B-More Bulldogs

End BSL in Miami

2012-01-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

From the Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation. In Florida, it's not legal for municipalities to pass breed-specific legislation, but in Miami it's been grandfathered in. And it's not like it's kept pit bulls out of the Miami-Dade area. To the contrary, people find pit bulls in/around Miami all the time ... so what is this specific law doing, exactly?

Two bills have been filed in the Florida legislature this session – SB1322 and HB997 – that would repeal the grandfather clause that allows Miami to keep its BSL in place. If you're opposed to BSL, contact your Florida legislators and tell them to support SB1322 and HB997!

Ball by Planet Dog

2012-01-21T20:43:00.001-05:00

Doc should be a spokesdog for Orbee. Seriously. He lives for these balls.

New Orleans' Gambit on pit bulls

2012-01-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

Today someone emailed me a link to this recent story on the pit bull population in New Orleans published in the city's alt-weekly, Gambit. Aside from the bait dog thing, which comes up a few times in the story, it's a pretty good piece that points out the ugly realities of what it means to be a pit bull in an urban area in the U.S.As the story mentions, Villalobos Rescue Center is setting up shop in New Orleans ... more on that in another post, but you can get some details here.

Some notable quotes from the Gambit story appear below, which hopefully will spur you on to go read the piece. And don't forget to read author Alex Woodward's person note on his personal connection to pit bulls, "On pit bulls and writing about your best friends." At the LASPCA, more than 1,100 pit bulls are taken in, but only 81 were adopted out.

According to the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LASPCA), the shelter accepted 7,201 animals in 2011, and 1,667 of those were pit bulls. Of those animals, it found adoptive homes for 1,889 animals — including 123 pit bulls. It also euthanized 1,257 pit bulls. All figures for the shelters' 2011 pit bull intake (including adoption, but excluding owner surrender) were greater than those of 2010, when the shelter euthanized 1,166 pit bulls and adopted out only 81. On the adoption floor, many of the dogs are pit bulls. Most are new arrivals, including two puppies: two-month-old Amara and Bourbon, who were found in an abandoned house on Josephine Street.

Grimm, a dog who was won as a PRIZE in a poker game ... nice.

Grimm, a young, slim white and brown pit bull, was a prize in a poker game. The winner gave her to the shelter, where staff discovered she was pregnant. She birthed a litter, and over the next few days, the shelter received more puppies, some with their umbilical cords still attached, who still needed to be nursed. Grimm accepted them into her litter, and the puppies huddled next to her to nurse.

A bit on Ken Foster (author of The Dogs Who Found Me) and his work with the Sula Foundation.

In 2008, Foster started the nonprofit Sula Foundation, named after his pit bull Sula, who died in 2010. The organization has rescued, fostered and adopted out dozens of pit bulls and has hosted events to offer dog owners low-cost veterinary care like vaccinations, spaying and neutering, and other services, including dog training. (The next clinic is noon to 3 p.m. February 4 at Bonart Playground in the Lower 9th Ward.) The foundation survives on donations and merchandise sales, including its popular "Pit Bulls of New Orleans" wall calendar.

A guy encounters a dangerous dog who tried to bite him, reports it to the authorities and weeks later, finds that nobody took any action to protect the public from the dog. So very many dog-bite incidents I read about include some mention of the fact that passersby or neighbors complained about dangerous problems that nobody ever had time, money or resources to address. This is why our communities are not safe from dangerous dogs ... it's not dog breeds but bad owners and unresponsive (due to lack of resources or lack of interest, or both) authorities.

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011, David Munroe walked to the corner of St. Philip Street and North Claiborne Avenue at 6:40 a.m. Two unleashed pit bulls lay in a grassy lot 30 feet away. One of them lunged at him, grabbing his ankle and shredding his sock but not breaking his skin. Munroe yelled, and the dog backed off. "I was fortunate, but someone may not have been," he says, noting that Joseph A. Craig Elementary School is within walking distance of the area. "Kids would be out walking, and these dogs are out there. They might do real harm to a kid." Munroe reported the attack to both the New Orleans Police Department and the LASPCA, but the dogs, he says, were still there six weeks later. He thinks the pit bull population needs stricter enforcement. "Until there's not a problem with this, society needs to take steps to protect itself," he says.

Anyway, good story, go read.

Tucker, Adventuredog

2012-01-17T14:58:00.001-05:00

Tucker likes when I take him to visit new places. This past weekend we went to Blanchard Park in East Orlando, which has a nice walking/biking path along the river. There were lots of dogs out, but all on leash and not too crazy crowded. We could get used to this whole winter in Florida thing.

Dog obedience, January 2012

2012-01-14T12:08:00.000-05:00

Rob and I took Doc and Tucker to Blue Jacket Park today to practice some obedience with Doc. I haven't been keeping up much on his training, but I'm making a renewed effort to do more with him this year. Doc's obedience is still looking good, though he's a lot slower in his old age. And poor Tucker, who has been practicing with me more on his obedience lately, really wanted to join in the fun too. I felt kind of bad watching this video because he was so eager to play along. But I like that Doc didn't even notice him and just kept up with his heeling. Doc has been getting a bit more reactive to strange dogs in his old age, so I was pleased that he didn't even blink when a couple of dogs were walking around the park perimeter while we were practicing. Good dogs.

There's a pit bull on tonight's Parks and Recreation

2012-01-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

I love NBC's Parks and Recreation. I love it a little more tonight because it features Champion, the three-legged dog, who happens to be a pit bull. I can't find any photos of the dog or info about him, but I'm sure they'll turn up eventually.

Update: Here's the episode on Hulu. Best part of this is that they don't make a huge deal out of the fact that Champion is a pit bull. He's just a three-legged dog.

And an episode recap from NYMag!

Practicing their down/stays

2012-01-09T19:24:00.001-05:00

Tonight, Tucker, Button and I did a bit of mat work. The conference I attended this weekend - mind-blowingly good, by the way, but more on that later - reminded me that I've been neglecting a lot of those little, easy, everyday obedience things that can make life so much easier and more enjoyable for me and the dogs. The dogs get some mental exercise and stimulation in a passive setting, I get some mental relaxation when they are zonked out later. Everybody wins.

Well, except Tucker. As you can see in the photo below, he would rather be practicing on the couch. Floors are hard.

The coal-miner's pit bull

2012-01-07T19:39:00.001-05:00

Training seminar tomorrow!

2012-01-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

I'm super-excited to be attending this "Tuning Into Your Dog" seminar with Patricia McConnell and Kathy Sdao this weekend.I remember that when I got my first dog of my own (holy crap, that was 20 years ago this coming February--yikes) I went to a few libraries looking for educational/training resources and came up with a couple of books from the Monks of New Skete, Barbara Woodhouse's No Bad Dogs and an old copy of one of the Koehler training books. I read them all, but I remember being a bit surprised by some of the advice they contained. I'll never forget reading Woodhouse's advice to make sure your dog is a bit aloof with strangers by allowing it to have several unpleasant, but not horrifying, orchestrated experiences so he'd learn not to be too eager to greet new people. I also remember taking my poor dog to a class and being taught that I would have to yank her around and not let her have an inch during training or she'd never learn a thing. I dutifully followed the heavy-handed advice I was given and I remember not really enjoying training my dog. It was just something I figured I had to do to ensure that I could control her.

I can't remember how or why, but I finally came across some books by a trainer named Carol Lea Benjamin, whose attitude toward handling dogs was far from the stern and rigid stuff I'd previously been exposed to. I remember feeling this huge sense of relief when I read in one of her books that she sometimes let her dogs pull on the leash, a cardinal sin according to the trainers I'd read and visited. I dug up copies of as many of her books as I could and they completely changed the way I looked at training my dogs -- they weren't clicker training or super-advanced, by any means, but they were lighthearted, she encouraged people to understand their dogs and their motivations and most importantly, she let her readers know it was OK to have fun when training dogs. She's probably the one to blame for the fact that I developed such a serious interest in working with and training my dogs. Lucky for me and even more lucky for my dogs.

Eventually, taking an interest in writing by Benjamin led me to seek out other people who wrote about dogs in an engaging, dog-friendly, insightful way, and that let me to eventually discover (among other people) Patricia McConnell, whose books are ones I always recommend to anyone who asks me for something to read that'll help them understand their dogs. I also recommend her books as alternatives to the doctrines of Cesar Milan. I've admired McConnell's writings and I read her blog and I enjoy her thoughts on human interactions with dogs, so I'm thrilled that I'll finally have a chance to see her in person and learn from someone in the dog world that I have long admired. So I probably won't be online all that much this weekend. Two full days of seminar! Can't believe I'm this excited to sit in a conference room and listen to someone talk!

Great article on "drive" and working dogs

2012-01-06T13:55:00.002-05:00

I saw this article on drive and working dogs posted by a friend on Facebook today, and once I finally got a chance to read it, I really liked it. One of the things I always enjoyed about working with Doc when we trained in schutzhund was how clear he always seemed, even when he was in drive. He never flailed around looking for something to grab and bite, he always seemed to be in full control of his faculties even though he could become very aroused during bitework and teaching him to out was a breeze, partly because he had a very good foundation with out before we started training in bitework and partly because he was always aware of me when he was working. I sometimes did see dogs that would seemingly go blind and deaf when they were working, and it was sort of hellish watching people who tried to handle them. It was also frustrating to meet people who talked about the high-drive their dog had, when what the dog seemed to actually have was a lot of pent-up energy and frustration ... I was always grateful that my dog had the engine, the brakes and the steering Suzanne mentions in her story. It made getting involved in the sport more fun for both me and the dog!

Things you can do with your pit bull

2012-01-05T11:31:00.000-05:00

Put him on a box.

This is Doc's second session learning "on the box." He seems to like it. Yes, I realize now that his rear end was not on the box in the last exercise. My mistake. I didn't notice that until I viewed the video!

Titusville, Fla., pit bull attacks little girl

2012-01-04T14:24:00.005-05:00

I had actually been hoping that I wouldn't really have much reason to blog about this sad story. A little girl in Titusville, Fla., about an hour from Orlando, had been riding her bike home from a friend's house when a pit bull tied out in a yard broke whatever was restraining it and attacked her. She suffered broken bones and will be scarred for life. It's a complete tragedy and a travesty, and there's no excuse for it. Should never have happened. Period.

Some people are now inclined to want to take aim not at the people who own dogs that bite people but at a breed of dog. In Florida, municipalities are not permitted to pass breed-specific ordinances because state law prohibits it. There have been debates on Facebook about this recently, and today the Orlando Sentinel has posted an editorial talking about how this case is renewing "the need for regulations." How about renewing, instead, the need to ENFORCE regulations that are on the books that would help communities keep tabs on dangerous dogs, in general, pit bull or not?

The Sentinel quotes stats from dogsbite.org, an organization that was founded with the sole purpose of skewing public perception against pit bulls. Among other things, dogsbite.org insists that breed-specific legislation is the best way to keep people safe from dangerous dogs, partially because enforcing laws already on the books, or making them stronger, isn't effective. They say those laws already on the books are punitive and retroactive, not proactive – in other words, they claim, they only punish people after the fact, rather than before a bite occurs.

Not so, if those laws are designed to target and punish irresponsible ownership practices and are enforced effectively. If laws are effective, they aren't just reactive – they should also serve as deterrents. If people were concerned that they could get into trouble for not being responsible about the dogs they own, perhaps they'd think before being careless, irresponsible or otherwise clueless in the first place.

In reading the story out of Titusville, you might initially think this is a freak accident that could have happened to anyone at all who owns a pit bull dog – that this is a pit bull thing and not an owner-made-bad-decisions thing. But just reading a bit between the lines, I can see red flags in this case, and I can see at least one way that the law could have intervened before this dog ever got the opportunity to hurt this little girl. If we had more detail, would there be more? Quite possibly, but this is what we do know right now:

This dog was not current in its rabies vaccinations, even though the law states that owners must keep dogs current on rabies. So there's a violation right there, a red flag for irresponsible ownership and an opportunity for a law enforcement to intervene in this dog's care before this dog's irresponsible owners allow something like this to happen. Why don't people receive penalties and fines for failing to keep this vaccine current? Why do we wait until after a dog has bitten someone to take action to sanctio the owner? Since rabies poses a serious public health threat, why are people who refuse to keep their animals current on vaccinations not handled more seriously? Should they even be permitted to keep dogs, considering the fact that rabies vaccines are generally cheap, easy to obtain at vaccine clinics (sometimes for free) and probably the bare minimum in medical care you should be providing for your dog?

This dog was tied out on some kind of tether, apparently unattended, in a front yard. Why on earth would you ever tie a dog out on a front-yard tether in a residential neighborhood by itself? Horrible, horrible idea. If you're going to confine your dog outdoors, do it in a way that's safe for both the public AND the dog. A place where kids and other animals can't wander in to bother the dog and the dog isn't going to get frustrated and pent up trying to get at things it sees moving around, just beyond its reach.

Dog is not a resident of the house where the attack occurred. Apparently, it belonged to the homeowner's boyfriend. So not only is a dog chained out front of a residential home with no protection from the world, no person to monitor its interactions with the environment and no barrier to make sure it can't access people or other animals moving around it, it's also not in a familiar, home environment. It's tied up outside somebody else's house, while its owner is ... where, exactly? I can only guess inside, since the news reports say that the girl's friend had to come running out of the house to pull the dog off the child who was attacked.

So we have a person who owns a dog who is not obeying the law (rabies vaccinations) and is also not using common sense/precaution in handling his dog (tied up outside, unattended, strange environment). Could this accident have been prevented? I say yes and not by banning a breed of dog.

I think if the emphasis were on better enforcement of current laws, as well as some enhancement of laws regarding taking responsibility for the actions of one's animals, the law could also have deterred the person who owned this dog from making such a tragically foolish and ultimately irresponsible decision. And a little girl in Titusville would not have had to endure this nightmare.

Make laws that make sense, make laws that discourage irresponsible behavior that results in these kinds of incidents. And enforce those damn laws or they're pretty much worthless.

If you ban the pit bulls in Titusville or anywhere else in Florida, you're not protecting the public from dangerous dogs – when it's an unvaccinated, aggressive mastiff or malamute or mongrel tied to a tree outside by itself that attacks someone, those laws won't help. And I don't think it makes the victims of attacks by any of those breeds of dog feel any better to know that the pit bulls are banned but the irresponsible owners of other breeds can carry on and do as they please.

When did "pit bull" become a bad word?

2012-01-03T23:23:00.002-05:00

My name is Doc. Pretty sure I'm a pit bull.

I posted something about this on Facebook recently, and I ranted a bit, but I'd love to hear some feedback from anyone out there who might be reading this blog.

Once again, I was browsing Facebook and came across a post insisting that "pit bull" is a meaningless term and not a breed and that not every pit bull is an American pit bull terrier. (Of course not – American pit bull terrier owners, in particular, are usually adamant about insisting that just because you have a pit bull does not mean you have an APBT.)

But all of this backing away from our dogs being pit bulls, or even related to pit bulls, is making me wonder: Why is being a pit bull such bad thing? Why would anyone who loves pit bulls feel compelled to back away from a dogs' likely heritage? (And by heritage, I'm talking general breeding heritage here, not dog-fighting history – just the dogs' heritage as related to the breeds that have always fallen under the label "pit bull.")

No, every dog being called a pit bull is not an American pit bull terrier. Some are American staffordshire terriers, some are Staffordshire bull terriers, some are mixes that do indeed appear to be primarily one of those breeds, and indeed some are being erroneously called pit bulls when they probably have little or no pit bull in them. Just like some black-and-white-spotted dogs with little or no Dalmation in them might get passed off as Dalmations and some dogs with black-and-tan pointing that clearly mutts might be called Rottweilers. But the purebred-looking Rottweilers that come into the shelters aren't called "Rottweilers" in quotes, or Rottweiler-type dogs or dogs with Rottweiler-type markings. Adopters aren't discouraged from thinking it might be a good idea to learn something about the Rottweiler as a breed before they take the dog home. Likewise with the Dalmations, the Golden retrievers, the German shepherds – not every dog with pointy ears and a black-and-tan coloring is a German shepherd, but people who know the breed well can make an educated guess and feel fairly confident calling a dog a shepherd without feeling like they have to hedge their bets or steer people away from thinking it might be one.

Everyone who knows dogs knows that within a breed there is always a wide range of individuals. Even within a line or family of dogs that are closely related there are individuals. Even within a tightly bred litter there are individuals. And on top of that, there are factors like environment and socialization and handling that will play into what a dog will be like when it matures. So of course we should judge dogs as individuals, if we're going to be put in a position to judge them, which is why pit bull lovers have long opposed the kill-all-pit-bulls policies that used to be so hyper-popular everywhere. Far more than they are now. You can't say all pit bulls are alike, just like you can't say all retrievers are alike.

What I'd like to know is why can't we have both good dogs that are individuals AND pit bulls? Why can't our pit bulls just be good dogs that deserve the same fair shake as all other dogs? Why do we have to try to back away from the possibility that they might even be pit bulls? If we want people to take us seriously as responsible pit bull owners, shouldn't we acknowledge that our dogs – whether they are of the gamedog, purebred show dog, working dog or shelter dog variety – are good dogs not DESPITE the fact that they might be pit bulls, but because pit bulls aren't inherently evil? They are, just like other breeds of dog, just dogs. But they are also pit bulls. And that's OK. At least to me it is.

Banana thief!

2012-01-03T20:16:00.001-05:00

Who ate the bananas that were in the counter?

Resolutions

2011-12-31T17:18:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's almost 2012, which means Doc is 9 years old, give or take. Can hardly believe it. That means that I've finally had him living with me for more than half of his life ... getting a dog like Doc, who was passed around a bunch before he finally came to live with me, is sort of an odd and humbling experience. You realize the dog has lived through a lot of things that, if he were human, might have broken him. Homelessness, living on a chain, learning to negotiate new relationships, learning new languages, abandonment ... and yet he's as unflappable as ever. A little scarred, but not disfigured. Cautious at times, but not untrusting. Kind of amazing, really. I should resolve to be more like Doc for the new year.

AKC Agility Invitational

2011-12-20T00:12:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, the AKC held its national championship practically in our backyard. The Orange County Convention Center in Orlando was converted, temporarily, into a massive dog show – conformation events, dock diving, obedience, agility, vendors, demos, a huge RV camping/parking area where serious travelers could camp out for the weekend. I've been to plenty of smaller dog shows – regional UKC and AKC shows, ADBA shows, AADR shows – but nothing quite as massive as this one.

I'm a pit bull person, and since the AKC doesn't recognize the American pit bull terrier as a breed, I immediately went looking for the closest thing the AKC does recognize: the American Staffordshire terriers and the Staffordshire bull terriers. There was no booth for Amstaffs in the (huge) showcase of breeds, but we quickly found the SBTCA booth and met this cool little guy:

As Rob can attest, he was a fantastic ambassador for his breed:

We also got to see some salukis lounging ...

Samoyeds lounging ...

Setters wandering the halls ...

And a really cute Amstaff showing off in the ring. He was a character, and he placed (second, I think) in the Bred By Exhibitor terrier showcase.

But really, we went to the show so I could watch the agility trials – more specifically, I wanted to see the Amstaffs and Staffordshire bull terriers competing in agility. The AKC Agility Invitational is a pretty cool and unique event because, as one of the competitors I talked to told me, it's not dominated by any particular breed. The top in the sport in their breed are invited to participate, so you get to see everything from basset hounds (which were a ton of fun to watch, by the way) to dalmations to whippets to mixed breeds. The top dogs in their classes at the invitationals compete in the finals. This year, for the first time, a bull breed actually made it to the finals: MACH6 Buster Brown, owned by Janet Boggs placed 8th in the finals. I saw him do one run while I was there on Sunday, but I walked in as he was running the course so, sadly, no photos or video. But I did get some photos and video of some other American Staffordshire and Staffordshire bull terrier competitors doing the breed proud. One thing I have to say about all of the dogs, whether they performed poorly or well, is that they showed tons of enthusiasm out there on the course.

The last dog in the video above is the adorable and sweet and super-sleek Mr. Peabody, owned by Emily Sieger. I've been acquainted with emily via internet forums and blogs and whatnot for a while, and I finally got a chance to meet her and her lovely dogs, Lulu and Mr. P, in person.

Here's a nice shot of Mr. P:

And one of Emily with Mr. Peabody and Lulu, during a break in the action.

It was a great weekend ... definitely made me miss being more involved in dog sports. Maybe 2012 I'll dust off one of the clowns and try to do something with them again. I think Tucker could handle some rally, and maybe I can buckle down and get Doc his next tracking title. A lot of the dogs competing this weekend were way older than he is, which means his advancing age (9) is not a good excuse to let him hold down my couch!

You heard me, Doc. No more laying around in the sun. Time to get back to work.

Our Pack's Leo (former Vick dog) has died

2011-12-19T10:17:00.004-05:00

One of the dogs from the Michael Vick case, Leo, has died. Leo, who was taken in by pit bull rescue/education group Our Pack in California, worked as a therapy dog for cancer patients.

According to Our Pack's posting on Facebook, Leo suffered from a seizure disorder.

Rest in peace, Leo. You made a lot of people happy.

My Pit Bull is Family

2011-12-12T12:19:00.000-05:00

I love getting fun pit bull-related mail!

Just got these great bumper stickers from My Pit Bull is Family to post all over the place! The goal of the organization is to end breed-specific housing and insurance discrimination. An issue near and dear to my heart, as some people might remember from posts I made last year when I was planning our move to Florida. Since so few (and quite possibly, no) national companies are writing new policies for homeowners insurance in this state, it's notoriously difficult to find an insurance company here that will write you a homeowners or renters policy if you have pit bulls, Rottweilers or other breeds that are often blacklisted by insurers.

You can get policies from smaller companies that will exclude your dogs, and I've heard tell of a few people managing to get coverage through some companies I'd never heard of (or through companies that insure you if you fall into a specific category – veterans orgs or insurance through AARP), but the choices down here are exceedingly spare – moreso than in places where you can get State Farm or Farmers or Nationwide or so forth. (Though recently, I'd heard through the grapevine that some State Farm reps are giving people some difficulty about their dogs ... sigh).

If this is an issue that concerns you (and if you own a pit bull, Rottweiler, German shepherd, Doberman pinscher, Alaskan malamute, Great Dane, chow chow or any of the other breeds that seem to be increasingly blacklisted by insurers), you should go check out mypitbullisfamily.com.

Pit Bulls 4 Patriots

2011-12-07T23:21:00.001-05:00

I was watching the local news channel the other day, and they did a segment on an organization that appears to be based in the Tampa-St. Pete area called Pit Bulls 4 Patriots. The organization got its start pairing shelter pit bulls with veterans suffering from PTSD and helping train the dogs to become assistance animals for their human partners. The dogs and training are available completely free of charge to the participating veterans, who are expected to take part in training the dogs.

Here's a cool video from the P4P Youtube channel, showing some of the training in progress – a group of handlers and their assistance-dogs-in-training working in a shopping mall. I love this.

I have no idea whether the organization has any presence in Orlando yet, but I thought they might since they were featured on our local news, so I sent them an email to see whether there's any way I could get involved. Such a cool idea for a program – and a great way to get suitable dogs out of the shelter and into situations where they can be put to work doing something they can excel at.

Tis the Season

2011-12-07T23:02:00.001-05:00

There are no rules in this house, Tucker. Just go ahead and put your chin on the table. Maybe help yourself to something you like up there.

Tonight the boys got a package full of gifts in the mail ... early Christmas! Tucker was more interested in the edibles I put up on the table. Doc and Button, meanwhile, obsessed over things to chew on and tug with and chase.

Among the many awesome gifts the boys got: Orbee balls, a Holee Roller, a Vibram rubber tug toy, a huge tough tug, buffalo ears, antlers, bully sticks. Happy dogs!

Cumberland County, N.C. scraps breed-specific adoption rules proposal

2011-12-06T08:45:00.001-05:00

Looks like Cumberland County decided last night not to solve its pit bull problem by preventing people from adopting pit bulls, chows and Rottweilers. Sounds like good news, but hopefully the stricter adoption rules they come up with for dogs of all breeds are sensible and well-thought. And hopefully they'll come up with a better way of punishing the people who own the 89 dogs that allegedly attacked people in the community in the past five months, according to the video below. That'a a lot of dog attacks, and I'm thinking this isn't a sheltering problem but an effective animal-control problem.

Update on Cumberland County, N.C.

2011-12-05T20:55:00.001-05:00

Just found this TV news piece on the Cumberland County, N.C. proposal to stop adoptions of pit bulls from its shelter. It was fantastic to hear them say "the shelter just needs to do a better job of screening people who are adopting." I agree wholeheartedly.

Kill 'em all is not the answer

2011-12-05T16:21:00.001-05:00

So over the time I've written this blog, I've mentioned multiple times that I don't think that shelters should just send any and every dog to the first home that comes along. Some dogs need more screening than others, and I just don't think it's in the interest of the dog to see it set up to fail by sending it to an inappropriate home. High-energy dogs that need exercise probably shouldn't go to homes with people who prefer a sedentary lifestyle. Dogs that are frightened by children shouldn't go to homes with people who have lots of small kids coming and going all the time. No dog should go to a home where it's forbidden by a landlord to have it on the premises. Every adopter should get some basic information on properly introducing a new dog to the home and ideally, a bit of breed education as well. Some breeds are notoriously prey driven, others protective, some difficult with other animals. Some dogs will exhibit common breed traits to a T; others not at all. But it makes sense to make a potential adopter aware of what they're adopting. Common sense, I think.

But instead of doing what they should do for dogs, some shelters prefer to take the easy way. Just don't adopt out any dogs of certain breeds at all. Too much alleged liability, they say. Too much work is probably more like it, since we know that so many shelters adopt out dogs of any and all breeds and they make it work without putting the public in harm's way. How? Proper screening probably plays a role in it.

The Animal Control Board in Cumberland County, North Carolina wants to take the easy way out. They want to ban the adoption of certain breeds of dog completely. And not just the usual breeds – pit bulls, Amstaffs, American bulldogs – either. They're proposing banning the adoption of any pit bull, Rottweiler, chow-chow, Presa canario or mix of those breeds. If any dogs deemed to be one of those breeds comes through the doors, they want to have the dog euthanized if it's not claimed in 72 hours. Dogs of those breeds returned to the shelter would be put down immediately. No second chances, no matter how nice or adoptable the dog.

"We're looking at a list of animals used as attack animals," County Commissioner Charles Evans is quoted as saying in the Fayettville Observer. He goes on to say that an inordinate number of complaints about pit bulls comes in to Animal Control each day. My guess is that most of those dogs aren't dogs adopted out by shelters using smart screening for good homes looking for pet dogs and equipped to handle the animal they're being given. They're probably being purchased from Craigslist or a breeder listing dogs on hoobly.com or some other such indiscriminate source.

So how does killing all the good dogs that land in shelters through no fault of their own solve the problem of too many complaints about pit bulls coming through to Animal Control? I'm guessing it won't. Many shelters that used to refuse to adopt out pit bulls have actually reversed their policies and are, at the very least, releasing some of the most adoptable pit bulls to rescues ... if not just improving their placement policies and adopting the dogs out for themselves. They've managed to create safe, smart adoption programs in some of the most challenging urban environments in the nation – Oakland, Calif., Baltimore, Md., Washington, D.C. – and rescued pit bull dogs aren't causing problems in those cities any more than they were before shelters started sending them to properly screened homes. So Cumberland County, North Carolina can't find a way to improve its practices and adopt some of these dogs out responsibly? I think that's a lot of nonsense and excuses. And laziness. And pretty backward if you look at where sheltering trends have been going lately.

This one's still in the proposal phase, so there's time to work with Cumberland County on a more reasonable solution than "kill 'em all." Maybe someone who's got experience with a safe, responsible pit bull placement program at a local shelter could pass on some tips.

Wentzville, Mo.: petition to rescind breed-specific ordinances

2011-12-03T11:17:00.001-05:00

Button likes it when the windows are open, thank you very much.

I'm sitting here on my couch on a sunny, warm Sunday morning with my windows wide open and a pit bull on the couch next to me. My back door is open so Button and Tucker can go in and out of the (securely fenced) yard while I watch them out the back windows.

If we were doing this in Wentzville, Mo., we'd be breaking the law right now, because breed-specific laws currently on the books there prohibit pit bull owners from having their windows open or allowing their dogs free access to fenced yards. Instead, if your dog is a pit bull, it's supposed to be confined to your closed-up house; when outdoors, it's supposed to be kept in a securely locked kennel or on a leash with a muzzle – even on your own property or in your fenced backyard.

Don't believe me? Here's a recent news story about someone whose mixed-breed dogs have recently been targeted by officials because she wasn't following the rules.

Fortunately, the city is considering altering its breed-specific restrictions ... hopefully in favor of smarter laws that target irresponsible ownership practices rather than breed of dog. On Dec. 7, the city is holding a work session to discuss the law, and a group of pit bull owners in the Wentzville area are circulating petitions to present to the city showing support for elimination of breed-specific laws. You can sign an online petition, if you're interested in showing your support, by clicking the link below. Local signatures are, of course, most important and relevant to city officials, so if you're living in or near Wentzville, Mo., please sign and ask any friends or family living in the area to sign as well.

Even if you don't own a pit bull, breed-specific laws don't make communities safer – they're a placebo designed to make people think they are safer from dangerous dogs, even though breed-specific laws fail to protect the public from the people who create the dangerous-dog problems communities face. People who don't care how their actions affect others aren't going to be bothered doing the right thing if they have a truly dangerous dog of any breed ... and they're the ones laws need to target. And remember, even when communities restrict ownership of a particular breed, making it too hard for idiots to own those particular dogs, the idiots can always go out and find a new breed of dog to cause trouble with. Breeds that aren't covered by the limited interests of breed-specific laws.

Anyway, sign the petition below and help the responsible pit bull owners of Wentzville make their voices heard. http://www.change.org/petitions/change-breed-specific-laws-in-wentzville-missouri

From a 1911 newspaper: "Pet Pit Bulls Will Form New Dog Show Class"

2011-11-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

Someone on the Real Pit Bull forum put a link up to a cool source for old newspaper archives, and mentioned that it was a good way to research old stories about pit bulls and bulldogs and such. I did a search, and this was one of the first things I found – a story from the Evening World in New York about a couple of guys from Amityville, Long Island, who wanted to start the "Pit family" breed class in the show ring. They planned to trot out "Cid" and "Zab," who the story says are "two fine specimens of the pit type" (apparently that "pit bull type" dog thing isn't an entirely new phenomenon) who were broken to harness and could pull a cart driven by a little girl. The goal: to show "the gentle side of the breed."

All I Want for Christmas ...

2011-11-29T17:42:00.001-05:00

So I work for an alt-weekly newspaper. Which means that, sometimes, I can get away with writing things that reference dogs. If I'm really lucky, I can squeeze in a little bit of the "pit bull owners aren't monsters" agenda that is near and dear to my heart. This week, we published our annual Holiday Gift Guide, and the staff wrote holiday wish lists featuring items – some real and tangible (like Paco Collars, for instance), some completely unattainable. My completely tangible was, indeed, Paco Collars for the boys, and my unattainable was that idiots stop owning pit bulls. Never gonna happen, I know, but it was nice to be able to put it in print. I also managed to come up with a few local items I wouldn't mind seeing land in the boys' stockings (specially crafted diets from Rick's Dog Deli would be fun, and I totally want to go to the upcoming Patrician McConnell/Kathy Sdao seminar taking place in January. But I also just remembered that the boys are now published in a book, and I probably need to order a few copies (or maybe I'll get lucky and someone will order them for me for Christmas). Tucker and Doc are both featured in Melissa McDaniel's Rescued in America, which profiles rescue dogs from around the nation. Melissa came to Baltimore and met with us one evening at Rob's old studio, where she (patiently) shot the very effervescent Doc and reluctant Tucker. Here's a quick shot of Tucker on one of the pages from the book's website:

I also have some fun images of her at work, shooting the photos ... Rob documented some of the evening. Doc, right before he decided to pounce on that toy:

And looking very small while I try to hold his attention right behind Melissa:

And Tuck Tuck, looking coy:

And looking put-upon and confused:

Bonus on these books: Part of the proceeds of all the sales go to dog rescue ... so after the new year, we'll have to break down and pick up a copy or three.

Hey, look! A non-sensational, non-tearjerker pit bull story in the news!

2011-11-29T12:25:00.001-05:00

This Thanksgiving weekend, the Mid Florida/Sunshine State American Pit Bull Terrier Club held a weekend-long conformation show and weight-pull competition in Chipley, Fla. The local newspaper in Chipley reported on the event, and get this: They managed not to sensationalize the story in any way. No sympathy-mongering, no hate-mongering, no controversy. Just a little info about the breed, the show and the boost a big dog show can have for a small town's economy. Almost like pit bulls are regular dogs and their owners are just people who like to do things with them, like showing and sports and training. Imagine that!

Bear and pit bull "tussle" in Tavares?

2011-11-28T15:13:00.001-05:00

Saw this on the Orlando Sentinel's site today. Says a bear wandered into a neighborhood and got into a tangle with a pit bull, who chased it up a tree. The dog suffered some scrapes ... and I'd say is pretty lucky to have survived at all. Police are looking for the owners of the dog.

Can the bulldog be saved?

2011-11-23T13:26:00.001-05:00

Kudos to the New York Times Magazine for printing this fantastic story about the ethics of breeding the English bulldog. As anyone who knows a bulldog likely knows, the exaggerated features of English bulldogs create breathing problems, skin problems, eye problems and even basic procreation problems (many English bulldogs can't breed or give birth naturally) for the dogs. And even though many breeders see these problems, they continue to breed dogs for the most wrinkles, broadest faces, flattest features, widest chests. Why? Because the breed registry – the AKC – keeps rewarding these genetic mutations in the show ring, thus making the most unhealthy dogs the most prized and valuable.

You'd think that these kinds of issues would discourage other registries from doing the same thing to other breeds. But it's happened in the pit bull world as well. The American Bully, a breed of dog designed based on pit bull and Amstaff stock and characteristics, is headed in a similar direction. Check the website of the American Bully Kennel Club if you want to see what I mean. This registry rewards breeders for creating "pocket" "XL," and "Extreme" versions of the dogs. Here's a direct link to the ABKC's description of the "Extreme" Bully, with an image of what this variation would look like:

Lots of wrinkles, short and wide, shortened muzzle, wide stance, exaggerated features ... I wonder if we'll be reading about the health problems extreme breeding is causing in these dogs someday.

And now Ace is gone ...

2011-11-10T18:13:00.001-05:00

I posted a story earlier today about a court injunction telling Detroit Animal Control not to kill any pit bulls until it could find the dog named Ace whose owner wanted to claim him. Well, it's too late for Ace. He's already gone.

My first reaction, of course, was to be frustrated by the city's policy that refuses to allow any pit bulls or dogs identified as pit bull mixes to be adopted out to people or sent to rescue. But I'm trying to temper that frustration by remembering how horrible it must be to work in a city where you have so many horribly irresponsible owners – so very many – that most of the dogs you get are unsocialized, neglected pit bulls. So I'm trying to remember that there are probably a lot of sad days at Detroit Animal Control, for a lot of people, including the animal control officers.

That said, Detroit could take a page from Baltimore, which used to euthanize all pit bulls that came through the shelter doors. They started adopting them out not too many years back, and though the programs aren't perfect, the city's not any more overrun with wild pit bulls roaming the streets than it used to be. There's got to come a point where animal control departments in cities like Detroit can start to see that the pit bull hysteria is, quite simply, overblown. That dog fighting and dog attacks aren't all pit bulls are about. That, with responsible screening and placement, you can have a successful pit bull adoption program just like you can with other breeds of dog. But screening, spay/neuter and education are key. Maybe someday.

Judge tells city of Detroit not to euthanize pit bulls

2011-11-10T08:22:00.002-05:00

At least not until they can determine whether a dog named Ace, whose owner is looking to reclaim him, is still alive. Detroit, where this story takes place, doesn't adopt out any pit bulls or place them with rescue organizations. If a pit bull comes into the city's shelter, and the owner doesn't reclaim in four days, the dog is killed. No exception, apparently, as this story points out ...

Here's another story on this situation, for more background.

And another.

Great post on why corrections and fearful dogs don't mix

2011-10-25T18:41:00.000-04:00

I know not everyone is a discussion forum hound like me, so I wanted to draw attention to a post I saw today on a forum I visit called Pit Bull Talk. One of the forum administrators/owners, Michelle, posted this recently and I thought it was a really great example of what can happen when you try to use corrections-based training with a fearful dog. No, this doesn't happen all the time, and I know there are plenty of dogs out there who've been Cesar Milaned into calm, submissive shutdowns … dogs that'll never dream of acting out of turn because the fear of god has been put into them and they're more scared of the actions of their owners than of the scary thing that's in front of them. But then there are indeed dogs like the one described below, who are confused and frustrated and alienated because, as Michelle points out below, they have never learned that the owner is a safe spot, someone to turn to for leadership and security when something frightening happens.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think the key to getting dogs to "behave" is to simply control their behavior, but just like with anything else, it's so much more complex than that. To change how a dog thinks about something, you have to address more than the simple behaviors in front of you. You've got to change how the dog perceives its environment to address the underlying issues. Anyway, on with Michelle's story ...

Now, everyone knows that I am not against using corrections in training. However, I have tried to also convey that there are times when corrections should never be used. Fear is one of those times. If you don't know the root of a behavior, either get some help or find a way to deal with the behavior that doesn't involve a punishment.

Here's today's scenario...Dog who has previously been described as "fearful" is on leash lunging and barking. Past information has been that this dog will ignore people she doesn't know, unless they try to put her, and then she will snarl and attempt to nip them. However, if you ignore her, she will ignore you.
Having dealt with evaluating a number of fearful dogs in the past, I tell the owner to let the dog off leash. In the past, even very fearful dogs who charge will either bump or nip and then go away if I don't react or will stand just out of reach and make a big threatening show. I've been "muzzle punched" by a couple of dogs, but again, without a reaction from me they retreat to mom/dad because mom/dad is safe.

So, dog is let off leash and charges. I don't move, don't make eye contact, keep neutral body posture. Dog nips three or four times - hand, arm, upper arm. I don't react in any way. Dog proceeds to jump up and bite my hair, then the back of my arm, then my back (couple inch long bruise left through down vest) and back of right leg (hand sized bruise, broken skin, blood, through brand new jeans.) Owner collects dog. I tell her to put the dog away, where the dog continues to bark, lunge and claw at crate.

I tell the owner that in my opinion, this is extremely dangerous behavior, as the "forward fear" is far past just a threat display - the dog escalated the behavior when I didn't react, instead of retreating or even remaining the same. I am not the "think of the children" type, but there are four kids in this home as well, with a constant parade of kids in and out of the home.Later on, I speak to her on the phone and ask when the "only snaps if you try to pet her" escalated to what I experienced. Of course, the answer is "this is the first time that ever happened." Well, my first thought is bullllll shiiiiiiiit, but I continue the conversation to look for more information.

She explains that the dog has never been off leash around anyone she didn't know. And that she can completely control the dog when it is on leash. In fact, the very first time that she met the dog, the dog muzzle punched her and then stared her down. And she took the leash, tweaked it (her words), and told her to knock it off. Bingo. Two months of corrections to shut down fear based behaviors when meeting a new person... and when the dog was finally off leash and allowed to do what she wanted to do - well, what she wanted to do very much was hurt me.I was also told how the foster home from the rescue used to give her treats when she acted like that around new people. (Which, of course, is what you should do in this case.)

But the current owner just pops her collar and "makes her behave." Well, that gives me the answer of why the dog didn't go back to mom for safety when the big scary stranger wasn't afraid of her - because mom isn't safe either!*sigh*I went into a looooong explanation of exactly why you counter-condition for fear based behaviors, and why correcting the dog only shuts the behaviors down. But, of course, when the dog can finally act out what it wants to do, that lucky person gets all the benefit of all of those fears. Tonight, that lucky person was me (frankly, I thank God it was me, and not some random person who could have been very badly hurt.)It's important to note that I specifically told the owner two months ago to take the prong collar off the dog and learn about clicker training.

There is a time and place for corrections, a six month old, resource guarding, fear aggressive dog is not that time or place.

Honestly, my gut reaction after the "nips" turned to "bites" was to grab her and make her stop. However, there were two children in the room, I hadn't asked permission to train the dog (and in fact had told the owner to unclip the leash), and I have to go back to work tomorrow and though I would have ended up "winning" that battle, I also would have ended up injured quite likely badly.The ugliest part of this whole thing, and what I really, really hope she heard was that the dog escalated her behavior with no reaction at all from me.

Normally, when someone is bit repeatedly (and she had intent, just didn't have good aim, but was quickly getting better at it, and the last one to my hamstring hurt) they don't stand there and not move. They yell, run, hit, kick... something. I didn't move or make a sound, and she got worse. The likely hood of that happening with another person or with a kid is about nil - and though it's possible that screaming would have scared her, it's much more likely in my opinion that it would have brought out even more.

So, what's the moral of the story here?If you don't know the root of a behavior, don't use force to try to "make it go away," because it won't. Yes, I believe that some behaviors can be "fixed" with corrections (or without, it's up to the owner) but when rooted in fear? No. Because above all else, you should be the "safe zone" for your dog - and when the dog is already afraid and you add to that fear, it's not going to look to you for help. And that spells disaster.(Just as an FYI, dog in question is a 8 month old GSD.)

Tucker reviews maple-bacon ice cream

2011-10-10T17:16:00.002-04:00

We took Tucker to a rescue dog Barktoberfest thing in downtown Orlando a couple of weeks ago. Food trucks are huge in Orlando these days, and now they have one for dogs called the Sit 'N Stay Pet Cafe. I bought Tucker a little cup of maple-bacon flavored ice cream ($2) and asked him for a quick review of the product. I have to say: I'm a bit skeptical of his opinion. This ice cream had pieces of REAL bacon in it. How can you turn your nose up at something that's maple flavored and has pieces of bacon in it? Don't worry, we didn't let it go to waste. We found a dog with a less discriminating palate to give it to. That dog thought it was amazing. Next time, Button gets to do the review.

It's been raining for more than 30 hours straight

2011-10-09T12:23:00.000-04:00

Dogs are not liking it.

Button's first antler

2011-10-08T12:36:00.005-04:00

Today I found some antlers at a local dog store. Price was right, so I picked one up. None of my dogs has tried these before, and Doc and Tucker didn't seem terribly impressed. So I gave it to Button. It took him a while to decide what to do with it, and he examined it very carefully before he finally decided that it was indeed something tood to chew.

Disabled pit bull pup makes recovery

2011-10-06T16:05:00.003-04:00

Someone sent me a link to this story on Facebook yesterday, and it turns out the story's happening practically in my backyard.

In August, a woman in Sanford, Fla. saw a man selling pit bull pups for $50 in a parking lot. She noticed that he had a trash bag, and she saw something moving in it, and he tried to blow her off when she asked about it.

The woman finally convinced the guy to show her what was in the bag, and he revealed a puppy that had swimmer puppy syndrome. She brought the pup to a shelter, which thought it would be best to have the pup euthanized. First, they contacted a local rescuer from Dolly's Foundation, which had her examined by a veterinarian. Turned out that, aside from her deformity, the pup was pretty healthy and responsive, so they started doing bringing her to a place called Hip Dog Hydrotheraphy, which is in our little city of Winter Park. Once I read the story, I realized that I'm acquainted (through dog stuff, of course) with Tom Nowicki, one of the people who started Hip Dog ... small world, as they say.

Here's an appearance the puppy, named Harper, made on the Today show. Looks like, for a pup that was about to be tossed out like trash, she's doing great. Cool story!

Saturday evening dog romp

2011-10-01T20:16:00.001-04:00

The weather has finally broken here in Central Florida – no humidity, a cool breeze, tolerable temperatures outdoors! The dogs are downright giddy.

Freeshaping a retrieve with a clicker

2011-09-30T11:36:00.004-04:00

For fun (and because Pitbullforum currently has a Trick of the Month thread going on this exercise right now), I thought I'd revive an old and ill-fated attempt to get Tucker to learn to retrieve. A couple of years ago, I used a piece of PVC pipe, held it in front of him and if he took it in his mouth, I'd reward/treat. Then, if I could get him to hang onto it for a second or two, I'd try to introduce the concept of "hold" and I'd reward him for keeping it in his mouth. We didn't get very far, and I mostly just learned that Tucker didn't like it when I put a piece of PVC in front of his face and expected him to respond in an enthusiastic manner toward it. Some dogs are natural retrievers and engagers, and they do willingly grab things out of their owners hands when offered, because it's fun and often the precursor to a game. Tucker just isn't wired that way. He doesn't see the point.

At that time, I wasn't really very adept working with a clicker. I mean, I understood the concept, but I didn't understand how to capture and shape behaviors. So I was improvising and trying to coax Tucker into taking something from me so I could get an opportunity to mark the activity and reward him for it, hopefully with enough time that he'd make the connection.

But no amount of standing and holding something in front of my unresponsive dog's nose was going to coax him into wanting to take that piece of plastic. If he was on leash, he'd try to avoid and if he was off leash, he'd quickly become distracted by something he actually thought was fun and wander off to explore it instead.

I wasn't doing this for any kind of specific reason ... I didn't have a training regime that required me to teach him to retrieve. It just seemed like something fun (for me, anyway) to teach him to do. Plus, I was just accustomed to dogs who were willing and eager to investigate and grab what was offered, giving me ample opportunity to alert them that YES, taking was EXACTLY what I wanted them to do and that I would make it worth their while to do it again. Since Tucker obviously wasn't having any of that, I wasn't having any success with the exercise, and I got frustrated and eventually just stopped trying. (Hmm, extinction anyone?) I focused on just working with Doc and Button instead.

Since then, though, I've actually learned a bit more about using a clicker more effectively, and though I still find myself battling crap timing, I get it right often enough that the dogs are learning things. So I figured I'd try a new approach with Tucker and that retrieve behavior. I replaced the PVC pipe with an actual dumbbell (wood, maybe a bit heavier than I should have started with, but he's using it), and I decided to free shape the behavior from scratch. We started out with a game, in which he knew I had treats and knew I wanted him to do something, but he had to figure out what it was ... when he'd make a move toward the dumbbell, he'd get a click and treat, and once he made the connection to the fact that the dumbbell was the key to unlocking the reward, he learned to pay attention to it and keep working it to get what he wanted. In this early video, you can actually see him experiment by checking out a Nylabone lying on the floor nearby ... when he gets no reward, he realizes that it is indeed the dumbbell that he's got to work with, not any object that catches his eye.

He's now at the point where he's actually picking up the dumbbell, which is fantastic. A huge step forward for a dog that really had no interest in holding stuff in his mouth at this time last year. We'll see how far we get with this. My long-term goal would be to name a handful of objects and get him to bring them to me when asked. But one step at a time. For now, the dumbbell.

I'll post more video as he progresses. But, for me at least, this is proof that most training failures are an inability to be creative in how you approach the dog in front of you, not a reflection on the dog's ability or willingness to learn.

The thing that only ate biscuits

2011-09-27T10:07:00.004-04:00

Well, that's what he'd like to be at least ...

Rob started giving Doc a dog biscuit from the jar on the counter every time he made coffee. Now Doc waits there, expectantly, every time someone walks in the kitchen, trying to will someone to gift him a biscuit.

As Charles County, Md. considers BSL, look at what's up in PG County

2011-09-20T12:25:00.011-04:00

Officials in Charles County, Md., take note. Since you're considering passing a piece of breed specific legislation – one that would potentially restrict ownership of pit bulls in your county – it would be a good idea to look at what's going on right next door, in Prince Georges County, where pit bulls have been banned since 1997.

The ban hasn't stopped people in the county from owning or obtaining pit bulls. I know that firsthand. I trained my dog (a pit bull) with a schutzhund club in PG County for several years, and every time I was down there (usually once, sometimes twice per week), I encountered people who wanted to talk to me about my pit bull, about their pit bull that they owned despite the ban, or about how the ban really isn't keeping pit bulls out of the county – it's just causing people who own the dogs to keep it on the down low so nobody notices them and turns them in. Off the top of my head, I can think of half a dozen people – people I know personally – who live in Prince Georges County and own at least one pit bull. I've seen plenty of pit bulls in PG County with my own eyes.

The pit bull ban is, at least in my anecdotal experience, not keeping pit bulls out of the county. It's just making people who really want to own them more secretive about keeping them. Big surprise, right? Prince Georges County said so itself, when it appointed a task force to examine the efficacy of its law in 2003, which determined the law to be costly and inefficient. Despite the task force's findings, the law has stayed in place and nobody in the county can be bothered to do anything about it. Even though that law isn't keeping people safe from dangerous dogs.

In 2007, Fort Washington resident Richard Kenner was attacked and mauled by two Cane Corsos – Italian mastiffs – while he was walking his own dogs, a shih tzu and a husky, in his neighborhood. Kenner told the Washington Post that he tried to escape, but couldn't, and he feared the dogs would kill him. An off-duty police officer saw the attack and shot one of the dogs, as well as Kenner's husky.

More recently, there have been two other attacks by large mastiff-type dogs in Prince George's County. One happened to someone I know last year. He was in his own yard with his family dog when two presa canarios got loose from a neighbor's yard and came after him. Fortunately, he was able to get back to his house without getting mauled. Now there's this case below, for which a hearing was held last week:

Case No. 88-11 VA

Date: 14 September 2011

Time: 9:30 a.m.

Place: The Office of Boards and Commissions
Department of Environment Resources/AS/OBC
Animal Management Facility
3750 Brown Station Road
Upper Marlboro, Maryland, 20772
(301) 883-6009 TDD (301) 925-5157

CHARGES: Allegedly on March 21, 2011, Bruce Workman's male, black and brown, Presa Canario named 'Azor' Attacked Wayne Rinick and bit him on the arm, showing the propensity to be vicious. This is in violation of Section 3-131 'Manner of Keeping Animals' and Section 3-136 'Vicious Animals' and Section 3-134 'Excessive Noise by an Animal Prohibited' of the Prince George's County Code.

This attack occurred in this same neighborhood and on the same street where the attack on Kenner took place, though these dogs are not the same dogs that attacked him. New pair of at large dangerous dogs, different owner.

So pit bulls are banned, and officials put that ban in place claiming it would help keep the public safe from dangerous dogs. But not all pit bulls are dangerous and not all dangerous dogs are pit bulls. In fact, in areas where pit bulls are banned, people who are looking for bad-ass dogs can just move onto other breeds – ones that are bigger, maybe, and perhaps less well-known. Dogs they don't have to hide and can sell openly, because they're not part of the high-profile ban. It's being discussed on message boards, like this one. And proof is turning up in odd places, like this "Animal Watch" column in the Washington Post and on Craiglist and the PG County's Animal Management page on Petfinder, where an increasingly large number of "mastiff mixes," as well as Presas, Corsos, Neos and other dogs that used to be pretty rare in shelters, are being listed for adoption.

These dogs are, like pit bulls, dogs first. They're neither good nor bad – rather, they're products of their genetics and environment, and they deserve to be kept and handled responsibly and owned by people who won't let them run loose and terrorize people, who give them appropriate outlets for their energy and drives, and who contain them properly. As breeds, they're not going to cause problems in the community if responsible and conscientious people own them. They will, however, cause problems when they start to become popular among idiots. Which, if I had to guess, is what's starting to happen in PG County. And I'm sure the responsible mastiff-owning community is none too pleased, because nobody wants to see their breed of dog making these kinds of headlines.

How does a breed-specific law protect the public from dogs owned by idiots, when the idiots have started to discover new breeds of dog? Or from any dangerous dog of any breed in the community, other than the one that's named in the ban?

It doesn't. And as a result, these laws just aren't useful ... irresponsible people, sociopathic people and criminally negligent people will continue to be irresponsible, sociopathic and criminally negligent. They'll just do it with a different breed of dog.

So why not pass smarter laws? Make laws that target dangerous behaviors and practices of the people who own dogs – all breeds – if you really want to pass laws that protect people. Make sure your animal control departments are enforcing those laws. Make sure your law-enforcement agencies are working in conjunction with animal control to respond to complaints about dangerous animals. Make sure animal control complaints aren't going unanswered or ignored, which seems to be a disturbingly common complaint from people who say they have potentially dangerous dogs in their communities.

You can ban all the pit bulls in the world – and all the mastiffs and rottweilers and akitas and chows, too – but it's not going to keep anyone from getting bit by the dangerous 100-pound mutt on the corner. Please, Charles County, look around at what's really going on in your area before you pass this law.

Boudreaux suit against LASPCA settles

2011-09-15T11:22:00.004-04:00

In 2005, I was watching the high-profile dog-fighting bust of long time American pit bull terrier breeder Floyd Boudreaux, who the Louisiana SPCA and the HSUS busted on 57 charges related to dog fighting. At the time, the HSUS posted an announcement on its site that "Dog Fighting Kingpin Toppled in Louisiana Raid." The link to that story is now dead, presumably because Boudreaux was acquitted of charges in 2008 because there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute him. But by then, it was too late for the dogs. All of them were swiftly killed by the authorities after they were seized, before the man even went to court.

In 2009, the Boudreaux family sued the Louisiana SPCA (the link to the old story at The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge is a dead link, too) for mental distress and loss of income. Floyd Boudreaux and his son, Guy, insisted that they weren't fighting dogs anymore – they were breeding them to preserve their bloodlines. This week the Advocate is reporting that the suit has been settled for an undisclosed sum.

I wonder what we learned, if anything, from this case? Aside from the fact that maybe things aren't always what they seem and that those who claim to have dogs' best interests at heart aren't always as concerned about the actual dogs in front of them as they should be. Because that's what it's supposed to be about, right? The dogs? In this case, the dogs never stood a chance.

As I said before, the link isn't active, but here's the original HSUS press release text announcing the Boudreaux bust for your reading pleasure.

Dog Fighting Kingpin Toppled in Louisiana Raid.

He's been called the "Godfather of dog fighting," the "dog fighting don," and even the "Babe Ruth of dog fighting." Since March 9, Floyd Boudreaux is being called something else: an accused felon. On that day Louisiana State Police arrested Boudreaux, one of the most infamous dog fighters and breeders in the United States, along with his son Guy.

The arrests, which sent shock waves through the dog fighting world, were the culmination of a three-month effort by state and federal law enforcement agents, The Humane Society of the United States and the Louisiana SPCA.

Father and son were both charged with 57 felony counts of dog fighting and two counts of animal cruelty, following an early morning raid on Boudreaux's property in Broussard, Louisiana.

In addition to the state felony charges, Boudreaux and his son Guy could face federal charges for selling and transporting fighting dogs across state lines. All told, they might spend a total of ten years in prison for each of the 57 charges. For 70-year-old Floyd Boudreaux, that might as well be a life sentence.

Scarred Bodies and Temperaments

What investigators found on Boudreaux's property is typical of serious fighting dog operations: row after row of pit bulls, each tethered by a heavy chain to a small, ramshackle hut. Several sad-faced dogs bore a medley of deep scars on their muzzles and limbs, the hallmark of hardened fighting dogs.

Elsewhere in the compound, investigators found wooden ramps and treadmills, commonly used to train dogs in strength and endurance.

Laura Maloney, Louisiana SPCA director, said it was heartbreaking to see the dogs tethered outside in rows of five, wearing grooves into the muddy ground at the limit of their chains. Although most of the animals were healthy in spite of their scars, several were extremely aggressive. Because of their unsuitability for adoption, all of the adult dogs had to be euthanized.

Implications for The Shady World of Dog Fighting

What distinguished this bust from any other in recent years are its implications, both immediate and longstanding, for the world of dog fighting. Boudreaux is more than a backyard breeder—he is one of the main purveyors of some of the world's top fighting dog lines.

According to Sandy Christiansen, regional coordinator for HSUS's Southeast Regional Office, "Virtually every major bloodline of fighting dogs has the Boudreaux name somewhere in the pedigree. This guy's influence on the world of animal fighting has been huge."

More than any other person, Boudreaux has shaped the profile of the modern fighting dog. Specifically bred for maximum "gameness" (a determination to fight on, even in the face of certain death), dogs from the Boudreaux line are considered top-notch animals in the fighting world, fetching prices up to $10,000.

It's a quality that brought Boudreaux-bred dogs accolades from dog fighting enthusiasts, but little else. Even the most revered fighting dog lives the majority of his lonely life at the end of a short chain, with no social interaction save grim excursions to the fighting pit or breeding stand.

A Broussard neighbor said, "What bothers me the most is that they're on three-foot chains. Big, heavy chains. They spend their life under a chicken coop on a chain. That is not a life...that's horrible."

Nobody is Untouchable

As infamous as Boudreaux has been in the animal protection community, he has been equally admired in the dog fighting subculture. As far back as the 1950s, he appeared on the covers of animal fighting publications, posing alongside prized fighting animals. Today, his likeness graces t-shirts and other coveted dog fighting memorabilia.

It's no surprise, then, that Boudreaux's arrest has aroused rabid ire in the dog fighting world. Internet dog fighting chat sites are ablaze with the topic, with some devotees calling for a one-year moratorium on all dog fighting activity to "get the heat off." Others want the animal welfare officials involved to lose their jobs. Still others are scrambling to collect donations for Boudreaux's defense fund, perhaps fearing that they might soon need help themselves.

While Boudreaux evaded the law for years, his chances of escaping the justice system this time are slim, now that state and federal officials have stepped in. Regardless, the damage to his operation—and the world of illegal dog fighting—is done. The former "go-to guy" for fighting dogs has now lost most of his bark and bite.

Major dog fighting players are on notice that they could be the next ones in handcuffs, as long as they persist in their bloody business. Says Christiansen, "The arrests of Floyd and Guy Boudreaux send a message to the dog fighting community that no one is untouchable."

Tom Brady and his pit bull in new UGGS ad

2011-09-12T21:27:00.003-04:00

The New England Patriots' Tom Brady and his pit bull, Lua, star in a new UGGS ad. Well, Tom stars, Lua kinda makes a cameo. But still, kinda cool. Hat tip to Animal Farm Foundation, who posted this vid to Facebook earlier.

Pit bull cadaver dog in the news

2011-09-12T12:44:00.008-04:00

It's so nice--and so rare--when a well-trained American pit bull terrier makes the news for doing something good for the community. So hats off to Buddy, a trained cadaver dog, and handler Christen Adkins, who made the news for helping to search for Katelyn Markum in Fairfield, OH this weekend.

Watch a newsclip featuring Buddy and his handler here.

Ten years ago today ...

2011-09-11T09:47:00.005-04:00

I was living in upstate New York. Albany. And of course, like everyone else, I remember the day all too well. I remember getting up for work and turning on the news for a few minutes and being stunned when they switched too footage of one of the WTC buildings with a gaping, smoking hole in the side of it. I remember watching as the other plane hit. I remember frantically trying to reach anyone in my family ... my family's from the Bronx and Englewood, NJ, originally, so most of my family lives in New York and New Jersey, and some of them worked in and around the WTC. But land lines were overloaded, I couldn't get through to anyone for hours.

I finally went to work, where everyone was in shock. I went to a church that night for a community gathering. Everyone was afraid.

I remember thinking right about then that I was ready to change my life. I'd been living in Albany for almost 10 years, I wasn't entirely happy, I felt like I wanted to live somewhere bigger and different and I wanted new challenges. I knew then--was certain of it, after that day--that I wasn't going to go to New York City.

By the first anniversary of 9/11, I had moved to Baltimore, MD with my old lady lab mix, Reba. Just me and her. At that time, I didn't have any of the dogs I have now, but I quickly got involved with some pit bull rescue organizations and volunteering and fostering. And that led me to the three clowns I have now. First, there was Tucker, who was part of a litter that was at least partially pit bull based on the bully-looking pups in the litter. They were scheduled to be put down at the shelter for suspicion of being pit bull mixes. Then there was Doc, who had bounced from foster home to foster home to permanent home, back to foster and when one of those homes failed him, he landed with me, and we decided that the poor dog had done enough bouncing in his life. Then there was Button, who was discovered at 10 weeks old with his two littermates, nearly dead of starvation and covered in abscesses and bite marks because the puppies were fighting so badly with one another over resources.

Those are my Baltimore Bulldogs, and if it weren't for 9/11, I wonder whether I would have moved to Baltimore ... I might have, instead, gone to New York. Or, who knows, somewhere else.

It's kind of strange where life takes you.

The past few weeks have been a bit difficult, thinking about 9/11, thinking about the people who were lost, thinking about the thousands more who were lost in the subsequent wars, thinking about how much did change. And I was looking for a bright spot in the past decade.

For me, it's these dogs and Rob. I hope everyone can find whatever peace they can make with such a violent and brutal and cruel memory.

And in other dog-related 9/11 memories, someone sent me this link to an article containing portraits of the 12 surviving rescue dogs who worked 9/11.

New pit bull-friendly rental resource

2011-09-09T12:21:00.003-04:00

Everyone pit bull owner who's ever tried to rent an apartment or house knows it's an uphill battle to find a place that's pit bull friendly. So many management companies and landlords these days prohibit pit bulls, Rottweilers, shepherds, etc. Though pit bull friendly housing EXISTS, it can be really tough to find those few apartment complexes or landlords who don't discriminate by breed.

So Positive Pit Bull out of Raleigh, N.C. posted a Facebook page recently called Pit Bull Pads that gives pit bull friendly landlords a place to advertise their rental properties. Pit bull owners can also post to let people know where they're looking for rentals.

My rental house isn't available at the moment, but if it does come up for rent again, I'll be using this site to advertise it.

Who says Facebook is good for nothing? Go advertise your apartments, landlords, and find yourselves some responsible pit bull owners looking for a place to live!

We got a new couch

2011-09-05T12:50:00.004-04:00

And for one day, it looked like this:

But for the most part, it's going to have to look like this:

It's nothing fancy ... just an Ikea Kivik. But after looking at tons of couches at multiple furniture stores, finding very little that we liked, and realizing that for as long as we have dogs, we'll have to keep whatever couch we have mostly covered with a sheet, we decided to go economy. It cost us approximately one-third of what most of the other stuff we looked at cost. It's got a layer of memory foam in the seat cushions. It's definitely comfy. And it's simple and minimal, just like our aesthetic, so we're pleased with it.

Doc helps with recycling

2011-09-04T15:29:00.001-04:00

Another in the series I like to call Things You can do With a Pit Bull: Get him to help you break down boxes for recycling.

Seriously, shelters? STILL sending dogs out intact?

2011-09-02T13:19:00.004-04:00

I have had it with irresponsible shelters. HAD IT.

I just got the lastest in an ongoing barrage of emails from people who have INTACT dogs that they've adopted from a shelter that they're looking to rehome.

The most recent came to me today from the Baltimore area. Intact 10-month-old male pit bull. Skittish. Seems it's ALWAYS a pit bull, the last breed of dog that shelters ought to be sending out the door intact. And skittish--fabulous.

The adopter contacted the shelter to let them know the dog wasn't working out. And the shelter told them--get this--not to bring it back, to rehome it themselves, because the dog would be put to sleep as an owner surrender if it was returned.

So, inexperienced new pit bull owner has an intact young, male pit bull dog that they're going to try to rehome themselves. So far, they're using Facebook and emailing friends. How is that likely to end for this dog? My best guess: Passed around, intact, growing increasingly skittish unless somebody with the proper dog experience picks him up. And more than likely, he'll be sent to his new home or homes intact ... and hey, maybe he'll even make puppies for somebody! So instead of having to deal with ONE dog to find a home for the shelters can take in, say, SIX dogs in about six months' time, after those "oops" puppies or BYB puppies start turning up in shelters too.

Dear animal shelter, whichever one of you it is that sent this dog home then refused to take it back when things weren't working out: Congratulations, you are now operating a backyard breeding operation. And chances are, it's a much bigger one that most BYB operations that exist, since most idiots only have two or three intact dogs they're responsible for. You are probably responsible for far more than any single person could ever be.

*facepalm*, as they say on the interwebs.

Here you go, BYB shelter. You made this.

And if you are a volunteer/employee/supporter of a shelter and you know this kind of thing is going on, for the love of GOD, say something. To your adoption counselors, your executive directors, your board of directors, your local veterinarians, the media. This kind of thing HAS GOT TO STOP. If you give a good goddamn about pit bulls, don't let your community or shelter be part of the problem. Be part of the solution.

Politicians: Insist that your shelters STOP sending animals out intact. They probably get public funding. Make it part of the deal that they alter their animals before adoption if they are to continue to receive it. Seriously. This may be the only way to get through to them, because they NEED your money to continue operating. All they're doing if they're sending dogs out intact is perpetuating the problem, guaranteeing that they will need more and more of your public funding to continue operating. They are plugging their thumbs in the dam with one hand, while opening the faucet to fill the reservoir with the other.

I'm going to go sob now. I'm so tired of feeling like even the good guys are not even guys we can trust to do the right thing.

New, cool thing: List of SCH and FR titled pit bulls

2011-08-30T17:36:00.004-04:00

Just found out recently that Diane Jessup is compiling a list of all the schutzhund and French ring titled dogs in the U.S. She's already got a pretty impressive list going at her site now. Look at all those SCH III titled pit bulls!

Makes me wish I was still training Doc. I am still thinking of starting up tracking with him again so we can pursue an FH. He was always a really good tracking dog, and it's not too hard on the body, so if we can teach him to track on varying surfaces (grass, dirt, pavement) and stick with it, it's probably possible.

I still fantasize about that elusive SCH I that we never got, though. I wanted it so badly that last time, and we were just so damn close. If it weren't for that overly excited bulldog who wanted more time with his helper friend. He just couldn't bear to heel away from him all the way down the field for that long bite. Sigh.

Ah well, we'll always have the memories, at least. And a pretty picture of a pretty decent-looking grip on his escape bite!

Nobody wants to play with Button

2011-08-21T12:03:00.001-04:00

From the New York Times, 1987

2011-08-20T09:03:00.002-04:00

It's been 24 years since this letter was published in the New York Times.

Sadly, it could have been published yesterday and sounded just as relevant. I wonder when or if the breed will ever get out of this rut of unfortunate "popularity." If, after more than two decades, we're still singing the same old song, I fear it may not.

It bugs me immensely when I read stuff like this as well: "Purposely inbred, starved, fed on gunpowder and blood, whipped and encouraged in constant fights to the death ..."

That kind of rhetoric is still so common among pit bull lovers, but most of the dogs that seem to be getting into trouble in pit bull attacks that are reported by the "alarmist media" (letter writer's words, not mine), don't seem to be dogs suffering from excessive gunpowder consumption or whipping. A lot of them seem to be owned by just regular people who might even love their dogs ... but they're either not understanding something about them (not seeing warning signs of potentially dangerous behavior) or they're failing to socialize and contain them.

I guess the more things change, the more they do stay the same. Only now there's a much wider audience for pit bull "news," via the web as well as in print media.

Things Button likes ...

2011-08-19T11:58:00.003-04:00

Beer

Coconuts

Really good blog post by Bad Rap on death of California's Darla Napora

2011-08-17T20:25:00.003-04:00

Those who are spending a lot of time speculating and agonizing and pondering the death of pregnant Pacifica, Calif. woman Darla Napora, who authorities suspect may have been killed by one of her dogs, ought to read this thoughtful post from the Bad Rap blog.

As usual, a level-headed and intelligent response from Donna. No sensationalism, no sugarcoating, but a healthy dose of empathy for those who were really affected by a tragedy. Thanks, Donna.

Doc and Tucker go for a walk

2011-08-17T08:54:00.005-04:00

Doc's not the most socially appropriate dog, so he doesn't get to spend a lot of time with other dogs. But he's always done fairly well with Tucker, who's very easygoing and not threatening or challenging in any way. So it's a good exercise for the two of them to walk together and just spend time being dogs.

People who own dog-aggressive pet dogs spend so much time avoiding any kind of interactions with other animals that the dogs never get any practice being calm in the presence of other dogs. Even though it's wise to err on the side of caution, if you want your dog-aggressive dog to learn to behave appropriately when other dogs are present, you've got to find a safe way to practice. When our boys walk together, we usually start out just letting them sniffing trees (NOT one another), checking out the environment and getting their energy and frustrations out, then we ask for a bit of obedience later on in the walk. Calm downs and sits and so forth.

We took them out today and had a good morning stroll. Doc spent a lot of time trying to coax me into feeding him biscuits by offering a heel, even when I wasn't asking for one ... he's food obsessed.

Baked pit bulls

2011-08-14T18:23:00.006-04:00

Since we've moved to Florida, one of the boys' favorite pastimes is baking in the hot sun year-round. They love it.

R.I.P. Rocky Road. Or, how to fail a dog in six easy steps.

2011-08-13T11:47:00.010-04:00

Just learned that the dog my former tenants had adopted from BARCS was put to sleep at the shelter recently. I'm not sure how to say this without it sounding awful, but I can't say I'm surprised. From the very beginning, the dog was failed on so many levels. Set up to fail, even.

His story is, unfortunately, not at all uncommon for dogs that land in shelters as adolescents. Even less uncommon for young pit bulls that land in shelters as adolescents.

Here's how you fail a dog in six easy steps:

1. When you adopt dogs to renters, don't do landlord checks

My former tenants were approved to adopt Rocky before I had even heard of him. They'd called me to ask, in a very general way, if I'd be OK with them maybe getting another dog. I told them I'd have to think about it and check on some things, and I asked them flat out what kind of dog they were thinking of getting. They told me a pit bull, that they already picked him out, that the shelter approved their application, but that they wanted their current dog to meet him first, etc. I sent them a very long email about pit bulls, how they aren't a breed for everyone, talked to them about being prepared for handling dog aggression if the dog was intolerant of other animals as it matured, and so forth. I followed up with a phone call. They told me it was a lot to think about, and I told them I had to check to see if the landlord's insurance policy that picked up my homeowner's policy when my other company dropped me (they didn't cover rental properties) was cool with pit bulls. Turns out it wasn't, so I called them and told them no dice: No pit bulls. They told me it was too late: They already had the dog and that they were told he'd probably be put to sleep if they returned him. I'm a sucker, of course, so even though I was pissed, I scrambled to find new insurance, in the interest of keeping the dog in a home. I told the tenants they could keep him for now, but that I would have to fly up to meet the dog in a couple of weeks, to make sure I was comfortable with the situation. I wasn't happy, but I wasn't going to take it out on the dog.

2. Send dog to a new, inexperienced home intact

When I got to the house, this 7-10 month old male pit bull had been sent home intact. The pet addendum on my lease, by the way, explicitly forbids intact dogs and cats from living in the home because I just don't want any animal living in my house to be responsible for contributing to more unwanted animals ending up in shelters. My tenants said the shelter told them they had to take him before he was neutered because the shelter was full up and needed the kennel space. I was livid, talked to them about roaming dogs and hormones and so forth, and I insisted that he be neutered as soon as possible. I got him on the neuter list at BARCS with the help of a friend who worked there. He did get neutered within a couple of weeks, and I can only hope he didn't get loose in that time and make more puppies. But who knows – as you'll read later in this post, he was escaping the yard and running at large, so it's not outside the realm of possibility.

3. Send young, energetic dog home with a busy family with two young kids

I met Rocky, and he was a very nice, friendly dog. But he was young, had no manners at all and was very energetic and frustrated. He was mouthy and jumped on people and had no boundaries. But he was sent to live in a small rowhome with a very young couple with two very young children – an infant and a 6-year-old – and no time or money for training. As a a result, the dog spent a lot of time crated, in the basement or in the yard. Eventually, he dug a hole under the fence and learned to escape, and ran at large in the neighborhood. The neighbors told me they let Rocky's owners know he was getting out and running free, so they plugged the hole under the fence with a bucket, which I doubt solved the problem very effectively.

4. Don't prepare people adopting a young pit bull for dog aggression or proper management of a multi-dog household

My tenants were told at the shelter that Rocky was friendly with other dogs, and he got along well with their female dog during an initial meet and greet at the shelter. But once he got home, he proved to be too much for their female dog to handle. After meeting him, I'd say he probably was dog friendly, if handled properly and given appropriate outlets for his energy and offered some training and guidance. But he was pushy and rambunctious and rough with the resident female, who was very put off by him, and the tenants weren't really equipped to deal with it. So the two dogs had to spend most of their time crated and separated or they'd play too rough and have scuffles.

5. Don't seek out resources to manage your dog's issues or train him

Despite assuring me and Rob that they would take this dog for training, which we asked them to do on multiple occasions, they didn't follow through. A couple of months after my tenants moved out of the house, they returned the dog to BARCS with cuts on his face. Return reason: "Needs training." No kidding. That's what an adoptive home is supposed to provide for a dog.

6. Return dog to shelter, where he is euthanized

Poor Rocky was briefly put up for adoption at the shelter again, but before he found a new home, he was euthanized. A friend at the shelter looked him up for me to find out why. He was apparently attacked in a hallway by another dog while being walked, and both dogs were euthanized after the fight.

That, my friends, is the short, unhappy life of just one dog out of thousands – probably hundreds of thousands – who end up in the shelter every day. This was a nice dog, highly adoptable and good pet material, who's dead before his second birthday due to no fault of his own.

I know it happens all the time, but when it hits so close to home, it's painful – even though Rocky wasn't my dog, I feel partially responsible for the fact that he's now dead. What if I'd just put my foot down and told my tenants to return him right away? What if I were able to network for him with rescues up in Baltimore, once I'd heard he'd been returned, and got him out of the shelter before he ended up dead? But the reality is, I didn't do either of those things, and a dog that I know was a good dog was put to sleep because every step of the way he was let down. I can at least feel relieved that Rocky wasn't a fearful or aggressive dog, so when he got loose he never made headlines for biting kids or fighting with other dogs. At least there's that.

I've heard recently that BARCS is now doing landlord checks, which is great and makes me feel better about this situation. I also know that BARCS now has a Best Friends-affiliated Pit Crew that works with pit bulls before they go to new homes ... that didn't exist when Rocky was first adopted out. So maybe they'll be able to make further improvements to the adoption programs to make sure good dogs don't fall through the cracks.

I hope that any other shelter out there who might stumble across this thinks about it a bit, though, and examines their own policies to make sure they're doing all they can to make sure they're placing dogs in safe, appropriate homes. Because, while increasing adoption rates is a nice and worthy goal, I'm just not sure how useful it is if you're just displacing the problem and euthanizing the dog (or perhaps that dog's offspring) at the shelter at a later date.

I also hope that anyone out there toying with the idea of taking in a shelter dog think long and hard about whether they can commit fully to the responsibility of owning that dog, giving it what it needs to succeed and the implications should you decide to dump that dog at a shelter again. Dogs that get out of the shelter once are very lucky, and once they get brought back, their chance of getting out again decreases significantly. If you haven't given that dog the training and socialization it needs in the time it lived with you, that dog is probably as good as dead. And that's not the shelter's fault. It's yours.

Anyway, RIP Rocky Road. You were a good dog. I nabbed these photos from an internet bulletin board where they were posted to network Rocky and hopefully get him a new home after he was returned from the shelter. Sadly, they show the cuts on his face and stress he obviously was feeling when he was dumped back at the shelter. Poor kid. Rest well.

Tucker vs. Tugajug

2011-08-12T13:27:00.001-04:00

Tugajug wins.

Rethinking pit bulls

2011-08-12T12:43:00.002-04:00

I just noticed this on the web site for the National Canine Research Council: A live webinar with Don Cleary on Rethinking Pit Bulls.

Learn the history of canine discrimination, how the myths of canine aggression negatively impact contemporary animal welfare policies resulting in discrimination, barriers to adoption, and breed bans, and how you can protect future generations of dogs from being targeted.

It's taking place Sept. 16 ... and for $25, it sounds like it'll probably be worth checking out.

Google keywords

2011-08-12T07:58:00.003-04:00

So I checked the stats on this blog to see how people who read here find us. Oddly the number one keyword search that leads people here is "mini pit bull," which is odd since I don't own anything I'd consider a "mini" pit bull (though Button is a pretty small little dude). And I'm pretty sure I haven't written about mini pit bulls here before.

So I did a Google search for mini pit bull, and guess what image came up:

It's my mini pit bull, Doc, on a treadmill! Too funny.

Trailer for new Wallace the Pit Bull documentary

2011-08-11T16:32:00.003-04:00

Check it out: There's a trailer available for a new documentary being made about Wallace the Pit Bull.

Button loves bubblewrap

2011-08-11T16:10:00.004-04:00

Just file this one under more dangerous things my dogs love ... but sometimes I let them have a bit of supervised fun. FYI, I do watch him very closely and don't let him eat the bubblewrap. And this is a very rare, um, "treat" for Button. No dogs were harmed in the making of this video. Can't say the same for the bubblewrap, though.

Rest in peace Catherine

2011-08-11T10:08:00.002-04:00

I just learned this morning that Catherine Hedges, founder of Don't Bully my Breed, has died. I only knew her online – Facebook, emails, rescue-oriented stuff – but I mourn the loss of one of what seems to be a dying breed of pit bull rescue folks.

Used to be that pit bull rescue wasn't about sugarcoating the fact that pit bulls are not – and should not be – adopted by anyone with a kind heart and a warm home. People were screened not just for their willingness to adopt and their ability to care for a dog, but for their willingness and ability to cope with some of the unpleasant things that a lot of people gloss over today when talking about pit bulls. For instance, dog aggression is an issue that shouldn't be ignored in these dogs, and rescues and shelters should be focusing their efforts on the best of the best and withholding the dogs with temperament issues from adoption. it's not "all in how they're raised," and you can't Cesar Milan your way out of serious temperament problems and dogs that don't get along. In a world overflowing with unwanted pit bulls, and in an effort to make these dogs more appealing to the general public, some of these important messages aren't being relayed effectively to potential adopters. But Don't Bully my Breed was out there spreading that message.

From Don't Bully my Breed's website:

Pit Bull owners and the general public alike need to be educated about the truth behind these dogs - and not the sugarcoated version. Pit Bulls are not born killers, but they're also not the breed for everyone. Read up on their temperament, their pros and cons (yes, Pit Bulls can have cons - but no breed is perfect for everyone!). Make a rational judgement BEFORE acquiring a Pit Bull. Adopt a breed ambassador Pit Bull - one who loves all humans alike, is gushingly affectionate, and greets all strangers like a long-lost friend.

Rest well, Catherine. Just like the American pit bull terrier, I fear you were one of a dying breed.

Doc loves Rob

2011-08-09T16:15:00.001-04:00

Just a bit of inconsequential day-in-the-life sorta thing, but I'm still thinking about it because it just makes me so happy.

Rob was out of town for work for two straight weeks, taking photos on assignment in various locations around the country. When he was done, he flew up to New York to meet me at my family's place for a long weekend. So all told, he hadn't been home in our house in nearly three weeks. With the exception of the long weekend, for which I hired a dogsitter, I was home alone with the dogs. Which is fine/good, I'm the primary caretaker of all three of them anyway. Rob adores them, plays with them, feeds them, cares for them when I'm not around. But when I am, it's always me and the three of them always flock to me, follow me, settle in near me, rely on me. Particularly Doc, who has been so incredibly bonded to me pretty much from the first day I brought him into our house after his adoptive home ditched him.

Doc is so much my dog that when new people come around to meet him, he tends to ignore them and look to me for direction, attention, treats. He's just super tuned in to what I'm doing or thinking, and the rest of the world might as well not exist. Rob really loves Doc. Always has, and if it weren't for Rob, Doc may well not even be around. There was a point when he had nowhere to go, no rescue to take him back, and we were advised by the one rescue that one of his former foster homes was fostering for that they'd take him but they'd more than likely have to put him to sleep because there was nowhere for him to go.

To be honest, I had no desire to keep this dog. He wasn't really a great fit for my household, he had a ton of energy--way more than I wanted to try to contend with in my little rowhouse with two other dogs, one of which was an elderly dog-aggressive bitch--and he was very pushy and rude and ill mannered. Before I got attached to him, I thought, maybe I should send him to this rescue and hope they would find a way to accommodate him. I made tentative arrangements to send him back, but when I got home from work the day we'd discussed it, I found Rob in the basement with Doc, crying and telling me we couldn't send this dog off to god only knows what fate with people who didn't want to keep him around. He asked me if we could keep him or try to find him a home on our own, and after a few months of trying to find a new home for him, we decided he was ours for good.

So just last night, Rob and I got in from our trip. I knew the dogs would be thrilled to see us. I opened the door, and Doc was excited and came to greet me, but as soon as he saw Rob behind me he FLIPPED OUT in that way that only a pit bull will. He was jumping up to try to get to lick Rob's face, running laps around the living room, grunting, screaming, tearing around like a wild animal. I really don't think I've ever seen him so happy. I still can't get over it.

Made me feel good that the pig appreciates the guy who may well have saved his life. Because for all that I've done to make Doc happy, it was Rob that made sure he stuck around.

Tomato thief

2011-07-31T14:32:00.000-04:00

Dogs

2011-07-06T00:06:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I look at dogs, and I just wonder how it all works that they seem to enjoy us, and we obviously get a great deal of joy out of them.

We spent the Fourth of July at home, mostly, with Doc tied out front while we gardened and washed cars.

I kept looking at him and thinking how odd it was that a creature would sit, tied by the neck, and just be content to be with us.

But he was. Knowing him, moreso than if he were to be left to roam the world on his own. Dogs. So strange, but I love them.

Ian Dunbar on dog attacks

2011-03-24T09:38:00.002-04:00

What a great interview with veterinarian/behaviorist Ian Dunbar about aggressive dog attacks. Wish this kind of thing would air on TV in the U.S. Instead, we get the Dog Whisperer.

If you want to learn more about him, here's a link to his SF Bay training school site and a link to Dog Star Daily, where he occasionally blogs.

City Paper posted my blog post

2011-03-18T18:10:00.001-04:00

Hey, look, City Paper posted my blog post about the ignorant comments made by 98 Rock DJ Mickey Cucchiello the other day.

Throw the baby out with the bathwater much?

2011-03-18T16:25:00.003-04:00

It's kind of amazing to me what lengths people will go to in order to avoid having to face the fact that all pit bulls are not evil creatures.

A library in Burlingame, Calif., unhappy that Jonny Justice, one of the Michael Vick dogs, had been invited to participate in its Paws for Tales reading program (in which kids improve their reading skills by reading do dogs, cancelled the program. According to California code, it wasn't legal for the library to prohibit pit bulls from participating in the program. So, to keep the pit bulls from being allowed to participate, they canned the whole thing.

Help Doc win a Paco Collar

2011-01-18T16:56:00.004-05:00

OK, this is pretty shameless, but here it is:

The good folks over at Paco Collars in Berkeley, Calif. are holding a contest. Post your dog's photo on their Facebook page and tell them who your dog was most likely to be in his or her high school yearbook (biggest flirt, most likely to succeed, etc.) and get your friends, relatives and vague acquaintances to "like" your photo. He with the most "likes" wins. Isn't that what Facebook is all about?

Well, Doc's certainly not most likely to succeed, unfortunately, nor is he the A student or the best dressed.

He is, however, a good fit for class clown.

Here's the photo I entered of him:

And here's the link to go vote for Doc on Facebook.

See, Tucker already has a collar from Paco Collars. Doc does not. And he's very, very jealous, so he wants one of his own. And since I just spent the equivalent of a year's worth of dog food having a sock removed from Doc's innards, I'm not really eager to splurge on one for him right now. Maybe if Doc wins one, I'll invest in one for Button. I can't have anyone thinking I play favorites with my dogs. Even though everyone knows I love Tucker best. I mean Button. I mean Doc.

Saginaw, Mich: BSL would regulate 10 breeds

2011-01-17T15:24:00.002-05:00

Breed-specific legislation: It's not just for pit bulls anymore.

Officials in Saginaw, Mich. are considering a proposal that would affect 10 breeds of dog:

Pit bulls, Rottweilers, German shepherds, huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, Doberman Pinschers, Chow Chows, Great Danes, St. Bernards, and Presa Canarios are all on the list.

According to Bless the Bullys, the Saginaw City Council will discuss the proposal at its Feb. 21 meeting.

Dog left to die in NYC snowstorm needs home

2011-01-13T12:32:00.003-05:00

The story of this pit bull has been making the Facebook circuit today.

I don't usually post pleas for help on here, because I know that there are hundreds of them sent out every day for dogs in need of homes (especially pit bulls), but I highlight this one for two reasons:

1. This dog was left chained to the Williamsburg Bridge in the midst of a major snowstorm. I know people are cruel, but how cruel do you have to be to leave your poor dog chained to a bridge to die in the freezing cold? There's a special place in hell for a person like that.

2. The post is actually pretty realistic and informative. People don't seem to realize that there are so few places for stray pit bulls to go. There are no "farms" for them where they can live out their days frolicking in fields until a "forever" home comes along. Most no-kill shelters don't want them, because there are just so many of them looking for homes and they tend to sit and sit unadopted (and taking up kennel space) and they really do need to be more carefully placed than other dogs.

My friend brought the dog to his office and spent the entire day making calls, not realizing how hard it is to find a home for a pit bull. Something like 1 in 800 rescued pit bulls find homes, and as far as I can tell, no “no-kill” shelter will accept them. I offered to take the dog for the night, since I live closer to my buddy’s office than he does.

Once she's unable to stay with this good samaritan, this dog's going to the regular animal shelter ... the one that'll probably have to put her down after a few days as a stray hold, because they're already inundated with unwanted dogs.

Happy Thursday.

If you're in NYC and you think you can help, click the quotes or links above and you'll be directed to the blog where this dog is posted.

Teen who burned pit bull arrested for new crime

2011-01-11T10:18:00.003-05:00

People who remember this story about Phoenix, the pit bull who was burned almost to death on a street corner in Baltimore in 2009, might be interested in learn that one of the boys charged with the crime was recently arrested again. This time for attempted murder.

The boys were supposed to go to trial for the Phoenix case this month.

It really can't hurt to make the connection again: Kids who abuse animals do tend to move up the food chain, so to speak, to abuse humans. This is an issue that really needs to be taken seriously.

You should never neglect a blog

2011-01-11T09:49:00.003-05:00

Because they do have lives of their own, which continue in your absence, unless you kill them completely.

I signed on today, after a long hiatus (trying to, you know, get my new life together), and found that I have 45 new comments on old posts and a bunch of updates on things I could have (and should have) written about while I was tending to other stuff.

So, I'm back. And wondering if the title of this blog still makes sense, since we no longer live in Baltimore. I won't sweat it for now.

Quick updates:

Doc made a new friend down here:

But then Doc got sick, and we had to cancel his playdates. Turns out Doc ate a sock (whole) and we had to have it surgically removed from his innards.

He's still recovering.

In other news, the boys are still cute.

Button is still worried. And losing more teeth.

And Rob turned 38. I'm not too far behind him.

Now, let's see if I can get this thing rolling again. So much news, so many things to talk about. More on that later.

U.S. DOJ: BSL is inappropriate

2010-10-01T11:58:00.003-04:00

Just read this piece on the Atlanta Journal Constitution website.

Here's an excerpt:

The 20-year old, federal Americans With Disabilities Act (”ADA”), however, may put a stop to such “breed-specific legislation.” The ADA protects measures designed to help persons with disabilities, which includes dogs used by disabled persons for assistance. Laws that outlaw ownership of entire breeds, including those that might be used for assistive purposes, would limit the ability of persons with disabilities to use such pets, and would therefore violate the ADA and be deemed by the Justice Department to be unlawful.

Wow! I'm a big confused by whether this is part of the original opinion the U.S. DOJ issued earlier this year regarding breed discrimination when it comes to service dogs, or if they actually issued another opinion regarding BSL. I tried to search the DOJ website to find something, but all I could come up with was ADA information, so I'm guessing the former.

Regardless, if you live in a community that's got BSL or is considering BSL, time to start bringing this decision to people's attention.

Interesting piece

2010-09-07T18:24:00.003-04:00

An old colleague of mine, Keith Ammann, wrote this opinion piece using the prejudice against pit bulls to illustrate the faulty logic in the prejudice against Muslims.

I make a special guest appearance (hint: I'm the one who trains the pit bulls). I didn't know what the piece was going to be about when he was asking me questions about my experience working with dogs, and I definitely was intrigued when I realized it wasn't going to be your garden-variety story about BSL!

It's provocative and interesting, and I know not everyone's going to love it or approve of it, but I think it's a good read.

Undercover cops fought pit bulls to make bust

2010-09-01T10:42:00.005-04:00

Someone sent me a link to this story today about the huge Missouri dog-fighting bust that took place last year.

The headline: Huge Dogfighting Bust Went Down Only After Cops Brought Their Pit Bulls to the Fight

The gist of it: Undercover cops bought and trained pit bulls to bring to dog fights. The actually entered the dogs in fights so they could get the dirt on the dog fighters.

A quote from the story:

Though the investigators began by arranging dogfights in Missouri and southern Illinois, by January 2009, they found themselves "hooked" for matches as far from home as Oklahoma and Texas. By their own tally, they eventually made more than 150 undercover contacts and attended 86 dogfights.

"We ended up being involved and going to fights way more than a real fighter would," Mills says. "Most only did two or three, and some of them only did one or two a year, because it's so intense in the training process."

The story doesn't mention what ultimately happened to the dogs the investigators fought. I wonder where they are today.

How're the boys doing?

2010-08-27T13:46:00.000-04:00

If you ask them, not very well at all. They're not excited that Rob's been using them as test subjects for his new pet-portrait business endeavors. More details on that later!

2010 WPBTCA National Championship

2010-08-16T17:38:00.006-04:00

Hey, it's that time of year again! The WPBTCA's National Championship is coming!

Sadly, Doc and I won't be attending this one, even though it's close to our old homestead. Since we've relocated to Florida it's not exactly cost effective right now for us to travel ... plus, he hasn't trained for much since I left back in May. I have been trying to get him back into the habit of tracking down here, but neither of our hearts have been in it yet. I'm too busy and he's too stressy. Hasn't made for great tracking experiences.

Plus, there are nasty red ants everywhere, which is making baiting tracks nearly impossible. Sigh. Waiting to see what fall brings!

Enough about me: Everyone up that way should go out to attend the events and support the WPBTCA!

Pit bulls in Parade

2010-08-13T10:41:00.003-04:00

Just saw this on Bad Rap's Facebook page.

Parade Magazine is doing a piece with updates on Michael Vick's dogs. It'll be out on Sunday. Makes me happy I subscribed to the newspaper recently.

Another upstanding pit bull owner makes us all look bad

2010-08-13T10:37:00.003-04:00

This just in from Upper Marlboro, Md.

Woman in doctor's office with dog (a pit bull) refuses to leave, sics dog on cops.

I was surprised to read at the end that a different officer took control of the dog. Usually when this kind of thing happens, the dog ends up shot.

Shelters that adopt out intact dogs

2010-08-10T17:37:00.003-04:00

Just in case anyone was wondering: I have a problem – a really big problem – with shelters that send dogs home intact. It's an irresponsible and foolish practice that needs to stop if shelters ever expect to make any kind of dent in this pet overpopulation problem that's causing them to be constantly working over capacity. Intact pets making more pets is the biggest problem most shelters claim to be combatting. But then they go ahead and adopt out intact dogs to people who come through the doors and seem nice, trusting them to follow through on the spay/neuter surgeries when time and money permits.

Whenever I mention this to someone, anyone, I inevitably get the "but shelters are cleaning up the mess created by other people" line and the "shelters have it so hard" line.

To the first response, I would say that any shelter that gives out any animal intact is actually contributing to the mess and is therefore just as guilty as the irresponsible people who have "oops" litters.

To the second, I would say that shelters will continue to have it very hard if they don't tighten up their practices and start getting serious about spaying and neutering animals prior to sending them home.

For the record: I have no problem with intact dogs owned by responsible people – none at all. But I do think that dogs and cats leaving shelters – animals that have already been human beings' throwaways once – need to be altered and should never be bred. Not on purpose, not by accident.

Shelters: If you want to be able to stop killing animals someday, then stop giving people intact animals to take home. Period. Otherwise, you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

DirecTV Sucks

2010-08-02T19:53:00.005-04:00

Yes, I know, this blog is about dogs. But I am so very angry that I don't want anyone to make the same mistake I did. DirecTV is a horrible company to deal with. In the past year and a half, I've found them to have nothing but incredibly polite but very poor customer service that gives completely unreliable information to customers. They are right up there with Verizon. And, not surprisingly, they work together.

I feel like everything I've done through DirecTV has been bait-and-switch. They signed me up in Feb. 09, happily, to what I thought was a TV and DSL "package" ... at least that's what I was told. But quickly I learned that the "deal" I'd signed up for wasn't a package and the pricing wasn't what they said it would be. Despite multiple attempts to reconcile, I could get no resolution and finally just accepted the fact that it would be two bills and two installation visits from different companies (despite a promise that it was one simple trip). Then I discovered that the service I'd signed up for through DirecTV was somehow never applied to my account, even though I'd tried to jump through all the hoops they set up for me. Call a service rep, visit us online and sign up for your "rebate" (which, by the way, was presented as an offer, not a retroactive rebate, when I had gotten sucked in), wait 8 weeks, we'll make sure we apply it. It never came. Despite multiple calls to the rebate center and customer service to fix it. So eventually, after absolutely no reasonable resolution (which to me meant that these bastards should cancel my account without prejudice; they refused and insisted I had 12 months on a "contract"), I felt I had no choice but suck it up and just use the service and figure out a better option after my 12 months was over.

Well, it's 18 months later. I've moved to Florida from Maryland, and I tried to cancel both services. Neither wants to release me from what is now described as an alleged two-year "contract"; they say "everyone knows" people agree to when you sign up. Um. No. I never signed a contract for DSL at all. And for DirecTV, I was told it was a one-year contract, not two. I was also told I would get promotional pricing, which I never got, and that if I moved out of state, they wouldn't charge me to disconnect my service. So, a whole series of lies. Complete lies. To get new business and keep it at all costs.

I have talked to three people since I moved to Florida, two of whom told me that I had no contract or obligation and that they were going to send me boxes to return my equipment as long as I could give them my new address, pretty please, so they could FedEx it, oh and by the way, we can retrain your account for no fee if you just transfer with us now and that'd be so nice, why not just do that? Um. No thanks. Brighthouse Cable is cheaper for cable and internet, we thought we'd sign up with them. "Oh, OK, give us that address again so we can make sure to send your equipment."

Today I got a bill from DirecTV for $84 ... about $20 higher than any bill I've received from the company, and it's for a new month's worth of service. WTF? First, how did they get my address? From me when I cancelled my account – I did not transfer my service. Second, why the hell is it so high? Third, why am I not cancelled yet?

I called and waited for 10 minutes on hold, got a lady finally who could not help me and was confused, so she transferred me to an "agent" who had more experience. After 21 minutes on hold, he picked up and was laughing. At what? No idea. He giggled and apologized, giggled more, and then told me he had allergies. We finally got around to actually talking, and the guy tries to sell me on more services. No, I want to cancel. He didn't want to take No for an answer and after way too much time on the line, he tells me it'll cost me two hundred something to cancel my account. Um. WTF?

I asked for a supervisor. He resisted. And FINALLY someone named David, who says he's a supervisor though I am certain he's just another lackey, gets on the line. He refused to give me a direct phone number, last name, or the name or connection to a supervisor over him. He told me that he's the "top of the line" and that all I could do is send a letter to the "president" of DirecTV – nameless, faceless president, that is, with no direct line or address – if I wanted to vent my spleen.

Tonight David told me that I owed them either $240 or $120 to disconnect my service because even though I'd signed nothing. I apparently agreed to an implied two-year contract by paying my first bill (Note to self: read the fine print. There's always fine print. But usually it's with something you sign, not a bill they automatically debit from your freaking account without having to actually bill you.)

David told me he could do nothing for me, except give me a $25 a month discount to continue my service, to make up for the fact that the company never gave me the original as-advertised deal that sucked me in to begin with. Whoopee.

So they get to make more money off me and there is no recourse for their dishonest business practices. Great. So one more time, why were the two customer service reps we talked to about this before getting David telling us that we were released of contract and ready to go, as long as we gave our new address? Oh, so they could get our current info and then try to strongarm us into staying with the company, under threat of collections? Got it. But of course, now that push comes to shove, they have "no record" of those conversations because the reps didn't take notes. Those conversations just say that we called and that they told us what to do next. How convenient.

I'm so displeased. And I've been displeased with DirecTV for a good, long while, so it's not just one bad customer-service fiasco. It's a whole series of them. A pattern, if you will.

Since David refused to let me talk to anyone higher than him, I decided that he needed to read me all of the terms of the work order I was putting in. I just had him read me the explicit terms over the phone. I took notes. If they try to charge me a dime for anything not in what he read to me – which, by the way, they apparently can and will do – I'm ready to go to the mat. Or maybe court. Because this has gone way too far already.

I'm sure David is celebrating customer retention and that he did whatever it is they trained him to do to keep idiots like me on the line for as long as possible, until they finally break and relent. I'm sure he's not being paid much to do it, so it sucks that he was the one who had to listen to my angry rant for the past half an hour (after half an hour on hold waiting for someone to pick up my call and 15 minutes on the phone with a different rep). But right now, I'm so angry that I don't care.

We have rabbit ears on the TV and we get reception. We don't need DirecTV. Nor, after the experiences we've had with them, do we want them. I'll make sure I spread the word because no one should have to deal with this kind of crap.

Oh, and by the way: Yes, DirecTV's service does goes out during rainstorms, thunnderstorms, etc. in some parts of the country. It was a pretty regular occurrence in Baltimore. Even heavy wind may cause your signal to go out. Not always, but often enoug to comment on. Cable is much more reliable, even if it is slightly more expensive. And chances are, if you tell your cable company that you've been considering DirecTV, they may have a special discount just for you to retain your business. Make sure to ask about it. It could save you a headache in the long run, and chances are they won't sign you to a contract that "everybody knows about" and they claim the told you about when you signed up for a completely different service than was actually delivered

Fuck you, DirecTV.

Pit bull and insurance woes in Orlando Weekly

2010-07-27T20:48:00.005-04:00

Written by me, and featuring Doc for art ... in case anyone's interested. I feel like I'm screaming in the wilderness on this one sometimes.

I just saw in the comments here that a State Farm salesperson claims that the company will actually write existing homeowners new policies, as long as they stay away from the hurricane zones. That's not what the State Farm spokesman in Tallahassee told me, but if it's true, it's good news for whoever has State Farm and owns a restricted breed.

Something about this ...

2010-07-13T19:28:00.001-04:00

... Reminds me of Tucker. Not that Tucker is that dumb – he's just sort of dense. And slow to catch on.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/07/dog.html

2010-07-13T09:51:00.001-04:00

For readers of Whole Dog Journal: There's a photo of Doc and me tracking in the most recent issue. A reporter contacted us because she was doing a story about canine tracking activities. She found this blog and saw the photos from Doc's TR2 and published one of them along with her story. Very exciting!

I love that publication – always full of good stuff.

Speaking of Doc and me, we haven't been doing much of anything but trying to adjust to the weather, the new house, our new life, etc. We have contacted a couple of schutzhund clubs in Florida, but I've been thinking it might be too hot for two Northerners to just jump back into it before we're really acclimated to the heat. And it's not so much the heat but the humidity – there are days when it feels like you're breathing mush out there. So we may wait til fall before we start really doing anything again.

This photo, by the way, looks it portrays a perfectly comfy and peaceful way for a dog to spend the day, right? Not so much for a dog that's used to doing very physical things on a regular basis. Doc's pretty bored and frustrated without any real challenges to confront right now, since we haven't been training. So today, for the first day in a couple of months, I asked for some real obedience. Heeling around the yard, some go-outs, some straight fronts, some tight turns and pivots while heeling, etc. We used the ball for a reward, and I must say, it might have been some of the prettiest obedience I've seen out of this dog for a while.

There's definitely something to be said for taking a break. Now if only I could get a consistent and good-looking retrieve, we'd be in business again.

One down ...

2010-06-28T07:55:00.002-04:00

One dog here, only two more to go!

Doc arrived via ground transport on Tuesday evening of last week, and he's been living the life of a single dog ever since. He's not too into the heat, but he lived in the south for years before he even met me, so I'm sure he'll get used to it.

Rob and the other two should be here tomorrow--going from empty house to full house in no time!

We found a home!

2010-06-06T21:50:00.002-04:00

What a nightmarish episode in my life. I arrived in Orlando on May 20 with no idea where I was going to be staying or whether I would find a suitable home for the dogs. I knew I'd find something, since I had several leads in hand, but I hadn't seen any of them yet, and I wasn't sure what I was in for.

First house: Great area, but quite literally on the railroad tracks. Not near. On. No wonder they were willing to let us rent.

Second house: Cute but so very small I wasn't sure how we would all manage to fit in it. Wasn't going to rule it out completely, but it wasn't terribly realistic . . . and for the life of me I could not figure out why the owner would even be willing to consider three dogs in that small space.

Third house: Totally gorgeous and so far outside of the city that I was looking at about an hour commute. No fenced yard, but the landlord was willing to let us pay to fence it ourselves. Of all the houses I'd seen, this one was most realistic . . . but so very far away from . . . anything. Would probably be great if I weren't moving to Orlando to edit a paper that's all about the city. Tough to live an hour from downtown when that's what your work is all about. But still, I figured, if I had to, I'd take it.

Fourth house: The less said about this one the better. Frightening. Truly.

I finished looking and then found a hotel room at a La Quinta Inn somewhere just outside Orlando and cried.

The next morning I drove around and looked for "for rent" signs and called people. I got on Craigslist and called more people. No luck. I had a couple more appointments set up with a realtor over the weekend, and I was starting to think my only option was going to be to stay in Orlando alone for a few months til I got to know the city, then we could buy something when I felt like I had some working knowledge of where we'd like to be . . . but then suddenly "the" house turned up.

A realtor who took great pity on me (she was a saint, by the way, and if anyone in Orlando is looking for a realtor, let me know and I'll send you here info--she really was great), lined up a couple of "maybe" houses for me. We looked at a couple that were nice, but nothing special. Then we got to the last one on our list and . . . wow. It was perfect. Recently renovated. GREAT neighborhood. Spacious--three bedrooms, two baths. A fully fenced yard. Near a couple of parks and a lake and a little downtown area. Ten minutes from my office. The owners had two big dogs--a shar pei mix and a pit bull/hound mix. And they were willing to consider our boys if our references and their insurance checked out.

Which brings me to where I am at right now--laying on my air mattress in my new house, which I moved into last week. No dogs and no Rob yet, but we have a house! I'm still feeling kind of shell shocked about the whole experience of wondering if we'd ever find anything suitable for us at all . . . and by the shockingly anti-pit bull sentiment I'm encountering almost every day here. Even the people who like pit bulls seem hesitant to admit it.

But more on that later--it's too exhausting for me to think about right now. What's most important is that we have a home where the dogs are welcome--all of them, and no, I didn't lie about the breed and was not willing to do so to sneak into a home unnoticed--and hopefully by this time next year, we'll have sold our house in Baltimore and we'll be on our way to buying something down here in the Sunshine State.

Here's our new house.

And here's a photo of the gorgeous lake at the end of our street.

Yet Another Brutal Attack on a Pit Bull

2010-05-12T12:34:00.003-04:00

I got an e-mail late last night, informing me that there had been another violent attack on a pit bull in Baltimore. There was a story on WJZ about it last night. You can read and watch it here. The Sun also has a story today.

A German shepherd/pit bull mix named Okashia was in her backyard when a neighbor wielding a machete brutally attacked her. The dog apparently has some really serious injuries--her nasal cavity was split open and her cheek bone was shattered. What a nightmare.

The alleged attacker apparently has a history of mental illness and is undergoing evaluation.

Poor dog. Her vet bills are being covered by the BARCS Frankie Fund, which is accepting donations to defray the costs of surgery.

Things You Can Do With a Pit Bull . . .

2010-04-30T18:07:00.003-04:00

. . . Take him to the ATM and see how happy he is to watch you get money.

"Now we go buy biscuits, yes?"

I Don't Mean to Complain, But Here I Go . . .

2010-04-30T15:26:00.003-04:00

As I recently posted, me, the dogs, and the guy are planning a big move--I got a job in Orlando, and I start work on May 24. Big, exciting news!

What's not so exciting is that I cannot for the life of me find a place to live that'll take our dogs. Well, to be more specific, they won't take pit bulls. Now, I know it's not easy to find a place that'll rent to someone who owns a pit bull anywhere in America right now--it's one of those things you really need to think about before you bring one into your life. I bought my house in 2005 so I wouldn't have to worry about looking for places to live with my dogs. I had no illusions about this being easy. But I'm beginning to think that, compared to Orlando, Baltimore is a straight-up pit bull friendly down.

Eventually, I'd like to buy in Orlando, but I can't really buy a home until I can sell the house I own up here. So a few weeks ago, I started contacting realtors and asked them if they'd help me look for a pit bull friendly rental house--a few took pity on us and started calling their pet-friendly rental houses to inquire about breed restrictions. I wasn't too surprised to hear that they weren't having any luck because insurance regulations in Florida consider pit bulls to be an "aggressive" breed.

So I told the realtors that, to make the "pit bull" thing slighly less frightening for a potential landlord that I'd voluntarily supply liability insurance to cover the dogs myself. One or two homeowners said they'd consider it, and I started calling around to find a company that'll write a renter's policy with liability for dogs. I figured I'd start with State Farm, which for years has been the one company everyone with a pit bull could always rely on to get a pit bull-friendly policy. I called an agent and was shocked to hear that, as of 2010, State Farm is no longer writing business in Florida and is cancelling many of its existing policies. Wow. I then got on the phone with the company that carries my no-breed-restriction homeowners policy, Farmer's Insurance. Once again, I was told that Farmer's will not write in Florida. Neither, it turns out, will Nationwide. Or Kemper's. Or Allstate. Pretty much no one writes in Florida anymore, except for a handful of smaller companies--none of which will cover a pit bull. You can get a policy that'll cover you and specifically exclude dog liability, but no policy will actually cover your dog if it's one of those alleged "aggressive" breeds.

I'm not naive about the pit bull "problem," or the challenges that come with pit bull ownership, but I must say, I was shocked to find that the only way I can get my dogs covered in the state of Florida is to purchase an exotic and aggressive animal policy. Which to me is insulting, because purchasing such a policy implies that I believe my dogs to be aggressive. My CGC-certified, ATTS temperament tested, obedience-trained dogs. I guess if I have to do it, that's what I'll have to do. But come on, now. More people drown each year than are killed by pit bulls. Yet insurance companies still cover homes with swimming pools and bathtubs.

I'm also a bit surprised that Florida folks haven't made more noise about this around the pit bull "community," such as it is. The first I heard that you, quite literally, can't get a regular homeowners or renters policy in Florida if you own a pit bull was when I started looking for one.

But maybe I'm wrong and there's a Floridian out there who knows of a company that'll cover us. If so, leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

While you're at it, if you know of any single-family homes for rent with a fenced-in yard in Orlando, leave a commment about that too! I'm starting to feel a bit worried about our prospects.

News: Me, the Guy, and the Dogs Moving to Orlando

2010-04-20T19:16:00.002-04:00

So it's been rather quiet around here lately, and one (big) reason for that is that me and the boys (the dogs and the human) are leaving Baltimore and moving to Orlando, Fl. A new job opened up in my company, I applied for it, and I got it--both exciting and rather terrifying at the same time. The terrifying part is less about the job change and more about moving my dogs--particularly Button and Doc, both of whom look like what they are--to a new city.

I've been desperately searching for a place for us to live, and in the short term, I figured we'd try to rent a house while we learn more about the city. But who'd have thunk it: It's insanely difficult to find a rental that'll take a pit bull. (In case it's not clear, I'm being facetious here--I do know the struggle pit bull people have finding places to live that will take their dogs.)

We own our home here in Baltimore, and one of the main reasons I purchased this house was to have a safe place that me and whatever dog living with me could call home. It's been a great place to call home for the past five years, but obviously I can't commute to Orlando. So we've got to leave it behind . . . now if only I could find a place that will have the boys.

If worse comes to worse, I'll leave them up here in Baltimore with Rob for the summer while I live in a short-term efficiency and look for a house we can buy. But that's my last-ditch option. Please think good thoughts for us, because I really don't want to live the whole summer without any of my boys.

Happy Easter?

2010-04-18T17:09:00.004-04:00

So you know how they say that there's a direct link between animal abuse and domestic violence or other violent crimes against humans? And that if you look into the pasts of abusers and violent individuals you will often find that those people abused animals before they eventually made their way to human victims? Well here's (another) case that shows a direct connection between violence against animals and people.

On Easter Sunday in Baltimore, animal control officers got a call about a pit bull puppy who had been tied to a pole by some kids who were beating her with rocks and bricks. A passerby tried to intervene, and the kids turned on him, throwing rocks at him as well. The poor dog--who by all accounts is a very sweet dog who doesn't seem to harbor a grudge against people even though she was so brutally beaten--was brought to the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter where she's being treated for her injuries. In the meantime, the shelter says there's a $6,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the kids who did this to her. Even if you don't care a lick about what they did to the dog, they ought to face charges for assaulting the person who tried to get them to stop beating her. Obviously, they have no respect for human pain and suffering if they were willing to turn violently on a person who wanted to help the dog. Scary.

By the way, I've also been meaning to point out this story from Baltimore--a youth leader killed, according to the Baltimore Sun, because someone was allegedly afraid of his pit bull. Guy was walking his dog, someone said something to him, the guy replied that the dog was friendly. So the offended passerby pulled out his gun and shot the guy walking the dog.

Just a couple of sad reminders that, while pit bulls have the bad rap, people once again prove to be far more frightening and violent.

Maryland Parks Service Relaxes Pet Policies

2010-04-05T16:28:00.004-04:00

Just found out about this on another web site--apparently the Maryland Parks Service is relaxing its policies on pets. Used to be that pets weren't allowed in many of the "developed" areas of the state's parks (parking areas, picnic areas, pavilions). It was a trails-only proposition.

Late last year the parks service proposed a series of changes that would open up some of those previously off-limits spots to pets--including a bunch of spots in the state park closest to where I live, Patapsco Valley State Park.

I can't find a link anywhere on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' web site that shows the final policy, but here's a link to the proposed changes that compares the old rules to the new ones. Hopefully they'll update the site soon.

K9 Neville to Retire from Washington State Police

2010-03-24T12:55:00.002-04:00

After five years on the job as a bomb-sniffing dog with the Washington State Police, K9 Neville is about to retire. Neville, a pit bull, has a pretty interesting history. He was a dog from Ontario, Canada doomed to death after the province banned pit bulls in 2005. Per the law, anyone who owned a pit bull when the law was put in place could register them and own them as long as they were muzzled in public. All non-owned pit bull dogs--strays, dogs surrendered to shelters--were to be killed, donated to research labs, or sent out of the provice. Ditto for any pit bull born after the law went into effect.

Neville had such a stellar temperament that when he became one of those non-owned dogs, a rescue group called Bullies in Need, which works to get as many Ontario dogs to safety as it can, scrambled to save him. A woman in Washington State named Carina (or, as many of us know her, Violet) with an organization called Dog Rescue Around Washington offered to take him in. Once he was in her care, she had Neville tested for the now-defunct Lawdogs program, he was accepted, and he soon went to work sniffing for explosives and weapons on the Washington state ferry system. Word has it he was a favorite among passengers riding the ferries.

Tracking Photos From Saturday's Trial

2010-03-22T14:50:00.007-04:00

OK, I know I've put a ton of tracking photos up here and tracking isn't always the most exciting phase of schutzhund for a spectator. But I'm totally loving all of these great shots Rob's been getting of me and Doc out in the early morning or evening doing our thing. These were taken at Rosaryville State Park, which is where tracking was for the Commonwealth Working Dog Club Trial on Saturday.

Ted Hartman was the judge. A nice guy who I thought gave some very thorough and thoughtful critiques of the dogs and handlers this weekend.

Starting off . . . we were slightly off to the left of the track in the beginning, and we got knocked a few points for that.

Found our first article, somewhere around 125 paces in on the first leg.

Last leg, he had really settled in at this point and was rather accurate after a pretty much dead-on second leg.

And second article at the end of the track. Good work, Doc. Though right before he settled on the article, he picked his head up for some reason and just took a quick look at the spectators on the side of the road. I gave him a second "such" command because I was afraid he might just forget what he was up to. The reminder was all he needed and he finished up clean, but we did lose points for the second command.

Me: "Good Dog!" Doc: "Where's my damn hot dogs?"

And reporting out. Kind of funny--the judge leaned down and gave Doc some praise when we were done, and after that he was Doc's favorite person. He just wanted to sniff him and get his attention so badly. It's weird who he picks and chooses to take an interest in, but this guy really caught his attention.

Success

2010-03-20T19:47:00.002-04:00

We got our TR 2 today, with 92 points (out of 100). Yes!

I think I needed this to help build my confidence . . . I was feeling pretty down after our December trial, when we blew it on the last exercise in protection.

So it's no VPG 1, but it's nice to get a title in something we both like and are doing well in. Doc tracked pretty accurately after he settled into the track, found both of his articles, and maintained his intensity during the track. Nice work, Doc!

Shout out to a fellow pit bull today too: Ron Marshall and his pit bull Whitehead went for another VPG 3 today and took High in Trial and High Tracking in the trial. As always, it's nice to watch them work.

Some Spring Tracking Photos

2010-03-19T15:29:00.004-04:00

Have been doing an awful lot of tracking with Doc lately, and the work seems to be paying off. He tracked at the trial in December and he was the only SCH 1 dog to finish his track, but his work was kind of clownish--the conditions were rough, so was willingly distracted by his environment, and at one point, he even stuck his head in a gopher hole to investigate it as he moved down the third leg of his track. Would have been fine, I guess, if we were tracking for gophers!

So we've been working on longer and longer tracks, less reward on the track itself and more reward at the articles, to hammer the point home that it's the articles he should really be searching for if he wants to score. And in between, I've been laying some easy and fun tracks with lots of food, lots of reinforcement, to build his confidence and remind him that tracking is fun, satisfying, and belly filling.

We're planning to trial for a TR 2 this weekend (tomorrow--eep!), so I've also been having other people lay tracks for me, with unfamiliar articles, aged 30 to 45 minutes. Rob came along with us last weekend to take photos when a training friend, Morris, came out and laid the track for us.

He got some nice shots of Doc at work.

First leg was slightly puzzling for him. He tracked the unfamiliar person, but he really thought hard about it while he was doing it, like he was really trying to figure out what kind of confounded task I had put him up to. He takes a moment right after the scent pad to check things out and figure out if this is what he's really supposed to be following. Technically, his nose should stick to the ground, but he air scented a bit, but he quickly got his groove and got down to business. So it's cool.

And then . . . he really gets into it, footstep by footstep.

Article!

And last leg, right along the woodline. I remember the time when, if I tried to track Doc too close to brush or woods, he'd try to skip out on the track to check out the distraction. I also remember Ron telling me what a challenge I was going to have teaching him to track through distractions. It has been challenging, but it's also been ridiculously rewarding. Well, when we have good days. When we have bad days, it's mind-numbingly frustrating. But that's kinda what dog training is like anyway, so you live for the good moments and try not to let the bad ones ruin your day.

Here's hoping that tomorrow is one of the rewarding ones!

Maryland HB 1314 With Anti BSL Amendment

2010-03-16T20:30:00.003-04:00

I wanted to remind everyone that this Thursday, March 18, is when HB 1314 will be discussed in the Maryland General Assembly. I'm urging dog owners to contact their Maryland delegates and tell them they support this bill with the amendment that would prohibit breed-specific legislation in the state.

I also heard today that there is another amendment being proposed for this bill, submitted by the HSUS, that would create a "potentially dangerous dog" definition that would make any dog that bites under any circumstances a potentially dangerous animal--there is no exclusion for puppies, no exclusion for bites that happen during play, no exclusions for bites that do not actually cause injury to an individual.

This potentially dangerous dog amendment seems like a catch-all that could potentially make any and all dogs "potentially dangerous" and would give courts and law enforcement a pretty wide net to cast when it comes to making determinations about dogs.

My sentiment: Support HB 1314 with the anti-BSL amendment but make it clear to your legislator that a vague "potentially dangerous dog" amendment is not good for this bill.

Wasteland

2010-03-16T11:13:00.003-04:00

That's what our yard is this spring, after the massive snowfall, followed by the massive snow melt, followed by the nonstop lap running the dogs did once the weather finally broke.

Believe it or not, last spring I replanted this section of the yard where Button's standing.

He doesn't really care, of course. He doesn't need grass. Just needs someone to throw the damn ball.

Seen This Weekend in Prince George's County . . .

2010-03-15T12:18:00.004-04:00

A cute brown-and-white pit bull sitting in an open field alongside a road just off Route 301 in Brandywine. It had a collar on, looked like it was in nice shape. Probably someone's pet who got out of a yard or something.

I travel through Prince George's County, where pit bulls have been banned since 1996, frequently, and I have a pit bull sticker on my car. I can't tell you how many people see that sticker and stop to tell me that, even though they are illegal, they own a pit bull in Prince George's County. I also happen to know a handful of people who own pit bulls and live in the county, and I hear from people who work with dogs down there (trainers, in particular) about PG County clients who own pit bulls here.

And then there's the one on the side of the road, the scofflaw pit bull sitting in a field, looking content, sniffing the air and watching traffic roll by.

Sounds like that pit bull ban is really working out, huh?

In 2003, a task force analyzed the PG County pit bull ban and found that while the public safety benefit of the law was "unmeasurable," the cost of implementation was not: For each pit bull confiscated and killed by Prince George's County, taxpayers dished out some $68,000. Since pit bulls, clearly, still exist in the county despite the ban, PG County residents are still bearing the burden of cost--and not an insigificant one. In 2001-2002, the task force calculated that the county had paid out more than $500,000--half a million!--to enforce the ban on pit bulls. Meanwhile, animal control officers are responding to calls about non-dangerous but illegal pit bulls, stretching their already-thin resources and making it harder for them to respond to calls about truly dangerous situations and animals.

How does that make sense?

You can read the full task force report below. It's an oldie, but still a goodie.

Prince Georges County BSLTaskForce