BARN DOGS

MEET PEBBLES

The Danny & Ron’s rescue dog makes CAROLINE MORAN laugh every day.

Caroline Moran was born and raised in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and began her riding career with the Radnor Hunt Pony Club. She was an avid competitor, earning top championships in the amateur-owner hunter and jumper divisions over the years.

In 2013, Moran was the recipient of the United States Hunter Jumper Association Amateur Sportsmanship Award, and in 2017 she was the inaugural recipient of the Kavar Kerr Distinguished Service Award, presented by the World Championship Hunter Rider Committee. Since retiring from competition, Moran has become a distinguished owner of competition horses, including eventing horses with Phillip Dutton and hunters with Havens Schatt. She has served on the boards of numerous equestrian and non-equestrian organizations, including Caridad Center, the largest free healthcare clinic in Florida, Danny & Ron’s Rescue, The Middleburg Classic, and The National Horse Show.

My family was always very much Labrador lovers. When my mother passed away two years ago, I inherited her yellow Lab, Butter. I already had Gracie, so then I had two yellow Labs. And when they passed, I thought, just for a while, I’ll be without a dog and not be tied down. I assumed that eventually, I would get another Lab, but I was going to take a break until Miss Pebbles came into my life.

Pebbles was found dazed and dumped on the side of the road in South Carolina, days away from giving birth. A good Samaritan turned her into Danny and Ron, and she literally had nine puppies days after arriving there. I can’t even imagine the size of her. They adopted out all the puppies to good homes, and in November, I saw a Facebook post of this cute, sturdy little girl—she looked like a little hippo with brown spots. And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, that dog is so cute.” I’ve always been a fan of pit bull mixes for some reason. They are such sweet dogs when you get to know them. She just had this look about her like she was a cutie but also a bit of a troublemaker, and I was just drawn to her. I fostered her for five days in the beginning of December when I had already planned a trip. So, I dropped her off with my groom and his family, and I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh, I’m dropping off a strange pit bull with children!” But she loves children. She’s obsessed with children, and they love her. In the beginning, she had a lot of separation anxiety. She was afraid I was going to leave her, so Pebbles and I had to go everywhere together. She also didn’t want to be crated; she busted out of two metal crates and chewed out of a softsided one. She jumped over every baby gate I could find. She was clearly telling me she didn’t want to be confined. I’ve had her two years, and she’s gotten so much better. She knows that I’m her person and that I’m not going to leave her. She loves to go in the car, go for a walk, or come to the barn. I have a rabbit in a stall at the barn, and she’s obsessed with the rabbit. She will literally stand and stare at it for hours. We call it Rabbit TV. She has a few dog friends that she likes to go on walks and play with, but I can’t really take her to the horse shows because she doesn’t love all dogs.

She loves to snuggle up in bed. It’s a king-size bed, and I get about eight inches of it. She is just hysterical in the morning. I sit on my porch, and she sits in the chair opposite me, and we have coffee talk.

Danny and Ron (of Danny and Ron’s Rescue) have always been two of my favorite people. I think everything that they have tackled is incredible, starting with rescuing the hurricane Katrina dogs. A few years ago, they asked me to be on their board, and I said yes, without hesitation.

What Danny and Ron do is so special because when you adopt dogs from them, it’s coming from a real home situation. They are coming from a place where they’ve lived in someone’s home and been loved more than you can imagine. Danny and Ron know the ins and outs of every single dog that goes through there. They won’t adopt them out until they get to know them really well and are the best at matching people to dogs.

I say, why would you go buy a purebred when you can have a spotted hippo that makes you laugh every day?