Back in 2006, I was living in Arizona. I had gone to the pet store to find a boxer. Typically,  you would think of a fawn or brindle boxer. When I asked the pet store clerk if she had any boxers, she said she did not, but a woman was selling a white boxer for $75. My initial  reaction was ” I was looking for fawn or brindle “. I figured I would go see anyways. When I walked into the woman’s home, she had brids, fish, cats, kids, etc. It was disgusting. 
The woman then told me she didn’t  want “casper” (Gotti’s  original name) because he was deaf. I wasn’t  bothered by him being deaf. I just wanted to see what a white boxer looked like. His brother and sister came out and were stocky. Gotti then came out and you could tell he was the runt of the pack. I knew i couldn’t  leave him and told her I wanted him. I told the woman off about the way he looked and how she found it ok and I was not leaving without him. She then told me to take him for free and I did.

The next morning, I noticed that Gotti was dry heaving bad and kept coughing.  I got him to the emergency vet and they told me he had kennel cough and an upper respitory infection. We got medication  for him to feel better and took him home.

Shortly  after he came home, we noticed that he would throw up after  EVERY  meal. I called the vet again in tears and he told me that Gotti felt it was his last meal due to him having to fight for his food. I went to the pet store and got a couple tubes of weight gaining stuff to put on his food. I also left the food bowl out all day everyday  until he realized  the food was here to stay and he was fine. He finally  got it and gained weight :).

Once things were looking up, he started to have his own personality and I fell even more in love with him. Since then, Gotti got a new doggy brother Vito. They get along great. As a birthday gift, my husband bought me a tattoo. I had him take Gotti’s paw print and had that tattooed on my hip. He was also the best man in our wedding.

To see Gotti before and how he is 7 1/2 years later just amazes me! He truly is our lil fighter and I could not imagine life without him! He is our lil boog

Danielle Reynolds