Name/Age: Gary Fishlegs - 7 y/o
Family Members: Mom- Tif & dog brother Manly McQueen - 10 year old Brussels Griffon
How long has Gary been in the family? 4 years
Profession: 5th Grade Science Teacher
Location: Norcross, GA.
Nicknames: How do you improve upon Gary Fishlegs!? Maybe just Gar for short. LOL
5 words/phrases that best describe Gary?
Ball Crazy
Social
Adventurous
Snuggler
Unimpressed
What makes Gary unique? Gary likes to explore looking for things he wants (mainly balls). This leads him to climbing on top of counters, refrigerators, gym equipment...he has extreme focus when he finds what he wants and if he can’t get it he’ll stare at it for a loooong time hoping someone notices and will get it for him.
Gary being loved on at school!
Rescue Story: I went to Fulton County Animal Shelter looking for a second dog (I had lost my old Rottie and my other dog Manly was lonely for a friend). I took Manly with me and spoke with the shelter staff about what I was looking for and choose several dogs to meet. I knew I wanted a pit bull as I have a few friends that have them and I was really drawn to their personalities. Also, I knew how overrun Atlanta shelters are with them. None of the dogs I pulled out to meet were really vibing with me and my little Manly (who is only 10 lbs). They were lovely dogs, but for the most part they were too much energy or too rough with Manly. A staff member (I think his name was Malcom?) that I wasn’t even working with had overheard me talk about what kind of dog I was looking for and personality traits I desired. He came over to me and said “I think I might have a dog for you…” I told him to bring him out. I honestly don’t even remember seeing Gary (the Redtails) when I had walked through before. Manly and I were sitting on the curb outside, tired and disappointed that all the dogs we had really liked didn’t fit at all, and the second Gary was brought out he quietly came over and just “fit.” I was handed his leash and he crawled into my lap (he was skinnier then but still not a lap dog size) and he just felt like home. Manly crawled halfway on top of him and everything clicked. He wasn’t able to go home right away since he had to be neutered so I made a 30 min drive every day for 3 days to visit him while we waited so that I could ensure he could at least have some time outside each day and know that I was coming back for him. Every time I’d put him back in the run he’d curl up in the corner to avoid all the noise and stress and my heart would break for him a little. He ran across the adoption room floor on the day I finally got to take him home. The room was packed full of people and he found me on the other side; inseparable ever since. Oh, and he was heartworm positive at the time...people should never let that deter them from finding their perfect friend.
When Gary climbed into Tif’s lap at their first meeting.
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Gary really has two favorite past times. One: He loves going to school. I teach 5th grade science at a public charter. I had taken my other dog Manly to school for years after showing our school’s CEO all the studies proving how beneficial dogs are in the workplace and also coming up with many lesson plans that incorporated him. Gary’s personality has always been pretty chill but I did quite a bit of training with him (and eventually got his Canine Good Citizen. We are working towards becoming Therapy Certified) before he started coming into my classroom on a regular basis. He is pretty stellar at it. He enjoys having multiple kids loving on him at once and he provides a lot of smiles and laughs all day long. He’s helped many kids become more confident and relaxed some of our most anxious students.
Second: Gary LOVES going to the gym. Luckily, my gym is very dog friendly and I initially started taking him when I was trying to socialize him as much as possible to get him ready to go to school. He ended up loving the daily trip. The second I put on my gym shoes he starts running around the house crying in excitement. I think everyone at the gym enjoys having Gary there just as much as they generally greet him before they say hello to me. He is well known for sitting in anyone’s lap that comes near him although he’ll also just wait for someone to get on the floor to stretch before running over to them to take a seat. Heaven forbid he has to sit on the floor. He also has an uncanny knack for finding any and every ball that might exist at the gym and will climb on, under or around anything to get to them.
Gary’s school picture!
Thanks for the seat!
What is life like since you rescued Gary? After rescuing Gary, I found it important to take action and make sure that more people know just how wonderful pit bulls are and that they need our help. My students often become pit bull advocates after being around him so much. I also have fallen into rescue and have fostered a few pit bull puppies (among others). Gary has been a fantastic ambassador and has led me to speak out and speak up to others about pit bulls. One of the best texts I ever received was a picture of a pit bull puppy lying on a bed...a friend of mine from the gym had just adopted him and said that it was Gary that had led him to like pit bulls so much and want one.
Photographers Note: Tif suggested we meet at her school to do the photo shoot, as Gary spends a lot of time there. I thought it was a great idea and when I arrived I was surprised to see there were students in session. Apparently some extra study time on a Saturday for some up coming tests. So we made our way around the back of the school to take a few photos. Tif suggested we go around to the side of the school where the kids were having recess. When we turned the corner you would have thought a celebrity had just arrived. All the sudden I hear excited screams of “Gary” & kids running from where ever they stood to come and great him. Within in seconds he was surrounded and being loved on from every angle. He just sat down and enjoyed the attention with a very content expression on his face. (see above). Tif explained to the kids what we were doing and how Gary was going to help change perceptions about pit bulls. To hear the kids talk about how much they loved Gary was just heartwarming and they wanted to get in on the fun. So a race was setup, the kids lined up and Gary was in the middle. He took no mercy on his competitors and beat them all each time with a full sprint. Still the kids yelled AGAIN! I took so many great photos with the kids & Gary, but since I don’t have photo releases for all the children I couldn’t post them here. This was such a pleasure to be able to witness this interaction with Gary and his kids. Learning more about how he was helping these kids and how she ties the discrimination again pit bulls into lessons for the kids about discrimination in general, it was all just amazing. She mentioned that after days at school, Gary is just completely exhausted and because of that doesn’t go every day. This sweet boy gives all of himself to help these kids and that is all you need to know about this dog. Not that he has a blocky head or muscled body or that people may judge him because of that appearance. All you need to know is that he gives with his heart 1000%.
Oh, and you may be wondering about his name. Well Tif allows her students to name her dogs. (even her dog Manly McQueen was named by her students), so Gary’s name comes from:
Gary from SpongeBob SquarePants & Fishlegs Ingerman from How to Train your Dragon
The race is on!!!