nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind.

Here are some pics of the new foster pup, Merle. OMG what a sweet and well behaved boy he is. And he is absolutely stunning. I don't see him being with us for very long.



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jonathan and libby holding hands

This video cracked me up. I want this dog.



Sadly there was a number of ignorant comments posted in response to the video - if anyone wishes to provide some balance here's the direct link: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3d0_1257397541

Hey you guys! I was hoping some of you pit lovers and pit owners out there might be able to help me. Since I know most of you are probably very familiar with the bullies. I know that without proper papers or conducting a blood test, you can never know for sure what breed of dog you have. But I am almost 100% certain my dog is a purebred American Pit Bull Terrier similar to the dog here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pit_Bull_Terrier

The thing of it is, I bought her for $150.00 when she was eight weeks old (a steal!) from a guy who was just trying to get rid of her. He said he bought her from someone who had a litter. But he lived with his grandmother who had three other dogs of her own and she didn't want another. So, I didn't get any papers on her or anything. It isn't like I care either because this is the most obedient, intelligent, and sweetest dog I have ever owned! But just because I am curious... I am posting some photos of her from eight weeks to present and I want to hear what you guys think! I ask everyone I know and they all seem to agree that she looks purebred.

( What do you guys think? Does my dog Waffle look like a pure pit? )

I took Lacey out to my church tonight to pick up my brother. I walked up between the two buildings with her and someone that came out of one of the buildings freaked the eff out and made a scene that caused a small mob-like panic, screaming that she was a pit and everyone needed to run. This lady freaked out a bunch of kids that were around 7+ that Lacey was super excited to see (she really likes older kids) and then I had to reel her in and keep her next to me because this lady was panicking like I was bringing up a fighting dog.

I was pissed and didn't know how to react. I've never gotten this kind of negative attention from Lacey because pits are a hugely popular pet in the Dallas area. Usually people come right up to her and love on her. I didn't know what to do. What would you guys have done? I tried to reason with this woman but she ran off so fast I couldn't get a word in edgewise. I ended up walking away with poor bewildered Lacey, who was upset after everyone freaked out. She's really sensitive and doesn't like any kind of negativity, even a stern look, and I was upset about this upsetting her.

Do I just ignore people like this? I've never had anything like this happen before, so I just wondered what I should do if it ever happened again.

So we've had this person calling the hospital since 4:30pm with a pit girl that's been in labor since 10am. She killed the first baby, the second pup she didn't even bother to take out of the sack, she just took off with it and hid it in the bushes, the third one she kinda went MEH and completely ignored. At first they were saying that this was a dog they rescued, but then they went and said that her last three litters were all about 9 pups each and she never took this long to deliver or had ever hurt them :/

Anyway, we kept telling him to bring the mom and baby in but he didn't show until half an hour after we closed (6:30pm) with the girl on a leash, panting like she'd just been running and the tiny pup in his jacket pocket. The vet had already left so we referred him to the emergency clinic in case she needed an emergency spay because he thought that she had more pups to deliver but they just took her home for the night and I really doubt this poor girl will see the emergency clinic if she ends up needing it.

We did manage to get him to surrender the pup that survived and he said that if any more pups were born he'd also surrender them because he doesn't want to bottle feed. She'd been born earlier in the afternoon and she still had not been feed because the mom wanted nothing to do with it, the poor thing was tiny and you could see her ribs sticking out :( One of the techs ended up taking her home to bottle feed, we gave her some puppy formula while waiting for her ride and boy was the poor thing HUNGRY.

Also referred him to the Fix a Pit program that spays/neuters pits and pit mixes for free... but he didn't seem very interested :/

Anyway, one more pibble for my rescue, I hope she makes it! She looks like a little white rat xD

I need to post pics of my pups for you guys too see too! They're both getting huge and faaaat. I adore them :D Hippo's doing great as well, she's such a wonderful little tank :)

A friend of mine sent me these messages recently:

My friend Mel is looking to place her two dogs, one of whom is a bull mix, and has some medical condition for which he takes a daily medication. She can't keep them, even though they are sweet sweet dogs. She was going to surrender at the the shelter, but they said that there would be low-odds for adoption because of the breed, and given that, they'd probably just euthanize the dogs. That just breaks everyone heart! Do you know of any organizations that do rescue? The only connection I have in the area is with a greyhound resuce organization.

She linked me photos here (on Facebook, should be public, might need a FB account), and I replied:

Hrm.. where is he located? The local SPCA might have some helpful info--though as I recall, Ithaca's had to stop being a no-kill shelter. :\ (Between the two dogs, I wouldn't think the Shepherd-mix would have a problem, but the brindle bully likely would, as noted.)

She wrote back:

Both dogs were surrendered at the Ithaca SPCA yesterday. I think they are still, technically, a no-kill shelter althugh it's rumored that their standards for euthanasia are becoming increasing more inclusive. Bad teeth? Extraction is expensive, euthanize instead. That sort of thing. Sweet puppies - I wish I could have helped more, but I don't have the right stuff for two more large dogs at home.

Sooo.. anyone know of any bully rescues or would-be adopters in the upstate/central NY area? As noted, they're currently at the Ithaca, NY SPCA, and I'm thinking Bock may need some help getting back out.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Hello, all. I need some help. I'm a psych student (and pit bull owner!) and I'm taking a class about the psychology of helping. We have to write a research proposal, and I am looking at the evolutionary vs. social approaches, trying to track down the elusive concept of true altruism (real, selfless helping; it's more rare than you would think).

So I decided to look at dog fosters, because there seems to be a no more thankless experience. It seems like it's a huge drain on resources, time, and emotional energy, and even knowing a foster has been given a good home seems to be extremely bittersweet (thus perhaps undercutting the benefits by quite a lot).

So I am looking to hear your experiences on fostering to help me create some hypotheses. My proposal is going to focus specifically on the costs and benefits. So I would like to know a few things:

1.) How long have you been a foster/how many dogs have you fostered?
2.) Going into it, what were your feelings about it? How did you perceive the costs and benefits?
3.) Were you financially compensated in any way? If so, did it make the endeavor more worthwhile?
4.) How much time and energy did you put into training or rehabilitating each dog on average? Was this a difficulty for you? How long did you have them?
5.) Explain how you felt after the experience, once the dog had been placed in a forever home. Did it feel worth it? After your first time, did you think you could do it again right away?
6.) If I were actually trying to do this study (which I'm not), who would I contact in order to be put in contact with fosters? I am trying to find a feasible way to get participants, theoretically.

This is all just for a class proposal, not a study I am actually planning to do, but who knows, maybe somebody will do it eventually. I feel like fosterers may be the last true altruists out there, and I'd love to blow the evolutionary perspective (that all helping is nothing but maximizing gains and minimizing costs) out of the water!

Any and all comments will be helpful. Thanks so much. :D

( After being thrown off a roof last year.. )

source

People are being encouraged to email esayres@aspca.org immediately to help delay and possibly stop Oreo's death.

Telephone: 1-212-876-7700 Ext. 4600
After 7:00 am on Friday, November 13th you can call: 1-212-876-7700 extension 2500 and ask to speak to the person in charge

( an open letter from WAR director Camille Hankins )

x-posted to hounds_of_hell

( After being thrown off a roof last year.. )
source

People are being encouraged to email esayres@aspca.org immediately to help delay and possibly stop Oreo's death.

Telephone: 1-212-876-7700 Ext. 4600
After 7:00 am on Friday, November 13th you can call: 1-212-876-7700 extension 2500 and ask to speak to the person in charge

( an open letter from WAR director Camille Hankins )

i dont have the actual source for the letter but i got it from here

x-posted to petbulls

http://community.livejournal.com/parent_freebies/profile


JOIN MY COMMUNITY AND SHARE YOUR BEST PARENT/CHILD RELATED FREEBIES!

I've got a new guy coming tomorrow. Apparently the merle fad pit bulls are creeping into Central Ohio. This is the second one I've seen this month. Anyway, this is Merle (Haggard) and he will be arriving tomorrow. He is supposed to be 12 weeks old but looks older in these pics. Guess I will find out for certain tomorrow



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Today I got hit in the face with a big, huge, splintery two-by-four of reality. Bang, right in the head and a second blast to the heart. That shit hurts, you know?

( this is really long )

We all went camping in Big Sur, CA last month...this was my favorite picture :)

seeing this article made my heart unhappy
http://www.theprovince.com/business/Major%20fire%20destroys%20strip%20mall%20Broadway%20Main%20Vancouver/2214444/story.html

for the non-vancouverites this is my hood.
such a shitty loss, ESPECIALLY slickety jim's which is a main street institution!
every visitor i have i take there, and to me its one of the few places left that embodies the spirit of what made main street, well main street. (or so say my "original" main st folk)

plus all the places that suffered devastation are local businesses, and with rent rising the way it has been in mount pleasant so many local places have been forced to close.
for someone who takes pride in their neighbourhood its sad!
just hope that they will all be able to recover and reopen.

guess for the time being seb's will be getting all my neighbourhood brunch business.....

edit: check out these pics someone in vancouver shared...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57191538@N00/sets/72157622668141343/
they live across from the buildings in question

Not a whole lot of leaves, but still very fall!

We don't actually have fall leaves here but...

Outdoorsy Brownie... finally starting to look like a mastiff at 7 mos. old




http://newimages.fotopic.net/?iid=1yka09&outx=722&quality=70
Note - sometimes the pic isn't loading, not sure why...so I added the link.