When David G. first met his foster dog Bruno, he was apprehensive and even a bit scared to take on a pit bull. After hearing unfair and untrue stereotypes about pit bulls in the media, he assumed Bruno would be dangerous and aggressive. Fortunately, their journey would become one of understanding, growth and eventually, lots of love.

“Everything the media says about pit bulls takes a toll,” he explained. “But to my surprise, he was very friendly, his personality is amazing, he’s easy going, not aggressive toward anyone, happy all the time. What more could you ask for?”

Overcoming Fears

In December 2023, while the NYPD executed a search warrant on an unrelated investigation, they found Bruno, a puppy at the time, malnourished and left inside of a crate.

Bruno was removed from the home and brought into our care where our staff worked hard to nurse him back to health. By May of 2024, Bruno had made a full recovery and was ready to test out life in a foster home. Luckily for sweet Bruno, David was thinking about fostering at the exact same time.

David had recently had some family staying with him in his New York City apartment. Together they adopted a dog, but when his roommates moved out, David missed having a canine companion around. In May, he decided to research the ASPCA to learn more about fostering a dog.

“I watched the fostering video online and contacted the ASPCA,” David recalled. “After some discussion I went to the Adoption Center and met with Bruno.”

Bruno was very excited to meet his new foster parent, but due to some preconceived ideas about his breed, David was scared and hesitant.

“The Behavior team — they’re really good and really skilled — saw my anxiety and said, ‘Wait a week, we’ll work with him even more and then come back.’” David told us.

Despite his initial fear of Bruno, David still felt like the two had an instant connection.

“Sometimes you just have a good feeling about a dog, and I had a good feeling about Bruno.”

As promised, the Adoption Center staff reached back out to David a week later.

“I went back and took Bruno on a walk and talked with the Behavior team,” said David. “They gave me a lot of information and feedback. All of that ensured a good fit, so I decided to give it a try.”

Before they even made it home, Bruno was showing his appreciation for David and his willingness to give him a shot.

“In the Lyft he was licking me up and down,” David recalled. “I realized then I really judged him incorrectly because I was scared. He was just so excited to get out of the shelter. He was there for a while before someone gave him a chance and fostered him.”

Making It Official

Bruno quickly made himself at home in David’s apartment, but David soon realized that Bruno was getting very anxious when he left the house.

“The great thing about the foster program is that there are a lot of great resources there, they’re very supportive,” said David. “When I told them about his anxiety, they provided me a bunch of resources to help — and they really helped! His anxiety subsided.”

From then on it was smooth sailing with David and Bruno. They went to dog parks, hung out with family and played together. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, David had been fostering Bruno for four months.

By August, Bruno was finally ready to be made available for adoption.

“He was such a great dog. There weren’t any issues,” David told us. “He’s fantastic with other dogs and he’s not aggressive toward any dog. He’s great with people, everyone loves him in the building. He’s a great dog with great energy and a good personality, so I decided to apply to adopt him.”

Since making it official, Bruno’s personality has only continued to blossom, turning him into quite the social butterfly.

Bruno has figured out that multiple stores in his area will give him a treat if he sits out front, so he does just that!

“He’ll pull me to different stores and get his treats,” said David. “He’ll sit in front of the door and wait outside nicely for a treat. He’ll find new places because he just sits in front of every door until they give him treats. He’s become the neighborhood dog. They love him! During a walk he can spend an hour and a half outside just getting treats from different places.”

Having an Open Mind

Having now adopted a bully breed dog of his own, David has completely changed his tune about the stigmatized breed and hopes others will too.

“Pit bulls are amazing dogs. They’re very loving and can be great around kids. Bruno has a great amount of energy — and it’s all positive energy,” explained David. “Each pit bull has its own personality and different issues going on. So, you need to assess which dog might be best for you, but I think people need to understand that it’s a stereotype and really give pit bulls a chance.”

In addition to having an open mind about pit bulls, David also hopes people will consider fostering, an experience he found to be greatly beneficial on all ends.

“As a foster, understand that you’re not being locked into anything so there’s nothing you can lose,” David said. “Try it out for a week, two weeks. I didn’t know it was going to go so well and then I ended up adopting him. My recommendation is to give it a try. Expect that there may be some issues, but work with the Behavior team to work on those issues to make you a success story.”

“Fostering Bruno allowed me to see how well a dog can do when you give them a chance,” David added. “It’s not just about the benefits of the dog, fostering benefits the human too. It’s very therapeutic to have a dog. You have someone that will give unconditional love but will also help you get outside and be social. Three walks a day gets you up and moving. Socially, there are so many people who come up to me and start telling me about their dogs too.”

In David’s case, adopting his pit bull foster dog has changed his life for the better.

“He is a lot of fun; he has brought a lot of happiness here and great energy,” said David. “Neighbors who may never have said hi to me before, now say hi when I’m with the dog. It has been really positive.”