June 29th, 2009Thanks for the Shouts!
Thanks to everyone who gave up shouts for our dogs that marched down Market Street in the SF Pride Parade yesterday. We’re all peeling ourselves and our deliciously tired dogs off the floor today after a great weekend celebrating diversity in SF.
June 28th, 2009A new pet portrait by Terry Albert
Presenting Rylee, a golden-doodle. Her owner ordered this painting as a Father’s Day gift for her husband. Rylee is quite a character, only a year old and a very busy girl. She is so energetic that when she walks next to me, I carry a metal dog dish so she won’t crash into me. She jumps up and bongs her head on the bottom of the bowl, and just keeps on jumping happily along at my side! Read the rest of this entry »
June 26th, 2009Road Pup
We received one of the nicest-ever applications from someone whose beloved pit bull had just passed at a ripe old age. Mary Jo has a lot of dog smarts and laid out a very specific wish list for her next companion: 
She was looking for a dog that could handle a certain amount of confinement, and who was resilient and accepting of change and big adventure. She should be part sofa surfer, but spunky enough to gobble up a good dose of exercise when the time was right. She couldn’t be the least bit shy with people because she was going to meet a LOT of them, and she had to tolerate other dogs well enough to enjoy a good play session, but ignore dumb dog manners. Mary Jo knew pit bulls well enough to know there were lots of dogs out there that fit the bill, and she had decided that she wanted to adopt a dog from Oakland. No problem!
June 24th, 2009Should you send your dog out to a trainer?
June 24th, 2009Progress Report: From the Victims of Cruelty Working Group
Altho’ it’s been quiet on the outside since leaving the big multi-org meeting in Vegas last April, inside, busy brains are rockin’ towards creating ways to work collectively to help the victims of cruelty: aka the pit bulls confiscated from abusive situations including dog fighting operations.
June 21st, 2009Dad and Betty White
This post is pointing you to one I put up almost a year ago. A tribute to my dad on this Father’s Day. Although the title says “My friend, Betty White,” believe me, it’s a story about Dad! Dad was quite a character, and I miss him very much. All of you out there who still have your dads, give him a hug and tell him you love him today. Read the rest of this entry »
June 21st, 2009Home
A big day for Salvador and Retha. These best friends leaned on each other for companionship and fun while at the shelter, and today they got to leave the shelter together to go to their new (separate) homes.
June 16th, 2009Lessons from the late, great Dirk
After working with boatloads of shelter dogs over the years, we’ve dropped the belief that pit bulls are an inherently dog aggressive breed. We certainly consider them to be one of the most poorly socialized breeds in our crowded cities, however. We don’t always do right by dogs in the big busy world of ours: Rushing them into dicey nose-to-nose greets with strange dogs, setting them up for failure in chaotic, poorly run dog parks, leaving them to their own devices at home with other dogs and no playground monitor to enforce the rules, or just plain isolating them from other dogs altogether. Then, when they get into trouble or come to the shelter and show bad manners with other dogs, we blame them – or especially – their breed. “Damn pit bulls! Can’t trust them with other dogs!”
