Mya the pit bull may not know what her new neighbors, the Vicktory dogs, have been through, but she's helping them out just the same. One in particular.

Black Bear was among the most shy in the whole bunch at the beginning. He avoided contact as much as possible, and on his walks he looked as if he'd like to crawl down a hole in the ground. His caregivers gave him space and loving encouragement every step of the way, just the same as with the other dogs.

In time, Black Bear made progress. He started to trust bit by bit. Except there was one little hang-up he couldn't seem to get past. He kept bonding to only a select few people. He wasn't ready to open himself up to the whole world, but he wanted to let a select few inside. What he really needed, in short, was a home environment.

Mya, on the other hand, has her own gripes with the big wide world. She was living with a foster family through Bad Rap, a rescue based in California that focuses on helping pit bulls, but Mya wasn't making much progress. She gets spooked easily and seems to view the whole world as one big suspicious threat lurking around the corner.

(P.S. Because she gets spooked so easily, we haven't asked her to pose for the camera yet. So no photo with this post.)

For Mya, a foster home in a big city didn't end up being the best situation. She needed stability and structure. She needed a routine. In short, she needed a lot of help. So Mya came to Best Friends to live with the Vicktory dogs, and Black Bear went to live in a foster home as part of Bad Rap. (An aside: this trade was scheduled before the Vicktory dogs even came to the sanctuary. Most of the Vicktory dogs are not candidates for leaving yet.)

Now that Mya is living at Best Friends, she'll have constant care and a very predictable routine. There won't be all the loud sounds of a home or city to deal with, and she has the expertise of the Dogtown staff at her fingertips.

Black Bear, on the other hand, got to go live in a foster home, where he can have a smaller, simpler world. That's good for him. He'll be able to bond to his new circle of people and more easily work through his hang-ups. So Black Bear and Mya are both in a better environment for their respective personalities. It's a real win/win.

In time, Mya will make the same progress that all the other Vicktory dogs have been making. Everything will be at her own pace, of course, but she'll get there. And the next time she heads into a home, she'll really and truly be ready for her own happy ending.

UPDATE: Sorry for the confusion, everybody, but I didn't realize when I'd first written this entry that Mya was indeed a Vicktory dog before she went to live with Bad Rap. So she *does* understand what the others have been through, but this is still a much better environment for her to be in for her recovery, just as Black Bear's new environment is better for him. -David