Miss Gracie was born to fight. Her owner trained her to be aggressive and ruthless.
Sadly, she was a successful fighter.
When this man’s house was raided, all of the dogs were seized and immediately deemed for euthanasia.
When we heard about this, we rushed to the aid of any dogs that remained alive and needed help. Sadly, Gracie was the only one left. She was last in the list that day for euthanasia.
We took Gracie that day.
I introduced Gracie to Nero (my male pitbull. Extremely friendly). We were on neutral territory and thought we did everything right. First thing Gracie did was bite Nero is the neck and made a few holes.
Gracie stayed in someone else’s house for 3 days and 3 nights. I went everyday and worked with her. I never gave up. Why you ask ? It’s because Gracie never gave up. All she wanted to do was make me happy. She worked her little butt off. Impulse control became her friend.
When we reintroduced Gracie to Nero, she was in a better state of mind. Impulse control was something she was starting to understand.
We estimated Gracie’s age at the time to be about 1 year.
Gracie lived a life that most humans would be envious of.
She always loved humans. Gracie would spend Saturday’s at the hair dresser with some of the ladies. She was thrilled with the attention.
A few years after Gracie joined the family, I brought home a 6 week old pitbull puppy that would otherwise have died in the shelter. I named her Olive. I wanted to give Olive a family and love before she died. I felt that Gracie and Nero were exactly what Olive needed.
Olive started to thrive, she grew into a sweet little girl. It’s amazing the power of love. She always looked at Gracie as her mother. Gracie eventually took the role of mother seriously. She protected and loved that little dog.
In 2013 (Gracie was now 7), my boyfriend (also a certified dog trainer) and I decided to start Bark Avenue, a dog training and boarding business in Montreal.
We now needed to blend our families together and we did.
We became a beautiful family of 5 rescue pitbulls.
A short while later we became parents. We gave Gracie the best gift in the world, a child.
From day 1 Gracie was incredible with children. She had all the patience in the world. She would lay at their feet all day.
As Gracie grew older her zest for life remained strong. I took her for acupuncture once a week for over 1 year. She was a perfect candidate. She loved relaxing and loved being touched. Huge win for her.
Gracie was my best friend, she was my right hand girl. She made me a better person.
Some say I rescued her. I think we rescued each other.
September 9 2021, I said goodbye to my best friend. My longest love. Gracie is now peaceful and with her baby Olive.
I am so proud of the dog Gracie was and the legacy that she left behind.
She stood strong against BSL, Gracie changed one mind at a time.
It was my proudest honour to have known and loved Gracie.
