ATTN: DOG LOVERS! We Are Fostering Two Awesome Dogs That Need A Good Home (Or Homes). Please Help!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Poor Duke!

We just use peanut butter. The secret is not in slathering the pill with PB, but in having a SECOND glob of PB waiting right behind it. Dog wolfs down pill without being picky in order to clear the deck for second helping of PB.

She claims you made a rash decision? Seems to me like leaving an itchy rash untreated/under-treated is a bit like torture…and I say this having recently had to treat a rash of my own.

But think of the baby! I have heard of numerous cases where people decide to dump their pit bulls or other physically strong breed because they had a baby (or at least use that as the excuse). As if humanity hasn’t had family dogs and children living together for, depending on which research one believes, the past 15,000 to 100,000 years.

Oh, excellent point. I believe all dogs, but especially breeds people are prejudiced against, need formal documentation (for whatever protection it can provide). A written, possibly even notarized document transferring the dogs sounds like an important shield for them.

22

Stupid city ordinances. If they’d criminalize the owners who turn them into attack dogs, that’d solve the entire problem. As a breed, they have no ingrained human aggression, only animal aggression, so care has to be taken to socialize them with other dogs (and/or cats) early and properly so they don’t go after other dogs on walks, etc., or can cohabitate with other animals, but they are docile towards people. They actually beat the “general” dog population on the temperament scale according to the American Temperament Test Society.
"In December 2010, the American Temperament Test Society showed the American pit bull terrier scored an overall temperament rating of 83.9%, compared to the 77% score of the general dog population.

"Pit bulls are actually bred to be affectionate towards people. They have been bred for hundreds of years for strength, agility, high pain tolerance and absence of aggression toward humans. Pit bulls are extremely intelligent dogs and take their cues from the humans who raise them. "
I really wish a Doper would take one or both of them — you guys are the bestest.

23

I know; poor baby. But after only two doses so far of the medication, he’s already feeling much, much better.

He doesn’t love peanut butter as much as Lola does, but he SCARFS down the pill pockets with the pills in them, so it’s all good.

I see what you did there. :wink: It is like torture. About a week before we brought them here full-time, I was at her house and she had let Duke come in, and he was scratching himself like crazy. She turned to him and yelled, “DUKE! Stop scratching!!” I was gobsmacked. I said, “He’s scratching because he itches,” to which she replied that I hadn’t had the “pleasure” of having him go crazy shaking the sofa I was sitting on with his incessant scratching. That was just another in a long line of reasons that were piling up that made me finally snap and take the dogs home with us.

Not to mention that this particular breed was actually bred to keep with children. That’s why they and their cousins, the Staffordshire Terrier, are collectively known as “Nanny Dogs.”

24

They’re beautiful critters, and if I was in a position right now to have another dog, I’d be all over taking both of them. Unfortunately, I’m not. The GF and I have already decided our next dog—which will be some time down the road—will be something like these two, with big eyes at the pound. (Or quivering beside the side of the road, which I wish were less often than I’ve seen. People suck.) Given how many pitties end up in shelters, it’s likely the next dog’ll be a pit. (Ahem, a ‘Lab-mix.’).

All of the ones I’ve met, love people. Not so much other dogs, but they’re insanely friendly to pretty much any person. I didn’t know that about the temperament study; thanks for citing that. Surprising that Weims went as high as 80%, and I’ve a gigantic WTF!? to the Fila Brasileiro getting a 78.6%. There are some other surprising results from their research. This doesn’t make me have a lot of faith in their methodology.

Best wishes to your getting them adopted.

25

How terrible. The folks sound like absolute assholes. Pits are wonderfully sweet dogs and I would snatch one up in a minute if I could.

I also “friended” the facebook page you posted. Couldn’t see a way to share it without doing that. I’m on the east coast but who knows, maybe someone will come forward.

Y’all are angels for taking responsibility.

26

Thanks so much, Gray Ghost. They really are beautiful doggies. As for that study on temperament, all I can say is they sure got dachshunds right: nasty critters, much as I love them. We grew up with one and he could be quite vicious. But what do you expect from an animal that was bred to go into weasel holes, fight with them until they had them firmly in their teeth, then let themselves get pulled up by their tails?!

Thank you for friending their FB page, MyMack_1! We probably should’ve made it a “professional” page of some sort so it could just be “Liked,” but it ended up being a personal page that needs “friending.” I really appreciate your support. It’s been quite a ride!

Update on Duke: He’s feeling much, much better. I haven’t seen him furiously scratching his stomach or biting at his paws since early this afternoon. He’s had three doses of his medication and it seems to be doing the trick. It’s so nice to see him comfortable and not going crazy itching to death.

He’s sound asleep on his towel on the patio sofa right now. Such a sweet baby.

27

Hey, now, no need to insult female dogs. :slight_smile:

I absolutely hate hearing about animal owners like your neighbours - you take on a pet, you take on the responsibility of properly caring for them. Animals are not furniture, that you just shove out the door when they inconvenience you. The only bright spot in this story was that they had each other; there’s just about nothing sadder than a dog banished to a yard alone (well, the other VERY bright spot is that you and your husband have taken them in and are doing right by them :slight_smile: ).

Very good idea. She does sound like a massive jerk, so I wouldn’t put anything past her, either.

But then the neighbours would have had to be diligent in supervising their dogs with their children for the safety of both, and these wads obviously aren’t big on responsibility.

28

Okay, I tweeted the City Data Forum link. :slight_smile:

29

I’ve seen an interior design magazine recommend you buy parrot species that match the color scheme of your living room. Ugh.

Good point.

30

Shayna, I can’t adopt the dogs but please let me know if the vet bills, etc. get to be a drain on y’all. I can help y’all help them out via Paypal if necessary. Y’all totally fucking rock for doing this (but you shouldn’t go broke for having good intentions)!

Meantime, I’m trying to let friends in the LA area know about these dogs.

Best of luck to y’all!

31

+1

Also, please post with updates when you get them. I’d love to see this come to happy ending for both those pooches.

32

I sent a friend request (I’m Judy). I live in Tokyo with four cats, ao unfortunately all I can offer is deep gratitude for what you and your husband have done, and an offer to share Duke and Lola’s story on my page. Many of my friends are involved in aminal rescue in the US, and perhaps they can put some feelers out there.

Good luck, you’re not alone, and yeah, get Irresponsible Neighbors to give you something writtem that indicates that they are giving them up. Maybe just keep it simple, not adding language about you temporary arrangement/search for forever homes.

33

That’s terrible - I don’t know a lot about parrots, but I do know that a parrot is a big commitment if you don’t want a very unhappy bird on your hands.

34

Aye, big=long… some parrots live for over 100 years!

35

Yeah, they’re about the last pet you should ever buy on a whim (or to match your décor).

36

Maybe it would be a better idea to match your decor to your parrot, since it will be around a lot longer than the color will be in fashion! :slight_smile:

37

You are so right — my most sincere apologies to real bitches the world over.

I’m just grateful that their incarceration didn’t cause more behavioral problems than the separation anxiety Duke experiences. It could certainly be a lot worse.

A zillion thanks!

What a super nice thing to offer. Thank you very much for your generosity. We’re OK for now — just didn’t expect to have to shell out over $200 in vet expenses and have the then-current owners refuse to step up and so much as help with a dime of it. We’ve already got nearly $1,000 into these dogs, between collars, tags, harnesses, food container, poop bags, food, treats, toys, grooming, flea treatment, vet bills, and probably a bunch of things I can’t even think of at the moment. Looks like I’ll be coloring my hair out of a box instead of going to the salon for a while.

I sure will, and you and me both!

You are such a doll.

So here’s what happened: Thomas doesn’t really know a lot about how FB works, so he just created a page as if the dogs were a person, and he put the age of this “person” as the oldest dog’s age: 8. As a result, FB thinks the page belongs to a minor child and there are absolutely no settings that will allow us to change the date of birth or to make ANY posts visible to the public — it’s friends only — until the dogs come “of age.”

Oy.

So I created a new page and set it up as a community cause page that is visible to everyone and all you have to do is “Like” it as opposed to “friending” it.

So even if you already made a friend of the other page, will you Like this one, too, please?

Thank you again so much, everyone.

Nothing new to report today. I’ll post more pictures when I get some good ones.

38

“Liked” and “Shared” the page! My sister “Shared” my share, too! She is the mom of my niece the vet tech and has many friends in California. :slight_smile: She has a pittie that was rescued from being a bait dog, and he is one of the sweetest boys you could ever meet! :slight_smile:

39

I “liked” the page. :slight_smile:

40

Thank you, thank you! Y’all are fabulous covered in awesomesauce.