Save a Life... Change your own.

I wish they could all get home, but it is so inspiring to see that so many have found happiness- snuggling up on couches, wearing new collars, and packing on the much needed pounds.

When you rescue one of these dogs, your life changes forever- you know what it means to give life and to receive love, trust and loyalty in return.

Save a life today (and forever change your own)-visit Urgent Part 2 on facebook.

Also, please sign this petition to force the NYC - DOH to build the shelters they were court-ordered to years ago. Read more about it here.

Please Help!

This book can change hearts and minds, plus Bruno and Winnie will be in it!
Help by pledging on kick-start and you can have the book sent to you when it is published!

Working with Difficult Dogs

Recently, we have been going through a tough time with Bruno. When he first came home from the shelter, he was so scared that he didn't show his true personality. Now that he is becoming more confident (and gained 15 pounds!!!) he is starting to display some concerning behavior. He has been barking at strangers for many months now, but we were unconcerned because when people approached him, his anxiety would cease as soon as he realized they were friendly.

(Read my May entry on Bruno's anxiety issues.)

Lately, however, even friendly strangers distress him. In the past week, we saw the first behavior that truly tested us-- he growled at strangers. People who wanted to approach him were terrified as he growled and barked at them, and lunged.We realized that this was a stress-response, because his blood pressure would increase- his eyes would water and his ears would turn bright red and blotchy. We decided to take him to the vet and see if they could prescribe him some canine anxiety medication.
Unfortunately, the two vets that Bruno knows were not in because it was a Saturday. The vets he knows are females and this vet was a male. He was reasonably comfortable in the waiting room- barking and whining only to get closer to other animals. Once we brought him into the room with the vet and the vet-tech, he completely freaked out-- he barked and growled at them both. Usually Bruno can acclimate to strangers eventually, and he has ALWAYS been docile and friendly at the vet's office in the past (it was the exact same room he has been in many times), so we gave the vet a treat to offer him. Bruno sniffed it and actually lunged at him! We were terrified he was going to try to bite the vet! I've never feared Bruno would ever bite anyone- we can put our hands in his mouth while he is eating or chewing a bone and he will just lick our fingers! All of a sudden I lost my confidence that I could promise people that he wouldn't hurt them.

We know we have to work on these behaviors and nip them in the bud before he becomes more aggressive strangers. Has anyone worked through issues like this before? Have your dogs ever threatened to bite?


The vet suggested a behaviorist and when we can afford it, we may try that- but in the mean-time he suggested a muzzle. We talked very seriously about this, and I've ordered one for certain occassions, but we decided after a lot of thought that Bruno gives us and strangers a LOT of warning before he becomes agressive. He warns us that he is uncomfortable with his voice and his posture and if we continue to allow people near him- we are asking for trouble. We are pretty confident that if we explain to people that he is not friendly to strangers, he won't need to be muzzled on an every-day basis while we are working through his issues. (After all, he has never bitten anyone, even under extreme circumstances.) On routine walks, he sits very nicely by our side and as long as we can keep his attention on us- he is comfortable.

Unfortunately, we know that Bruno may not be a good mix with children-- we know that in the next 5-10 years we will want to have a family- but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.


For the time being- I am going to take advice from this article about training a difficult dog named Feebe- that really touched me:

"There are no words to describe the amount of gratification we feel knowing we have helped Feebe live up to her greatest potential to become the best dog she can be.  Bad habits have been curbed because we did the work with her.  Good habits have replaced them.  She is not perfect – neither are you or I however, nor any other dog.  But she is good enough just being her goofball self, doing the best she can with our help, and she has enriched our lives exceedingly.  We did the work with her, and that is always what it takes every time.  We cannot expect these animals to teach themselves or to come knowing how we want them to live in our homes – and thankfully, we get to build our own personal characters as human beings because we help them flourish.

The best gift for me in having a challenging dog has been that she taught us the true meaning of unconditional love.  We have learned to love Feebe no matter what.  When she slips up, when she digresses, when she is imperfect.  She has taught us that she is worth loving no matter what, worth fighting for and working with despite her challenges.  We still separate our dogs when we are not home, we still have to give a little extra care when it comes to Feebe – and it is always worth it.  Its not that bad, it’s doable, and in the end, we get to fulfill the promise we made to her when we walked her out those shelter doors.
 
In exchange, Feebe loves us unconditionally too, when we mess up or are anything less than our best selves.  Maybe if we looked at it another way, she’s not a challenging dog but we’re challenging people?  If you can help a homeless pet in need recover and rehabilitate, if you can offer love and benevolent leadership to help them thrive, I guarantee you the challenges will be meaningful.  You just might be able to surpass your wildest imagination in terms of what you can do for another being, learn what you’re really made of, and expand your heart beyond belief."

PetItForward.org & Affordable Pet-Ownership

Since adopting Winnie and Bruno at the ages of 23, Chip and I realized how expensive dogs can be. Together, we make a decent income - not above average by any means - we are both paralegals at reputable law firms in New York City- but lately it feels like you need to be rich to own a dog here and keep it healthy.

So many of the dogs that come into the shelters in NYC are mal-nourished, injured or geriatric and need vet care their families cannot afford. Here are number of dogs I've seen in the last few months. Each one was either starved, had mange, or had a condition that needed expensive care. The expenses needed to rescue these dogs make it impossible for anyone other than Rescue Groups to adopt them:

(luckily-each of thses dogs was rescued by a rescue group- you can find out more about each in the safe folders at Urgent Part 2, but many are not so lucky.)


The story of Patrick(the pit puppy starved and thrown away as garbage) is of course a horrible one of cruelty and neglect, but it has shed light on the fact that many pet owners cannot afford care- and many cannot even afford adequate food. Please don't get me wrong- I hate people who don't take care of their dogs- I will do anything to make sure my dogs are fed and healthy and happy- and let's face it, people in this city adopt dogs they cannnot afford and that is wrong, but I do feel that something can and should be done it make it more affordable to own a dog.

That is where Pet It Forward comes in. It's CEO, Jenna Dreher, really believes in the mission of lowering the costs of pet-care- so much so that she donated generously to Winnie's ACL-repair surgery.

Jenna writes, "Pet care can be expensive and it doesn't have to be. Pet It Forward is like priceline.com for pet care, freer and more fun. We put the power in the hands of pet owners, giving them the ability to network online with those in their community, such as other pet owners and care professionals, to find more affordable or even free care for their pets."

I am really excited about this site; it connects pet owners with other pet owners in their nieghborhoods, makes booking and paying for pet-care online quick and easy, and can save us up to 50-100% on pet care. When you sign up for an appointment, the providers are sent the scheduling details, you are sent a reminder, and you can even review the provider- this means gaining insight from your neighbors about the vets, groomers or the dog-walkers in your area. It also puts you in touch with other dog owners so you can even set up "dates" for your pet.

The potential for this site is huge- if this site can generate enough users and pet care providers- it could save lives at city shelters by keeping dogs out of shelters in the first place. It would also open up homes for dogs with people who think owning a dog would be prohibitively expensive- like young, busy people who need to use dog walkers and expensive boarding facilities. The cheaper pets cost to own, feed and care-for, the more pets can be rescued and live fufilling lives.

The site is still in development, and accessibility to low cost vet-care is not yet available, but users will be able to save on boarding, walking, feeding, and cleaning service costs.

Please consider signing up-you will get an email when it is fully-functional.

To sign-up for an invitation to join Pet It Forward, click here.



The glass IS half full

When I started this blog, I thought about all the ways I could show what is happening to Pit bulls in the US-- how we bring them in to this world, abuse them, and take them out of it. The pain that many dogs face at the hands of their owners is not something I could turn my back to.

But so many organizations have made it their goal to educate and reach people about this injustice. I decided to focus more on a "glass -half- full" approach.

Over the next few months I will be learning as much as I can about the New York City shelter system and posting these adoptable beauties in hopes that they will melt some hearts.

I'll start by sharing a few dogs with you who desperately need their forever homes. All the dogs I have posted are dogs that have been said to have good temperments and sweet dispositions.

This is Spot, she is just a baby who had babies of her own. She was found emaciated in the Bronx. To learn more about this darling, click here.

 

This darling girl, Alexia, was found as a stray on the West side- Click here to learn more.

This is Sarah, who has been at Animal Haven (a no kill shelter) for a while, which is confusing considering how adorable this little girl is. Click here for more.