Maika Lee

Sometime in April of 2000, I befriended a man at work named Scott. Scott bred pitbulls and unlike most people, he didn't breed them for fighting but for the love of the breed. This was the time when the pitbull was probably at it's height of bad publicity. My brother and his friends were those who made that image more pronounced. Not that they fought them but they kept up the image of the big bad dog that terrifies people. I saw this breed for much more than just a good guard dog but a really gentle loyal animal. So I vowed to change that image. Scott gave me Maika. He said he hand picked her from the litter of a red/red nose father and a brindle mother. All the pups came out like the father - some with a black nose like Maika - the only trait reminiscent of her mother. The father's name was Neiko and since she looked so much like him I named her Maika.

 Maika as a pup was not so scary. But as she grew older she gained a beautiful solid body that made people very scared of her. So I tried to dress her up in not so scary things. I had young nephews around her all the time and people were always scared for them around Maika. But Maika was more protective of them than anything. She watched them carefully as they swam in the pool making sure they were okay and that strangers wouldn't approach. It was very important for me that she was well behaved so I spent the money to send her away for a five day doggie boot camp. It was the best money I spent in my life. She is a dominate girl and had some bad times being dog aggressive but she was never aggressive towards people.

 This is Maika and Staley.

One of the not so smart decisions I made was to breed her. I wanted so much for people to have what I had that I decided to breed her with a pit that I thought would be a good partner. She had 10 puppies and we kept one. After Staley turned 2 he had a different demeanor and I was pregnant. He bit someone and cornered me twice. Jimmy and I decided to put him down because of his unpredictability. I did not want to make the image of this breed worse by keeping a dog just for the sake of it and I did not want to harm my unborn child. There was some really good times with Staley and we will always remember him as the good boy and not the unpredictable boy. That led me to think of how many other puppies were aggressive as well. I know one pup for sure who was a submissive girl that is a model dog for the breed but who knows what happened to the rest.

When Phyre was born, Maika was drawn to her-stayed close at all times and when Phyre cried Maika would bark until we got her. They were inseparable but those people who were skeptics of the breed still felt the need to warn me that at any moment Maika can bite the baby. That never happened.

Maika was my first child - my baby girl. There were times in my life where I crawled down and snuggled her on the cement floor or brought her with me where ever I went. As we added to our family she became more docile and obedient.

Phoenix tells me every day how much he loves her and they sit together all the time like this watching TV.

She follows Phantom around knowing that any time Phantom will drop what he's eating and she can pick it up. Phantom has learned that Maika likes it when he drops his food so now Phantom just throws his food on the ground so Maika can eat it. On the other hand, Phantom sits by her food bowl while she eats and takes her kibbles out of the bowl to eat as well. Why he likes dog food is beyond me but it shows you that food aggression in dogs can be tamed.  That makes them best friends and Maika has no objections.

I want everyone to know that this breed isn't the bad news you see on TV ~ They are smart, strong, loyal, and obedient but to keep it this way it takes an equally smart, strong, loyal and obedient human to care for them and guide them. This breed is not for dumb or lazy people.

I don't give her near as much attention as I used to because I have three children that need me. I know they made up for everything I haven't been giving her.  I can't think of the day when our time together will cease but for now this blog is dedicated to my most loyal and loving girl. She's been everything I wanted in a dog and even though she's thinned out and gone gray, she'll always be my baby girl.