We have two dogs, Pfeffer and Vala.  Pfeffer is mostly miniature poodle, with short legs, weighing 16 pounds.  Vala is an unusual Italian Greyhound and Basenji mix and weighs 20 pounds.

Both are rescues, and both have overcome health issues suffered from being abandoned.  We adopted Pfeffer first and brought Vala home about a year later.

Italian Greyhounds (Iggies) are a tiny version of the much larger Greyhounds we usually associate with dog racing.  They are slender and lean to the point of looking fragile.

Basenjis are African hunting dogs; compact and muscular and noted for their distinctive and unnerving howl that is their substitute for a bark.

Vala has characteristics of both.  While showing the general barrel chest and small hips of the Italian Greyhound, she has the dense muscles and increased mass of the Basenji.  She can and does bark occasionally, but when excited by even the hint of a squirrel or cat, or just the joy of leaving the house to check for prey, she screams in a way that required we explain the sound to our neighbors (who thought someone was being tortured).

Early one evening just a few months after we brought Vala home from the humane shelter, I was taking both dogs for their evening walk around the neighborhood.  Less than two blocks from home, two very large (probably 60 pounds each) pit bulls came from behind a wall separating the sidewalk from a parking lot.  The pit bulls were off-leash and no other human was around.  They immediately attacked Pfeffer and Vala.  Pfeffer was as far as the leash would go to my left and Vala was at the extreme of her leash to my right.  I briefly alternated between them in trying to get the pit bulls off.  Things were not going well.  I was only able to momentarily stop each attack, but not both at the same time. I feared both Pfeffer and Vala would be killed.  Pfeffer was on her back biting the pit bull’s face as the pit bull was biting her.  Vala was helpless as the other pit bull had her by the head and neck.

But Vala saved the day.  Her tapered head and large chest meant that her harness fit well and did its job when she was pulling forward on her leash.  But when pulling backward, when part of the harness was in a pit bull’s mouth, she slid right out.  As soon as she was free, she ran.  Like their larger cousins, Italian Greyhounds run very fast.  The pit bull gave chase, but was seriously outclassed.  I was then worried that Vala in her panic would get hit by a car, or just run until she was lost and we might not see her again.

With Vala on the run and the second pit bull in pursuit, I was able to get Pfeffer away from the first pit bull and started running for home.

Carrie met me in front of our neighbors’ house.  She later described that she heard Vala screaming and ran to let her in the front door.  Once inside, Vala shook her head and sprayed blood on the wall, floor and Carrie.  Carrie closed Vala in the bathroom and headed to the street, afraid we three had been hit by a car with Vala being the only one who could make it home. As she got to the sidewalk, she saw me carrying bloodied Pfeffer and I was able to explain the attack.

We wrapped the dogs up in towels and raced to the emergency vet.  Other than trauma, Vala had only shallow bite wounds that were quickly treated.   Pfeffer also had bite wounds that looked more serious than they were as red blood really shows on white fur.  But the pit bull had also injured her hips and it was weeks before she was healed enough to walk normally.

We learned later that a family nearby were keeping the pit bulls for their daughter.  Their backyard was not pit bull proof and the dogs got loose while they were out.

Vala’s escape not only saved her, but drawing one of the pit bulls away also saved Pfeffer.  And even though she had only lived with us for a few months, Vala knew where home was and didn’t hesitate heading there as soon as she could.