For the win column

With all the sad news coming up this week, I'm so happy that I got to spend my Sunday afternoon with four happy success stories. For all the amazing rescuers out there, working against the odds in so many ways, don't forget this is what you make possible.

Clover: Dumped outside on a porch in Chicago on a freezing New Year's Eve, starving, covered in scratches and faeces. Rescued by her owner.

Billy: Headed straight to death row in a high-kill shelter without the intervention of One Tail who didn't give up until he'd finally found the perfect home.

Buster: An owner surrender who sat in a shelter for three years. Found his forever home on a cold November night when Clover chose him.

Lucy: A timid little lady who lived her life in a cage. Now learning to love everyone she meets. Currently curled up in my lap. Tomorrow making the journey to live with her new dad and beagle brother.

Go cuddle your rescue dog tonight.

Thanks!

Some of these are rather belated but I wanted to make sure I didn't forget to mention some of our lovely friends in the blogging community.

To begin with, here's a very tardy photo as promised of the handsome new collar that Bilbo won in Two Pitties in the Cities raffle.

I am so slow getting even this rubbishy shot up that both the pooches that benefited from the raffle have been rescued, healed up and adopted already!!! But doesn't my boy look dapper for the summer?

The other week Two Grad Students and a Pittie kindly gave us a shout-out. You should definitely pop over to their blog for some Havi cuteness - you can't have too much adorable pitty in your life!

And finally, thanks to Maisie & Me who sent Bilbo a yummy antler as part of reader appreciation week.

Even little Lucy got in on the fun when Billy went off for a snooze. Just as well he's the sharing type!

Why not?

This is Lucy today.

Lucy is not a sob story. At three years old she has been removed from a bad situation with the promise that she will live out the rest of her long life with plenty of food, love, treats, cuddles and soft cushions. Lucy will never be forced to carry another litter of puppies, destined to be sent out into the world to the highest bidder with little thought as to their ultimate fate. Best Friends made that promise to Lucy when they transported her to a shelter in Chicago, One Tail at a Time made that promise to Lucy when they pulled her into their program, as her foster home I made that promise to Lucy and very soon the perfect adoptive home will come along and make that promise to Lucy. Lucy has a team on her side.

But Lucy is still just one dog among thousands. As she trotted along at my side this evening - almost perfectly leash trained in just a week - a man walked up behind us. He paused as he passed.

"She have babies?"

"Why not?"

I could have cried. I could have hit him. I spluttered and stammered and called out no, you shouldn't breed, you should adopt, she's escaped a puppy mill and will never have babies again. Ultimately, the only thing he wanted to hear was whether or not he could get a puppy from her. After the negative he just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. I wish there was a way in that 5 second conversation to share everything I've seen in shelters, everything I've read and learned and heard. I wish I spoke good enough Spanish to have reached out in his own language and explained at least a small part of what I know.

Next week I'll add a bi-lingual pamphlet to my walking supplies and I'll hand it out to every kid who asks me if Billy is a girl just because they can't see any testicles, to every lady who pulls up in her car to ask if I know anyone who wants to buy a pitbull puppy, to every family with a pregnant chihuahua running round the front yard.

For the sake of every Lucy out there I will have an answer to the question, "Why not?"

• Because every hour in the US, more that 2,000 dogs and 3,500 cats are born compared to 415 humans.
• Because more than 20% of the dogs in shelters are purebred.
• Because only one in every 10 puppies finds a permanent home.
• Because in 6 years one female dog and her offspring can be the source of 67,000 puppies.
• Because 11,000 animals die in American shelters EVERY DAY.
• Because ultimately, the only result of indiscriminately breeding dogs in backyards or commercial mills is this

The neighborhood

Who is the cutest?

Obviously that would be Bilbo, but if there was a number one contender for runner-up most-cute-ever, it would have to be this little lady.

Someone isn't quite big enough to jump onto the couch so this is the "lift me up please" face. There seems to have been an awful lot of snuggling going on over the past couple of days. This is probably because she's worked out how to climb onto the bed and wriggle into a comfy spot.

Although seriously, who wears flannel snowflake pyjamas in June?

I didn't intend to let her sleep on the bed quite so soon but she was so comfy I didn't have the heart to kick her out into her crate. All three of us were thoroughly worn out last night so when I woke up in the morning it was to discover that none of us had moved an inch in the night.

She's definitely discovered the cuddle potential of a big foster brother, although it's bizarre how teeny tiny he can curl himself up. You wouldn't think from this picture that he weighs three and a half times what Lucy does.

I'd love to know what on earth she was thinking here. What a brave place to put her head....

Don't Bully my Bilbo!

Three quarters of the way through our walk this evening's post was going to be about how gorgeous the weather was, how much I love the neighborhood park and how super-fabulous-awesome-clever my dog is.  Lucy had her trip to the vet to get spayed today. She got a clean bill of health, except for having some teeth pulled, and is pretty much zonked out (cute alert) from the residual effects of the anesthesia and pain meds.

That meant Bilbo and I were flying solo for our walk and I was excited to get out and take advantage of the (finally) beautiful evening and trot around the park with camera in hand.

 I've been so proud of his progress recently and I knew that there'd be plenty of people out and about for us to practice our training. He was such a superstar and we ran through lots of commands with dogs and people all over the place. There were even excited dogs playing fetch around the base of the hill as we sat and chilled in the sunshine.

I love the way that the park is so richly put to use. There were families playing by the lake.

While the local wildlife went happily about it's business.

All the time, in the background, we could hear the sounds of music at the Puerto Rican festival drifting across from the other side of the park. It was near idyllic.

As Bilbo continued to put his best foot forward, I decided we'd go over and check it out. As we got closer to the event and it got busier I put him through his paces to see if he was paying attention. Gold stars all round, the boyo was picture perfect. So we walked past the cop and through the gate. Bilbo was a little distracted by the noise but got straight back onto form and posed for some pictures by the stage.

Although it was rather loud there, the foot traffic was pretty low so it seemed like a good spot to start out.

We then headed over towards the stalls planning to loop through and come out the other side of the park opposite our street. As we walked, people even pointed out how well behaved he was!

Billy started to pull a little, prompted by the simultaneous stimulation of tasty smelling food and a gathering of guys who all wanted to know what kind of dog he was. However, as I was fending off their questions and getting him back to heel a big guy in black came over and told me he was park security and I couldn't have a dog at a family festival. If I were to give him the benefit of the doubt I'd say that maybe he'd missed all of Bilbo's good behavior and had just spotted a very strong, excited dog in the hands of a weedy looking chick. I think if he'd said that Bilbo had to be better behaved I would have taken it at face value and left with a cheerful vow to do better. But he didn't. He walked past the guy with the viszla to tell the bully breed to get out.

The event runs through Sunday. If any of my Chicago readers can get their paws on some non-bully breeds and go try their luck I'd be interested to know the outcome. Or maybe a breed ambassador a little further on in their training might want to see whether big square heads are the problem or just excited pups. I mentioned it on my way out to the cop at the gate and he was surprised to learn that "dogs" weren't allowed.

I'd love to say that we left with our dignity and with Bilbo proving that, whatever people may assume from his looks, he's the perfect breed ambassador.  Unfortunately my boy doesn't approve of discrimination and he's got just enough teenager in him to make sure everyone knows it. As the security guard loomed over me (seriously, heard of a little concept called personal space?) and reached the end of his lecture, Billy knocked over a trash can...

What twinkle in the eye? I'm a perfect angel!

Stop and smell the roses

The One Tail summer photo contest has officially closed and there are some fabulous doggy pictures which are good for plenty of smiles on this rather grim wet Wednesday. There's even a photo of Gordon, who you may remember from this post (warning: graphic photos), who is now living it up and grinning by the lakeshore. I have no idea how the judges are going to pick just a couple of them.  Unfortunately their job is even harder because there is NO photo of Bilbo - let's face it, he's a clear winner if ever there was one.

In all the madness of the past month, good sunny weather and time to take some good snaps have just not coincided. Earlier this week, I did suggest that he pose under the gorgeous June roses in the backyard, however that was obviously too girly a suggestion and he went into a tremendous sulk. What a sad looking pooch.