adopt a pit bull

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If You Name the Puppy

I was out for a walk with one of my current favorites from the shelter recently when I encountered a big surprise.  Rapunzel and had stopped briefly for some poochie smoochies when all of a sudden I glanced up to see another dog running toward us.  He looked quite happy and sweet, but like with any off leash dog (without a collar) I felt a flash of apprehension.  He turned out to be just a dog of the neighborhood, about 5-6 months old and looking for some fun.  He was also somewhat dirty, had thin hair and a huge open sore on his ear. 

Had to Check
I had to make sure that whatever was wrong with this little guy’s ear wasn’t contagious and secondly that he wasn’t a stray roaming the streets so with the the help of some neighborhood folks and a loaned belt as a makeshift slip lead, I got them both back to the shelter.  Once in the intake kennel, this little guy started collecting hearts with his sweet demeanor and soulful eyes and I soon found myself sitting on the floor with fellow volunteer, E, making over this sweet pup.

A Dime a Dozen
Unfortunately our kennels were full so I soon discovered that Animal Care and Control was called to come pick up our little stray.  Being that he was clearly under a year old, I knew he had no chance of entering the Pit Bull ambassador program that AC&C offers so unless he was pulled by a rescue, his chances were slim and despite his winning personality, dogs who look like him are a dime a dozen in our area.

My buddy volunteer, E, began brainstorming.  E is at his city limit (5 dogs) but could take him home as a foster if he was in a program but that wasn’t guaranteed either.  I couldn’t let him go but knew I was possibly jumping into something by following my heart rather than my head.  I would take him to the vet to make sure the sore was not contagious and that the thinness of the hair was not mange.  We wondered what his name was or what we would call him.  I told E I had an idea, but “once you name the puppy, the puppy is yours” so we held off.

One of the great staff at the Shelter found a collar and leash we could use so E and I walked Puppy to the vet clinic for a check up where the entire staff of the clinic quickly became smitten.  He didn’t have mange and the sore on his ear is from fly bites.  Ick.  Dr. R said a topical antibiotic like neosporin would clear it up and since it looked like he’d be coming home with me, I had him wormed and vaccinated.  I nearly said his ‘secret’ name out loud, but I held strong.

Walking back to the shelter, we decided that E would take Puppy home until I got off work when a car came screeching up behind us and the driver said “HEY!” then glared at us.  The lady in the passenger seat got out and said, “That’s my dog.”

I asked her where she lived, and the street was the same as where I found him and she said he didn’t have a collar because he was playing with the other dog and it came off.  She said his name was Smokey and that he was the last of a litter that her dog, Onyx, had.  Because it was clearly her dog, with a heavy heart I handed him over with his new collar, a rabies tag, and a heartworm tablet.  We introduced ourselves and G took her dog away, saying he’d already had his vaccinations and this would be his second rabies tag.

About an hour later, I was surprised to get a call from E.  He actually sounded just as surprised as me, when he said G had returned to the shelter and decided that I might be able to provide a better home for “Smokey” and if I wanted him, I could come get him!

Tune in tomorrow for what happend next.

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Heads or Tails

One of my favorite people in the world is my sister.  I’d say that statement is true 95% of the time but that’s a pretty darned good percentage, if you ask me.  She is fun and we have a history that goes back, obviously, a long time so that we get each other’s quirks and twisted sense of humor.  We are totally alike and totally different.  She says we are like the two sides of the same coin. 

She had a Pit Bull-type of dog way before I was interested in them and recently she has been doing something that I’ve been wanting to do for the longest time.  In the last week of May she got her first foster dog and tomorrow she will be sending her second foster dog to his forever home!

Buddy

 Her first foster, Brutus, was losing his foster home due to a medical issue with his foster parent, so my sister took him in until he was adopted.  That actually left her foster-less for a week or two while everyone ensured that Bru’s adoption would “stick.” 

In the meantime, a call was put out about Buddy.  He had been in rescue since April and was being kenneled on location, though clearly not liking it.  When my sister’s spot opened up, she took him in and after their first adoption event together, she texted me that they had received a good application on Buddy.

Not one to usually dress up her pets, but rather one to mock Ray endlessly about his “outfits,” I was pleasantly surprised to see her make use of the Adopt Me collar from Just Dog Gone Cute.  If you are in the Michigan area and are looking for a great pet, check out Seven Star Rescue in St. Joe.

I don’t really say it ever often enough, but I’m proud of her.

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Behind the Glamorous Facade

Despite the fact that Glamour has at her pawtips an extensive wardrobe of Sirius collars and accessories, Dog Gone Cute decorations,  and also some Lamae tutus at her disposal, these are all borrowed items to help her find a home and not her own belongings.  Her borrowed collar is frayed from repeated use by former residents of the shelter as is her leash and other items. 

Glamour, while I’m sure, is grateful for her stay at the shelter and the excellent care she receives, does not like it there.  A home of her own is what this girl wants and needs.  She showed me that she has pretty good house manners.

She helps with the sweeping and floor cleaning without judging my housekeeping skills.

She helps supervise the laundry without grabbing all undies and socks in sight. (ahem, Ray)  While she was not in her crate, she saw our kitties and had absolutely zero interest in them.  When she was crated, she did bark at Miko when he entered her room, but it was a brief shout out to him.  When Asia reentered the house, Glamour gave one bark as well.  Just one and she was good.  A drawback may be her size.  This lady is musclebound, but she is a “pocket pittie.”  Potential adopters looking for a small dog will overlook her as a “muscle-bound pit bull” and Pit Bull type people may overlook her because she is small.

Girlfriend is selective.  She doesn’t like all people all the time, she doesn’t like a hand coming at her head (who does, really?)  and we are still finding out what all of her triggers might be.  Shelter stress really has to be a big factor.  The morning before I took her back, we sat by the pool and just chilled.  Her tail wags so hard that it beats each of her sides as her booty wiggles back and forth.  She climbs in my lap and gets out and repeats, until she finds a nice spot in front of my to receive some back and shoulder rubs. 

I’ve heard and read how adopted dogs are so grateful, but since I adopted Ray at only seven weeks, he really accepts everything as his due.  That morning, I could feel the stress leave and the calm enter her.  I could just feel Glamour’s appreciation. 

If you know anyone who would be interested in receiving the love and gratitude that only Glamour can give, please have them contact me or the Allen County SPCA to find out more about the Glamour Girl.

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Not the Mama

But I worry about them just the same.  While I celebrate every adoption, a small part of me feels sad, envious, worried, frustrated for those not chosen, or the last ones picked, the ones overlooked, the long-term residents, my babies. 

My Glamour girl is a handful, make no mistake.  There were days when even I didn’t feel up to visiting her knowing that I’d have to keep her from jumping and the first 5 minutes or so of the walk will be an exercise in pulling. Because of that, sometimes her walks were shorter than they should be but on the other hand when things are going well, her walks were longer than many of the others.

Lately, though, I see her getting “small” when she comes to the kennel door and when I enter, she knows to go to her bed and sit or I won’t put her collar on her.  Once the collar is on, there’s a fair amount of twirly-whirls which often involve a bounce or two off the wall.  She has spirit!

Our shelter usually doesn’t have dogs in house very long.  Adoption rates are really good, so when a dog is there for over a month or more they usually get to become office dogs to help break up the monotony and keep up the socialization.  Glamour got a turn in one of the offices until she learned to jump the cubicle walls and ended up back in a kennel.  This week, due to some great adoption numbers, she finds herself in the front office area for awhile just as I am able to furlough her for a few evenings for even more of a break.

On the first particular evening, the stars aligned so that only Asia and I (and Ray) were home, so we orchestrated a little crate and rotate until we discovered that Glamour’s surname is probably Houdini.  Yep, she busted slithered out of the crate and made her way downstairs where she and Ray met face to face.  Since it was just a sniff and wiggle fest, Asia and I got a hold of a dog each and I parked Glamour out in the garage until I could come in and talk with Asia about a game plan. 

They had met, so we decided to take them out on leashes and see if they were socially inclined.  It was completely outside the original game plan of Glamour and Ray not meeting, but it actually turned out well.  Really well.  All twenty-five pounds of muscle gal, matched up really well with my Big’un and for short little bursts they played, they  bowed, and had a great time.  My pride in both of them knew no bounds.

Because we wanted to keep it on a very positive note, they only played for two very short sessions before I took Glamour back out the gate and around to the front, up the stairs and into her temporary abode.

Before darkness fell, I found Ray’s old harness and Glamour and I went out for a nice long bedtime walk where she explored nature, did her nightly toilette  and got nicely tired out before retiring with a drink of water and some soothing classical music.

Everyone settled in nicely for the evening and when that rude alarm sounded, I slipped out of bed, showered and woke Glamour from a sound sleep.  She unfurled herself from the nest of thick comforters and we headed down the stairs and out the back door for her morning relief.  She spent a few leisurely minutes reexploring the back yard off leash and then wiggled back to me for some pets. We sat by the pool and I rubbed her back and shoulders while she really seemed to be appreciative of her reprieve from the kennels.  She was so relaxed and calm and just …. peaceabull.

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The Power of Pretty

They say clothes make the man and every woman knows the value of smart accessorizing.  As you know, we recently ran a promo with Sirius Republic which resulted in some great Adopt Me collars and accessories that went to the Allen County SPCA. 

Whenever Ray dons one of his fancy collars and especially if he wears a bow tie, he gets a ton of attention and compliments, so why should any other dog be different?  Well, they’re not.

The other day, I posted a photo collage of Glamour, an adoptable Pit Bull mix at the SPCA.

I had spent some quality time with her and towards the end of the visit, I snapped some pictures and tried to snaz them up a bit then posted them to Facebook.

Over 200 people saw this picture, 8 people liked it and no one shared it in the first 24 hours that it was posted.

When I came back for another visit with Glamour, I grabbed one of the new collars and flowers so I could take a few…Glamour shots and when I had a few moments I made another collage to post on Facebook.

Same dog, different collar, add a pretty accessory and voila  6 shares within the first half hour. 

That’s the power of pretty.

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Dog Selective

I bet you think I’m going to talk about Ray…

Self-Discovery
While I do consider myself an animal lover and I love my little menagerie, I have come to discover I’m a bit dog selective.

Macho Joe

While I do love those animals called dogs in general and I know it isn’t a secret that I gravitate toward a certain “type,” I’ve realized that there are some that while I don’t actively avoid them  I certainly don’t seek out their company.  Because I walk dogs at the shelter so often on my lunch, there are certain limitations I’ve found.  Obviously, I can’t walk everyone in just an hour, so that usually narrows down the field to anyone who may not yet have been walked.  Also, since some dogs are kenneled together as roommates, I usually avoid that.  Because I am there in dress clothes, entering a kennel with two pooches is just that much harder in heels and/ a dress.  Then there’s fur.  The super shedders get a bit less attention as well because although I do have a lint roller in the truck, I just generally prefer hair.  Our last dog, Bam Bam was a chow chow and during shedding  season she  literally dropped small animals from her body on a daily basis.

Size Matters
It may or may not be surprising to know that the Rottweiler is one of my favorite breeds.  When I was a young adult living in Chicago, we had two.  I loooooved them and when I started whining pushing to adopt a dog a couple of years ago, I started looking for a Rottie.  I like big, muscular dogs with short non-furry hair, and blocky heads.  I eventually came to want a Pit bull type and resigned myself that I would have a “small dog.”  You know, 40-55 pounds.  Small.  I’ve handled other dogs way smaller and have become smitten with them but I still wouldn’t normally gravitate there.

 adoptable Glamour

I might be one of the few people who would call a Pit Bull type dog small, but there was a criteria to follow.  I always swore I would never have a dog smaller than my cat. I have three cats and the largest, Miko, weighs twenty pounds so with that starting point, 40 pounds is still “small.”  

Barney

It’s ironic and a happy circumstance that when I resolved that a Pit Bull type (smallish) dog would be fine and I adopted a puppy born of a 39 pound Pit Bull, that I would end up with an 85 pound dog. 

No Schedule
Several other volunteers that I’ve been chatting with have pretty set schedules with certain days and times they come.  I know it’s good so to have that to count on but with work and other things that pop up, I’m not able to commit to specific days or even times.  There are weeks I’ve found myself driving to the shelter as if my sheer will of the truck steering there and other weeks when I find I’m only able or for some reason willing to go one or two days.  Yesterday I may have hit me as to why.  I took the Glamour girl out for a walk and as we strolled and chatted about being girls and wearing pretty things I realized how much fun I was having with her.  We found a patch of long, cool grass under a shady tree where she promptly rolled and wallowed in a most ladylike fashion while I sat and babbled on to her about pretty collars and Sheila E.

Today, I have a ton of errands to run but the call of the short haired block heads reverberates in my mind.   I imagine that has something to do with my lunch plans.

*All photos credit: Allen County Spca.

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Parade With the Stars

Back in February, our shelter director, Jessica, made a visit to Ohio State University Vet Medical Center with one of the shelter dogs, Aerie.  Aerie is a young black lab who has hip dysplasia and she was being looked at by the experts to determine whether or not she would need surgery.  Being the Pit Bull geek that I am, I knew that Gremlin was going to be at the same facility that day, so I texted Jessica to see if she could meet them.  I’m being very cool about it all now, but on that day I was hopping around the office, totally squeeing over every text.  Jessica was planning to snap a picture of Gremlin, but unfortunately our crew was done and left before Gremlin was finished.  Jessica did send me a picture of herself with Chris Hughes, Gremlin’s dad,  as an awesome consolation.  He also mentioned to her that they were coming to Indiana for an appearance this Spring.

I recently found out that Gremlin was indeed coming to Indiana and this visit was to be her last before she retired from public appearances.  She was going to be the featured guest at Parade A Bull which is hosted by the Humane Society for Hamilton County.  In the back of my mind I knew I wanted to attend, but the event was two hours away from my house and Ray, still being a youngster, hasn’t been to many events and certainly not one of this scale.  I really, really didn’t want to drive two hours each way just for him to do his famous leash eating tug of war routine in front of two hundred Pit Bull owners and fans.  The thing is, though, if we didn’t try, I’d never know, right?

The event was held at The Monon Center in Carmel which had beautiful walking paths, a pond, ducks and a great resource center.  We got there just in time for the parade which was essentially a pack walk for solidarity.  I’ve got to tell you, folks, it was so moving to see that many responsible dog lovers in one place.  That many Pit Bull advocates and others who were interested in learning more about the group of dogs labled as Pit Bulls.

The start of the “parade.”



We were hoping to be able to at least catch a glimpse of Gremlin and The Stig (as well as their parents) but got even more than that!  At the first turn, look who we found!

Gremlin’s mom graciously offered to take our picture while we chatted a bit and made the Ohio State connection.  It turns out they are getting married later this year and the pooches are going to be a part of the wedding party, so they were very excited to see Ray wearing a bow tie and I was happy to be able to refer them to both Sirius Republic (Ray was wearing his monsters collar and blue bow tie which we got a ton of compliments on) and also to Little Bow Pup who makes amazing bows and collar flowers and has really, really good customer service. 

Stop by tomorrow to see more pics of the great Parade-a-Bull event.

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"Love me Tender"

Hello, Furiends!  My name is King and I would like to start off by thanking my brother from another Mother, Ray, for letting me have so much face time on his blog.  I know his friends have been missing his mug and I appreciate all the love and kindness I’ve been shown while I await my forever home.
I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself because there are things I’m just now discovering, too.  Up until about two weeks ago, I thought I was one thing, but it turns out I am another.  I was a part of a pack and there were 8 of us in all.  We were all chi-wow-ahs, I thought, but it turns out I’m something called an AmStaff.  I think that means really big chi-wow-ahs.  I’ve spent my whole first year of life thinking I was one of them, fitting in our nice little world but then my family said we were moving.  I didn’t realize that meant we were not all moving together to the same place.
They took me to a “homeless shelter” where the big hearted people there said they would find me another home, even better than the one I had before, and in the mean-time, they would take care of me and give me the things I need.  They even made sure my jingly bits went away.  I guess that’s ok, because I feel fine.
I found it to be very confusing there for awhile.  Lots of other dogs were telling me about themselves and lots of different people came to see me.  Ray’s mama comes to see me a lot and she said I could call her mama until I get my own.  She takes me for long walks and helps me mind my manners, even though she calls me Mr. Perfect a lot.  When we walk she makes the “uh-uh” sound and I’ve learned that when I hear that sound we stop walking.  I always stop and look at Mama to see why we’ve made the uh-uh stop but I think it’s just because she wants to see my handsome face so as soon as I show her my handsome face we get to walk again.  Sometimes we stop and I sit for a cookie.  The first couple of days, when she showed me the cookie, I wasn’t sure that she would give it to me but she gave it every time and all I had to do was sit!  She says I’m a master at something called “loose leash walking.”
I’d be happy to take that cookie!
I think we are going to learn other ways to get cookies too, if I’m here long enough.  Mama says she hopes we won’t have time but when she says that she seems kind of sad.  She says she loves how I greet her in a polite way.  I don’t jump on her and I don’t ever do sharky mouth, even when I’m looking for cookies that might be in her hand.  I’m just starting to ask her to play with me, but she is kind of a girl, so I take it easy with her and when she says “give Mama a kiss” I know exactly what she means.  I like to give kisses!

Anyhow, I’m ready to go to my home, but just as a little hint, my collar makes me look like I might belong in a peaceabull place, don’tchathink?

A note from Ray-Ray:  “if you are interested in adopting King, please contact the Allen County SPCA.  Now, please, before King becomes my little brother.”

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Walking Wednesday

(Since I knew this wouldn’t be wordless.)

I thought I’d share with you a few pictures from my walks today and to let you know that Miss Delilah has left the building.  Good luck in your forever home, sweetie.

Since I didn’t have enough time to walk Banjo yesterday, he was my first date for today, though he nearly missed his chance again.  Banjo is 10 months old, while not too puppy-ish, he still gets wound up some.  He is kenneled with Max whom I haven’t really interacted with to date.  A secret, here, is that usually since I am walking dogs on my lunch break from work, I don’t often walk any dogs that are double kenneled.  I just think there is too much of a possibility for a wardrobe malfunction.  But today since I had mentally promised some time to Banjo, I entered the kennel he shares with Max…and was very impressed with Max.  While Banjo was running around with his leash and collar, Max cuddled right up against my legs and wagged his sweet little tail enough to make sure I’d be back to walk him too right after I brought the Banj-miester back. 

Outside, Banjo again delighted me with is great leash skills and his solid “sit.”  He was just such a pleasure to walk that I just don’t know if I can gush about him any more.  When we returned, Max was already out with another volunteer, so you know who I turned my attention to.

Not thrilled with the little picture taking box in my face, lady.

King does really, really well on the leash and takes correction easily with an “uh-uh” and a stop.  Now that he’s more settled in, he was much more interested in being treated, though was not at all interesed in learning “sit” for a treat.

Hey lady, you got any more of those nom noms in your pocket?

King is so sweet and thankful for the little treats I gave him but when I tried to lure him to a sit, he gave up pretty fast as if he didn’t really expect me to give them.  It was kind of sad and I’m a big push over so I just gave up the treats in exchange for a couple of hugs.

Both of these young gentlemen are still available to be your forever Valentine, just contact the ACSPCA for details.