Dancing with Bubbles

For  a story on a pit bull rescue organization, I was visiting Kim Ramirez. Kim has two dogs, and she was fostering a third, Spyder, a worried young dog who had been confiscated from the Michael Vick dog-fighting operation. I was there to meet Spyder, since the Vick dogs were celebrities. I also met the other two, Nala and Ross. Ross is a 60-pound pit bull mix, white with brindle spots, with a classic Hello-I-love-you pit bull bonhomie. Kim adopted him after the organization rescued him from the shelter. (Shelters overflow with unwanted pit bulls.)

In order to have a place for three big dogs, Kim and her daughter live in a mostly industrial neighborhood, on the outskirts of town.

After we talked about Spyder (who had retired to her crate to avoid stressful media attention), Kim showed me Ross's favorite game. We were in the kitchen, late afternoon sun leaning through the window. She got out a bottle of bubble-blowing liquid and blew a plume of bubbles. “Touch!” she said.

Ross was delighted. He leapt into the air, catching bubbles. He flung himself clear off the floor. He twisted, trying to grab more than one bubble per leap. He jumped again and again, leaving no bubble unpopped. He looked at Kim hopefully – more bubbles? More bubbles?

She blew more bubbles and Ross jumped for them, even the tiny ones.

The pit bull rescue story was fascinating to research. There was a lot to learn, about dog fighting, dog breeding, dog rescue, and dog politics. Some of it was very sad. Some of it was encouraging. There was no space in the article for Ross.

But the image that keeps coming back to me from that story is of Kim, and a big pit bull in a sunny kitchen jumping like a trout to catch bubbles.

Comments

[marjorie]

aw, sweet, the bubble-catcher!

i've always been drawn to pit bulls. there's something so appealing to me in their faces, as well as their dense solid bodies. i generally consider myself a cat person, so i'm not sure what the love of pit bulls is about; it's not just a punk-rock love of the underdog or antihero b/c i liked them even before i knew about all the baggage associated with them. i like the combo of that very doggy body (i don't like teeny dogs, because then why not get a cat?) and the mysteriousness of their wide-apart eyes. there's something soulful and self-confident and hard to know in their faces...and it just occured to me: sorta like a cat.

[Monte's Mom]

Yay Ross! Sweet, silly Ross. So glad to see you've experienced the goofy nature that IS a Pit Bull.

[Susan McCarthy]

Another nice thing about pit bulls is that they're warm. They're a "single-coated" dog, so there's less insulation there. This makes them warmer to the touch than a dog with a heavier coat, and also makes them more apt to snuggle to get warm themselves....

I'm going to try my dog (a shepherd mix) with bubbles, but I fear he's too serious-minded to go for it. Marjorie -- do your cats show any interest in chasing bubbles?

A wild grizzly bear was once spotted playing in a mountain lake, ducking its snout underwater to blow bubbles, then popping them with its claws.

[Donna]

I just love that you caught this moment with Ross, Susan. It's always interesting - and refreshing- to see the dogs through the eyes of someone who's exploring them like a brand new country. Thank you again for bringing a traveler's open mind, ready for new adventures, to your writing on the Vick dogs. They were definitely blessed by your attention to sweet details.

And Frodo? Braver by the day.

Donna

[Susan McCarthy]

Thanks, Donna -- it was lovely to do a story where the reporting involved hanging out with good dogs and good people....

[Sumana Harihareswara]

Susan, sorry for the belated comment, but this is a lovely post, and I appreciate your continued blogging. Thanks for making the world of nature come alive for me.

[Susan McCarthy]

Aw thanks, Sumana. Not everyone notices that dogs are part of the world of nature...