Rough week

There's so much good going on out there that I hate to be bleak but I have to admit that my Sunday trip down to Animal Welfare League's Intake Facility left me feeling low and frustrated, if not downright angry! It's been a rough week in general around here so I guess my spirits were a bit low to begin with and you have to be tough at the best of times down there. It's been said many times before but the shelter manager, Diane, is an absolute saint for dealing with this day in day out.

I know I'm preaching to the converted here, most of my readers understand the value of spay and neuter, of thinking before you bring a pet into your home, of adopting rather than buying from a puppy mill or a backyard breeder. With all the information readily available to the public how are there still so many idiots out there? I mean, how much do people pay to get a dog like this from a breeder, $300, $500, $1000, more?

Apparently this guy is someone's trash. I didn't even have the heart to find out whether or not he's slated to be pulled or if he'll be dead before the next volunteer day rolls around.

I usually come away from these events concentrating on the positive. Many dogs were pulled into rescue, all had a chance to be loved and petted, bathed where necessary and fed up on meatballs and I even got to meet a lovely new volunteer who agreed to become a foster home for One Tail!

But this one was rough. Dogs in my Car already put up a great post so I'll direct you to her for a round up of the day. I hesitated to share the following story but it's something we should all face up to and maybe someone will be spurred to action because of it. The story and photos are posted on facebook here but I don't know whether you need to have an account to read it so I've copied the text:

"Yesterday was the Animal Welfare League's Intake facility's volunteer day sponsored by the Trio Animal Foundation.

Unfortunately, the day wasn't without heartbreak. A volunteer day such as yesterday is rare but there were many TAF volunteers that stepped up to the plate and helped out with some very hard situations. One of these situations is told by one of our invaluable volunteers Tara.

"Yesterday was Volunteer Day at AWL Intake, and as usual, there were wonderful dogs everywhere you looked. I went into the kennel area to start walking some dogs, and right away this big white boy caught my eye because I was sure my vision was deceiving me. But sure enough, I was looking at a Dogo Argentino, a rare type of Mastiff. When I expressed my amazement at seeing this type of dog in a shelter, I was told that there were several more, all brought in together. I knew a backyard breeder had to be behind this, and wondered what shape the others were in.

When I went outside, I saw what I feared: one of the other Dogos, likely the sister of the one I was walking, was in one of the dog runs. She did not move. She did not eat. She did not respond. She lay there, her face and head a constant flutter of twitches and tics.

It was clear that there was something terribly wrong with this poor girl, and it made many of the volunteers emotional just to look at her. I made a silent promise to give her some love before I left, as it was made clear that she would be humanely euthanized at the end of the day.

Her brother and I stayed out in the yard together for quite awhile. I tried to engage him with a tennis ball; I tried to get him to run, but he let me know what he really wanted when he arose on his hind legs and put his front paws on my shoulders, placing me in a bear hug. He did this repeatedly, and so we went inside to the lobby and spent most of our time cuddling. Everyone was amazed at how well behaved this boy was! Mastiffs are wonderful animals, but they are usually only for an experienced dog person, as they can be quite dominant. This dominance often makes them best as an only dog. This boy was in the lobby all afternoon, mostly with very small breeds, and had ZERO reaction to the other dogs. As far as he was concerned, all that existed was the people showering him with attention and giving him treats, which he took gently and appreciatively.

While in the lobby, AWL's shelter manager -the INCREDIBLE Diane- told me that this big guy was deaf, and that in addition to his sister out back, there were 3 others he came in with, two of whom had to be humanely euthanized immediately due to their extremely poor condition.

She concurred that this was a great dog and we had to try and get at least one of these poor victims of a backyard breeder out of there.

So Diane, Jill of Trio, and myself all held him down for a heartworm test. It was hard to find his vein, but although he must have been needle pricked about 5 times, he never reacted with anything but his typical sweetness. It was such a relief that his test was negative, and we went back to the important stuff: SNUGGLING!

After several hours of this, the day was drawing to a close, and I hadn't forgotten my silent promise. So the big boy and I went in the back yard where his sister was. The amazing Kelly (mother of Fifty the 2-legged pit bull) had spent most of her afternoon massaging this sweet girl, making her last day a good one. I had planned on going in there alone, but I couldn't deny this amazing boy and this poor girl this chance. So although it is not the usual policy, I brought him into the run with the female so he and his sister could say their final goodbyes. Kelly and I could not keep dry eyes as he walked up to his sister. She actually raised her head when she saw him, and then they were nose to nose. We felt something powerful and unspoken pass between these sibling dogs in their last kiss, and as we cried, the male dog turned for the door of the run. His work was done.

Another amazing example of a dog's ability to live in the moment -and the resilience that that provides them.

I still can't get this out of my mind, and I probably never will. It was one of the saddest -yet simultaneously most beautiful- things I have ever witnessed. But it is time to take a cue from this amazing big boy and live in the moment. And right now, we MUST save him."

Currently, Animal Welfare league's Intake facility has a very large female and the large male that you heard about in the Tara's story.

The Dogo Argentino Rescue Group has sent their representatives out to look at the dogs but they currently do not have any foster homes available. 

I have personally witnessed at the shelter, more times than not, that large breed dogs do not do well at the shelter for long periods of time. These two have already been at the shelter for about 3 weeks now. If you are a shelter with your 501(c)(3) or your Dept. of Agriculture license, please consider pulling one of these dogs. Diane from the Animal Welfare League's Intake facility can be reached at 773-667-0088 for more information.

Jill and I would like to thank everybody that sat with the sick girl yesterday as she passed. Even though it was gut wrenching, everybody stood by her side so that she was not alone. Even sedated, her poor face twitched until she passed. In passing, she finally found peace. Please share this post so that we can help the remaining pair.  -Sue

This is the surviving girl mentioned in the post. Though I missed getting a picture of it, she stood up and had her paws wrapped around this volunteer's neck to give endless kisses and it was the dearest thing.

If you're a Chicagoan there really isn't a volunteer opportunity in the city that allows you to make a greater difference than this when it comes to dogs. No, we can't save them all (YET) but, whether they make it out of there or not, they all had something to smile about for a day.

When life gives you lemons...

I consider the ubiquity of social media something of a mixed blessing but I've often seen the good that platforms like Facebook can do and it offered up a heartwarming story to brighten my day yesterday. To get the weekend started out right I'll share it with you!

Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus posted a note about a letter they'd received from a little girl who'd had a lemonade stand over the weekend and raised $7.10 to support IDR.  Inspired by her example, within a few hours a dozen of IDR's followers had offered to match her donation and there was an outpouring of encouragement and compliments to the little girl and her parents. Its delightful to see everyone chipping in to help teach this young supporter that good deeds are appreciated and that one person can truly make a difference! You can match her donation here and don't forget to like IDR's facebook page and leave a word of encouragement. They're a great rescue and in addition to their roots as a breed-specific group take in some very heartwrenching cases of all breeds, including many that are very difficult to find rescue for.

In more great news from around the web there was actually some POSITIVE press for pitbulls on a mainstream page today! When signing into my yahoo account I saw an article on the history of pitties as nanny dogs, inspired by this blog entry with vintage photos of pitbulls with children.

I'd like to think that some day I'll look back at this entry to remind myself that it was once a pleasant surprise to see a positive portrayal of pitbulls in the mainstream media. Who knows, maybe we're already turning a corner!

Double Rations?

Billy's old vet used to remark on the size of his head every time we went in. I've seen bigger but there's no denying that it's definitely a pretty solid piece of anatomy! As a result he always seems to be on the skinny side in comparison to the other pooches and on our first few vet visits I made a point of asking whether he needed fattening up a bit.

Eventually I got used to his proportions. However, I've been keeping an eye on him since I got back and have come to the conclusion that I'm not being paranoid and he definitely lost some weight while I was gone. I don't believe for a second that he wasn't wolfing down every morsel he could get his paws on as he's not the pining type. So I'm wondering whether it's maybe that when I'm around he gets so much extra chicken and treats when we're training, as well as bonus veggies - sweet potato and carrots are favorites.  Whatever the reason, as he won't be getting much in the way of special snacks this week (yesterday's work day started at 4:30am and I didn't finish up until 12:15am) Billy gets to live the dream for a little while.

What do you say to extra-large dinner Bilbo?

Bilbo's making progress!

Bilbo and I took a walk over to Palmer Square the week before my trip. There were off-leash pups chasing after balls, packs of wee yappers on strings (good ole retractable leashes) and a new bouncy large puppy to meet. Yes, there were tantrums, yes I had a rather interesting pattern of bruises on my foot from excitable paws but look where we ended up by the end of the day!

Even if he does offer up some pretty obnoxious behavior initially, it's a huge improvement that we're able to work through it now.

We missed you!

While I knew I'd be displaying just how unruly the pups can be in their door greetings, I couldn't quite resist the temptation of catching our welcome-home on camera. I shot a snippet and then had to put the camera down and start behaving myself instead of adding to all the excitement.

Bilbo's favorite way of catching up is to sit in my lap for cuddles so I ended up on the floor doing double duty petting pooches.

Eventually Bilbo and Buster were tired out enough to just flop down and grin at us, but Clover was insatiable and couldn't stop wriggling in for more attention (apologies for the poor picture quality but a pittie smile that big just has to be shared regardless!)

I was happy to see that Bilbo had resisted the temptation to break out of his crate as that's something we've been working on a lot recently. Unfortunately, he shouldn't have been left in there for such a long time yet so it's more good luck than good management that our last two months of gradually desensitizing him to being in there on his own wasn't completely undone.

On the one hand, it was incredibly kind of Dogdad's roommate to agree to look after the pooches for part of our trip (other friends covered for all three pups when he was out of town). It's particularly reassuring to know that they're all together in a familiar place with someone they trust, and options are limited given that Bilbo doesn't really do daycare - that's a story for another day. However, sometimes people like to do things their own way and it appears that you can't quite leave a rulebook when friends are involved and there was a fair bit of variation from the norm going on. While the pooches are in tip-top shape and no doubt enjoyed spending all that time together, I think it will be best to find alternative options in the future. 

What works best for everyone else's pooches?

Cats and dogs

You may remember Bogart, the cute little One Tail guy who went into foster-to-adopt a month ago. I received this promising video from his new dad while I was away.

Now, there's not a whole lot going on in that video but that's the point! Our only concern was whether or not Bogart and his cat, Kobe, would manage to get along. While Kobe obviously still has some opinions to voice about this new addition and there's some pregnant looks being exchanged, it's a huge step to see them both settled on the couch while Bogart makes the all-important decision to pay more attention to his antler than his furry brother!

On a side note, I wish I had a recording of the amazing noises that Kobe comes out with. I've never heard such a vocal cat - his repertoire of squeaks, grumbles and moans is astonishing and had us all in stitches as we went through the paperwork to finalize the adoption.

After the famine a feast

I'll admit I'm feeling more than a little sheepish that I managed to let a whole month pass without any posts whatsoever. Short version is brand new job, family stuff and a two and a half week long trip to Europe (booked before taking on above-mentioned brand new job). So I have oodles of half-written posts from before my trip and all kinds of pictures and updates which, despite the fact that they're now all out of date I'll probably bore you with anyway!

I've never spent so long away from Bilbo so it was an awful long time to go without a doggy fix. I recognized the signs of serious withdrawal symptoms when I caught myself in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam just pointing out the paintings with cute dogs in them to Dogdad.

Amsterdam seemed to be a very dog-friendly city with lots of well-behaved pooches hanging out around the city center.

The Netherlands get an extra gold star for having the sense to accept when a law doesn't work. They maintained a breed ban for 15 years but repealed it in 2008 in favor of owner responsibility laws after studies proved BSL to be ineffective. We didn't see many bullies in the capital although I did have to be prevented from throwing myself across the tram-tracks to meet a gorgeous American Bulldog.

While we did a bit of dog spotting in London and Amsterdam, it was while we were up north that I definitely missed the boys. Bilbo would have loved scrambling around the countryside along Hadrian's Wall though it would have been a bit steep for Buster at times.

Much as I love Chicago, I'll admit that more than once I toyed with the idea of returning only for as long as it took to throw Billy in a crate and hop on a plane back home. While having a dog in the city has it's own advantages I was incredibly envious of this pack loping around the countryside.

As Northumbria is one of the best kept secrets in the UK and I'd like to keep it that way I'll keep the scenery photos to a minimum but who recognizes this famous tree?

Sycamore Gap is a well-known landmark on Hadrian's Wall (the wall you can see along the ridge was built by the Romans) but Kevin Costner as Robin Hood somehow managed a detour there on his way to Nottingham from Dover. That's the tree he found the little boy hiding in.

Of course, we did have a bit of doggy company on one of our walks, a little closer to home. It takes about 3 minutes to get from my mam's house down to the clifftops so we fit in a few beachside rambles. After meeting up for coffee at Souter Lighthouse with about half the family, we stole Balto for a walk in the sunshine.

I'd seriously contemplate murder in exchange for a cheese scone fresh from the oven at the lighthouse cafe right now. That could be the jetlag talking.

It might look inviting but the North Sea is icy at any time of the year so only a brave few take a dip except on the two truly hot days a year that we get up north. 

I'm hoping to get back for Christmas this year so I imagine our next clifftop walk is going to be an awful lot colder.