Superbowl Sundayyyy!

Even though my beloved Redskins didn’t make it into the Super Bowl, it was still quite the exciting games with the Ravens in it! I’ll take any Maryland team making the big game! Besides, the Ravens has a very special former UMD player on their team, which gives me another reason to happily root for them all season.

Terrapin alum and current Ravens superstar Torrey Smith has two pit bull dogs, one of which he adopted from the Baltimore animal shelter, BARCS! He is constantly on social media spreading the word about adoption, and one day even put out a specific appeal for a group of pups at BARCS who needed help, receiving hundreds of offers from his fans to take them in.

Photo credit to Leo Howard Lubow and the Show Your Soft Side Campaign.

When Baxter was with me last year he supported football and his Terps, so I’m sure he’d be rooting for Torrey & the Ravens as well!

There’s More Than Fun to Adventures

How much do we love adventures? So much. We like hiking, going on road trips and exploring new places with our foster dogs.  It’s not only fun, but it’s a great way to get them out and about for adoption exposure.

Mark and I knew we just had to take Charlie somewhere fun while he was with us.   Strutting him around in his Adopt Me vest would get him tons of attention simply because of how cute he is.  Since we’ve been to all the good walking spots in our area, and we’ve already done the DC thing with Bax, we were sort of at a loss for what exciting new place to venture to. Then I remembered a fun trip our friends at Pittieful Love went on to historical Baltimore landmark Fort McHenry (where Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner”). Just like Pittieful Love wrote about in their post, we tend to take for granted how close we live to National Monuments! I’d only been once a long time ago and Mark had never been, so we knew it was just the place to take little Charles on that chilly Thanksgiving weekend.

We had a blast! Because we had a dog we couldn’t actually go into the Fort area, but we were allowed around the perimeter and by the surrounding water. It still meant for lots of exploration and good photo ops:

That is another thing I love about taking my foster dogs on adventures: the photos. Yes it is good for adoption exposure because of the people we meet out and about, but it is also a great way to get photos showing adopters how the dog can fit into their life.  Photos from walks, out on the town, or meeting new people are all situations that adopters might imagine themselves in if they were to adopt the dog — which is all the better to help convince them this might be the dog for them!  Look at these photos. . . don’t they give you an idea of what the day would be like if you took Charlie out with you (and therefore you want to adopt him, right!)?

Not to mention that a photo like the one below might stand out among all the other adoption photos, bringing some extra attention to your pup from potential adopters.

(Yes, we took this photo idea directly from Pittieful Love – thanks guys!)

A fabulous outing resulting in attention-grabbing photos? Don’t mind if we do!

A Record Breaking Community Pit Bull Day

Like I briefly mentioned on Tuesday, I finally got the opportunity to volunteer at one of B-More Dog‘s Community Pit Bull Days last weekend. B-More Dog holds these events once a month to provide free or low cost vaccinations to dog owners in generally low income communities. As well as the vaccinations, B-More Dog schedules free spays and neuters for “pit bull” dogs, does a leash and collar exchange, and gives general wellness advice at these events. Working directly towards their mission of promoting responsible pet ownership, B-More Dog takes it as an opportunity to connect with the community and help those who might not have the resources or sometimes even the knowledge to provide their dogs with the care they need.

For these types of events, you can’t just put information out on social media and expect for your target audience to show up. B-More Dog went into the community and put up flyers, went door to door, and used word of mouth spread the news. That’s more effective to reach who you want, as evidenced by the amount of people and dogs that came.

From what I understand, this weekend’s event was record breaking with a total of 91 dogs vaccinated, and 23 (24?) spay/neuters scheduled! I can report that it is an utterly exhausting six hours – but it is so, so worth it.  I was lucky in that I spent most of my time at the “photo booth” capturing adorable images like this, and got spared some of the tougher stuff (dogs in very poor health, etc.).

For the most part, I got the impression that the people we helped loved their dogs as part of the family, and were extremely grateful that we gave them the opportunity to care for them properly.

Look at the collars we received back from the leash and collar exchange! Yes, there are a few chains in there. The way this works is they give us their old collars or whatever they’re using, and we give them a brand new leash and collar set. These are the types of things B-More Dog raises money for: to buy the new leashes and collars, in addition to of course covering the vaccinations and the spay/neuters.

What an amazing day with an amazing group of people!

My Dog is Family

More about where these photos came from (B-More Dog’s Community Pit Bull Day to help get dogs vaccinated) later this week, but for now enjoy some happy pictures of people loving their dogs!

Hope everyone is staying safe in the hurricane!

YOUR weekend with Joanie

If there is anyone out there contemplating adding a beautiful Elderbull to your family, this post is for you. This is a glimpse of what it would be like to live with Joanie. I’ll recount our weekend adventures, and show you just how much fun this sweet girl is!

We started Friday out in Baltimore with our good friends over at Pittieful Love – Jess & Chocko!  Since Joanie’s been at my house, I’ve been avoiding pretty much any interaction with other dogs because I’m not sure what she’ll be like and I’d much rather do it in a controlled environment, not just with a random dog we find on a walk. So Jess & I set up a socialization walk down at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. We agreed upon no meet and greets, just a laid back parallel walk because Chock is working on his social skills too and we wanted to set everyone up for success. The dogs did great! For the most part they totally ignored each other while Jess and I chatted and walked them side by side in a quieter part of the harbor. I was glad to have a controlled, positive experience in close proximity to another dog. Plus catching up with Jess was awesome!

Saturday was a very busy day for me, so Joanie stayed home with my parents while I ran around all day. She is great for them – she just wanders around the house and says hi to them every once in a while, or she is dead asleep on the couch. Saturday night was her first sleepover without me, as I had an overnight event with the boyfriend. She was, again, great for them while I was away, but only after helping me get ready for the night!

Today I was finally free to give my attention back to her again. I gave her a much needed bath, which she behaved beautifully for. She wasn’t a huge fan until the toweling off part – but then she melted into a bunch of wiggles because she looooves to get petted, scratched, and massaged. She also was thrilled to show off her sparkly furs.

After the bath we celebrated her new shiney look by parading around the neighborhood. Joanie loves walks almost as much as human interaction.  Joanie is – as a good friend of mine calls it – a nose with a dog attached. That is why nose work is so beneficial for her, and that is why walks in the crisp fall air are so enjoyable for the both of us. Her perfect leash skills make it that much more pleasant. Yesterday we visited a playground, and Joanie wanted to know where all the kids were to play with her?

We spent the rest of Sunday doing normal Sunday things – catching up on laundry and watching football! Joanie, of course, helped with both. She is such a good little helper (okay, maybe a better helper with the football cheering than the laundry – can’t blame her!).

See? Look how well she fits into someone’s life. She seems to be able to adapt to so much, especially when she receives just as much affection as she gives out.  Joanie is an extremely special dog, and whoever ends up with her will be very lucky!

For more information on adopting Joanie, email me at peacelovefoster@gmail.com or head over to the Jasmine’s House website and fill out an application.

Everyday Dogs, Everyday Owners

I had another recipe for a perfect day when I headed down to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for my second B-More Dog walk on Sunday. Many of you probably remember the last time I went on a B-More Dog Pit Bulls on Parade (see here and here) where I soaked up all the adorable pitties with their owners. B-More Dog’s mission is to promote responsible pet ownership through education and outreach, and they hold Pit Bulls on Parade once a month to show the community that we are the everyday “pit bull” dog owner.

These walks help dispel the myth that if you own a “pit bull” dog, everyone will be afraid of you. Unfortunately, when those of us with “pit bull” dogs talk about how people cross the street or pull their kids away when they see us – even though we are usually saying it in a light hearted way since we know our dogs are nothing to be afraid of – we send the message that the public as a whole is scared of “pit bull” dogs.  Generalizations like this can cause people to shy away from considering a “pit bull” dog for adoption because they don’t want their friends to stop hanging out with them or to be looked at as an outsider – even though those of us with these dogs know that likely won’t happen (if you’ve got decent friends at least).

The more we demonstrate that these dogs are just everyday pets, the less we perpetuate myths that they should be treated differently. If I had a dollar for every person that stopped to ooh, aah, and coo at all the dogs on Sunday, I’d be able to buy front row seats to the Ravens game. Sure, there are some Negative Nancys in the crowd, but the overwhelming majority are positive and excited to see the dogs – just like in every day life.

It was a beautiful Autumn morning in the harbor and despite another big event going on, the dogs were well behaved and it seemed that everyone enjoyed themselves. It was great meeting a few blog followers too – of course I always love that! Thanks to everyone who came out. There were all sorts of shapes and sizes in attendance!

For more information about getting involved with B-More Dog, visit their website.

Weekend Guessing Game

I had an awesome weekend going to two different events that involved LOTS of dogs! Take a look at these two preview pictures and see if you can guess what I did (and who I did it with!).  There are key clues in both photos.

There’s MUCH more where these came from. . . stay tuned!

An Accidental Encounter With Pittieful Love!

I’ve heard that Baltimore, MD is nicknamed “Smalltimore” – and I found out on Wednesday just how small it really is when I ran into Pittieful Love’s Jess (who I wrote about in this post) and got to meet Chocko, their new pup! It’s pretty funny/confusing how it happened, so I’m going to break it down:

1. Catching up with my friend Mike over dinner in Baltimore.

2. Walking home from dinner, spot a woman walking her pit bull. Make a joke about how it’s this specific neighborhood in Baltimore and it’s a pit bull, so there’s a chance I know the person and dog.

3. Note to Mike that I have a blog friend named Jess who has a pit bull that looks similar to the one that woman is walking, but the woman is too far ahead to tell if it’s her.

4. Mike obnosiously yells out, “Jess!”

5. It wasn’t Jess. Awkward.

6. Catch up to the woman and her dog anyway and of course say hi. The dog is adorable and sweet, and I begin to recognize it as this pup that I photographed at B-More Dog’s Pit Bulls on Parade:

7. Confirm that it IS in fact Laura and Hurley from the B-More Dog event. Like I said: Smalltimore. Immediately start chatting with Laura about fostering and pitties, etc.

8. Remember that Jess commented on the B-More Dog post that Hurley was her neighbor, so I ask Laura if Jess lives close by.

9. Turns out we were standing right outside of her house. Not kidding. Smalltimore.

10. I don’t have Jess’ number, so while Mike and Laura are talking, pull up Facebook on my iPhone and write on Jess’ FB wall: “I am literally standing outside your house right now.”

11. Creepily peek inside her windows to see if we can catch a glimpse of her new foster failure, Chocko. We can’t.

12. Jess immediately bursts out of the door, ending the phone conversation she’s having with, “I gotta go – I just got a Facebook post!” Squeals and excitement ensue.

13. Jess invites us in to meet Chocko (!!). So exciting as I have been reading about him for months now and have never met him. He is one handsome dude.

14. Mike gets his dose of pittie loving and we all hang out chatting about Smalltimore (everyone in the room lived there except me).

15.Continually exclaim how adorable Chocko is. I promise – he is even more handsome/silly/sweet in person than in photos.

See? Told ya it was complicated. Totally awesome story though, right? This is why I love this blogging doggy world – you meet so many cool friends! I think my favorite part was when Mike said, “What do you mean you guys know each other from the internet. . ?”

:-) Happy Friday!

B-More Dog’s Pit Bulls on Parade: Part 2

A few more photos highlighting B-More Dog’s Pit Bulls on Parade (view the first batch on yesterday’s post). By the way, this is a monthly event! For more information, visit their website or Facebook page.

The rest of the photos will be up on Peace, Love, and Fostering’s Facebook page by the end of today (Wednesday). Hope to see some of you at the next parade!

B-More Dog’s Pit Bulls on Parade: Part 1

Getting more involved with rescue and “pit bull” dogs over the last year or so, I’ve seen many great examples of advocacy through different platforms (see: Project Mickey). Most recently, in the light of this recent MD court ruling, I’ve become familiar with an amazing group called B-More Dog. They are an organization whose “mission is to promote responsible dog ownership in the Baltimore area through education and outreach programs,” (love it, right?) including things like Community Pit Bull Days where they provide opportunities for free and low cost vaccines, spay/neuters, and more. Among other things, they also host Pit Bulls on Parade at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, and I got to finally attend one last weekend! (P.S. – Those last two links are media coverage, check them out!)

The event was so fun. We were all there to have a good time and spread a positive message about “pit bull” dogs. I took so many pictures – too many to fit in one, two, or even three posts. So I’m going to put some up today and tomorrow, and you can find the rest on Peace, Love, and Fostering’s Facebook page in the next few days. These photos capture the event way better than I could ever describe with words (which is good, because I’m so brain dead from editing them all).  Enjoy!

To be continued tomorrow. . .  stay tuned!