This girl deserves the world after all she’s endured. She needs a home and family to start her life and leave her past behind. Capri is a two-year-old pit bull mix, medium sized, weighing around 40 pounds.
Capri came from a terrible home life with horrible treatment and living conditions. Capri was one of the dogs removed from a Fayette county home, named in one article as a ‘House of Horrors’. Her owners were arrested for abusing their children and keeping them in a dog crate ( a quick search will give you multiple news stories on the situation for those interested). Seven dogs were left in the home at the time parents were arrested and the children were removed from the home.
Those 7 pitties spent a week alone with food being shoved in through the door before animal control was allowed to remove them from the premises. Hoffman kennels picked up all of the dogs from deplorable hoarding conditions inside the home. Despite public outcries about the animal control involved - We are one of the only people that stepped forward to pull those pitties to give them a chance.
In February Capri and her son, Mojo, came into our shelter. They were the only two we could take on and Capri was almost a lost cause. We advocated day in and out and checked in on her at animal control for a week before we were allowed to pull her. Both pups had challenges, but we took them on and gave our best efforts to work with their behaviors to allow them to be adoptable dogs.
When we met Capri at animal control she was petrified. Racked with full body tremors, Capri did not move, did not eat or react to anything. She was entirely helpless cowered into a corner of her kennel forever shaking. I have never seen a dog look so entirely broken, utterly and hopelessly terrified beyond all belief. She did not want comfort, affection, or other dogs. Her pupils were blown and her eyes wide with terror - we decided that whatever we did or however we had to, we needed to try to save her. We could not let her die alone and scared, not understanding that she deserved some semblance of safety, comfort, and happiness before her time in this world was cut cruelly short for no fault of her own.
When Capri finally made it to us, she started showing signs of fear aggression and we knew her life and ours were about to get a lot harder. She was so afraid of people and the world that we truly believe she had not, if ever, seen much of the outside world. She had acted and reacted like everything outside was so new and overwhelming to her. We fought hard to give her a chance, and as she began to settle into a more secure environment, she started to show glimpses of her true self. Capri’s journey has been one of transformation—slow but steady.
She bonded with a couple staff at the shelter who were able to safely handle her. She started having play time and walks with her son, Mojo and it improved her confidence and quality of life so much so that it helped us gain her trust further. We were able to get Capri to understand the outside world was not so scary and can be safely explored. We learned she loves to play with toys - any and all kinds. We also learned she loves other dogs more than anything in the world.
When we had worked with her behavioral needs as much as we could, we had to seek out further help and transferred her into Hideaway Kennels, as a foster. There we were able to learn so much more about her and work on her reactivity. She’s now able to be introduced to new people and be safely handled. Once Capri bonds with you and you gain her trust she is so utterly devoted to you. Capri is a wonderfully amazing dog and the two of us who worked with her most have seen the life come back into her eyes. Transformed from a wholly terrified and fearful dog, she has a quality of life and happiness that she hadn’t before.
Capri now LOVES car rides. She LOVES walks, LOVES toys, LOVES the duck pond, LOVES to snuggle with her foster in the mornings on the couch, LOVES to get the zoomies when she first goes out. She LOVES meeting new dogs. She can only improve from here, her foster mom has made her fall back in love with life.
We still consider Capri a reactive dog. She’s reactive towards strangers and takes time to gain trust. We would love to set a series of slow meet n’ greets with anyone that wants to meet her. She’ll continue to need work on socialization but she is an amazing girl. She never would have made it this far if we didn’t believe in her and believe she deserves a chance at a normal life. She has worked hard to get where she is today and she no longer has to perceive everyone and everything as a terrifying threat to safety. We know there is someone out there that could fall in love the way we have with this girl and give her that chance of life in a normal home she so deserves to have.
Capri would do amazing as part of a pack of dogs again or in a home with at least another doggy sibling. She comes out of her shell and has such an easy confidence when she has the companionship of other dogs. Capri would do best in a quieter home without many visitors or with a family that understands she will not befriend everyone she meets. Capri warms up easier around women and may need some extra time to fully trust men. We’d love to have someone apply that has experience with reactive dogs or training - the shelter will always support her new family as best as we possibly can and will provide further guidance and help.
Capri is so deserving and we have worked hard with Hideaway kennels to save her. Both of our organizations would move mountains if we could to give her that final furever home she’s deserves. If you have even the slightest interest in saving Capri, please reach out. Give us a call at 412-672-8901 or email us at adopt@whiteoakanimalsafehaven.com to discuss more info.
We love her dearly and will put in our time and effort to introduce her to a new potential family and ensure she is transitioning well and easy into a new home.
Capri is in a foster home and will require numerous meet and greets.
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