Here's What You Need To Know:
- Pet's Location : ROMEOVILLE, Illinois
- Pet's Age : Young adult
- Pet's Breed : pitbull
- Pet's Gender : Male
- Pet's Size : medium
- Pet good with other pets? : Yes
- Pet good with kids? : Yes
- Is the rescue able to transport the dog to owner's location? : Possibly
Meet Pilgrim! He is a 3.5-year-old, 55 lb pup who is rear end paralyzed from being shot in the back. He came to us through Animal Rescue Corps when they assisted a Mississippi shelter that was shutting down due to allegations of mistreatment and neglect of the animals.
Pilgrim is one happy and enthusiastic boy- just pure love. He has learned how to get around without full use of his rear legs- often called spinal walking. He uses his legs to prop himself up as he walks around, although he has no movement of the actual legs themselves below the hip.
He does have a cart, but really doesn’t like it, nor does he really need it unless it was for longer walks. He has full bowel and bladder control and is fully potty trained. He is also crate trained. He does get super excited and hyper around new people and that is when his puppy behavior really shows- specifically pawing, mouthiness, and jumping (as best he can).
He gets along with other dogs, but can get overexcited, especially with medium to large sized dogs, so we recommend a slow and controlled introduction. Pilgrim currently lives with a 3-year-old dog savvy toddler and he does well, however, he has shown some guarding behavior around high value food, so we are recommending any kids in the home be older. He also lives with dogs as small as 3 lbs and as old as 18 years old and he does great. He is very gentle with small dogs. With larger dogs he likes to run and roughhouse with them.
We do believe he has pica, which is a disorder where dogs will eat inappropriate items. We have not been able to find an underlying cause of the pica at this point, so we have just been managing it by ensuring he doesn’t have access to his items of choice- stuffed toys, blankets, dog beds, socks, any fabric items. He has done fine with not touching furniture or even the small dog beds that are in their dog crates.
He had one bowel obstruction surgery done in November of 2021 when he consumed a whole stuffed dog toy and it caused a blockage. His new home must be very serious about ensuring his environment is free of these items as consuming these things can be deadly.
Due to his paralysis, Pilgrim’s ideal home would be one without a ton of stairs with easy access to the outdoors. He has been able to navigate up and down the 5-6 stairs in his current foster home to get from the deck to the backyard. Anything more than that he would likely need some assistance. Pilgrim’s adoption donation of $225 helps cover the cost of his medical care and includes his cart.
Application, reference checks, and home visit required. For more information on adopting, please email us at [email protected].
If you are interested in adopting, please complete an adoption application, which can be found on our website at www.perfectpooches.org under the Adoption Process tab. All dogs are spayed/neutered, current on vaccines, heartworm tested (age appropriate), fecal tested and/or dewormed, and microchipped.