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K9 Explorers

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With spring finally starting to actually happen, the world is starting to blossom and the urge to get out and do things is finally starting to creep in and set fast.  Winter is always a tough season for me (and the dogs) because I have to drag myself out to do things because I hate the extreme colds it produces.  Yeah, we weight pulls in the winter months but it was indoors but that was pretty much the extent of it.  (No snow pulls this year for us!  Brr!)

My husband and I have been looking into doing other things with the dogs outside of competing.  Don’t get me wrong, I still have my competitive “We can do this!” spirit with the dogs but I’m settling down a bit and just want to spend time with the dogs and do things in time.  That is what brought us to finally biting the bullet and looking into joining K9 Explorers.  It’s a really awesome group of people who get together just to DO things with their dogs and even help the community with different projects too.  I’d been following them for a couple of years but it really never kicked that it was something I wanted to do seriously until this year when I got the guts to as the founder, Heather, if I could tag along on one of the hikes.

We had a blast.  The dogs were tired.  We were tired.  We got to hang out with like-minded people who thoroughly enjoyed their dogs and their company.  These were people who enjoyed doing things with their dogs for the heck of it.  Sure, there were a few dog sport competitors in the group like Abby and Therese from Team Puggle (seriously awesome team, by the way!) but for the most part it these were folks who just genuinely loved their pets.  It was such a wonderful treat that we were hooked.

We’ve decided to make the plunge to join and enjoy ourselves and help out in the club to make sure things run smoothly.  It’s going to be a blast earning badges like we could have in Dog Scouts of America since they wouldn’t accept a couple of our dogs for not being particularly doggie friendly, helping the community and enjoying doing things with the dogs outside of the normal competitive setting and I highly recommend the group for anyone in the Metro Detroit area too! (If you’re interested, you can find out more about them here.)

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Ryker playing on some of the agility equipment at the first meeting of the year.

Breed Advocacy and the American Pit Bull Terrier

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Ryker at Michigan Renaissance Festival 2012

The topic of breed specific legislation and bully breeds is an incredibly hot button topic and it has a vast array of thought processes from the overzealous “can do no wrong” breed advocates to those who are more realistic about the history and temperament on this breed.  My friend Liz recently wrote an article titled “Advocacy As I See It” on her blog after having another breed advocate accuse her of supporting breed specific legislation because she is incredibly realistic about the breed – especially since she shares it with one very special dog named Inara who has had some ups and downs becoming a model doggie citizen in a state that was known for its horrendous BSL (that was recently repealed!  Yay!).

Now, I’ve been involved in the breed on a major level after my husband and I brought home our very first dog as a budding young couple in 2003.  My first taste of hatred actually came from my own mother who told me to take my 4 ½ week old “baby killer” out of her house and get rid of her.  (Guess what didn’t happen?)  I was shocked and furious.  How dare she talk about my baby girl like that?!  It didn’t take long for her to change her tune and now she brags about her “grand dog” to anyone who will listen.

Unfortunately, though, she’s not the only one who has thought like that.  Some have changed their mind through persistent education from an unemotional friend who would rather facts be there and not phobia but others still have fear and loathing for the American Pit Bull Terrier.  Let’s face it, these dogs have a history because of a propensity to be dog/animal reactive or aggressive and are incredibly powerful. In the wrong hands, they can be a walking disaster and the numerous media accounts that happen almost weekly are proof testament to that very real problem in this breed.

The unfortunate problem for this breed though isn’t so much the ignorance of the owners (though that’s a major portion), but the caliber of those who advocate for the breed.  To realistically sit there and deny the history of the breed and what it was bred for in its infant stages is to deny the very reason we have such a human stable (or at least they should be!), biddable, wonderful companion who is so versatile they can do just about any task you set in front of them does this breed an incredible disservice. Or as Liz put it, “Blowing smoke up people’s behinds to make them sound like magical little bunny-hugging unicorns in a compact, muscular body doesn’t do anybody any good.  Especially the dog.” And it’s true!

Unfortunately, those who would love to think that they are supporting this breed in its entirety are actually harming it by spreading false propaganda about these dogs.  Phrases like, “Pit bulls were nanny dogs!” (Which isn’t correct!  Staffordshire Bull Terriers hold that title.) and “Pit bulls were bred as herding dogs.” only serve to get those who would prefer to see these dogs demolished more fuel for their fire.  These dogs don’t need lies to pump up the fact that they have a strong and loyal following of responsible owners that they can prove their worth on their own.

For this breed, those responsible owners are actually becoming a minority because we choose to realize that our breed was bred for a purpose.  While that purpose is no longer legal, it doesn’t mean that the breed doesn’t still have the genetic traits that were sought after for that original purpose.  (Genetics are quite funny, one change could tip the balance and screw things up royally – take a look at the Extreme American Bullies for example.)  The ability and willingness of a pit bull to be reactive toward another dog (or animal) is still something that is incredibly prevalent in these dogs.  It’s one of the key reasons many pit bull advocates chant the mantra “Never trust your dog not to fight.”  They may not start it.  They may not engage fully.  They may only snap and snarl at another dog but they most certainly will be blamed for it.

Now, this is not to say that every single pit bull is going to be reactive, aggressive or even selective toward another dog but the genetics behind it are there.  They are, after all, bull and terrier-type dogs and both types of dog are known for those exact traits and it’s something that needs a special owner who is willing to put time and dedication into training, socialization and maintenance of their four-legged friend.

These dogs aren’t meant for every Tom, Dick and Harry after all.  They are a LOT of dog and unfortunately the “Save Them All” faction tend to down play that and make people feel sorry for a dog that would not be a good fit in every household.  No one breed of dog is right for everyone be it a poodle, Shih Tzu, German Shepherd, or Great Dane and until people start to realize that, even if it sucks having to admit that (even to yourself!) then the breed will suffer at the hands of its own advocates because they would rather bury reality into a fluffy, rainbow-colored package that barks lullabies and poos glitter logs.

Being an advocate isn’t always pretty but we have to do it for our dogs.  We have to protect our breed from the ignorance, the over-caring and the unkind.  We have to make sure they are not set up for failure or we will eventually lose this wonderful breed to the government bodies that would seek to regulate these dogs out of existence.

So, please, if you want to be a breed advocate know your breed – the pros AND the cons.  Be realistic about your dog no matter how much you love them and realize that those same breed traits you may want to suppress into you subconscious are still there and because of your unwillingness to embrace (even if you abhor) those traits could set your dog up to fail and your advocacy to crumble.

Dog Park Dangers

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Many years ago this article would have never been written.  I used to firmly believe that dog parks were an excellent way to expend the energy of a drivey, happy-go-lucky dog – more specifically, our pit bull Luna.  (No, folks, I do NOT encourage bully breeds in dog parks and we lucked out with having a pretty dog social pit bull but they aren’t all like that.  BAD RAP has a GREAT article on dog parks for bully breed owners.) The allure that they were a great place for dog-dog socialization was there and perhaps the initial purpose behind dog parks had this thought but it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

We used to attend one of the many in the Metro Detroit area like it was going out of fashion – we’re talking about nearly every single day no matter what.  Luna loved it.  She would romp with her doggie friends and we’d chat with other dog owners while they frolicked.

When Luna was about eighteen months old we stopped going to the park.  Our work schedules had changed and we were unable to go to the park with any real frequency and started looking into other options for exercising her – like dog sport classes and hiking.  I didn’t think much of it until I went back with a friend’s dog a couple of months back – a cute little lab mix with boundless energy.  Let me tell you, I was absolutely shocked at what had changed.

  • The amount of feces that was left behind after a dog pottied.  Owners just seemed to walk around it or ignore the fact that their dog had just left a pile behind.  I silently worried about things like coccidia or other parasites that a dog could be shedding in those piles.
  • The owners all gathered in one spot near the entrance despite the fact that there was an acre and a half completely open an unsupervised with dogs running amok.  Many were chatting or on their cell phones(!) and not paying any attention to their canine charge.
  • There were TONS of out-of-control dogs with no manners, no recall and no direction.  Many of them often bullied other dogs and their owners thought it was adorable or were completely indifferent about what was happening – like the intact pair of male Labradors that humped everything they could wrap their paws around and the more the other dog fought back the worse it got.
  • Those same out-of-control dogs seemed to be attached to equally out-of-control owners (I got a taste of that when I pulled the two labs off of my friend’s young dog for the millionth time and got told NOT to touch his dogs.  My reply wasn’t very politically correct, to be honest, because I was sick of seeing this happy, exuberant dog get shoved to the ground by two jerk dogs but I got the point across and those dogs left soon afterward, thankfully!)
  • The wrong type of equipment was being left on dogs (pinch collars, harnesses, choke chains, etc.) that could have caused severe injury or even death to a dog if a fight broke out or a dog’s jaw got caught while grabbing a hold of another dog in play.

We spent a total of about 45 minutes there and I have to admit, it sucked.  I couldn’t believe how much things had changed and while some dogs may be phenomenal at a dog park because they have been well-socialized and have owners who are on top of everything and not about being social divas, I personally don’t think they’re really a good thing for the vast majority of dogs out there – especially since most people sadly use dog parks as a way to cheat the system and not take their dog for a walk to expend energy.

There are a plethora of other options out there instead of visiting your local dog park to expend that boundless energy – especially if you have a bull breed like training classes, hikes or even a fenced in baseball diamond or tennis court with just you and your dog or a couple of like-minded owners and their dog-social dogs.

Snowpocalypse 2012

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Okay, so it wasn’t exactly the worst snow storm in the planet and barely created a fuss for most of Michigan but you’d think that the way the news channels were panicking that it was going to be some sort of major to do – you know, like it was the end of the world or something.  Other than a few short hours where five sissy bulls absolutely refused to set foot outside because they might get flurries up their derriere it amounted to nothing more than eight inches of cold, non-snowman making snow pile up that gave the dogs an opportunity to romp like madmen (and women!) around their Nana and Papa’s yard (since that’s where we were for the first part of this week).

Imagine that, romping around 2.5 acres like little snow piranhas while beating one another up with frozen Kong Wubbas and Jolly Balls.  It was all rather amusing but I seriously froze my fingers off (because I couldn’t find my gloves and said “oh, well!” like an idiot!) watching them be little nimrods and merrily photographed the whole thing.  This, of course, amounted to waaaaaaay to many photographs to sort through and process but it was worth it.

Now that they’re all edited and ready to go, I’ll post them here for your enjoyment.  Did you survive the Snowpocalypse of 2012 or are you an abominable snow zombie like I felt after a few hours in the sub zero temperatures? (You can view the whole album here.)

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Luna gets a good roll in the snow.

 

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Lyric likes to sass me when she doesn’t get the toy NOW.

 

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Ryker and Lyric nag at their Poppa to THROW THE BALL!

 

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Mika mid-shake with her Wubba.

 

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The chase is on!

Home Away from Home: Fort Custer State Park

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My husband and I try and take a mini vacation every once in a while to just get away from it all.  This kind of trip typically involves the outdoors and the dogs.  Since we’d planned to use up the rest of our vacation time from work for the week of Thanksgiving we figured this was ample opportunity to ‘just get away’ for a little while and what better way to do that than to hit the trails?

We planned for weeks on where we wanted to go.  We researched the various trails, distances and locations that we wanted to check out since we had already thoroughly abused the local parks and recreation areas close to home.  At the suggestion of our friend Cindy from The Nut House, we checked out the deal on Fort Custer State Park.  That was it.  We had found our spot and the wait began – which was mercifully short.

We headed toward Kalamazoo on Sunday evening after attending the NWDA weight pull that was being hosted that weekend (more on that later) and settled into our hotel room (after an awesome dinner at Mongolian BBQ!) for the evening since we were going to hit the trails first thing in the morning on Monday with the pack and the addition of Peanut and Cindy.

Left to Right: Peanut, Lyric, Ryker, Mika & Luna

We hit the trails around 11am the following morning after packing our backpacks with the supplies for the trip and harnessing up the dogs and got lost in the woods for four hours.  We made a few stops throughout since my knees aren’t always the greatest on hikes (and for a picnic lunch!).  We seemed to be alone to enjoy the wilderness with our pack of pit bulls other than a pair of mountain bikers who were stopped due to one of them wiping out and messing up his bike pretty badly (he was uninjured, thankfully!).

All in all, it was a wonderful set of trails despite the fact that they were pretty poorly marked.  I can’t wait to head back there in the spring when the weather is a touch better to do it all again.

Here are a few more shots from our trip.  The rest can be viewed here.

I Am The Majority

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Animal Farm Foundation announced a casting call for their “I Am The Majority” project to show that pit bull owners aren’t all thugs and the scum of the earth.  Normally, I don’t get involved in PR projects like this but I felt that this was a nice way to showcase the dogs that come from everyday homes and aren’t just status symbols, lawn ornaments or possessions to be had.  I hope that each of my dear blog readers will go out and do the same with their beloved pit bulls and show the world that there are people out there who are responsible, everyday citizens.