sticking up for the under dogs

beware of weird dog owners at the dog park especially…

yesterday, cici played peacefully for an hour or so with some new doggie pals, a labradoodle, pulli, aussie shepherd, a french sheep dog and her best friend marla, the belgium shepherd… wrestling, chasing, catching frisbees, rolling around, bathing in the drinking water…

then came trouble into the park. some guy brings his two dogs into the park ON LEASH, a tiny chiwowwow and a big dog, maybe a dobie rottie mix. the rules say do not bring your dog inside on leash because dogs can get growly and worse when on leash.

some of the dogs came to the gate to greet the dogs including cici, and the big dog snarled and snapped at her and she responded in kind while i got there as fast as i could. thankfully the owner of the lab and pulli got cici out of harm’s way but the guy started yelling at her then me about MY aggressive breed dog, my dog who had been playing just fine with a bunch of dogs until HIS dog arrived.  i left and he did too, but not before accusing me, projecting his own fears and aggressiveness onto cici…

some dogs and their owners should not be allowed into the dog park.

it gets weary sometimes people’s animosity towards pitties…

and reminds me of this experiment they showed last night on what would you do, a new tv show. at a czech bakery, the shopkeeper started yelling at this muslim woman in a burka, saying all kinds of really ignorant racist things about her. most people ignored him unfortunately, a few supported his bigotry and a few brave souls either left or told him off for being such a bad american.  two girls asked to speak to the mgr. it also struck me that czechs have been discriminated against and most people, not all, but many who know what it is like to be unfairly accused tend to stick up for the underdog. not always, sometimes they are worse.

when in doubt out the racists safely including dog owners and others who discriminate against innocent people and/or dogs.

Good news for the Michael Vick dogs: loving human beings

Several animal organizations have taken on the task of working with the Michael Vick pit bull dogs to get them new loving homes… Best Friends, Bad Rap and others, to name a few. And the dogs are so sweet and loving, says Bad Rap, it’s been easier than they thought.  

http://www.badrap.org/rescue

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/vick/now.htm

lBullie Buddies of Las Vegas reported that in a series of dog temperament tests conducted by the American Temperament Test Society, Pit Bulls had a passing rate of 95 percent. These tests put different dog breeds through various situations. Some tests involved the participation of strangers. Any sign of aggression and stress from the dog resulted in a failure of the test. The American Kennel Club believes Pit Bulls are the ideal family pet and recommended the breed as an especially good dog for children.

FYI, Pit Bull Awareness Day is Oct. 20. 

Now here’s a beautiful story of how a loving individual person can make a difference in a dog’s life and in the life of others…I have a 1 year old female red-nose pit I ‘rescued’ from my neighbors. They got her as a puppy and were very infatuated with the idea of having a puppy but not taking care of it. The dog was a lonely and neglected puppy. Countless times as a puppy she’d be left outside leashed to their porch at night. I had to save her once as I heard a yipping sound and came outside to see her choking while dangling from the raised porch.My neighbors aren’t exactly well off, As the dog grew older she started digging under the fence that separates our yards to come play with our two dogs. I’d send her back though since it wasn’t home for her.A few times I saw the neighbors with the dog and they would hold her by the neck in the back of a pickup truck and stick her face into another dog to instigate aggression. This happened on many occasions and it saddened me greatly, it made me mad actually.

I saw that they had plans to make her a fighting dog, and it’s no wonder as Dog Fighting is a fairly large underground pasttime here in Hawaii. Even the laws here are too lenient on participants.

http://network.bestfriends.org/hawaii/news/18664.html

I turned that anger into an orchestrated plan to save her. I’d show her both sides of the fence. If fate worked it’s magic, if she’d at least see there could be something better, something more loving, maybe she would choose.So as the dog would make her digging excursions to our house next door, I stopped sending her back right away. I played with her and my dogs. I let her inside the house after a good bath and started loving her. After awhile she learned where the food was and ‘how things worked’ from our other two dogs. The calls, commands, tricks, pack mentality along with solid leadership that all dogs crave, and the most obvious…attention…We had a permanent hole setup between the houses.

During the day the pit bull would be over at our house until our neighbors came home. She’d always rush anxiously to meet them, crawling under the fence quickly up to them just to be dismissed as they went inside the house and passed her by. She was getting big, she didn’t have that ‘cute’ size factor that people love about puppies.The pit bull continued to grow and grow while this kept happening. She had sad eyes… all the time, except when she was over here.

After some time she just kind of starting living with us 24/7. We’d have guests over and she’d be playful and lick everyone, even the kids, which we have over all the time from my fiance’s HUGE family. As her training and age progressed, she developed a sensible guardian mentality. Which was very good for us in our neighborhood, there’s a certain shady element around here, but this was good as the dog certainly had a very developed presence.One day during a weekend BBQ, we had a party in our front yard with family. Our dogs were social with everyone and were well mannered.

Then our neighbors pulled into the driveway next door blasting their bass intensive stereos. the pit bull dog started barking at them. The looks on their faces was curious, but then stupefied. They then walked quietly inside their house. I had a feeling from this .. and many family members at the party picked up on the vibe too. It suddenly became the topic in our ‘talk stories’ as hawaiian slang goes. There was a large agreement and unison as to why this dog was with us, and how she was home now.

Our discussion was discreet as not to be obvious we were talking down on them, but the feeling shot right through the walls.A week passed, and I thought of ways to make things official for this pit bull dog being with us. Confrontation on their part would be… interesting, to say the least. I would have to point out the reasoning of why we wanted her thus exploiting their own shortcomings. I decided to just keep showing the love and Aloha. So I did.

Another week passed and it came up suddenly in small talk with the neighbors, they asked humbly if we would take her since she lives over here so much now. I just looked in their eyes saying “I will, Mahalo, she’ll have a good life here don’t worry.”

Since this happened there’s been less loud music, gambling and a shady element on their side of the fence. My neighbors have taken small steps in the right directions as well. They still play with her through the fence, but I can tell… it still hurts them. I can tell though they’re working harder to get out of whatever hole they’ve dug themselves.Hmmm, maybe I should let them in too.

That’s it. I should have seen that earlier. Well, I’m off to re-open some holes in the fence.

Cool story, huh…

Now here’s a bunch of pit bull friendly sites with great info on adopting a pit bull… being a responsible owner, keeping them safe and happy as well as overcoming prejudices.

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.htm

lhttp://dogtime.com/

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/dogpark.cfm

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/responsible.cfm

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/myths.cfm

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/resources.cfm

http://welcome.to/realpitbull

http://www.understand-a-bull.com

http://www.pitbullpress.com/

http://www.pbrc.net/

http://www.pbrc.net/temperament.html

http://www.dogtownrescue.com/