Ruby came into the shelter several years ago as a young 4-month-old pup, chained out until she was old enough to breed. She was a pit bull. She was bailed out but came back again ... and yet again. On her 3rd entry into the shelter we spayed her at our cost. No longer of value, her "owner" said "keep her."

Hooray, one less dog on a chain and one less pit bull being indiscriminately bred. We put her through obedience training and realized there was something very special about her. She had drive. She had lots of drive. She passed everything for the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. But they would not take a pit bull. We contacted Law Dogs who only takes pit bulls because of their loyalty to people, determination, and drive.

A young family came by and wanted to adopt Ruby. It was a very active household so we knew Ruby's needs would be met. After a month and many visits we allowed Ruby to be adopted. Several days later Law Dogs requested a video but Ruby had a home.

Or so we thought. Two years later, a new baby, and less time to focus on Ruby, she was returned to the shelter. She was still high drive and we were worried that we would not be able to find a suitable home for her. Law Dogs was no longer taking any new dogs.

Then along came Jonathan. He already had a frisbee dog (pit bull) and wanted another one. He contacted Second Chance and we began the process of adopting Ruby to what we hoped was her last home. This included a 7 hour trip to conduct a home visit.

The time and energy put into the adoption was well worth it. Thirty days after Ruby's integration into her new home she was in her first frisbee competition. And she has been doing demonstrations and competitions every weekend since. She is a star.

Who says shelter dogs can't shine like any other dog!! We focus sometimes too much on the breed label "pit bull" when really, they are just a dog. It's the personality and temperament that should be focused on because truly, without DNA testing, we really don't know what a dog's genetic makeup is. Looks alone are very deceiving as we have found out many times.