A Crime Against Pit bulls

What happens when soft-tempered pups born into a high volume breeding operation miss out on proper socialization? Something like this...



Photo: Dog hiding during evals this week. It's horribly depressing to see our brave breed reduced to this. (And eerily reminiscent of the damage done to many of the dogs in the Vick case)

This is much of what we found when we went to AZ to see the dogs from this raid in February. Many speculated that dog aggression was going to be the biggest challenge with the dogs. We wish. Manageable dog aggression is a cake walk compared to this terrible tragedy.

Thankfully, we did find a few dogs that are brave enough for the real world - and, yes, they're also fine around other dogs. We can't take more than a short handful right now, but you do what you can. Some will be released asap and some are in a holding pattern while the courts have their day. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, we want to thank the folks of Pima County Sheriff's Department, Humane Society of Southern AZ and Pima Animal Care and Control for helping us and for wanting something better for the dogs. There are too few of us (rescuers) and way too many of them (out-of-luck pit bulls) but these agencies have been incredibly supportive despite the very modest rescue efforts. Even the HSUS is getting involved by chipping in $$ so Diane Jessup can get ahold of 3 or so lawdog prospects. The last time they did this, WA got Hemi, so fingers crossed for another keeper.

Prickled

Tim and I are in AZ tonight, putting lots of eye drops in our eyes in between putting our hands on lots of out-of-luck pit bulls. More on the pit bull business later. We need to get some sleep and ready for more of the same tomorrow.

But first, a heads up for those who didn't get our email notice about a current story on HDNet's World News Report. A crew came out and filmed the Vick dogs late February, and the final 20 minute story has run several times this week. There's another airing on Friday April 11 and again on Tuesday April 15.

Unfortunately, you'll need to find a friend who has high definition television in order to view it. We're working on getting a copy downloaded online, tho.' Fingers crossed.

I haven't seen it yet myself, but reports coming in say that the dogs looked great, Teddle's boy Sam looked adorable, and the seasoned wartime correspondent - Greg Dobbs - looked, uh, noticeably frightened. Not a good sign. Altho we all felt that he tried really really hard to get past his fears while he was here. I have a feeling this report is going to say less about the dogs, and more about the lens of the media. Stay tuned.

Pilgrimage

Honestly, we thought the fanfare would be over weeks ago -- and we really do have things we need to discuss besides the Vick dogs. But the impact of this case keeps slamming back on us like Oahu's winter waves to the point where we're regularly soaked in salty wet realizations that maybe maybe this case really did make a difference. These sweet ladies represent a steady stream of visitors who've been trickling in from all corners to see the V-dogs in person. They file in and stare as if they're looking at - for lack of a better word - history. As if to say "Hot damn - you really are alive. You really did make it."




MaryBeth (right) and her daughter knocked us to our knees this weekend with the most sincere expression of love and appreciation and joy we've been exposed to in a long time. They came from new york and they wept when they met the dogs. Risen from the near-dead, these dogs...against all odds. And true to form, Jonny wondered what all the fuss was about (ZZzzzz).

Thank you ladies. You made our week.

Mo Visitors

Recognize this celebrity maniac? ...Put a disk in his mouth and you're good to go.

We had a fun weekend comparing notes on all-things-pit bull with Roo and his accomplished sidekick Wallace during a quick visit to CA. Our local park was blessed by the thunder of Wallace's mojo and we were treated to Roo's fancy footwork. Lucky us. Lookit that man go. Thanks for the fun, Roo!

Landlord Lover

Nope, it's a little late for an April Fool's joke - this really IS BooBoo's new landlord. Somebody pinch me, maybe all the new positive pit bull PR is really paying off. Perhaps it's contagious and landlords everywhere will notice that they too have been duped by the sensation-hungry media and begin interviewing all dogs as individuals.

For more on how to build a good relationship with a potential new landlord read our PDF on renting with pit bulls: RENTING

Tim

Newsy

Contra Costa Times did a nice video report + pix on the Shots Fair. Thanks to John Simerman, who dug right in and got a good story. Print ARTICLE. (Please remember to swing him a thank you for the positives!)

"The free isn't the best part of it. It's the offering." - Arikha Jay of Oakland

More Honey

Oakland pet owners poured into the parking lot of the Eastmont Mall yesterday with every kind of dog you can imagine for our first Free Shots Fair of 2008. It was packed. The chihuahuas have been multiplying in a scary way and were out in full force. Thank goodness, we had enough tiny collars for them (and no one was bit by the tiny staple-guns this time. A first!). Lots of American Bulldogs, too. But of course, we were all eyes for the pit bulls.

BEEF.
This big girl was so suave and handled the chaos like an old pro. Her handler followed suit. Oh - and she was already spayed.

One of the main goals of the quarterly Shots Fairs has been to get word out about the East Bay SPCA's free spay/neuter program for pit bulls (Pit Fix) and the low-cost surgeries for Non-Pits. When we started doing these fairs 3+ years ago, you rarely saw a fixed dog in the crowd. Now, they're a regular thing.

Already neutered and soon to be joining the Pit Ed classes. Very nice dog. This sweet family adores him beyond belief. We know the feeling.

What a cute kid. His dog was as bubbly as he was.

Revolution Anyone?

Voluntary Spay/Neuter Efforts are alive and well in the SF bay area ... Well, in the east bay, anyway.

Special thanks to Pet Food Express for the wonderful leash and collar donations for this season's fair.

Friday mentions

What's Life like for investigation dogs in your shelter? It's a good thing to know because in most, custody dogs fall to bottom-drawer priority and suffer long months of maddening isolation and kennel stress before their fates are determined by the courts. In many cases, the dogs are pit bulls and their jail time is a direct result of bad decisions on some human's part...Victims of idiocy. There's a lot of that going around, unfortunately.




The staff at the busy Tampa-area shelter that I keep blabbing about (Hillsborough County Animal Services) have been losing sleep over their custody dogs for awhile. They traveled to the bay area last year to attend Pit Ed Camp and to learn new ways to keep kenneled dogs happy. The trip included a visit to see Corinne Dowling's Give A Dog A Bone project for fresh inspiration. Less than a year later, they pulled together enough funds and community interest to create a big happy playground just for the dogs waiting out long-term jail sentences.

This may seem pretty basic, but it's actually revolutionary - especially when you consider how dogs like Spyder might've grown up right in the head had her shelter had similar resources. Photos courtesy of Hillsborough County Animal Services

This 30lb sweetie was awarded to the HCAS by the courts and will be going up for adoption. They look for the same qualities that we look for in our BR dogs, so if you're shopping for a new pit bull in the Tampa area, high tail it over to see this munchkin, a female named 'Pheebee.'

Ding Dong the Bill is Dead! Florida's HB101 - the bill that would've permitted BSL in the State of Florida - is dead! Congrats to everyone who worked so hard to bring it down.

High fives to BR volunteer Roxanne Alden and her pit bull Jackson, who were recognized by a local paper (Sonoma Index-Tribune ) for earning their AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate. Roxanne's winning quote in the article, "Jackson is not an exception to the breed norm, he's an example of it." ...Word!

In South Carolina three of eight dogs taken from a fight bust were moved into foster care and have been receiving training in preparation for adoption We just love when shelters buck the system in favor of helping the animals. In Pima AZ, the authorities finally charged the six pit bull owners with dog fighting. Their dogs will be available for qualified rescue groups soon, although with over 100 dogs-in-need, it's certain that only a small number will find help.

Four Ways to V-dog Nirvana

The V-dogs tend to be a little bit - ahem - energetic. We figure they're making up for lost time. These are some of the ways that their foster parents help them stay in shape and have a good time.



1. (Stuffed) Kong Balls
Big Bulldog Thanks to Teacher Lisa Jackson's 6th grade class from Sablatura Middle School (Pearland, TX) for your AWESOME donation to the Vick dogs. You guys are the best ....The dogs love their kongs!

2. First Dates
Teddles and Dutch. "Nice to meet you." Play sessions = Da best fun eva.

3. Study Time
Jonny Justice hits the books in Pit Ed class. He's an Honor Student, of course.

4. Run Baby, Run
No, he's not running from Ingrid ... Uba here is blissing out on the treadmill. It's his brand new favorite toy. Sleep well tonite, sweet Uba!

Tyson MacTyson

Who knew that this senior staffy bull orphan would be so instrumental in helping to acclimate one of "the most violent dogs in America" (hardly) to life in CA? This alien baby has been earning his kibble bigtime since leaving Oakland Animal Services by playing both mentor and playground buddy to a newly transplanted V-dog.

Life in Pit Bull Land is full of smiles and happy surprises. ...Updates on the way...

Thanks from Team Noonie

On behalf of Team Noonie I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of the donors who made our participation in the St. Baldrick’s event on March 15, 2008 so successful. Our team fundraising goal was $10,000 and due to the very generous contributions from so many kind hearted people, that amount was well exceeded. The event raised a total of more than $40,000. St Baldrick’s grants funds to over 230 institutions for laboratory research and to help make clinical trials available to more children than ever, giving those children treatment that offers the best chance for a cure. Fellowships are also funded to encourage the best and brightest new doctors to pursue careers in childhood cancer research. Your support truly makes a difference! As promised...here we are bald! And that's Charlie, my nephew sleeping in the stroller.

Home Sweet Home for V-Dog Ten

This is Spyder - affectionately known as Maya by her foster mom, Kim. She's got quite a story, altho' you might've noticed that she didn't get air time during the V-dog celebrations.

I'll just get to the meat of things: Spyder is a little bit screwed up.

Not from fighting, but from her early life in the shelter that took her in after the Vick bust. Her home for six months was in-no-way-ready to have 17 fighting dogs dumped on them. And being understaffed and ridiculously under-resourced, they were ill-prepared to help puppies grow up right in a gawd-awful-crazy kennel environment. While some animal welfare orgs solicited buttloads of money on the backs of Vick's victims, this little place saw penny-zero and couldn't afford an office chair, much less extra kennel help (Literally, they didn't have an office chair!) The two (count: 2) guys that worked there were in over their heads from Day One. They were, essentially, as screwed as the dogs they were supposed to be caring for.

Six Virginia animal shelters took in Vick dogs after the bust. Some were fantastic and the dogs shined in their care. And some shelters, not so good. We're not placing blame...We're just sayin.' When housing abused animals, resources matter.

So, six month old puppy Spyder and her littermate Frodo grew up in a loud, dirty echo chamber with no comforts and no one to take them outside. And yes, it caused permanent damage. Dogs like our Ernie came from this same shelter, but because he was already a stable (and well socialized) adult when he entered, he was better wired to endure the intense stress of confinement.

Suckers-R-Us, our hearts hurt for these funny little yearlings when we met them back in September. We wanted to give them our best, even if that meant they wouldn't be able to be famous or 'normal' like Jonny Justice, Hector, Ernie, Teddles and the rest. So when the courts granted us the opportunity to take dogs home for interim foster care weeks early (designed to prevent stressed-out dogs from deteriorating further) we weighed our options and put the pups on the bus along with the Rock Stars. It was only right; hogging all the Stars when other groups were stepping up would be wrong, and we had room for the siblings, so why not.

Fast forward to Now. Amazingly, Brother Frodo seems to be doing 'okay.' He's no lion-heart, but he's participating in the real world and trying his best to be brave. As stunted as he is, he's full of joy and hope and will be protected and loved by his circle of supporters in BR. But his sister?...Not so okay. Spyder enjoys the world in small spurts. Dogs are her biggest happiness and her play manners are wonderful. She loves her crate, her ball and FOOD - Ohmagod. Food is good. But in total, the world outside is a very scary place for Spyder.

After several months of home care and minor victories, it became clear that city life was causing her more fear than joy. And that's just not fair; We didn't get into this project to cause more stress.

So now comes the good news:...As of yesterday, Spyder went to live at Best Friend's Sanctuary in Utah. The world is smaller there; quieter. A 10x20 pen is her new kingdom with toys and sun and no city noises to rattle her nerves. She'll be able to play with other dogs and smell the fresh air and watch the Utah weather and bark at coyotes and go for walks with her new 'family' - a small circle of people who've committed themselves to her care. In our heart of hearts, we believe she'll be truly happy there.

We certainly considered the option of putting Spyder to sleep. We do our share of 'culling' dogs that aren't right for this unforgiving world and we knew no one would blame us for this sad task. But doing this does take a piece of your soul away each time. We've seen it turn seasoned breed people bitter and ill-tempered towards everything and everyone. I imagine demanding perfection in an imperfect world can have the same negative accumulative effect as living in a small cage with no light or fresh air. So maybe in part for selfish reasons, to protect our hearts from hardening to the point of no return, we voted for Life for Spyder. Thank you Best Friends for giving us the opportunity to make that choice for her. Above: John Garcia of Best Friends greets Spyder.

Vid Clip: Frodo and Spyder (in red collar) Saying Good Bye.

Here's a quick clip of Spyder getting loaded up for her trip to Utah. Big day! Plane Ride Home .... Later, I'll tell-all on the Best Friend's V-dog that came to take Spyder's place in CA. The adventure continues.

Pearl

I wanted to post a tribute to Pearl (blog below). She graced our Katrina Survivor Calendar cover last year, running like happy gangbusters on the beach in her new land. I was floored by Nicole's initial interest in rescuing Pearl from a sea of pit bulls in the rescue station of NOLA way back when. When asked why she wanted the black scarred up girlie with swinging teats, protruding vulva and chopped ears, Nicole stated matter of factly, "Because this is the dog that everyone else will leave behind." You so rock, Nicole.

God speed Miss Pearl...The beach is all yours now. Off leash, at that!

Better odds with a hurricane

I’ve been meaning to write about my experience in VA (and I will), but life moves fast and when I returned home, Pearl received a diagnosis of lymphoma. We had been busy making the most of our time together, until Monday at 5 am, when my precious Pearl died from lymphoma. She was a fabulous creature. Some people may say she wouldn’t have won a beauty contest (I, of course, think otherwise), but Pearl had an excess of personality. In the weeks of treatment at a local hospital, the staff treated her like royalty, never kenneling her because “she couldn’t have cared less about the other animals and we liked to sit with her.“

Pearl tried to make a friend of everyone she met.Sometimes people weren’t interested…like the man who yelled at me last week on a public sidewalk for not having a muzzle on her…Pearl continued to wag and smile at him while he berated us. Heartbreaking and so completely infuriating at the same time. Maybe some people have been so conditioned by what they read and see on TV that they fail to think for themselves and are unable to recognize the reality of what is right before their eyes.

And heartbreaking too, to think that there are thousands of other perfectly wonderful dogs just like her who are exterminated each year because they were unlucky enough to be rescued from the property of a dog fighter. Strange to think that Pearl was luckier to be caught up in a hurricane than to be rescued by some animal welfare agencies.

Rest in Peace My Love

Bookmark This

The notes about Spyder's send-off will have to wait for a time when I have more brain power. Better than yakking is the fun of new photos and perspective from nine rebel pit bulls. They don't seem to realize yet that they're defying the stereotypes of what pit bulls (fight bust pit bulls no less) are supposed to be like: unpredictable, unsocialized, fight-crazy, unwanted, uncontrolled, unworthy and expensive! (We're still amazed to hear that people think these guys are only alive because Vick had money. How freakin' RUDE.)

Vick Dog Blog

If you haven't already, check in with the Rebel Crew at their own Bloggity Blog ... Note: Sped Baby Frodo is still learning his way around the world, much less the keyboard. But Ted is on the ball. And we were happy to finally hear from the ever-sassy too-cute-for-her-own-damn-good Grace.

KC Dog Blog

Brent is right to puzzle over SF's new claims that they possess the magic cure for pit bull euthanasias. Is it working? We're scratching our heads over the claims too and will be back with our take on the numbers game. BSL/MSN in SF

National Canine Research Council

We can't pimp this site enough. Karen has taught us worlds on the realities of canine aggression. We look forward to seeing this website's information get to where it needs to go. NCRC

Motley Crew

These two thugs are commiserating on the downfalls of being low-pups-on-the-totem-pole in a house full of top dogs. Being a foster dog in these circles means ya gotta play second fiddle to a pack of veteran canines and work for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g while waiting for an adopter to make you famous. Actually, as pathetic as they look, Frodo and Tyson are good buddies and they enjoy catching zzz's together in the first morning light while waiting for the sound of breakfast. But we like to chuckle at how forlorn they look. (Hey, you have to find entertainment where you can.)



The top dogs on the property are so unimpressed (read: bored) with foster dogs that they make the perfect role models for impromptu training sessions thru-out the day. What would we do without our patient crew of old timers? They remind us that dumb manners are only temporary ----> ---> ---> COOKIE TIME VIDEO

Looking for tips on DOG-DOG MANAGEMENT? Start HERE.

Saying Goodbye

Tomorrow marks a bittersweet moment for (V-dog) Frodo's sister, Spyder. She's leaving for a new home in a far-away land. We'll get back here and update asap.

Patriotism, indeed!

The threat of more BSL in Florida is raising its ugly head again. Heads Up!: HB101

Countering the insanity of Florida's BSL are our celebrated friends at Hillsborough County Animal Services. They can boast being one of the most proactive shelters in the country for going after animal abusers. Instead of pushing ineffective legislation, they're all about enforcing existing laws. Thank dog somebody in FL is setting a good example. Best quote in the article, Hillsborough on top on animal cruelty cases....

Dennis McCullough, is a former Secret Service agent who points out that he is neither a vegetarian nor a member of PETA. McCullough sees the protection of animals as nothing less than patriotic. "Part of the American way is that we defend the weak and defenseless," he said. "And this is just another example."

It's a funny world when the good guys have to make sure and distance themselves from Peta. What's Peta up to, by the way? ...What else? They're pushing for the breed ban in Florida. With a $30 million dollar annual budget that's obviously being used to hurt innocent animals, friends don't let friends donate to the crazies.

Pit bulls: A breed for Vikings

I really wanted to stay home. It's cold here and most of St. Cloud is the color gray with dirty snow and sad March skies...but what warm people. Tim & I are hunkered down in our hotel room in MN tonite after spending the day yakking up pit bull adoptions with a kind crowd of shelter workers and rescue groups. Networking is always the best part of conferences: We had the good fortune of hanging out with the smart (and beautiful) gals from A Rotta Love Plus and enjoyed dinner with pit bull celeb Roo tonite, who is owned the by the Disk Maniac Wallace

Okay, maybe the cold weather's not so hard to take after all.

The best news of the day: Our hosts, Minnesota Tri-County Humane Society, announced today that they're ready to put ambassadog pit bulls up for adoption. Tim's been talking with these good folks since his presentation last year piqued their interest in giving the bullpups a try. This news is gratifying, to say the least. Rachel and her crew from A Rotta Love helped us select a few dogs to evaluate in front of the crowd today. And while we hate putting dogs on the spot in front of 200 watchful eyes, the pay-off was that two did so well that they earned their way into two new adoption program. Huzzah!

This video shows a glimpse of a little brown monkey faced DARLING who will soon be Tri-County's first breed ambassadog. She tested beautifully: Warmly connected, cheerful, highly motivated to please and allllll about people. We wish her and her advocates well ... They have important work to do and we know that they'll be brilliant. Monkey Girl Kennel Clip

If you live in MN and are starting to think about adding a love machine to your family, pls check out Tri-County Humane MN (and don't tell'em I said so, but if you like designing websites, I bet these guys would love some help with a major website make-over to showcase their animals).

We fly to WI tomorrow ... Where I'm guessing it's still cold.

Ducked Fup

Out of 40 or so adoptions each year, we get about two returns...Not too bad. Sadly, the most common reason for a return is "divorce." We aim to weed home failures out as best we can with the trial adoptions. It's much easier to get a dog back within weeks rather than years after the fact. If you watch the Available Page - you're likely to notice an occasional 'Adoption Pending' dog shift back to 'Available' rather than 'Adopted' status, and you may wonder 'Wha'happened?' The stories behind those quiet status downshifts are as different as the people who come to us for dogs. (Texas, Left)

Lady Luck decided to mess with our heads recently....Like a wacky theme party, no less than three hopeful Adoption Pending homes all decided that having a second dog was more work than they expected (Contrary to some odd Internet rumors, most of BR's adopted dogs end up enjoying permanent homes with other well-matched pets.). We were surprised when Harvey (Linda's dog), BooBoo (Tim's dog) and, more recently, Texas (my dog) all bounced back into the program. Their people all gushed about the pups but blamed the work involved. Multi-pet management definitely looks sexier on paper. We understand ... Flying furniture from indoor zoomies can get old, tripping over tie-downs is a pain and adjustment periods can be trying. That's why we call it a trial. But, still.

Weeding out window shoppers is tricky and admittedly, our facilities look like a country club to folks that are weighing the option of riding out a tuff adjustment period or going back to 'normal life' pre-pooch. Some homes even feel guilty about taking dogs away from our program. ('Please!' we explain. 'Get that dog out of here and give him a life!') Each of the recently returned dogs came back with a cheerful "we just know you'll find him/her a wonderful home right away" mention. ...Ahem. Clearly, we're making this adoption business look too easy. Or we're not offering enough Reality Check up front, or something. Or more likely, this is just the way it is. Sorry dogs.

Josie Kat (above) was not a return, but she did just miss out on a recent home with a really great seven year old kid when Dad decided that our weeding process was too intrusive (His Reality Check became my Reality Check!) We felt bad for the kid, tho.' J-Kat was kind enough to mimic my pms-inspired mood with this photo above. Nice.

So, taking Josie's lead - here are some photos to celebrate the orphan crew. Josie, Deja Blue and Texas at Pit Bull Hall - with a cameo from Elvez (who has a hopeful home ......or does he?)

Slideshow of PBH Dogs on a de-stuffing mission.
Josie Tug Movie
Texas Coy Clip
Somebody - Adopt one of these amazing dogs. Good lord.

Josie in a State of Pure Bliss. Which reminds me, when you thrift shop this summer, remember to pick up that $3 bag of stuffed toys for the crew at Pit Bull Hall. Watching our dogs de-stuff is as therapeutic for US as it is for them!

Five 'rare' pitbull pups stolen

And a story on a sad theft and some of the biggest suckers on the planet. Rare blue-eyed pharaoh pit bulls? That is for to laugh (or cry, depending on the day you're having) PSHAW!

Making it Work

BR Rep Linda Chwistek is one of the happiest things to happen to pit bulls in the SF by area. She's the best kind of dog nut: grounded, dedicated, focused, and always willing to share what she knows. She trudges out to all kinds of weather to help pit bull owners with all levels of obedience, and she's stirred lots of proof in her pudding by putting multiple agility titles on Super Fly, Ruby.

With ten thousand things going on, she still manages to pull and place a handful of great breed ambassadors thru out program each year. This recent case is extra happy.

In her words:

One Year, Six Months, 8 Days

Believe, me. I've been counting, and worrying (just a little).

She's an exceptional dog. And she's also a high drive, working style pit bull. Like so many terriers, she's full of bravado and she'’s not likely to back down from a challenge if another dog pushes her. But with training and management from her smart and patient foster home, she's the perfect dog and she exudes what I love most about this breed. Pit bulls like her are often the sweetest and most people-focused dogs you will ever be lucky enough to meet; willing to do just about anything for their person. But it can also take a long time to get to their happy ending. The working dog community typically avoids the rescue dogs (preferring a pedigree on their dogs) and pet homes usually want dogs with a little less moxie, so gems like this get left out in the cold. Even so, we pull the best of the best of these pit bulls from the shelters when we have a ready foster home because we know and appreciate the amazing animals that are packaged up with that endless drive.

But, back to counting days. I'm no longer worried, not even a little. Want to know why? Check out our Happy Endings page in just a couple of days! - Linda Chwistek

We Gots it!:
RR Show Link with Jonny

...... And at last, we have the LINK to the Rachael Ray Show with her segment about the Vick dogs, and, Jonny Justice's 15 minutes of fame. WOOF!

(Thanks Tom Becker)

Who's This?

Lil Leprechaun Dutch here hasn't had as much air time as the other Vick dogs yet, but this may be his Lucky Weekend.

The wee thing is full of spirit, so will be auditioning for a role as an agility dog with two dog-shoppin' trainers who've been putting impressive agility titles on their dogs. Air time - indeed!

Wish da little guy the Luck of the Pit Bull!

Feeling lucky

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, it's a good time to reflect on luck.

We really can't believe the breed's good luck these days - all the positive press seems almost surreal! Is the tide finally turning for our bully pals? We have a good feeling about it.

Since I was feeling lucky and festive, and since both those things go along quite nicely with St. Pat's, I got motivated and asked crack designer Amy McMillan to come up with some fun pit bull t-shirt designs for the Bad Rap shop.

The first one one isn't a sentiment that would have rung true on last St. Pat's, but these days it works.

Don't worry - we also made some shirts for the dogs (of course!) that can be worn all year round, particularly if you have a nice lil' rednose red.

(The complete line of St. Patrick's Pit Bull t-shirts is here - we haven't quite updated the shop navigation, so they're hard to find without a direct link.)

So on St. Pat's, do be sure to raise a glass in thanks and a toast to continued luck from the Bully Gods.

Because, as we all know, pit bulls do love to party! And a raucous day like St. Pat's is most definitely a pit bull's kinda party day.

Oh - boring details:

If you want a deal on these shirts, you can save $5 off $50 with the coupon code STPATPITBULL.

Team Noonie

When science finally perfects the human-cloning process, we're going to have to get busy with building an army of this woman, Nicole Rattay, and her husband Steve Smith. These guys are the diehards who flew out to VA to drive an RV with 13 Vick dogs back to CA. Nicole then went back to VA and lived in a run-down little rented apartment for six weeks so she could offer daily assessment reports to Rebecca Huss, along with exercise opps and general comfort to the sheltered dogs that were still waiting for their ticket home. We could (and should) write a long blog on what Nicole did for those Vick dogs and how her care brought so many out of kennel stress and depression.

Shown here with Bouncer now Leo, a fantastic example of the breed - destined to be a working dog (and quite likely related to Hector). Leo has a way of making toys out of anything he can get his big fat mouth on, and after demolishing a plastic garbage can for sh*ts and giggles, we knew that flying him home in a vari-kennel might cause a little bit of a problem (!) So without a second thought, Nicole raised her hand to do another coast-to-coast drive, this time solo - except for her special passenger, of course.

During the long and difficult dogs days of the Vick ordeal, Nicole learned that her three year old nephew Charlie was diagnosed with leukemia.

As you may imagine, our family was rocked by the diagnosis and the reality that came with it. Hospitals…procedures…tests…needles…chemo…all scary stuff, and bad enough when an adult is faced with these things, but try explaining the necessity of all of this to a child. Charlie has been a real trooper during his treatment. Initially of course there were battles over medication, but those are few and far between now. He understands that there are “bad guys” in his blood and the medications and healthy food are going to make them go away. (Letter from Nicole)

So what do you do in that situation besides rack up the cell phone minutes and frequent flyer miles?

What else. You shave your head in solidarity for the little guy who lost his hair.

On March 15, Nicole and Steve will be going chrome-dome as part of a St. Baldrick Fundraiser to bring attention to kids with cancer, and to raise funds for research. Cancer is the #1 disease related killer of children under the age of 14 years and currently, one in every 330 children in the United States develops cancer before the age of nineteen.

Nicole's whole family is in on this and have formed 'Team Noonie.' Noonie is the name of Charlie’s beloved softie that accompanies him to all hospital visits. If you'd like to pledge a little something to support this family, I know they would love it. Team Noonie Pledges.

Thank you!

Highs & Lows

As you can imagine, BR's website hits spiked like a SF-style shaker after Friday's show. Thank you, Rachael Ray. Behind those spikes are real people tho' who've prolly never been to a pit bull website before. How exciting and how intriguing. Who are these folks?....And what do they think of all this?

I couldn't find stats for # of daytime telly viewers that tune in each day, but according to her magazine's Media Kit, nearly half of RR's audience are men...Huh! The median age is 44.7 (Damn. I picked a good time to be middle-aged.) Over a quarter are college graduates and working professionals. I'm hoping a good chunk enjoyed what they saw. At least, they were smiling warmly at us when I was wrestling Jonny into a 'relaxed' pose (ha!) on the sofa with a crew of jack-rabbit-fast producers buzzing around.

SHOW LINK HERE.

We're really grateful to the folks who took the time write with their feedback. This is one of my favorite letters. From a guy named Al:

To whom it may concern,,
I just watched on a tv program, how pitbulls are being saved and retrained by your org, and I am inpressed to say the least.
I am 53 years of age and have known people who have raised these dogs for just what they were bred for..and I have never agreed with this behavior..I always believed that the owners who treat animals this way are the ones who are commiting the crime, not the dog. I would also like to say that I never thought that pitbulls could be trained to do anything more than fight. I was wrong..Thank you for what you are doing for these animals, they do need your help..I have never agreed with punishing the animal fot the owner's behavior. They have suffered enough. Keep up the good work. - Al

Canada-O-Canada

Head's Up. We can't celebrate for long without remembering the pit bull owners who're looking in from the BSL hell of the Ontario ban. Like Mac's Gang, who comes to this blog almost every day for a tiny dose of sanity. BAD things are happening in Mac's world, and it's not getting better.

Let's let Luisa (Lassie Get Help) do the telling in her blog post Toronto's Gulag for Dogs

Hang in there Mac's World. And Caveat. And pittymomma. Your dogs are our dogs, and their time will come.

There's too many dogs in this tub

Does anyone remember the old Shel Silverstein poem?

I thought of it today while I washed five - yes, five - dogs. OK, I didn't wash them all at once or anything, but seriously - too many dogs in that tub consecutively made for one tired (and very wet) Mom / Foster Mom.

Four of the five are seen here on what used to be the couch and is currently known as The Best Dog Bed. I figure after torturing them all with a bath, the least I can do is throw a sheet over the cushions and let everyone (everyone who will stay still in a picture that is...) chill out and stay warm.

The "Dirtiest Dog" award went to Millie, who has a habit of throwing herself onto her back and wiggling for any other dog or human that she wants to show that she thinks they're pretty great. The "Most Compliant" award went to Pandora, who hops into the tub of her own accord (looking appropriately pathetic and martyr-like, of course).

But the "Most Pathetic" award went, paws-down, to Hector.

Hector really hates baths, and from the way he pouts may think that I'm doing this for the sole purpose of tormenting him. After two failed escapes and a few more obvious motions toward the edge of the bathtub, he finally settled in and realized that this bath was going to continue with or without his blessing... oh, poor Hector!

Keep in mind that this is a Vick dog with a rock-solid temperament who shows no demons from his past and seems to just enjoy living in the present with no regrets or worries despite his previous abusive conditions and months in custody... that is, unless the living in the present includes the dreaded bathtub.

So Hector has his own strong opinions about baths, and since he has his own blog now with his other Vick Dog pals he decided to share them.

Anyway, 5 clean dogs makes for 1 dirty human, so after all that I decided to give myself a shower (since I wasn't up for cleaning the bathtub).

I was asked at Pit Ed class today what the hardest part of having 5 dogs around is, and I said "feeding time." I'd like to officially retract that statement - I forgot about bath time! Phew.

Anyway, everyone's clean and smelling lovely, and now we have some cute pictures of some very clean dogs to remind us that Cleanliness is next to Dogliness... but not without some human elbow grease.

And a lot of dirty towels.

Celebrate

A wonderful little video piece from one of the many people who lost sleep last summer over the Vick case. Upbeat is an understatement. Thank you, Dane -- This one still gives me chills. CELEBRATE!

And we have to give four paw high fives to this video outlining an important education program in Chicago designed to curb dog fighting. Even though the HSUS misfired in a big way with the Vick case, we're so happy to see them $upport this program. Big kudos to the Chicago Canine Academy for your good work.

This is a repeat, but everyone needs to keep this video on hand as a cure for what ails you. The music is enough to revive the soul. Jonny Justice Thanks again dogtime.com!

Signs of Intelligence

The stars & planets are lined up right for the dogs this week. Let's enjoy it while we can....

Battle Won - Two pit bull owners in PA won a major battle after spending eight years fighting a city ordinance that puts unfair restrictions on pit bulls. A state appeals court tossed it out da door. Congrats PA, and Well done!

Fair Treatment - Houston Humane Society announced that they will evaluate two fought pit bulls for placement potential. No 'fighting machine' or 'ticking time bomb' talk noted. We don't remember this shelter adopting out many/any pit bulls in the past, so giving these two dogs a fair chance is Huge.....Maybe it's contagious? A South Carolina shelter has made the same announcement about six abused dogs.

Ahem. A brief message to the 'Kill-em-All Naysayers' out there.

Compassion for Jailbirds - Pima AC in Tuscon is soliciting donations to care for the 130+ pit bulls confiscated from the Patrick property. This is a wonderful way to involve the community in caring about the dogs. We commend the decision to ask for help, and hope that they end up with lots of toys in addition to the supplies.

HE CAN SIT! - Our foster dog Frodo (above) - who runs a little on the simple side - learned to Sit today. Woo! It's been embarrassing to have the only Vick dog that can't do a sit, but Frodo needed to work things out on his own time. Raised from pup-hood in near-isolation, he's one of our more stunted dogs, and we all have a soft spot for him because of it. More to come on the World According to Frodo.

Life's Luxuries

It's so nice to hear how many people are opting to run late for work on Friday so they can catch the Rachael Ray Show. It's like the Pit Bull Oscars, but without Jon Stewart. (darn)

This is the NYC limo driver who drove our K9 Celeb around town. He fell hard for the little monster and I'm pleased to report that Jonny held back and didn't vomit in the car once (altho' he looks a little green here, doesn't he?) <----

Rachael and her crew certainly treat their guests right: We enjoyed a lovely hotel next to Carnegie Hall that allows pets. Nice. The staff fawned over him so much that we knew they'd understand when he made a little do-do in the room (Oops). Video of a little room party, bulldog style: Five Star Bed Bug

I have to say, I had fleeting moments of guilt during this trip. So much expense and extravagance -- for a dog? Isn't this a little out of balance when we consider the human suffering in the world? Thankfully our resident poet and Pit Bull Hall diehard Elizabeth helped pull it all into perspective. She said "Hilton hell yes. There's a poet Jack Gilbert who has a great take ("A Brief for the Defense") on living it up despite the misery out there:"

If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world.

Point taken. Thank you Jack and thank you, Elizabeth.

In an unrelated reality check on the Way of the World, we came home and were greeted by a pair of red tail hawks who've returned to the grounds of the East Bay SPCA (where Pit Bull Hall is housed) to tend a nest for the third year in a row. They're a marvelous pair and have fledged out several youngins.' What could be better than working a pit bull while watching a family of hawks spin overhead and scream out that life-affirming "I'm alive and I'm hungry!" cry? Whether it's New York City or the flats of Oakland, life is always better when it can be shared with the critters.