Pet's Age
12

Pet's City
Las Vegas

Pet's Story or Bio
Say hello to Banban! We found Banban (pronounced like Bon Bon) in a shelter in
Southeastern China in a city called Xiamen(厦门). Banban was born and spent her first months as a stray living off of scraps, garbage, and rats. She was eventually taken in by a shelter where she languished, unadopted and unfostered, for five years. This is when we met her. She had been a very successful scavenger and rat catcher during those five years and had the waistline to prove it. She looked like a cross between a seal and a beach ball. We fostered her to help her get into shape so she might have a better chance at being adopted. We eliminated the rats from her diet, started walking her, and the pounds melted away. By then we'd become a happy family so we adopted Banban and brought her back to the USA.
Banban weathered a 24 hour international trip from Xiamen to Guangzhou to Tokyo to Los Angeles and, finally, to San Francisco. It would be a harrowing journey even in business class. Banban took the trip in cargo- no peanuts and no in-flight entertainment. Being new to the states she got into some trouble with the San Francisco Dog Catcher after snapping at someone in her new surroundings. She served her time (just some quarantine) and is now a law-abiding citizen again. In the following years, Banban has been through a lot including two serious knee surgeries and a battle with cancer that she handily won.
Banban loves squeak toys (they sound like rats), pita bread, and defending the house from delivery people. She's an A+ dog. The most common question we get is, “what kind of dog is she?” Well, she's a mutt for sure and an unusual looking one for North America. Common guesses are part border collie, part Jack Russell, maybe part Pekingese? In China we saw quite a few dogs with similar body types- chesty, big necks, and short little legs. These were sometimes referred to as “Chinese Farm Dogs” and other times just called strays.
Banban is very selective about which humans she'll allow to pet her. In the US there are maybe a dozen people that she gives this privilege to. We're lucky to be among them. She isn't aggressive though- she just does what any of us would do if some stranger came up and started rubbing our scalps. If you ever see Banban out and about, it's best not to try to pet her. She'll gladly take any treats from you and if you're extremely lucky she might give you a sniff of approval.