Congrats, Bruce!

Bruce had his "interview" at doggy day care on Tuesday, and passed with flying colors. They even gave him a certificate which I promptly displayed on my fridge:

Camp Bow Wow is the only day care/boarding facility that I could find that takes pit bulls :( They assured me (and now I will assure you) that he showed no signs of aggression, and played wonderfully with the other dogs. He had to be put in timeout a couple of times because he was too energetic for the older dogs, but overall he passed with flying colors and is welcome back anytime!

Myth-Busting Monday!

Today's Myth Monday is dedicated to Randy and Melissa, proud parents of Max.

Randy (who is one of Bruce's biggest fans) mentioned this weekend that pit bulls have locking jaws, to which I promptly replied "That's a myth!!" Melissa said I better hurry up and bust that myth, so here we are.

Myth: Pit bulls jaws lock (hence they are so evil and dangerous)
Truth: There is absolutely no evidence that a pit bull's jaw is different than any other breed. More information here.

The "kids" playing

Vicious?

Vicious, adj.: (of animal) Wild and dangerous to people.
(Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)




I spoke to my computer-savvy grandfather on the phone last week and asked if he had visited this dog blog of mine. The remainder of the conversation went a little like this:


Grandpa: "Yeah I've seen that"
Me: "What do you think?"
Grandpa: "What do I think??? I think that dog looks vicious!!!"
Me: "Well grandpa, whatever do you mean, how does he look vicious?"
Grandpa: "What?? What'd you say??" (he's a little hard of hearing)
Me: "HOW DOES HE LOOK VICIOUS TO YOU???"
Grandpa: "Oh. Well, he's a pit bull."


So, I post this uber-closeup picture of Bruce perched on his favorite spot on the couch right beside my head (where he could easily attack my face! oh no!) to challenge you, dear Grandpa, to call my sweet puppy vicious again.


And if this doesn't work, Grandpa will be licked to death upon their first in-person meeting this fall.

Downtown Dog

We spent this beautiful Saturday morning taking Bruce on an adventure to 5th avenue in downtown Naples. He doesn't get out of the neighborhood much except to go to doggy school, so we got up bright and early and went out before the streets got too busy.

Bruce did a pretty fantastic job of ignoring the cars driving by, though we still have to work on containing his exuberance when he sees people. He greeted many of Naples' finest by jumping up on them and licking them to death...but everyone loved his energy and playfulness.

Here he is basking in the glow of the morning sun

A+ for Training

This just made my day so I had to share:

I called our trainer to discuss our next appointment, and it turns out she lives right down the road from us. She saw us walking Bruce yesterday evening and told me she was so excited & proud that we were doing everything right, and that Bruce was behaving himself even as her car drove by (something that previously made him jump around like a maniac).

It's always nice to have reassurance from someone when you didn't know they were watching. Yay for puppy progress!

Bruce has a new playground

We found a little slice of heaven in a fenced in little area very close to our house. It's kind of our secret spot so I'm not giving any more detail than that. Bruce loves to go there and chase the frisbee or his new favorite toy, the pine cone. (He totally ignored the tennis balls we threw at him for three days straight but will chase a pine cone anywhere). Having the ability for him to run off-leash has been a blessing, as it's the only thing that will (kind of) wear out my little ball of energy.

Here's an action shot Adam's really proud of:

Introducing Brooke

Meet Brooke, Bruce's aunt (translation: my parents' 7 month old lab mix). Brooke was found as a very very small, sick puppy crying outside of my dad's store, and he's such a softie he couldn't leave her abandoned. Yay, Dad! Bruce will meet his Aunt Brooke for the first time this fall!

Joanna is coming!

Joanna is one of my bestest friends and favorite people in this world, and she's coming to visit with her boyfriend in 2 days!

I am so excited about all of the adventures we have planned (Everglades Airboat Tour, anyone??) but am a little nervous about how Bruce is going to handle our visitors, as he doesn't always listen to me when I tell him to be on his best behavior...

Here's to hoping for a calm and zoomie-free weekend.

Myth-Busting Monday!

Myth: A pit bull is a breed of dog

Truth: From Pit Bull Rescue Central (www.pbrc.net): This is "a generic term often used to describe all dogs with similar traits and characteristics known to the public as 'pit bulls'." The term "pit bull" should refer to one of three breeds - American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier (www.wikepedia.org).

Problems arise when media reports of dog bites refer to any large, square-headed dog as a "pit bull" without investigating the true breed of the dog, thus inflating the number of "pit bull attacks" to include attacks by breeds other than the three mentioned above.

Success!!

Remember The Great Crate Problem? Well, finally we have made some progress! Bruce got a brand new big wire crate that fits his big comfy bed, and we re-crate trained with it. He's still not a huge fan, but once he's in the crate's general vicinity, he will run in with a "Kennel Up!" command. He is also waiting to exit once the door is open until we release him with an "ok." We still have a lot of work to do, but I am more than thrilled with his progress.

And just for fun, Bruce sleeping...comfortably?...in his new digs.

Doggy School

We enrolled Bruce in doggy school recently for two reasons. First, to get him around other dogs and people and second, for us to learn the best training techniques and how to practice them properly.

As pit bull owners, we understand that if he is not a perfectly well-behaved dog, then people will assume he's a big bully attack dog (even if he's really behaving no differently than a moderately-trained lab or schnauzer). So, we'll go to a few classes, train at home, and he'll be perfect, right?

WRONG. I want to be clear that he has never shown signs of aggression, but he is a far cry from perfection. The Energizer Bunny should be concerned about his job with Bruce in town. Last week Bruce spent the entire hour of doggy school in the owner's office just trying to focus long enough to sit. No amount of peanut butter, cheese, high-end treats, love, etc. would convince him that it would be good to chill out/focus rather than go play with all the other dogs and their owners.

Needless to say I'm already a nervous wreck about tomorrow's class. If you're reading this, please send a prayer to the doggie gods that he calms down enough to actually learn something.

Just because

These pictures are for anyone who thinks pit bulls aren't cute dogs!

Mommy, more water please!

Actually, I'm too tired to drink anymore. Thanks anyway.

*my sincere apologies for the crappy iPhone quality pics

Myth-Busting Monday!

Today's myth is brought to you by Parade magazine (and my mother in law, who made me aware of this article)

Myth: Once a pit bull has been trained as a fighting dog, it will be aggressive forever and there is nothing you can do about it.

Truth: Apparently, complete rehabilitation of fighting dogs is totally possible. This article from yesterday's Parade section in the newspaper tells the story of several of Michael Vick's fighting dogs that have been rehabilitated. Some are even service dogs that work with the elderly and children.

Myth = BUSTED (with the added bonus of some positive media attention!!)

Bad News

The main contributing factor to pit bull misconceptions is definitely the media. I saw this story on the news last night and was devastated to hear Animal Control's advice that the woman carry a shovel or a 2 x 4 for protection. All the pit bull did was bark when he saw her (and if he's anything like Bruce, his tail may very well have been wagging the whole time!). No growling, no bites, no aggressive behavior. I wonder what Animal Control would have advised if a black lab barked at her?

Oh wait, she wouldn't have called...

My Dog is a Cat

If I have a pit bull/feline mix, do you think it would survive a breed ban if (god forbid) one ever came?

This is Bruce sitting in his favorite spot on the top of the couch - just like a little cat. Combine this with leaping onto tables and his claw-like nails that he refuses to let me cut, and I'm certain there is some kitty in his blood.

Myth-Busting Monday!

Myth: Animal aggression is directly linked to human aggression

Truth: Exactly the opposite of this is true. I was reading the American Pit Bull Terrier "magabook" (not just a magazine, but not quite a book!) and I learned that there are several types of aggression, and absolutely no link has ever been found between animal aggression and human aggression. So, when a pit bull (or any dog, for that matter) goes after a squirrel due to its high prey drive, this should never give rise to a suspicion that it's only a matter of time before the same dog goes after a human.

Myth-Busting Monday!

I promise to start with some adequately researched and referenced myths soon, but this morning's adventure was too funny not to mention.

Myth: Pit bulls will devour any small animal that crosses their path

Truth: This morning as I'm taking Bruce out before work, a little fluffy bunny hops its way into our yard. My first reaction? Uh oh, I'm about to be pulled across this yard on a bunny chase in heels - yikes! But to my surprise, Bruce just sat there with his head cocked and confused and watched Mr. Cottontail. Just as I thought he was going to take off in the inevitable attempt to kill, he started to cry and ran to the front door.

I can't call this myth totally busted, but apparently this little pittie is more afraid of bunnies than they are of him.

Wow.

There's really not a title that can adequately convey the feeling you have the first time your puppy manages to hop on TOP of the kitchen table.

Here's how it went down. I'm laying on the couch on a very lazy Friday evening when the following dialogue takes place:

Adam: Bruce! Oh my god! What the [expletive]?!
Rachel (running into kitchen): What happened? Did he poop everywhere? Break the --- (enters kitchen and bursts into uncontrollable laughter)
Adam: Bruce! Get off! Wait...stay while we get the camera.

So, before Bruce got to practice his OFF! command, he got to chew on this banana a bit in order for his oh so responsible parents to document what we can only hope was a once in a lifetime feat of getting onto the bar-height kitchen table.

Pit Smarts

In today's edition of "my dog is too smart for his own good" - THE CRATE.

Anyone who has ever crate-trained a puppy knows that your typical dog will respond well to treats or his favorite toys. He will follow said treat/toy into the crate, he'll lay down, you'll say "good crate!" and soon enough the puppy will love his crate as though it is his own little private paradise. Maybe he'll even go in on command!

Unfortunately, Mr. Smarty Pants (a.ka. Bruce) learned that Crate = Rachel and Adam leaving. As I hold his favorite treat towards the crate, you can almost see his little wheels turning: If I take that treat it will taste yummy but then I will be in the crate which means I will be alone sooooo screw the treat, I'm hiding under the table! This is all fine and dandy for now while he's still small enough for me to pick him up, but about 10 pounds from now we're going to have a serious problem.

Yesterday I tossed a bunch of treats in there and walked away, and he actually went in by himself! I was very excited, until this morning when he was back to hiding under the table. Sigh.

Myth-Busting Monday!

As the main goal of this lil' blog o' mine is to debunk some of the mean myths about pit bulls, I've decided to dedicated Mondays to Myth-Busting.

MYTH: Pit bulls will eat your babies

TRUTH: Every piece of valuable, researched literature (meaning things other than reports based on "somebody told me" rather than actual facts, and random comments on message boards) that I can find starts with the same basic premise: American Pit Bull Terriers are some of the nicest, smartest dogs who love people and are good with children. Only when raised by unfit owners do pit bulls show aggression to humans.

Bruce has never met any babies, but he does play very nicely with a 7 year old and a 2 year old in our neighborhood. And if this picture is worth anything, I call this myth officially busted:

I don't know where this picture came from but would love to give credit - if it's yours, let me know!

OFF!

Since the arrival of Bruce, the word "OFF!" has developed some serious importance in my life in two very seperate contexts.

1: How do I live in Florida (aka "paradise") and not own any insect repellant?? One 30-minute walk with Bruce = at least 4 bug bites. Adam and I must look like fools slapping our legs every third step.

Note to self: purchase this or similar product ASAP.

2: OFF! As in get off the couch/table/counter/chair/toilet/ME. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think Bruce has got this one down. Now, if only he would STAY off...

Bruce's BFF

This is an old picture of Max, our neighbors' puppy that they rescued just a few days before we rescued Bruce (yes, we totally stole their puppy thunder).

I know people say pit bulls are not good with other dogs, but Max would beg to differ. These two are already the best of friends - (not to mention almost the exact same size). Last night Bruce went over to play with Max and they were running around together for a solid hour.

Bruce was so worn out that even after sleeping all night & morning he could barely get out of his crate for his lunch time potty break!

Pit Smarts

Everything I read says that pit bulls are some of the smartest dogs around. Bruce is proving this to be true, but sometimes I wonder whether this is a blessing or a curse.

Blessing: Bruce was almost entirely potty trained in three days and he can learn a command in about 5 minutes (we just perfected "off" the other day)

Curse: Since Bruce is growing by the minute, we got him a great big new bed. I was so excited to show him where he could now sleep and relax comfortably. Wrong. Instead, he smelled the cedar inside and spent an entire evening trying to dig a hole in the bed to reach it. Unfortunately for Bruce (and thankfully for his parents), Costco makes some tough beds, so the digging effort failed. Not one to give up easily, Bruce figures out that a zipper keeps the cover closed, and if only he could unzip it then he could reach the smelly insides! 20 minutes later he has successfully chewed through the zip-tie that's holding the zipper closed (not to mention swallowed it - eek) and opened up the bed!

Add this to his first bed which he dug the insides out of in a week, the score is now:
Bruce -2; Doggy beds - 0

Needless to say, Bruce is back to napping on the floor....

Hi, I'm Bruce, and I'm a pit bull

One question - how can you look at this face and think pit bulls are evil monsters? Though I do often refer to Bruce as "my little monster," it's more of a Lady GaGa reference than a comment on his personality.

If I'm being honest, up until about two months ago I was part of the "Pit Bulls are dangerous" club. (Shame on me, right?) And then....Bruce happened.

I'll save the story of how Bruce came into our lives for later, but suffice it to say that we (my husband and I) fell in love with him before we knew his breed. And I'll admit, there was that "Ohcrapwhathavewedone" moment when we found out. But, one book, two websites, and an open mind was all it took for me to realize how horribly misunderstood pit bulls are.

So, that's why I'm here. To share with you, through Bruce, my transformation from fearful to #1 pit bull fan.