Pit Bull Runs 15 Miles to Find Forever Home
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Every dog has its own personality and interests, just like humans. While some dogs enjoy nothing more than curling up in a ball and relaxing, others are more active and love chasing a ball or going for a run. One dog that loves to run is a Pit Bull called Max. Not only is this an activity that he enjoys, but it is also one that has helped him to find a forever home.
Nobody knows Mx’s background, but I Heart Dogs reports that he was first seen hanging around a road in Dunn, North Carolina. One day, a holiday charity run was taking place that passed by the road where Max was hanging around. Max spotted the group of runners and thought that it looked like they were having a fantastic time, so he thought he would join in with the run.
Max was having an amazing time running along with the rest of the runners, and he was making plenty of new human friends along the way. All the other runners loved him, but Max was particularly enjoying running alongside a man called Charles Akers. Although Akers had noticed Max was spending a lot of time running near him, he didn’t pay too much attention.
He simply assumed that Max was with another runner. However, he soon noticed that the dog was near him every time he turned around. He noticed that the dog was very enthusiastic to take part in the race, and he seemed to want to win as he kept running to the front of the group. The race was 15 miles long, and Max spent about ten of those miles running alongside Akers. Towards the end of the race, Max shot ahead over the finish line. When Akers finished the race, he saw that Max was waiting for him by a truck bed. The Pit Bull was clearly very excited by the events of the day and was bouncing around as though he was having his own celebration.
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By this time, Akers had realized that Max was not with any of the other runners and that it was likely that he was a stray. Concerned that Max didn’t have a home to go to, Akers reported the situation to the race organizer, who intended to report the situation to the relevant authorities. However, Akers had a better idea and decided to ring his wife to discuss the dog’s situation as he wanted to take the dog home with them. Fortunately, his wife agreed, and she got in her car to collect them from the finish line. While they waited for Akers’ wife to arrive, Akers got to know Max a little better. He was surprised to realize that Max could respond to many commands, so he had clearly had an owner who had trained him at some point in his life. He found it hard to believe that the dog was a stray.
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After taking Max back home, Akers and his wife decided to take him to the vet to get him checked over and to see if he had a microchip fitted. They were delighted to discover that he did have a microchip, which led them to believe that Max had a loving family who was missing him. On contacting his family, they were shocked to discover that this was not the case at all.
Although the family acknowledged that Max was their dog, they had very little interest in having him returned. In fact, they simply told the vet to send the dog to the pound while they had a think about whether they wanted him home or not. This was devastating news for Akers and his wife. They found it difficult to understand why somebody would not want a fun and loving dog like Max.
The couple even considered adopting Max themselves, but their circumstances were preventing them from offering him a forever home. In their home, they already had a cat and three dogs, which meant that they did not have enough room for another dog.
Akers and his wife made the heartbreaking decision to take Max to the Wake County Animal Center. When they arrived at the shelter with Max, they found out some even more upsetting information about his past. The shelter staff told them that Max had been in the shelter before. His first owner was forced to leave him at the shelter when they were relocating.
He had then been adopted by the family who had now abandoned him. When the staff from the shelter attempted to contact his most recent family, they did not have any luck getting in touch. This meant that Max was back up for adoption for the second time in his life. Dr. Jennifer Federico is the animal services director for the shelter. She has said that there is a note in Max’s file asking for the shelter to pass on any updates about him to the race director. This is because Akers and the other runners were all keen for Max to find a forever home with a loving family.
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The runners all began to share posts about Max in the hope that someone would see him and want to welcome him into their family. The runners were particularly keen for him to find a running family because they had all witnessed how enthusiastic Max was when he was running in the charity event. This tactic worked as it was not long before runner Chad Duffy saw his photograph online. His dog had recently passed away, so he and his family were ready to welcome another dog into their home.
As both Duffy and his wife are keen triathletes, they were particularly interested in finding a dog that would enjoy going out running with them. This made Max an ideal match for their family. The Dodo reported that the Duffy’s thought that it was likely that somebody had already snapped up Max, but they decided to take the chance and visit the shelter with their daughter. It was their lucky day as Max was still looking for a home, and the Duffy family knew straight away that he was the perfect fit. Max is now living with the Duffy family, and he is loving every minute of his time with them. The whole family, Max included, head out on runs regularly. This means that Max gets to spend lots of time enjoying one of his favorite activities.