Hi, guys.  I am so excited I found you all.  I have spent the last few hours buried in this site; what you are doing is amazing. 

My husband and I recently adopted Kori, a one-year-old Pitbull Bull Terrier mix.  His front left leg is nowhere to be found, and I say this because he is certainly not missing it (which amazes me as he lost it three months ago).  This blows my mind because, boy, does he own it.  He is spry and mischievous as can be.  He gets around great and aside from the kennel cough he came home with, he is in perfect health.  He is basically a superhero. 

His past is light years behind us.  There is nothing but love in that heart.  He is petite for his breed, and it is beyond the capacity of my brain to even begin to comprehend how that spunky little body can hold so much love.  There we certainly signs of abuse, but those dissipated the moment he realized that he had found his forever home.

The only problems I have encountered, aside from his VERY audible fart in class followed by my uncontrollable giggles, are minor.  We are required to kennel him when we are not home.  The first time in our brief absence, he swiveled the kennel 90 degrees and bent the door enough to bloody his face a little.  The second time, we left him for one hour but set up the GoPro.  He was out in less than three minutes after he heard the door lock.  In sliding out, he scraped up his face and his scar.  It is not serious, but his scar has remained red and he scratches at it when I am not looking. 

Kori is so well behaved and listens unbelievably well; he is a perfect gentleman.  He does, however, have outside etiquette issues.  He pulls.  Hard.  I know a faster pace is probably more comfortable for him considering his center of balance, but he just continues to build speed and momentum if you match his speed.  He will pull so hard on his harness that he ends up standing on his back legs. 

The only pressing issue we are having is pooping on the sidewalk.  He is great when we go outside to the grass to poop, but if we are out for a walk, he drops it right on the sidewalk.  It is clear that he just wants to complete his mission with speed and precision and has no time to scout for a spot.  When he goes on the grass, he takes his time sniffing and finds the perfect place, but when he goes on the sidewalk, there is no warning.  I swear I just blink and he's pooping.  I call this matter pressing because we cross a big street to get to campus, and I am scared he will go in the middle of the crosswalk.  If anyone has any advice, I will be extremely grateful. 

I just started clicker training and hope that will help with these few things.  He is incredibly treat motivated, which is wonderful because he was so malnourished when he came home.  The location we got him was an overflow facility, and they were not allowed to let the dogs outside.  He had not seen the sun in weeks, so I understand the pulling.  He just wants to experience every moment.  He doesn't want to miss anything.

He also has little polyps, if you can call them that, on the bottom of his ribcage.  They are little skin tags, lots of them, that I assume come from his having to adjust the way he lies down.  Sometimes he is so tired that his just flops and hits the floor.  I do not think it is anything to be concerned with yet. 

Mostly, I just wanted to introduce us.  I had lots of questions but have found tons of answers and great info in the forum.  Kori is now a registered service dog in training, and I found some great info about quieting his tags.  He comes to class with me, and if he has to shake, it can be pretty disruptive. 

Thank you all!