Ever wondered what a big old party with 1,000 pit bull type dogs would look like?

Those who attended Love-A-Bull’s National Pit Bull Awareness Day event –the “Texas Sized Pittie Pride parade and festival– already know. Those who were not lucky enough to be with us? Wonder no further. The official video is out!

We lost count at a few hundred, but word on the street is that more than 1,000 pit bull type dogs were in attendance — along with special guests actress Holly Marie Combs, musician John Shipe, BAD RAP founders Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds, YouTube star “Sharky”, and LeRoy Golden with frisbee phenoms Karma, Justice and Bruzair.

It’s been a couple of months since that amazing day in November, but we still have chills thinking about it, and this video (from the very talented Cynthia Stein) leaves us with hearts swelling with pittie pride, big wide grins, and teary eyes. We bet it’ll do the same to you.

Check it out:

Tagged: #KarmaFlyingPitBull, #SharkyThePitbull, #youtube, BAD RAP, community, family fun weekend, Holly Marie Combs, John Shipe, media, national pit bull awareness day, participants, pit bullFiled under: Events, Media Coverage, PBAD

Wowza, it was a big year! January is the natural time to look back over the past year and tally up the results, so to speak. This year, Love-A-Bull sends a big, enthusiastic, heartfelt thanks to all of the generous supporters and volunteers who made such magical things happen. Without you, none of this would have been possible.

We accomplished a lot in 2011. Here are some highlights.

• Trained 140 dogs through 23 free four-week classes
• Expanded training programs to North Austin

• Graduated 9 therapy dogs in brand new Pit Crew therapy dog program
• Gained 15 CGC certified dogs in our membership ranks

• Offered medical assistance for 50+ families and their pit bull type dogs
• Spayed and neutered more than 150 community dogs through the Pit Stop Program
• Adopted out 56 great dogs to loving homes
• Expanded to 40 active foster families

• Hosted the Texas-Sized Pittie Pride event for National Pit Bull Awareness Day, with an estimated 1,000 participants
• Signed up 40 pit bull type dogs for free spay/neuter surgery
• Made our national tv debut on Animal Planet’s “The Pit Boss” tv show
• Were featured in CultureMap Austin’s top stories of 2011 piece
• Registered 300 “unofficial world-record” photo shoot participants

Here’s to a satisfying 2011 under the belt, and an even brighter 2012 to come!

Tagged: adoption, events, foster, home, media, Meetup, PBAD, Pit Crew, rescue, spay/neuter, therapy, trainingFiled under: Events, Media Coverage

The pictures are up! We know you’ve been waiting to see the 300+ pictures from the Texas-Sized Pittie Pride World Record Registration! A BIG “thank you” to Tonya Pet Photography for working so hard to get all the pictures taken and posted!

Can you find your picture? Click on the link to check it out! PITTIE PRIDE PICTURES

Here’s just a little preview below. Click here for the full blog post.

PITTIE PRIDE PICTURES

“I knew that Pittie owners loved their dogs before I worked the Love-A-Bull Pit Bull awareness day, but my Gawd there was a lot of love on display at Republic Square Park. Here’s how it went down…”

“…I knew I’d be busy that day, but I had no idea. Lets look at some numbers: 227 pictures in 240 minutes. That’s easy math – just about a picture a minute. FOR FOUR HOURS. And we loved every minute of it…”

“…Thank you to all that came out, enjoyed the day, signed the pledge and who continue to help show the world how great bully breed dogs truly are. If you happen to be one of the 227 owners who braved the sun, wind and rain to get your picture taken, and would like a free small jpeg of your picture…”

“…You are all rockstars and the Pitties are lucky to have you in their corner.”

Tagged: community, event, family fun weekend, national pit bull awareness day, participants, photos, pit bull, world recordFiled under: Events

Love-A-Bull will be attending the Pints for Pups fundraiser on Saturday, December 3rd. This fundraiser will be held at another local Austin brewery, Hops & Grain Brewery at 507 Calles Street (east of IH-35 near 5th St & Pleasant Valley Rd) from 12pm-3pm.

There will be music, food, pet-services vendors, and plenty of shelters / rescues and dogs to visit with. And of course beer! A $10 donation at the gate gets you in including brews.

Bring your dogs, chairs, and generosity! All dogs must be on a leash, and preferably well-behaved as there will be dogs for adoption at the event too.

Best of all, this means you still have time to stop by Photos with Santa going on at Southpaws the same day, from 1pm-5pm!

Click the image above for a full-size flyer to share with your friends!

Tagged: adoption, beer, family, fundraiser, rescueFiled under: Events

It’s time again for the annual holiday photos with Santa! Come out to Southpaws Playschool on December 3rd between 1-5pm to have pictures taken with your two- or four-legged kiddos. No appointment necessary, just show up! Photos are just $10 and all proceeds go to benefit Love-A-Bull.

Your favorite Love-A-Bull merchandise will be available for purchase along with the 2012 Unexpected Pit Bull calendars AND the 2011 commemorative Pit Bull Awareness Day posters in case you missed your chance during the festival.

Click the image above for a full-size flyer to share with your friends!

Tagged: calendars, family fun, merchandise, photosFiled under: Events

And now for our fan submissions…

We’ve received and/or been tagged in several pictures and videos already from this weekend, and thought it would be nice to share these with you as well.

First a video produced by the very talented Edward Flores of Mud Puppies, uploaded almost immediately after the event!!! How does he do it? Video: Texas Pittie Pride, Love-A-Bull.

Second there’s the video from Sharky’s mom Helen with footage from the day. Video: Texas Sized Pittie Pride PARADE – Austin Texas – Nov 6th 2011.
PLUS the footage filmed from Sharky’s perspective with the GoPro Hero2 camera rig they had setup. Sharky’s such a good sport. Video: Filmed by DOG Pit Bull Sharky with GoPro Hero2 – Texas Pit Bull PARADE – Austin Texas.

If you’re on Facebook, check out a preview of the pictures courtesy of our event day photographer, the lovely Jennifer Hayes. Photo Album: Pit Bull Awareness Day: Nov. 6, 2011.

This is just a preview of some awesome videos and pictures. We’ll be adding more soon!

So show us your pittie pride! If you have any pictures or videos from this weekend, feel free to post on our Facebook, Meetup, or email us.
 
 

Tagged: fans, fundraiser, national pit bull awareness day, party, photos, support, videos, VIPFiled under: Events, Media Coverage, PBAD

Love-A-Bull would like to say a big thank you to all of the sponsors, vendors, volunteers, participants, and attendees of this weekend’s events!

The 300+ photos from our World Record Registration are now live! Check it out here: http://love-a-bull.org/2011/11/world-record-photos-are-here/.

Thank you to our wonderful Sponsors:
PETCO Foundation, HauteDog, Team Spiridon, Leaps ‘N Hounds, and Capital Area Veterinary Specialists!

Thank you to our Special Guests:
Holly Marie Combs, Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds, John Shipe, and Deb O’Keefe!

Thank you to all of our vendors, non-profits, businesses, and organizations!

Lizziebees • I Once Was Lost Animal Advocacy • The Pet Studio • Texas Tea • Texas Hearing and Service Dogs • Animal Trustees of Austin • EMANCIPE+ • South Texas Animal Rescue • Royal’s Pet Taxi • Rancho Mondo Northwest Canine Resource Center • Sweet Relief of Texas • Austin Canine Central • Lucky Mutts • Jakey the Clown • Hotline Design Ink • Oak Hill Veterinary Clinic • A.D.O.P.T. • K9 Mastery • Mud Puppies • Groovy Dog Bakery • Skillful Paws • Austin Pets Directory • R+R Design with GemJunkie • The Pet Gal • Friends of Town Lake Animal Center • Tonya Pet Photography • Town Lake Animal Center • Arrr Squeeze • Later, Dog • Bentley’s Biscuits & Bones • Busy Body Pets • Austin Eco Cleaning • Capital Area Veterinary Specialists • Universal Stitching Designs • Dress-A-Bull • Austin Pets Alive! • Tonya Pet Photography • Training by Tara • Central Texas Gun Works • Tacodeli • Paw Print Photography • The Humane Society of the United States • Reunion Rescue • Leaps N’ Hounds Training & Pet Care • Texas Humane Legislation Network • Austin Humane Society • Paul Mitchell’s John Paul Pet Club • Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter • Wounded Wood • Team Spiridon • Guardian Pit Bull Rescue • Banfield • All Dogs to go Debbies • Maximized Living Foundation • Kriegel Insurance Agency

Thank you to all of our Special Demonstrations:
LeRoy, Karma, Bruzair, and Justice / Sharky and Helen / Julie Eskoff and Rancho Mondo!

Filed under: Events, Former Homepage

Hey, we’re in the newspaper and online! The Statesman’s Austin360 published a quick note about the main event this weekend. Yep, it’s really only a few days away now.

But wait — before you finish reading, don’t forget we also still have tickets available for the exclusive VIP Party on Saturday evening. A BIG thank you goes out to Austin Speed Shop, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Independence Brewery, ZuZu’s Handmade Mexican Food, Love Puppies Brownies, Waialua Soda Works, and Red Bull for making this event awesome!

From Austin360
Published: 1:10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011

a360blast:recreation

SUNDAY

Todd Heisler/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Texas-Sized Pittie Parade and festival. Love-A-Bull, the Austin nonprofit that advocates for the dog breeds commonly known as pit bulls, is behind the local event that’s part of National Pit Bull Awareness Day. The day starts with a parade; gather at 11:30 a.m. in the Statesman parking lot, 305 S. Congress Ave., if you want to participate. Adults, kids and dogs of any breed are welcome (all dogs must be on leash), with costumes encouraged. The parade will leave at noon and march down Congress Avenue toward Republic Square Park, where a festival will run from 1 to 5 p.m. With animal rescue groups, trainers, food and drink, games, music, giveways and more. Celebrity guests include Holly Marie Combs (“Charmed,” “Pretty Little Liars”), musician John Shipe and Austin 101X DJ Deb O’Keefe as master of ceremonies. Canine celebrities include YouTube star Sharky, flying Frisbee dog Karma and the Love-A-Bull Pit Crew, an all-pit-bull therapy dog group. Both events are free and open to the public. A kick-off VIP party and fundraiser is Saturday. That event, with special guests, music, food, drink and a silent auction, will be from 7 to 11 p.m. at Austin Speed Shop, 1414 S. Lamar Blvd. More information: www.love-a-bull.org.

Read the online story here: A bunch of (pit) bull? Find it at the Texas-Sized Pittie Parade and festival.

Tagged: calendar, community, national pit bull awareness day, news media, VIPFiled under: Events, Media Coverage