: Probert Steve

After Cornholio's passing in June of 2006 there was a massive hole in our hearts. Not only that, but there was a hole in our home. Our house did not feel quite right going back to a two dog household, and so we decided that it was again time to adopt. We began the search again and again the perfect dog found us while I was browsing the website of a rescue in Columbus, Ohio called Measle's Animal Haven.

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Probert, then named Achilles, was living in foster care with the founder of Measle's. He was a sweet boy with an awful story. He was severely abused by his previous family; used as target practice, ran over with a truck, and when Animal Control showed up to rescue him, his family's children were shooting fireworks at him as he curled up urinating on himself in the street. We are told that his family was prosecuted for his treatment, but we do not know what happened after that and it is not of much concern. After all, the best revenge is living well and Probert is excelling in that department!

Shocking Wrigley and Maizy with his lack of manners on their introductory visit at Probert's foster mom's house.

When deciding to adopt Probert, we had a tough choice to make, as it involved a lot of travel to meet him and bring him home. However, we couldn't resist his little face and the next weekend I loaded up my car with my friend Lisa, Maizy, and Wrigley and we drove from Philadelphia to Columbus to meet Probert. The meeting on the first day went stellar and we stayed in a hotel that night, picked up Probert Sunday morning, and made the long drive home to meet the Brown Pup Dad.

Home at last. The first Brown Pup family portrait taken after a long drive home from Ohio.

Now I guess you might ask how we even ended up with three brown pups that look like a matching set of small, medium and large. I am not really sure what to tell you, because I don't know. We had looked at other dogs each time we went to adopt and always ended up with a brown pit bull mix in the end. I think somewhere inside every time I saw a dog that reminded me of my lovey Maizy dog, they just called to me. We had even been contacted for a home visit about adopting a boston terrier named Albert when we made the decision to meet Probert and had to turn that opportunity down. After losing Cornholio we longed to have another boston terrier, but there were hundreds of pit bulls out there who needed us more. It is easier for a boston to find a responsible home than a pit bull and that is a fact that we couldn't ignore.

We do not know how Probert got the notch in his tongue.

We were in for the surprise of our lives, however, when we found out that Probert is more like Cornholio than any dog we'd ever met. Of course, a younger more energetic Cornholio, but Cornholio-like nonetheless. Just like Cornholio incarnate.

Probert and his Ellie, a toy that he brought home from rescue.

Anyway, back to Probert. He is the bossiest, craziest little man. He loves to race around the backyard and is often challenging Maizy for the alpha-dog role with little success. Despite his crazy antics at home, he is very shy of new people, hiding behind the Brown Dog Mom whenever we meet someone new. With each encounter, he is quicker and quicker to warm up to new people, but it is understandable that his trust is not easy to earn. Despite this, he is the dog that people most often avoid on the street because of his "pit bull" looks. I often find myself assuring people that "he's more afraid of you than you are of him." He is about 50 pounds of solid muscle. He is a full pit bull or maybe a boxer mix? His vets thought his growth was stunted from being malnourished as a puppy, so he is pretty small. He is a sweet dog with a wild streak a mile long. His cute face allows him to get away with murder. Definitely the baby!