on the barn's design, she dumped a good rain on us as a reminder that we just better get a move-on with this project. Point taken!So tomorrow is the day - the Big Day - when the ground is opened in preparation for next steps. We love our contractor, John Hearney. He chopped his price for us and he doesn't seem to pull his hair out - publicly, anyway - when we tell him we have (yet another) leetle change in the plans: The bathroom just got smaller, and the area where the dogs will sleep just got a little bigger, along with the real life area. The 'real life area' is where our crew will gather round for movie night with the dogs. We figure any respectable housing for homeless pit bulls better have a good set-up for movie night. The breeze-way porch will face the sunrise for early morning doggy yoga stretches.
And a dog door off of the larger kennel will open to a small fenced in area inside of the larger half acre play yard. I hope the dogs like it. Left: Inspector Sally is fine-combing our lay-out for the barn.As luck would have it, we're leaving town and will be in a midwest location with bust dogs tomorrow while the crew is breaking ground for the barn. When we get back, we're told the poles to this traditional style pole barn will be planted in the earth, pointing towards the sky and waiting for the next step ... Dog willing.
BARN RAISER UPDATE
We're six thousand dollars away from earning the big 10K matching gift from Tana. These good folks helped us get this far:Luisa Serrano, James Schier, Suzanne Vice, California Latin Dreams, Paisley Rosengren and Susan George all showed up to this virtual barn raising with their gifts sent via PayPal. Edward Ramey, Sophie's adopter held a big music get-together to fundraise for the barn which brought in a big chunk of change, too. Thank you, friends!
Say CheeseThe My Dog is Family Photo Contest has been gathering some of the most charming pit bull pix we've seen, including this one of Louie from Delaware - owned by Gina Fries.
It's starting to feel like a poker game, with lots of players holding their (purchased) votes close for now. Hmm. We predict a wild and crazy scramble once we get closer to the contest deadline of October 15. It should be interesting!
Have fun with the building. My only advice is to be patient! The sanctuary where I work is moving and we've had to build four large barns for several species. It's taken about twice as long as the contractor said it would, but since we had a nice lead-time before moving, it worked out fine. Now we just have 2.5 miles of fencing to build, yeck!
ReplyDeleteIn any event, glad to see the pole barn on its way up - I'm just so very excited for you and the dogs!!
me and Roscoe are "all in" and now he is openly asking family members to fund his rise to fame!
ReplyDeleteDo the vote dollars go toward the barn raiser, to help the matching grant, or must that be separate??
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice Rinalia. I'll *try* to be patient, but it's not something I'm good at. Congrats on your new facility and ... don't scrimp on the augers. They're worth their weight in gold for fence bldng.
ReplyDeleteWhoWoudaThunkit -- The photo contest monies are separate from the barn raising and will be used to build our general fund and rescue budget for 2010. If we get 'stuck,' we may dip into photo contest funds to help with the final leg of the barn, but we're going to try very hard not to do that.....
....By the way ... I wanted to *thank you* kindly for the sound of wubbas all over Oakland. It's been hard to track down your email address, so forgive the tardy. TugTug is especially goofy about those toys. If we can send you a donation receipt, please let us know. Thanks again. Squee SQUEE!
I love the idea of a kind of "half-way house" for rescued dogs! Forgive me if I missed this in another post, but how many dogs will the barn be able to house at one time?
ReplyDeleteHey Suzi. The numbers will fluctuate depending on what's going on in the world. It's being designed to hold up to 12 dog temporarily (as in, after a cruelty bust). We're not planning on keeping it that full 24/7 tho'. Ultimately, we want the dogs to be in real live foster homes. Oh - and moms & pups will now have a long-term place to stay until everybody's weaned. That'll be new in our corners.
ReplyDeleteSally just wants to make sure that you guys are doing it right. It is after all her new home!
ReplyDeleteI love how seriously Sally is taking the whole thing. I suspect she has a few demands of her own to make of Mr. Hearney.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that this is a good project that serves well for both staff and rescued pitbulls. I wish I could take one of these cute pooches to an addiction treatment center and lift the spirits of some people!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! I love this project... what an amazing place it will be. :)
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to bury the special good luck charms in the foundation! :>)
ReplyDeleteLove the photo contest! How long will it take for a submission to get approved? I'm itching to start campaigning!! :)
ReplyDeleteI am so excited that this is going to be up and running. You guys are such an inspiration for us pitbull owners! I have my Kingston in pit ed classes now and he has already shown such an improvement. I am forever grateful to BadRap to be a part of this organization and advocate for pitbulls.
ReplyDeleteSuper(visor) Sally,
ReplyDeleteGet'em movin' girl! What a great job, finding the places that Foreman Honkey Tonk has marked for the poles! Get out some of those buster-pibbles like digger maniac Uba to break that foundation. (http://vickdogsblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-dig-dirt.html)
O.K. Louie is REAL cute for Delaware, but a Cat on the Calendar??? (Sugar Glider would be better!) Woofs are going out to all my fans to take their gloves off and start hitting those keys.
Maybe not a poker game, could be folks are like my Sheena gal. She put money in the machine and forget to pull the voting lever. CHA-CHING!
(https://www.360photocontest.com/contest.asp?page=viewInd&secure=on&id=6906&contestId=25)
I'll check back on my entry,
Calendar Boy Boris
I love the movie with the dogs idea. I'm looking forward to seeing more pix of that. We are always trying to find new ways to give our dogs enrichment and we are piece by piece putting together a good agility course. Go on You Tube and look for Archie doing agility.
ReplyDeleteHey Drew, I bring my CGC (thanks BAD RAP!) pittie Katie Lynn to work with me at a center for people with substance-abuse problems, and there is sometimes a line waiting to pet her and say hi. I've often seen glum people walk away from the office smiling. She can do more with one lick than I can by listening for an hour.
ReplyDeletehey guys, i just came across your blog & *love* this project!! a long time ago i had 2 AM staffs & they were the best dogs i ever had. i just tweeted about your project, i don't have a lot of followers yet, but i guess that every little shout out helps.
ReplyDelete