In 2016, a 5 year old male bull terrier was picked up as a stray in Maryland. The owners were alerted but didn’t want to claim him once they learned that the shelter had neutered him as he was their cash cow breeding dog. With that refusal to get him, his life was forever changed. Blue Ridge took him in. He then became known as Hemi. Although it took some time to get him settled in to the right foster home, once he got to his foster Marc’s home, he had a place until the right family was found. It wasn’t easy to start as Hemi was severely dog aggressive. Eventually, a lovely couple named Belinda and Charlie came along and brought him home. They worked tirelessly with Hemi and his dog aggression, helping him transform to the point of letting puppies jump all over him and nibble on him with no reaction. Over the course of the next 6 years, Hemi lived the life that we wish for all the bull terriers under our rescue. Just as people are with their human children, Hemi became the center of Belinda and Charlie’s life, with activities planned around the inclusion of Hemi. Unfortunately, on August 1st, 2022, Belinda and Charlie learned the devastating news that Hemi had a massive tumor. He had emergency surgery to remove it, recovered from that and went on to have some chemotherapy. Sadly, in spite of Hemi’s strength and his parents determination to get him the best treatment available, it became apparent that the cancer had spread. Hemi gained his wings on October 21st, 2022. In speaking with Belinda shortly after losing him, she mentioned that they had gone to meet a bull terrier since Hemi passed but when they met him, they didn’t have a connection with him, he just didn’t have that special look in his eyes like Hemi did. Belinda mentioned that if we had a bully boy who might fit, to let her know but it seemed like she would need to meet the bully in person to know what his eyes told her. Often times, our bullies are not within close enough proximity to do this. However, a bully under our care named Hugo came to mind. It turned out that Hugo was about 30 minutes away and ready for his furever home. Hugo came into the rescue several months prior, after his original family, who never had a bull terrier before, was overwhelmed by his normal, young bull terrier behaviors. When he first came into rescue, he appeared to lack confidence and manners and was quite timid. His foster dad worked hard at providing him the tools he needed and the socialization he had been lacking in order for him to be ready for his own family. Belinda and Charlie went to meet Hugo a few days after our conversation. We weren’t really sure if it would be a fit before hand but had tears in our eyes when we received adorable pictures of Hugo with Belinda and Charlie and some heartfelt messages. Belinda and Charlie took a few days to really think about things but it is was pretty obvious that they wanted to bring him home. They confirmed that with us on October 30th. They wanted to wait until today to bring Hugo home so that they could spend the 3 day weekend with him as he acclimates to his new home and parents. Some of you may not believe this and that is okay but to us, it seems that Hemi had a paw in bringing Hugo to Belinda and Charlie. The odds of us having a young, male bull terrier who happened to be located in a town that Belinda use to live, which was 30 minutes away from where Charlie and her live now, and ready for his new home were pretty slim, yet here we are. We will always believe that Hemi is Belinda, Charlie and Hugo’s guardian angel who brought them together. Today is a new beginning for all of them. Welcome home Hugo
