A couple of weeks ago I was nominated by Emmett Maggie at Oh My Dog to take part in the My Writing Process Blog Tour. It sounded pretty simple, after all there were only three questions to answer and you get a couple of weeks to complete the task, so I agreed. Um, what in the name of holy waffles was I thinking?? I’ve barely written anything in the past few weeks, so this has either come at a horrible time or just in the nick of time to get a kick start back to a fairly stable writing schedule.

Question #: 1 What are you working on? Well, depending on your point of view, nothing or lots of things. I usually have a few Peaceabull posts rattling around in my head and I have at least three Doggyloot assignments yet to fulfill.

#2 Why do you write what you do? I’ve blogged for well over a decade, but only sporadically and for the longest time about the human aspect of my life and I found that even while writing to a faceless blogosphere, I’m not a good sharer. I actually started this blog (on another platform before transferring to WP) in my mind even before Ray came to live with us. I had such grand plans for Ray and our future together as Breed Ambassadors that I knew the only thing to do was to begin a blog to chronicle these feats of wonderful pit bull-ness. What this actually became was an avenue to meet other animal lovers and be a part of a very special community. Being able to share ups and downs and discuss all matters dog has been incredible and has allowed me to sprinkle in a bit about the humans of the assembly once again.

#3 How does your writing process work? Typically an idea will pop into my head and I let it simmer for a bit while I try to decide if the idea can be built upon into an entire post or if it is more fitting as a Facebook status. If I think I can expand it to at least a few paragraphs, I will begin writing it but unless I get completely stuck, I rarely save drafts to be finished later. I will hold a draft until finished and then publish but generally if I feel it is going to need many touches, I usually save it as a Word document instead. The thought of a bunch of unfinished drafts sitting in my dashboard makes me feel twitchy.

Well, there you have it. Not very exciting but that is the method behind my madness and now my task, since this is a hop, is to nominate three other bloggers to answer the same questions and to nominate three others. So, without further ado, I nominate:

Erie-sisti-Bull. Hannah writes about her two gorgeous Pit Bulls, Edison and Tesla, and their triumphs as well as challenges. The posts are easy reads with fun pictures included and they are a great part of the dog blog community as well as being great ambassadors in their hometown of Erie.

The Beagle Bratz.  Well, everyone who reads them knows they are the writers of their blog, although their mom chimes in occasionally. Definitely one of our blog buddies and a fun read.

My Two Pitties.  I love, love, love the photographs of this crew and the stories about how great the dogs and cat get along are inspiring.

So, there you have it, go forth and read.

After reading about Chicago SociaBulls and Pack of Erie Dogs, I’ve been yearning to get into a pack walking group but have had some challenges. I wanted a group that was still in the early stages of development, was bully-centric but still all inclusive, naturally non-judgmental, and governed by rules that I could get on board with and by people who shared many of my goals for the group and values in dog ownership.

I know that is a pretty specific list for someone who hasn’t joined any other pack walking groups in the area. We may be lucky here in that there are several groups in our area who walk and though I haven’t tried to join any of the others, I knew this one was for us.

The Bully Collective was founded by two women who are relatively new to Pit Bull-type dog ownership, but not to dogs in general and have recently discovered first hand some breed specific prejudice differences in treatment while walking their dogs. The Collective was formed to give dog owners a safe and non-judgmental place to gather, exchange ideas and develop our dog’s social and walking skills. It was decided to use a color coded bandana system to distinguish them on the temperament spectrum. My big dilemma was which dog would I take?

Inaugural Walk-photo L. Reyes

Although the theme was non-judgment, at the back of my mind I kept thinking about the pressure I was putting on myself to bring the “right” dog. While we haven’t ever joined a pack walking group before, Ray has participated in several “Pit Bull” parade types of things and is generally the one I take out in public for functions and Julius’s walking skills are a million times better when he is walking with Ray. I just knew I didn’t want to try handling a two-fer on our first walk and Ray would probably not be able to make the nearly 2 mile trek anyway.

Julius was the lucky winner and upon seeing the assembled group, began his usually screaming. Yes. Screaming. He gets so excited when he sees potential playmates that he absolutely screeches in an almost hound dog/blood curdling way. As the group established a walking order (our initial lap consisted of a group of four), we realized Juli was going to need to be a the lead or would potentially have a series of mini strokes while trying to catch up with the leaders. Luckily as Juli and Clyde found their stride, the walk (and Julius) became relaxed and pleasant until Juli mastered the art of pooping while walking. Hip-hip hoo  for a non-judgment zone.

We had one more arrive just as we were ending our first lap, so we decided to go another for as much as we could so that 12 year old “Daddy” who is in foster waiting for a forever family, could walk with us.  The second lap turned out just as well and we all seem to be excited and energized by the spirit and direction of this group. I’m really happy to have been invited to be a part of the grass roots beginning of this group and look forward to a lot of good coming from it.

Do you pack walk in your area?  What are your experiences?

Sometimes a word, a phrase, or an idea will pop into my head that I think will become a blog post and upon reflection, it is nothing more than a Facebook status update; one that often doesn’t get posted. Today, I had a thought that I figured would to in the status update category, but the more I thought about it, the more I believe it may just be a bit of both.  A long update or a brief post.

I’ve been kicking myself repeatedly about not starting on a diet good eating and regular exercise routine but this morning had an opportunity to pack some fresh fruit and vegetables for lunch. I knew it was going to be a hot day, so I just planned to eat my earth’s bounty and possibly doodle out some rough drafts for the blog. That plan changed with Asia emailed wanting to spend our lunch hours at the shelter.

I really didn’t want to go. I had my fresh green beans to eat in the nice cool air conditioned office, I was wearing heels (though that has never been a deterrent before), and I was kind of looking forward to just…nothing. The upside was that I would be eating lunch with Asia, and come on, it was the shelter, after all. Why wouldn’t I go? So we agreed on a time and I headed out the door, still kind of complaining to myself in my head, “My knee hurts, I really don’t want to go…blah-blah-blah,” and just as that thought rolled through my head, from around the corner came a man in a wheelchair. A man who basically had only very small, clearly unusable, legs.

Sometimes the universe sends you signs that you need to interpret and sometimes it sends you a big slap on the face and shouts, “Snap out of it!”