My pit bull loves her life. I was driving home tonight and saw a similar-sized dog race from the side of the road into the street and toward the highway. I wonder if it is still alive now? My pit bull limped up my driveway 2 1/2 years ago, many scrapes and cuts, a toe torn off and broken teeth. I saw her from the kitchen window and stepped out on the porch. She limped over, I patted her head and she licked my hand, and stayed.

She rested in the corner near the garage all day, with a bowl of water nearby. At about six in the evening she limped into the front yard to find me planting stuff in a bed I'd been digging all day. She nudged my shoulder companionably and we sauntered to the back yard, where she still lives today, with a comfortable kennel in the garage. There is a gate and she and her companion wear collars that keep them in the yard. But this confinement on a 1/2 acre with lots of good walks and regular food and affection is far superior to being dead. The vet guessed that a week earlier she'd been struck a glancing blow and bounced off of the tire, hitting her face on the street at the same time, hence the broken teeth.

Yup. She loves her life.