Pit Bull Spay/Neuter $20 in August!!!

Have you been putting off having your Pit spayed or neutered?

SAAFhouse Spay/Neuter Clinic Special for August 2013

Spay your Pit mix for $20!

417-831-7223

Call and reserve your appointment today!

Feel free to ask questions that could help you decide why or why not to fix your dog. Spaying and neutering is a necessity in our area, but responsible breeding can be important too. 

Can Fighting Pits Really be Rehabilitated?

Anonymous Question: Can a Pit Bull that has been trained to fight really be rehabilitated to be a good member of a family?

      I'm not sure how I really feel about the word rehabilitate. A very respected colleague, behaviorist, and friend of mine made a comment to me about puppy mill dogs the other day. A friend of ours told us she was taking a dog halfway across the US to have him rehabilitated. "He is scared of everything", our friend said, "This place is going to rehabilitate him". After that conversation, my colleague said to me, "Is it really rehabilitation if the dog was never allowed to or taught to handle life the correct way"? That was an awesome point, and it got my dog obsessed mind thinking. 

The definition of the word rehabilitate is...

1. Restore (someone) to healthy or normal life by training or therapy after imprisonment, addiction, or illness.
2. Restore (someone) to former privileges or reputation after a period of critical or official disfavor.

Restore? If it was never a normal life than is it really rehabilitation? Just a thought...

Back to Pit Bull rehabilitation...
Answer: Yes, most Pit Bulls can be trained and taught to modify the way they handle life. Here are two interesting facts about the breed...

1. They are loyal to such an extreme that they will fight and kill another animal when a human tells them to.

2. Professional fighters will inhumanely euthanize Pit Bulls that show any kind of human aggression.

Because of the first two facts...The following two tend to happen...

1.They are loyal enough to learn how to act appropriately just so they can be loved.

2.They are very rarely human aggressive, genetically.

      Every time I foster a Pit Bull that has obviously been fought it amazes me how eager they are to learn new things. It is heartwarming to watch them slowly find that they don't have to watch their back every time they are taken out of the kennel. You can actually see them relax more each day as they realize they don't have to defend themselves anymore. They find that they love toys, kids, being fed regularly, sleeping on the couch, and even having other animal friends. Some love their new lives so much I have seen them become therapy and service dogs. Of course, there are always the few that are so defensive they can't learn to live with other animals, but they can still do great in single pet homes. The amount of dogs I have successfully trained and taught to modify the way they handle life...(rehabilitated)...is great in comparison to those that were just too far gone to help. Some dogs are just so emotionally scared on the inside, that the scars on the outside can only begin to tell their story. 

      After spending time teaching a fighting Pit Bull how great life really can be, and watching their personalities emerge, it always hurts my heart to let them go to their forever homes. It's bitter sweet. I am an important stepping stone that teaches them to live, yet I know they will soon realize the person I left them with will love them just the same as me. 

This is Rocky, my most recent foster. He has many scars on the outside that will never go away, but humanity is teaching him that the scars on the inside can heal with time and love.

Mandatory Dog Licensing

Why Mandatory Dog Licensing?

One of the items that has been discussed in the AITF meetings is Dog Licensing. I didn't believe at first I would like licensing all four of my dogs until we began studying other places that have mandatory licensing and the possible benefits. Calgary has amazing reasons why people actually want to license dogs. Here is a draft of a list the AITF has been talking about...

 Implement a comprehensive pet licensure program for dogs and a voluntary licensing for cats- This approach would be modeled after ordinances in many cities, including Salt Lake City, Omaha, and Calgary. Responsible pet ownership revolves around the proper care and identification of an animal and preventing pets from becoming a hazard or nuisance to the community. 

  o Goal: To promote the philosophy of responsible pet ownership.

  o Under this approach:

              There will be no limit on the number of pets one can own; the focus will be responsible ownership. If the owner of any animal cannot demonstrate the ability to abide by ordinances that are associated with the care and upkeep of animals, they will no longer be permitted to harbor pets under the reckless owner provision

              We recommend a differential licensure approach where the licensing fees are significantly less for animals that have been spayed/neutered. 

There has also been suggestions of a free ride home for a first offence with a dog at large, and a coupon booklet with discounts from area businesses. Sounds like it would be cheaper to license all four of my dogs than it would be to license my two Pit Bulls. What have those of us with Pit Bulls X's have to loose? And how many people with any breed would feel better if your dog would have every chance of making it's way back home if lost? How many of you know if your current microchips have to be renewed every year? Very few places give out lifetime microchips. What if this mandatory licensure could keep you microchip valid for the life of you dog?

Food for Thought...An questions or comments?

Interesting Read from Best Friends Animal Society

Bite Prevention and Bite Stastics 

The American Pit Bull Registry (APBR) notes: “The odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 600,000 in the USA.Comparatively speaking you are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to be killed by a dog of any breed. When you further break down the odds of being attacked and killed by a PitBull the odds are in your favor– approximately 1 in 145,000,000.”

Anonymous Question: How do I keep my cool and prove my point when talking to someone who states that they hate Pit Bulls or the breed is vicious?

Answer: First of all, what I do is judge whether the person even wants to hear what you have to say, so you're not wasting your breath talking to a wall. It's a little like politics or religion...You get defensive, the other person gets on their high horse thinking they've got your goat....Now you're the one who's upset. It depends on the personality as to what my response is going to be.

Person #1- They know they're right, and want to be the one talking...Ask them open ended questions. What happened that was so awful? What were the people like who owned him? (Looking for some of the "bad owner stuff" in my past blog). The dog was on a chain all the time? (We all know that raises the chances for aggression immensely). Where were the child's parents? Oh, it was a stray...probably had no training ever... "How sad in so many ways".

Or you could simply... Smile, listen, and say, "I'm sorry you feel that way, you've missed out on experiencing some beautiful, smart, loving, loyal and very trainable dogs!!"-MC

Person #2-  They heard bad things about Rotties, Pits, and other power breeds, but are open to listen a little...
      "Pits aren't typically aggressive to humans. Its actually not one of their traits. If they have hurt someone I would wonder about their socialization as a puppy, and the emotional stability of their owners".
      "Even most of Michael Vick's dogs have been adopted out to homes. A lot are even therapy and service dogs". (Because we all know people heard his story).
      "Human aggression isn't even a trait of the Pit Bull. Even horrible Pit fighters kill the Pits if they try to bite them. They aren't even allowed to bite if the human is breaking up a scheduled fight. That is only one way human aggression has been bred out of the breed".
      "One of the original reasons they were bred is because of their high pain tolerance, so they could handle being around kids".
     "That was just unfortunate. The dog's mouth was so big and the child's head was right there as the parents weren't appropriately supervising the situation. It wouldn't have been so bad if the bite was on an adult human leg".
 

Person#3- They really want to learn...Give them websites to look at, movies to watch, and encourage them to meet an appropriate power breed some day. "They're are dogs with issues in every breed".


There are many other situations you could encounter. Keep it short and sweet, and leave a person thinking, "Maybe I should read up on the breeds, or meet one some day". If your not pushy you might just leave something important ringing in their ears.

"Yes, statistically Power Breeds may do the most damage, but their mouths are bigger. That only makes sense".

 "Of course the large dog bites are reported more. What 250lb man wants to call the cops and admit a chihuahua bit his calf".

"Yes, Pit Bull bites may be one of the top dog bites statistically, but Pit Bull is a bully breed mix, not a pure bred. There are also way more pit bull mixes than any other breed".

The key is to keep your emotions out of it. People are more open to information if it's not being shoved down their throat.

Anonymous Question: What happens after the AITF sends the proposals to the City Council?

Answer: To the best of my knowledge, the City Council will review the recommendations from the AITF and decide what they want to change about current legislation. The City Council will meet with the city's legal department and discuss liabilities and legal jargon. When they have come to an agreement there will be a Council meeting. Beyond that, what I understand is they vote, and if the public disagrees there can be petitions signed.

Information for Springfield's Pit Bull community:  Everyone needs to take a deep breath and really listen to the ordinances proposed. If the City Council adopts what the AITF is proposing...Pit Bulls registered because of the current legislation will be on the Potentially Dangerous list for one more year. After that year, with no violations, each one will drop off the list. The K-9 professional and mother in me feels good about this way of transitioning. The Pit Bull owner in me just wishes it would go away....yet maybe a slow transition will help us in the long run. I'm willing to wait and see.

Anonymous Question:  Does Dangerous/Vicious Dog Legislation seem to be taking the place of BSL?

Answer: Seems to be taking over in places where officials are listening to behaviorists and other K-9 professionals...
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