What Steel and I found while tracking this morning....

I went out around 7am to lay a track for Steel. I wanted to work near some larger buildings so went to the nearby middle school. As I rounded the back corner of the school I was greeted by a chorus of yipping dogs. Someone had dumped a trio of pitbull puppies in the area and they were clustered under a small tree soaking wet and trying to stay warm. Upon seeing me they all did their best to act tough and warn me off with yippee little barks, while at the same time beating a hasty retreat at my approach. I finished laying the track and weighed my options. I determined that if they were still there when I returned later to run the track (well armed with food for bait) then I would get the to a shelter.

At 9am Steel and I attempted to run our track. It went okay except I had to walk him past the cluster of puppies who were STILL THERE. He did a good job approaching them and tracking away from them but had some difficulty overcoming his curiosity when very close to their "territory". So after I put him up I assessed the situation and, armed with a pound of hotdogs, attempted to make friends and determine how to catch the little buggers.  During this process I was approached by the building custodian, wondering what the heck I was doing. He called me "dedicated" but I am sure the word he was thinking in his head was "nuts". Then the heavens opened up. Just when I thought the little pups couldn't look anymore pathetic...

Two of the pups were willing to gobble up pieces of hotdogs and the boldest occasionally worked up the courage to tiptoe up to me and take a piece out of my hand. They weren't having anything to do with being touched or approached though. The tri colored one above, clearly the weakest, of the three was the most wary but also the slowest. I was able to loop a leash onto her and pull her towards the car. The other two followed and although she was not happy about it, people being clearly NOT to be trusted, I got her into a carrier in the van. The other two came almost the whole way (following a trail of hotdog pieces) but were too spooky to catch. Time for plan B....

I went back to the center and collected a smaller plastic kennel and lugged that out into the field where the puppies had returned to. By this time it was a deluge and the poor things had crammed themselves into a corner of the building, getting drenched. It had to be the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. One ran off but the braver lingered long enough for me to block her in the corner with the carrier and an umbrella (not like it was keeping me dry or anything....). I scooped her through the umbrella into the carrier. She was delivered to the van and I returned to the field with the carrier for the third. Did I mention that it was still POURING? Unfortunately the third pup, finding herself alone, kept herself far far away from me and I didn't have any luck catching her. The weather turned more violent and I determined that maybe standing in the middle of a big field holding an umbrella during a thunderstorm was not my wisest move (although I did get a giggle about how fitting it would be to meet my demise in such a manner....).  I left the carrier with some food in it and although the food was gone later, I still could not get close to the pup.

Following a shower and complete change of clothes I then attempted to find someone to take the two rescued pups. One local shelter said that they would take the pups but that they do not adopt out pitbulls - meaning the munchkins would be euthanized. The other shelter, which would theoretically take them, was completely full. I have left some messages with a few pitbull rescue groups and am hoping to hear back from someone. In the meantime the girls are setup in one of the outdoor kennels, they have an igloo doghouse full of blankets and have devoured two meals since they arrived. They were a tiny bit braver by the second meal but the wary one still retreated to her bed once she finished inhaling her dinner.