Meatball

	Breed	Pit Bull Terrier
	Color	Gray / Blue / Silver
	Age	Adult
	Gender	Male
	Size	Large
	Coat Length	–
	Adoption Fee	–

About Me

Contact Me

My Story

Meet Meatball, affectionately known as Hippo in his foster home, a lovable dog with a big heart. This cuddle bug has a passion for stuffed toys, cozy blankets, and snuggling up close. His favorite treats are puppuroni, and he’s never without a stuffie in his paws.
Meatball is crate trained and content to relax in a baby-gated area, making him an easy-going companion. Despite his large size, he fancies himself a lap dog and is always ready for some affectionate cuddles. He’s calm and low energy, happy to chill out when you need to leave him alone.
He knows how to sit, touch, and check in during walks. While he’s generally well-behaved, he might pull on the leash if he spots another dog or cat. Meatball loves balls and has a quirky fondness for cat water fountains, much to the dismay of the feline members of the household.
Due to his size and exuberance, he would be best suited for a home with older kids (12+) if any at all. Meatball prefers to be the only dog in the house, but with proper slow introductions, he can coexist with a tolerant dog or one that matches his playful energy.
Meatball is ready to bring joy, love, and plenty of cuddles to his forever home. Could that be with you?
Currently in foster care though ACCT Philly. Please reach out to his foster mom [email protected] or [email protected] to learn more about how you can take Meatball home today.
Videos: Meatball and Girard (Meatball escalates at end): https://youtu.be/TSVSJ4GHbDY
Foster’s notes:
I just wanted to update you on Hippo (meatball)’s progress:
He is THRIVING. He is such a sweet goober. He is cuddly, sweet and overall just a big baby who is unaware of his size. He is surprisingly picky with his food lol (you’d think coming from the shelter he wouldn’t be) so he needs his food MUST be stirred in with wet food or his majesty doesn’t eat it.
He sometimes sees the cats upstairs and perks up, but when called he disengages, so he can be cat friendly.
He is unaware of his heaviness, so as friendly as he is I don’t let him greet younger kids. I think he’d be fine with teenagers though, or maybe like 11 and up.
Likes: stuffed animals, ball, couch cuddles
Dislikes: not having stuffed animal
I had a dog sitting client come over for the night, so I separated them with a baby gate, table and the crate. Somehow, while he was not in his crate, Hippo ran through the baby gate (per his name) BUT it was a happy accident. Hippo and Duke are able to coexist beautifully, they are even sharing toys and can take treats at the same time, and Duke is a tough crowd. Does this mean Hippo can be housed with other dogs? If so, it increases his adoptability and when I tell you I had tears in my eyes from happiness!!! That being said, they’re not being left alone together unsupervised under any circumstances.
His work areas:
Hippo is displaying some light separation anxiety. He will cry when we “put him away for lack of a better word and it has been taking him a while to settle down. He does EVENTUALLY settle after 5-10 min of crying, but that is definitely something that developed in the last week or so. I’m giving him a frozen kong with some wet food (he is not amused by peanut butter) and ignoring him when he cries but he figures it out and starts to cry. He listens to commands really well UNLESS he gets too excited. He has some leash excitement, he walks like a dream until he sees another dog then he’ll either lay down and not move or pull. I can get him to disengage like 70% of the time with a squeak toy and treats but some times if the dog is closer he will ignore me.
Anyway, I know that he’s being transferred to another foster Tuesday for the summer because of my show schedule, but I wanted to give you the run down of how he’s doing because I cannot express how happy I am to have saved him. He’s going to bring his future family so much joy.
I attached some new pictures too, let me know if you need anything!
Behavior notes:
5/6/24 per staff: Conflicted for dog meet and initially was interested but then stiffened and began to lip lick, avoid and side eye the other dog. May do ok with a slower intro and pack walks, but does escalate if interaction is too quick.
5/4:24 per staff: Affectionate old guy. Loves toys and playing but shows some light guarding of his toys (freezes and snatches them away if you reach for them) but trades easily for a new toy, 12+
5/4:24 per staff: Meatball came right up when I called him. He trotted over with a loose body and soft eyes and slammed right into me. Meatball allowed all pets and handling right away, and just wanted to jump up and give me face kisses. He can get a little fixated on the face, and will jump up repeatedly and try to give some love nibbles as he gets frustrated. I was able to push him down and stand up, and after my face was further away he stopped trying so hard. I offered him some treats but he wouldn’t take anything from me! He would not sit either, so he’s got some room for improvement and lots of tricks to learn. Meatball has a playful side and was picking up all the toys in the room one by one. He would let me touch and pet him while he had a toy, but didn’t want me to take them from him. Meatball showed some protectiveness over his toys. He would trade for a new toy easily, but if I reached for a toy that he was playing with he would freeze for a second and snatch it away and move himself away. It wasn’t bad guarding, and he traded for a new toy, but it is something to be aware of.
ACCT Philly is located at 111 West Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia. We are open for adoptions 7 days a week. Please visit www.acctphilly.org/adopt for details.
If you are a rescue interested in pulling this animal, please email our lifesaving team, or visit here if you are not currently a rescue partner: https://acctphilly.org/acct-philly-love-local-partnership-program/
Confirmed placement is considered confirmation of an actual rescue pull. Possible placement, interested parties, and other “TBD” statuses are not considered confirmed and do not indicate an animal is no longer urgent
All animals at ACCT Philly are from Philadelphia, as the only open intake animal shelter in Philadelphia, we are not able to accept animals from outside of Philadelphia. ACCT Philly’s Pennsylvania kennel license number is 08313