Rescue Story: Leroy | i Love Dogs

Rescue Story: Leroy Brown

This week’s rescue story is by Leroy Brown, our senior social media writer Laura Goldman’s pound pup. It was originally published in 2009 on our TJ.LA website, and Leroy was kind enough to provide an update.

If you are the pet parent of a rescued dog, we want to share your story, too! For information about submitting your story, click here.

I’m the World’s Happiest Snorting Pooch
By Leroy Brown

Hey everybody. My name’s Leroy, and I’m a 5-year-old Mastiff-Pit Bull-something mix. I was adopted in 2007 from the Carson animal shelter in the Los Angeles area, where I’d been brought in as a stray.

The shelter dudes named me “Snortie” because of the noise I make whenever I’m happy or excited. You won’t believe it, but I snorted a lot – even in my cold and stinky little cell. Nope, it doesn’t take much to make my tail wag … you could say I always see my water bowl as half full. BOLOL!

My pup parents-to-be and their Pit Bull mix, a cute gal named Sophie, had been really bummed because their dog, Larry, had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I can tell ya, they really, really loved that pooch.

When they were ready to welcome a new furever friend into their home, the first place they came to look was my shelter. And when we laid eyes on each other, it was love at first sight!

Because I was a stray, I had to stay in the shelter for a week in case my pet parents came to claim me. Well, for whatever reason, they never showed up. I’m sure it was just because they didn’t know about the place, and no way because they didn’t want me anymore. I mean, come on – I’m the happiest snorting pooch in the world! I’m a keeper!

As soon I was available, my new pup parents came and took me to my new home. At first I acted all macho around Sophie, trying to show her that I was the new boss. Sophie would have none of that, I’ll tell ya. (She was a sassy older pooch whose fur coat looked like it belonged on a cow.)

Once we got that settled, Sophie and I became best pawls. She taught me how to play tug-of-war with our dog dad’s socks, and a fun game (for me at least) where she just stood and barked while I ran around her really fast until I got so dizzy I had to sit down.

I taught Sophie a few things too, like how to chill out and enjoy more things in life. She was scared of stuff that didn’t bother me at all – water, fireworks, our dog dad yelling at the Lakers on TV – so I spent a lot of time letting her know it was all good.

One thing I couldn’t help Sophie with was getting better when she got sick. It was a heartbreak to see my sassy gal just lay there on the couch all the time. I’d come up and give her a little smooch every now and then, and that seemed to make her ears perk up a teeny bit.

When Sophie crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2009, a big chunk of my heart went with her. For a while there, I definitely lost my title of World’s Happiest Snorting Pooch.

But when my pet parents were ready, they introduced me to a new pawl, a cute little pound puppy named Ella. I gotta admit that I kind of hated her at first – I mean, who could replace my sweet Sophie? – but eventually the little stinker sort of grew on me. And I fell in love all over again, as you can see from this video.

Laura Goldman

Laura Goldman is senior social media writer for i Love Dogs, Inc. She does love dogs. And elephants and turtles. Along with writing about the loves of her life, Laura likes to play with her two pound pups and tell anyone who’ll listen just how awesome Pit Bulls are.