Monday, June 4, 2012

Blogville Pitty Post Day: Meet My Pittie Friends!



Today is Blogville Pitty Post Day!  For his third birthday, my friend Corbin is hosting Blogville Pitty Post Day.  First of all,  


HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORBIN!   


Since we LOVE pitties and I have so many pittie friends, of course I HAD to participate in Blogville Pitty Post Day.  (When I say pitbull or pittie, I mean any pitbull, pit mix, or other bully breed dog.  It's often very difficult to tell exactly what breed or mixture a dog may be.)


Much has already been written about why Breed Specific Legislation is wrong and does not work, so I don't need to repeat that here.  (For some good basic information on this topic, click here.)  


Stereotyping dogs by breed is like stereotyping people by race -- it's just wrong.  I love this badge on my friend Mayzie's blog:


Stolen Copied from my friend Mayzie's blog

I think most people who think pitbulls are "inherently dangerous" simply don't know many pitbulls.  


My opinion of pitbull type dogs and other bully breeds is based upon my experience, and most of the pitbulls I know are pure love-bugs.  In fact, I've found that some non-pit dogs that look very cute and cuddly and sweet may not be very nice at all.  


I'd like you to meet some of my pitbull, pit-mix, and other bully friends.

This is my friend Moses.  He's a therapy dog like me.
He visits the veterans' hospital and brings smiles to injured veterans.
I think he's a total ROCK STAR!





This is Moses receiving the Companion of the Year Award from
the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies.
Way to go Moses!  I'm very proud of my man Moses.

This is Moses' brother Bunny.  Bunny is also a therapy dog.
He also visits the veterans' hospital, and they love him there.  (Another ROCK STAR!)
He gave mom LOTS of kisses when she met him at the Hounds for Healing walk!





Bunny is quite a kisser.
This is Bunny at the University of Richmond Stress Out Day,
giving kisses to a stressed-out student during exam time.

This is Moses and Bunny together at the Hounds for Healing walk last spring.
Moses and Bunny are awesome ambassadors for bully breeds!




This is Bunny and his new foster brother puppy John Henry.
John Henry was born deaf, but isn't he the cutest pup EVER?
It's Bunny's job to teach John Henry all he knows about being fabulous.
John Henry's foster mom is also teaching him using hand signals to communicate.


John Henry is 4 1/2 months old.
Like ALL puppies, he can be trying at times.
But Master Bunny is very patient with young Grasshopper.


This is my lovely friend Rita.
Rita is a 5-year old "foster failure" who had sarcoptic mange and a skin
infection when she was rescued by my friends at Odessa Rescue & Rehab
(see below for link to Odessa).  She has never been able to grow any hair,
but that gives her the excuse to dress up -- and she has quite an extensive wardrobe!

This is Rita and her mommy.
Did I say that Rita is also a love bug?





Rita the cuddle bug and her brother Wes.




Rita and Wes 
(Good thing Rita is there to protect her brother from the snake!)




Rita and Wes
(Seriously, Rita owns more clothes than my mom and dad combined)


Speaking of well-dressed pitties, this is my lovely friend Mayzie.
Like me, Mayzie has her own blog, Mayzie's Dog Blog.
She and her mom are doing a fantastic job of dispelling stereotypes about bullies.
Check out this awesome post about Mayzie on Mayzie's mom's blog here.
Photo by Amber Singleton Carlton

This is me and my hiking buddy Lucy, romping during our last hike.
(While it has been suggested that Lucy is a vampire because she has no reflection, 
I don't care what she is, I think she's awesome!)
Photo by Brian Padow of Canine Adventure


This is Lucy and her little brother Joe.
Joe says Lucy is an awesome big sister.




This is one of my absolute most favorite photos EVER.
This is my friend Rex walking with his mommy in Hollywood Cemetery 
during one of our Dog Scout hikes. 
Photo by Josh Rickey of Canine Adventure



 My hiking buddy Rex (we call him Sexy Rexy)
has moved to Texas, and I really miss him.




This is one of my BEST friends, Juneau.
Juneau is the sweetest, most amazing dog EVER.  He's won so many
agility competitions, he has an entire alphabet after his name.
Juneau is half boxer, half bulldog (I'm unsure about the second half).
Like pitbulls, boxers are often discriminated against.  (Crazy, huh?)




This is Chance by the river.
I think he has the greatest smile!




This is Chance's mommy Amanda with one of her
former pit fosters, Sox. 




This is Amanda's friend Adrienne with some pittie pups.





This is Chickie Baby in the kissing booth raising money to help homeless animals!
I think she is kissing Moses and Bunny's mommy!


This is Dogita.  She is a foster sister of Moses and Bunny.




This is Pie and Scout having some fun.



This is Pearl posing with a pick-up.
Photo by Tim Kondas of Canine Adventure


This is Pig
Photo by Tim Kondas 



 This is Lulu
Photo by Tim Kondas



 This is Zosia.  My friend and hiking guide Tim belongs to Zosia.
Zosia is 6 years old and is half pittie and half labradork -- the best of both worlds!
(But doesn't she look like Katy Perry?)
Photo by Tim Kondas



Pitties love a good hike, but they also know how to relax!
Photo by Tim Kondas


We're lucky we have some wonderful rescue groups in Richmond that focus on bully breed types and do an excellent job of finding forever homes for these dogs and helping educate people about them.  We support these organizations every chance we get, and we encourage you to support them as well.  If you are in the Richmond, VA area and are considering adopting one of these wonderful pups, contact Ring Dog and/or Odessa.


Odessa Rescue & Rehabilitation


Ring Dog Rescue sent us this great Christmas card last year

A lot of these wonderful dogs spent time in shelters before they found their forever homes, and there are a lot of great dogs waiting in shelters to find their forever homes.  My friend Josh of Canine Adventure has this AWESOME program where you can Sponsor an Adventure Walk for a Shelter Dog.  You can read all about it on their website. (What a cool gift idea -- to sponsor an Adventure Walk in someone's honor!)


I hope you've enjoyed meeting some of my pittie friends!  I had a great time writing this post because I asked my friends to send me some photos and they sent me so many wonderful photos! 


Thanks so much to all my friends for helping me with this post, and keep up the GREAT work you are doing to educate people about what pitbulls are really like!


Note:  I've tried to include photo credits when I've known who took the picture.  If I've left off a photo credit, the photo was either taken by my mom, my dad, or I just don't know who took it.  Sorry!  I've also tried to request permission for all of the photos used.  If I've used one of your photos without your permission, it was clearly an oversight on the part of my staff.  Let me know and I'll address it immediately.  (She's such a slacker sometimes.)


13 comments:

  1. Miss Mayzie. Sigh.

    Slobbers,
    Mango

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  2. Garth: You are a super friend to Pitties. Oh, and we love Miss Mayzie too!

    gussie

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  3. Awwww...what a super great postie, Garth! I'm SO very Most Honored that you included me in it! And thank you, thank you for helping gets the truth out there abouts pit bull-type dogs. The doggies you talked about here - along with lots and lots of others - are the ones that nobuddy ever hears about and it's super impawtant that people DO hear about them!

    You're just the best. MWAH! (That was a big sloppy brindle sugar-kiss from me!)

    Wiggles & Wags,
    Mayzie

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  4. Wow, you sure have a lot of grreat furiends! I liked meeting the therapy dog ones most of all. I heard that pitties do really well as therapy dogs. I really want to be one, but Momma says I'm too hyper still!

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  5. wow what a great post Garth!!!! i have sent links around to my friends. you rock!!!!

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  6. Looks like you have some special friends! This is a wonderful post - your pictures capture the true pittie heart!!

    Your pal, Pip

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  7. This is such a great group of pitty friends! I especiallyl oved Rita and her wonderful mom for taking her in. Beautiful! Thanks for joining in on Pitty Post Day!
    -Corbin

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  8. so many gorgeous friends
    you are quite lucky

    pibble toots
    the pittie pack

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  9. Thanks for including us in your blog Garth ;)

    And thank Corbin, she's the sweetest girl & we love her SO much <3

    ~Nise
    Rita's Mama

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    Replies
    1. uh, Corbin is a boy dog! (apparently very much of a boy dog!) But I'm sure he won't mind, as long as you think he is sweet.

      You're welcome! Thanks for helping me do it!

      Your pal,
      Garth

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  10. Thanks for including us in your blog post Garth!!

    And thanks Corbin, she's the sweetest girl & we love her SO much!

    ~Nise
    Rita's Mama

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  11. Hi Garth Riley!
    Thanks for visiting our blog and for inviting us over here. We enjoyed your post and appreciate the many Pit Bull Type dogs you've highlighted. We'll be back!

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  12. Hi Garth. Thanks for the invite. I realy enjoyed reading that and looking at all the wonderfull pictures of your PitBull friends. I totaly agree BSL dosen't work. It should be deed not breed.

    According to UK law PitBull's are banned under the dangerous dogs act because there deemed fighting dogs. Who encouraged them to fight in the first place, humans because of greed and big money involved in dog fighting, not other dogs.

    Why should the dogs be an easy target. When it's humans who created the problem in the first place, and should be the ones to be punished. And the media don't help there cause by only reporting dog attacks instead of the good they do.

    I watched a programe the other night were a young pitbull got euthanised. I felt so sorry for the vet when she explained it was the most loving, friendly playfull dog she had ever met. In her own words i didn't sign up to put perfectly happy animals to sleep.

    But UK govenment say it's got to be done because of a name (PitBull) and not because of it's temperement. It makes me sick and the law needs to be changed.

    Your good friend Sheba.

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