When I moved out west to California I found myself in the San Francisco Bay Area. There was excellent weather, good food, beautiful land, and great people. I made many friends, but I was lacking man's "best friend": the dog. I had grown up my entire life with dogs but unfortunately I found myself living in rentals where I was not allowed to have a pet. Back in New York, my mom had started volunteering at an animal shelter socializing dogs. She inspired me to take a look into volunteering with dogs in the Bay Area. I decided that I might not be able to own a dog, but I figured I could still interact with them and help out at the same time.

When I first started volunteering I would always look for Huskies to take out, since I grew up with one. But the Huskies usually got adopted within a few weeks. Soon I noticed that certain dogs stayed much longer than others. Older dogs, larger dogs and various types of pit bulls had a very hard time finding a home.

One day Roger came into the Humane Society. He was an 11 month old stray Pit Bull, picked up by animal control. When I first saw Roger he was sitting patiently at the front of his kennel. He had very good eye contact and would look you straight in the eye. I took Roger out for a walk that day and discovered that he was quite a puller. I could have used him to plow some fields. He was also a "lover boy". He would lean his body into you to let you know he wanted to be petted.

Roger spent his first few months alone in the adoption kennels but after awhile the stress of living in a confined space, often isolated, for long periods of time, was getting to him. We decided to find him a kennel mate. The problem was that Roger wasn't very well behaved and we knew it would take a very special dog to be able to put up with Roger's rude, pushy nature. Finally we decided on Oreo, a Pit/Lab mix, who wasn't intimidated by Roger's bad manners. Unfortunately though, a few weeks later Oreo was adopted and Roger was alone once again.

As time goes on, kennels dogs can develop "kennel stress" which can lead to fighting through the fences, spinning, jumping, and biting the chain link. When this happens the dog has lost its mental health and needs to be adopted/fostered/or euthanized. After 7 months in the shelter Roger had grown into quite the fence fighter and I was worried that he was developing kennel stress. He didn't seem able to live with another kennel mate without fighting and I was very worried he wasn't going to last much longer at the kennels. The longer he was separated from other dogs the more stressed out he became and there was a strong chance he would be euthanized if he wasn't adopted soon. I wished I could help him by getting him out of there but I wasn't allowed to have a dog because of my lease restrictions.

Thankfully, a woman named Marthina had seen Roger in the kennel, the same way I had; sitting quietly and politely at the front of the kennel, staring intently. She had opened her home up as a foster facility for dogs like Roger that were running out of time. She knew about Roger's situation and, because a spot had just opened up in her home, she was able to take him in. At his foster home he was able to work on his manners. He lived with a female Pit Bull and a female Chihuahua who kept him in line. He also lived with 3 people. This, of course, was a dream come true for Roger who longed for what every dog at a shelter wants, a pack.

I was not able to visit Roger while he was staying at his foster home, but my girlfriend and I had promised to adopt him when the arrangements were made for him to leave the shelter and live with Marthina. We had decided to adopt him because we had fallen for him during his time at the shelter. Also, we knew that by adopting a pit bull we could educate a lot of people about the breed. We would bring him out with us and people could pet him and see that he was an obedient, affectionate, and loyal pet; what most people want in a dog. Unfortunately, when Roger entered his foster home we weren't able to adopt him right away because of lease restrictions. One month later we were finally able to get a new lease and it was time to bring Roger home.

When the big day came, I remember waiting in the lobby of the shelter for Marthina to arrive with Roger. I was pacing back and forth and an employee (who didn't know what I was waiting for) said I looked like an expectant father. I thought that was funny because I'm sure I felt some of the feelings a father would have: excitement, nervousness, and happiness.

We decided to change Roger's name because Roger seemed kind of plain, and he is kinda of a spicy dog. I figured that Rocco sounded spicy (it being an Italian name) and it also kept the first part of his name the same so that he wouldn't get confused. Fortunately the name change didn't phase him a bit since he has many nicknames, the most common being D-Bub.

When we got home Rocco fit right in. We had bought a bed for him and some "indestructible toys" which he proceeded to destroy in 5 minutes. We had also bought him a "nylabone" which he loves to chew. Rocco's favorite activities are eating, sleeping, and playing in that order. Of course he has to do those activities with his pack. If Rocco wants to sleep he'll follow one of us back and forth around the house until we sit down and then he will settle down next to us for a nap. He loves his people and they love him. Our hopes for Roger are that he will live a long happy life, hopefully with a sister (once we take care of yet another lease restriction).