Jim Gorant’s book “The Lost Dogs” is a stunning and beautiful account of the events before, during and after Michael Vick’s 51 dogs were rescued. The book is organized in three parts, each describing those events.

Gorant is a master of detail, pace and storytelling. Sometimes Gorant tells the story from a dog’s point of view, an incredibly powerful device.

Other times, the book focuses on the investigation and what authorities did to build a court case.

Mostly, the book shows the former Vick dogs to be just dogs, reacting to their situation the only way they knew how.

“The Lost Dogs” reads like a novel and I often lost myself in the story, missing characters when I wasn’t reading about them and wishing the story would never end.

Being new to pit bull advocacy, I had been putting off reading about Vick because I knew it would be upsetting. Gorant’s account does include some upsetting details, but the story is really about the dog’s triumph.

At times, I put the book down, overcome with disgust or heartbroken as I imagined my dogs chained to an axel in a clearing in the woods. Or too afraid to step out of an open kennel.

Most times, I couldn’t stop reading.

I found myself rereading passages either because Gorant’s words were so elegantly rendered or because the scene described was so heartwarming. I often laughed out loud or cried from sheer joy or pride for the dogs.

Although difficult to read at times, this is a book I plan to add to my personal library partly because I think any animal advocate would find it informative and inspiring, but mostly because Gorant’s words do the former Vick dogs justice.

Former Vick dog fighting mansion to become dog sanctuary

As I prepared to publish this review, I learned that Tamira Thayne, who founded Dogs Deserve Better nearly a decade ago, moved DDB’s headquarters into Michael Vick’s former dog fighting compound.

Vick called the Smithfield, Va. operation Bad Newz Kennels as a nod to his hometown of Newport News, Va. Now, Thayne is calling the 15-acre property Good Newz Rehabilitation Center. She is currently caring for nine dogs at the center with plans to eventually care for about 100 dogs there.

Thayne, who worked to help rehabilitate some of the Vick dogs, released this statement on her blog in March.

To contribute to Good Newz Rehabilitation Center, visit the group’s website.

 

 

Tagged: advocacy, dog, dog fighting, fundraiser, michael vick, pit bull, rescue, reviewFiled under: Uncategorized

We’re very excited to be chosen as a participant in this year’s Barkitecture event!

This event is hosted by Animal Lovers of Austin, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, and the 2nd Street District. Barkitecture is an architectural dog-centric fundraiser featuring doghouses created by Austin’s own architects, designers and builders (see Participants).

 

Date: Saturday, October 1st
Time: 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Location: 2nd Street District

Love-A-Bull and all of the rescue groups will be located between Lavaca and Guadalupe Street in front of the Austin City Hall building. (Free parking at City Hall until 5 pm).

To keep updated on the event details, check out Barkitecture on Facebook. Or visit the website at www.austinbarkitecture.com.

You can also download the new 2011 Barkitecture poster and share with all your friends: (click image below)

Tagged: community, dog, event, family fun, fundraiserFiled under: Events, Former Homepage

As a woman at Wells Branch Technology Center left for lunch on Monday, Aug. 1, she noticed a large grey pit bull wandering the parking lot. When she returned, she alerted a few coworkers.

Soon an e-mail was sent to more than 100 state employees:

“Pit bull running around loose over around Merrilltown Road … he looked mean and wanted to let y’all know, especially those of you who might be walking over in that area.”

That e-mail raised safety concerns and set off a four-day search that ended when I brought him to Oak Hill Veterinary Clinic, Love-A-Bull’s veterinarian. Staff determined the pit bull to be dehydrated and slightly underweight, and removed wood fragments from a dime-sized puncture to his right hindquarter.

He was neutered and put on preventative medication for fleas and heart worms. He’s expected to make a full recovery and will remain in Love-A-Bull’s foster care until he finds his forever home.

Lydia Zaidman, one of Love-A-Bull’s founders had this to say about him:

“He is tender, sweet, gentle, good with dogs. Initial impression is that he has the chops for Pit Crew. He will make some family very lucky.”

This is how the next chapter of his life started.

 

First contact
Monday, Aug. 1

When I received the e-mail, I grabbed some water and went searching. It was 105° F outside.

That stretch of Merriltown Road is a half-mile country road that zig zags through mostly undeveloped ranch land. Knee-high grass, cactus and scraggly trees dot the landscape. Deer and rabbit are usually common, but the recent dry conditions mean few sightings.

I spotted a silhouette in some brush just beyond a ranch entrance. When I doubled back, I saw a grey pit bull pawing the ground and circling in a vain attempt to escape the heat. He was panting faster than I’ve ever seen a dog breathe.

He was an intact male with cropped ears and looking thin.

“Wow, he does look mean,” I said to myself.

When I called out, he wagged his tail and took a few steps toward me. He did what I wanted, but it freaked me out. I’m new to pit bull advocacy and had never rescued a dog.

Even though my adopted boy Kimbo changed my mind about pit bulls, I was surprised and a little disappointed in myself for still holding on to the myth many people believe about pit bulls: they’re unpredictable and prone to aggression.

Besides, what was I supposed to do, invite him into my car and just leave work? Where would I take him? I have a dog and three cats at home. What would my wife say?

This dog could be injured, abused or sick, I reasoned. I left the water and a few treats at the edge of the shade line and went back to my desk.

But I kept imagining Kimbo when he was a stray: a sweetheart of a dog lost, hungry, scared. People yelling at him, “Get out of here!” or throwing rocks at first sight.

I called Lydia to ask for advice and she persuaded me to look for him. She’d find a way to get him care.

When I went back to find him, he was gone. The food and water appeared untouched. I drove up and down the road a half dozen times, but nothing.

Lydia asked Love-A-Bull member Mike Waits to join the search after work. At about 5 p.m. we started walking up and down the road. After nearly an hour, no sign of him.

Meanwhile, the grey pit bull wandered near Building 8, about a quarter of a mile south.

Like a ghost
Tuesday, Aug. 2

I searched the grounds at about 6:45 a.m., but didn’t see him. The food and water remained untouched.

At about 8 a.m., a coworker e-mailed me. The dog was by one of the retention ponds. I was there within moments and walked the area for about 15 minutes, but never spotted him. He was like a ghost.

During lunch, I dove and walked around. It was another scorcher: 107° F.

I left my contact information with a nearby road construction team, the train yard crew across the street and the owner of Kiddie Acres, which is next door to the office complex. Everyone was sympathetic, but no one had seen him.

After work, still no sign of him.

Losing hope
Wednesday, Aug. 3

Of the 20 or so coworkers who answered my e-mail expressing concern for the dog’s safety, no one had spotted him.

I resumed my patrol before and after work, on break and during lunch, but never saw him. Hope was beginning to fade.

 

Hiding in the bushes
Thursday, Aug. 4

Every time I searched, I carried a leash, a bag of treats and a bottle of water. Every morning for the past three days, I took those items from my night stand and stuffed them into my pockets.

This morning, I stared at the supplies wondering if I should take them. Maybe animal control picked him up, I hoped. But I knew he was probably dead. The brutal heat, harsh landscape or a speeding motorist must have taken him.

As I turned away from the nightstand empty handed, I thought of Kimbo. Fewer than nine months ago, he was enduring harsh winter conditions.

How could have I driven away from the grey pit bull on Monday? Was leaving a coffee can of water and some treats really the best I could do?

I didn’t drive around the office complex that morning. When I got to my desk, I just stared at the computer screen. I was in a lousy mood.

At about 9 a.m. a woman rushed into my cube and asked me if I still wanted to help the dog. My heart sank. Was he alive?

During a morning health walk, she noticed him hiding in some bushes in front of Building 8. When we got there moments later, I could barely see his head poking out of a hedge.

While I gained his confidence with some dog treats, she went to a nearby building for some water.

After about 10 minutes, he sniffed a treat I had tossed on the ground near him. He looked weak and scared, but he ate it.

I crouched forward, avoiding eye contact and speaking to him in a high-pitched voice.

“That’s a good boy,” I said over and over. “It’s OK. It’s OK.”

He moved his head toward my open hand and paused as he gave me a doe-eyed glance. Then he slowly took a treat. His saliva was thick as mucous and his breath felt like a blow dryer.

My eyes blurred as a lump welled up in my throat. He was going to be OK!

We went back and forth like this four or five times, and every time he was about to make contact with my hand he bowed his head and gave me the sad-eye treatment.

He was so gentle, and kept looking at me for approval. I gradually slipped a leash over his head and when I gave a gentle tug, he came out of the bushes.

As he followed me to my car’s open hatchback, I thought, “How am I going to get him in?”

He put his front paws on the bumper, took a few sniffs, rocked back on his haunches and jumped right in.

During the 30-minute trip to the vet’s office, he mostly laid down. When I opened the hatch, he didn’t want to get out. Who could blame him? I imagined that was how he wound up in that office complex, dumped because he had outlived his usefulness.

I backed away and called to him. He reluctantly jumped out and into Love-A-Bull’s care.

Fostering a handsome boy
Sunday, Aug. 7

Three days later, Lydia and Leala Ward, another of Love-A-Bull’s leaders, met me and Kimbo at a park near my house. I had persuaded Denise to let us give fostering a shot.

They wanted to know what I planned to name him. Ghost came to mind, because every time I went to look for him, he’d vanish. Ranger also seemed fitting because he was obviously a tough fellow who roamed harsh terrain.

Lydia reminded me that I was focusing on the past. There’s much more to him than those four days. Besides, animals with happy names draw the attention of many more prospective families than animals with sad or scary names.

As Kimbo and the grey pit bull sniffed and nudged each other during their first walk together, Lydia and Leala agreed the foster was very handsome.

“He looks like a Beau,” Lydia said. “What do you think, Joseph?”

Later we drove to my house to see how the dogs interacted on Kimbo’s turf. We also needed to see how he would respond to my cats. He passed everyone’s scrutiny.

An hour later, I called Lydia.

“We’ve decided he totally is a Beau,” I said. “That’s his name.”

Tagged: adopt, adoption, advocacy, beau, dog, kimbo, pit bull, Pit CrewFiled under: Uncategorized

Our friends at Our Pack, Inc. posted this letter from a landlord on Facebook:

Being a landlord I am often faced with the question, “can I have a pit bull dog?” Being a dog owner myself of pit bulls and a small dog I know that the dogs themselves, regardless of size or breed are typically not the issue. Any problem dogs I have experienced have been directly related to problem owners, by that I mean irresponsible in some way. …

The first and most important things I look for in those tenants with dogs is how do the owners treat their pets and how good of control do they have of them. Are the dogs obedience trained? Are they contained on the property or running lose? Have there been incidents in the past with their dogs? This can be determined through previous landlords.

Are the dogs part of the family or confined to the backyard? Backyard dogs are known to have behavior issues due to overstimulation of the wrong kind and lack of supervision. Not much different than if you left a small child in the yard by himself. Do you think he might create some problem and get into trouble?

Are the dogs crated when left unattended? Crate trained dogs are much less likely to cause damage when unattended and are typically much happier since the crate acts as their own safe haven.

What are the ages of the dogs? If younger do they have plenty of chew toys, to avoid damage to otherwise available chewables, like base boards or doors?

And of course there is no substitute for meeting the dogs and owners together to witness for yourself their ability to handle the dogs. It is also worth noting the general personality of the dog. Are they people friendly? Are they dog friendly? This may need to be determined if there is a shared space with other dogs on the property being leased. Ask the prospective tenants if they have witnessed behavioral issues with their dogs and how they handle them.

I hope these guidelines can assist you in your selection of great tenants both of the two and four legged kind.

A dog friendly landlord,
Michael Scott

Our Pack, Inc.

Tagged: advocacy, breed specific, dog, pit bullFiled under: Uncategorized

When my wife Denise and I bought a house in Austin last year, I knew it was time to bring a dog into our family. I never imagined the impact adopting a stray pit bull would have on my life.

Now I’m becoming a pit bull advocate and I spend as much time as possible with Kimbo, which includes taking him to bars and on trips.

When we moved from state to state in pursuit of newspaper jobs, we shared our home with a cat. Now we care for three.

Our ideal dog would need to get along with our cats, have a playful, yet obedient temperament and be laid back enough not to destroy our new house or yard.

Denise gave me two rules: no pit bulls and no white dogs.

“White dogs always look dirty and pit bulls make me nervous,” she said.

“I’m not trying to get an aggressive dog,” I answered.

We had no idea we were stereotyping pit bulls, which in retrospect is absurd.

For one, we know what it’s like to be stereotyped — we both have many tattoos, often dress in black and we’re Hispanic. People sometimes take one look and think they know us.

We also read a lot. We watch PBS and listen to NPR. We’re well-informed animal lovers. At least that’s what we thought before we fell in love with a pit bull.

Winning our hearts

After spending weeks visiting animal shelters and searching online for the right match, we came across a mother and several small children walking a cute white dog with black spots at Town Lake Animal Center.

As they walked, the kids would hang their arms around his neck and they giggled as they ran circles around him. The dog had a playful gait and his walk turned into a prance as his wagging tail forced his whole body to wiggle.

He was a pit bull.

“Look at how good he is with those kids,” Denise said.

As the group approached the row of kennels where we stood, the mother noticed our interest and stopped in front of us.

“Wow, what a good dog,” I said. Too bad we didn’t get here sooner, I thought.

The woman told us she brings her children to play with the dogs, but dogs are not allowed where she lives. She asked if we wanted to walk him and I took the leash.

We played in one of the dog runs and we started to fall for him. We wondered how he would do with our cats, so when we saw squirrels and birds in a nearby pen, we walked him over. He eyed them several times, but his glances looked to me more like playful curiosity then malicious intent.

Two hours later, he was snoring on our sofa.

The white American Staffordshire terrier mix with spotted skin watched our cats with the same wonder we saw in the dog run. When we told him ‘no,’ he backed away from the cats.

A few days later, every time he saw the cats he would suddenly crouch into a play stance — forelegs splayed, hind quarters erect with his tail wagging his body. We knew we’d found our dog.

“It’s like he’s always been with us,” I said to Denise. “He just belongs.”

Kimbo the Market Mutt
We adopted Kimbo, formerly known as Alfalfa, from Town Lake in March. He was estimated to be about 10 months old because he was brought to the shelter as a stray. He’s loving, obedient and attracts a lot of attention.

At first, I didn’t want to call him a pit bull.

When people would ask me what kind of dog I have, I’d tell them Kimbo’s an American Staffordshire terrier mix. I soon realized pit bull isn’t a bad word.

On Kimbo’s first trip to the Cedar Park Farms to Market, his presence drew polar responses. Some people clutched their children away while others guided their pets in a different direction.

It was hard not to take it personally. Couldn’t they see this dog was prancing playfully around, body wiggling? Having several people comment on how beautiful and well behaved Kimbo was made it easier to overlook.

When market organizer Carla Jenkins saw Kimbo, she fell to her knees. She kissed and hugged him and wound up laying next to him. The crowd of shoppers had to step over Carla’s hands and feet as she babied Kimbo and took his picture.

Carla turned to me and said, “I think we found our Market Mutt,” an online profile of a friendly dog that visited the market that week.

The market is in a mall parking lot, so Carla was lying on the pavement. Kimbo has that effect on some people.

Training success
What I didn’t know about pit bulls when we adopted Kimbo is they love people.

Kimbo gets so excited when he meets someone new and he never seems to forget which neighbor pet him along our regular walk route. Each time we walk past a particular house, he quickens his pace, wiggles his body and looks expectantly for his friend.

Before Kimbo, I had seen well-behaved pit bulls on the TV show “The Dog Whisperer,” but I’m no Cesar Milan. You’d have to be a freak of nature with a canine sixth sense to achieve that, right?

Wrong.

Here’s the secret to dog training success: make him a part of the family, provide consistent discipline and reinforce good behavior with plenty of praise.

These days, Kimbo is attending the free training class Love-A-Bull offers its members. Our goal is for him to join the Pit Crew as a therapy dog.

Becoming an ambassador
In 2005, I attended a Dow Jones News Fund residency at New York University for minority business reporters. Participants would later intern at daily newspapers with few or no Asians, blacks or Hispanics in the newsroom.

Whether we liked it or not, we would be ambassadors for our race, our advisers told us. Many of our future coworkers and readers never had contact with people of color in a professional setting.

I consider Kimbo an ambassador for pit bulls — people will remember his behavior because he is a pit bull.

When I walk with him in public, we regularly drill his obedience commands, especially when others are around.

When we approach an intersection and I say “down.” Kimbo lies down. He watches me as I look both ways. When I say “OK” he gets up and we continue.

People often seem impressed and sometimes ask “Is that a pit bull?”

Now I say: “Yes, he’s a pit bull.”

Tagged: adoption, discrimination, dog, dog training, kimbo, pit bull, therapy dogFiled under: Uncategorized

The photographer for a picture book about pit bulls, expected to be published later this year, has been on a national tour to photograph the nation’s most abused and misunderstood dog.

Melissa McDaniel of Philadelphia hopes to raise at least $15,000 by August to help her pay the cost to publish the book that shows pit bulls as loving, extraordinary dogs. She plans to donate 10 percent of proceeds to several animal-related charities.

She started the “Pit Bull Photo Book” project while putting together “Deaf Dogs,” a photo book inspired by her dog Sadie. She is also the author of “Rescued in America,” a photo book featuring 105 once-homeless dogs who have found their forever homes. Her next photo book will focus on puppy mills, which is scheduled for release sometime in 2012.

The 8-year-old border collie and lab mix came into McDaniel’s life in 2003 during a visit to a local shelter. She took her nephews so they could help her pick a dog.

A litter of puppies drew their attention and as they approached McDaniel noticed a sign on the kennel with the word “DEAF” written in large block letters.

“Sadie was one of two of the puppies who came up to the front of the kennel and started licking my hand,” McDaniel said. “My nephew said, ‘It is like they chose you.’ And I feel that way still.”

A week later, after being spayed, Sadie slept in the passenger seat during the hour-long drive home, her head resting in McDaniel’s lap.

McDaniel soon learned thousands of deaf dogs are euthanized by breeders each year because they would not sell well. Some shelters also euthanize deaf dogs because many people believe it would be too difficult to find homes for them. When socialized and treated decently, deaf dogs are capable of all the activities hearing dogs can do, according to The Deaf Dog Manifesto.

“Sadie is everything to me. She’s so smart and picked up hand signals so quickly. I was amazed,” McDaniel said. “She taught me to live in the moment and to not let obstacles hold me back. She’s a very happy girl who loves life and lives it to the fullest in only the way that dogs can.”

Discovering pit bulls

To raise awareness for deaf dogs, McDaniel began searching for subjects to photograph. While volunteering at an animal shelter, she noticed the large number of pit bulls and pit mixes would languish there for months.

The more she worked with pit bulls, the more she fell in love with them.

“It was always heartbreaking to be out walking one of the shelter pit bulls, to have potential adopters come up to the dog to say how cute the dog was, and then, upon learning that the dog was part pit bull, they would immediately stop petting the dog and back away.” McDaniel said. “I knew they didn’t deserve the bad reputation the media has given them.”

She started work on “Rescued in America” to change the misconceptions that people have about shelter pets.

Many people believe shelter pets are damaged psychologically or have behavior problems when, in fact, most shelter pets are relinquished for reasons that have nothing to do with the animal, McDaniel said.  Common reasons include owners moving to a residence that does not allow pets or specific breeds, inconvenience, divorce and allergies.

McDaniel knew her photos would be ideal for a series of books, and the next logical book should be about pit bulls.

After photographing dogs for the first two books in shelters in almost every state in the U.S. , McDaniel found it heartbreaking to learn the situation was the same almost everywhere: shelters are full of pit bulls and pit mixes.

“I knew firsthand from photographing these dogs that they are wonderful dogs — the ones most likely to wag their tails and lick my face the first chance they could,” she said. “ I just knew I wanted to raise awareness about these great dogs. To try in some way to let people know that these dogs are just that, dogs.”

Vick pit bulls shine

Photographing Michael Vick’s former pit bulls was among the best moments of the trip, McDaniel said. In Oakland, she took pictures of Teddles, Jonny Justice and Uba. In Park City, Utah, she snapped pics of Halle. In Pittsburgh, she photographed Hector, who she first met while capturing his image for “Rescued in America.”

“It’s a true honor to meet and spend time with these dogs,” McDaniel said. “They have changed people’s opinions of fight dogs, have given dogs from future fight busts a chance at life, and they are such a joy.”

The Vick dog’s success after rescue has helped people see fight dogs as the victims they truly are, McDaniel said. Overcoming their past has also given dogs from future fight ring busts a chance at life, because most rescued fight dogs were previously euthanized as a rule.

“Hector, for example, is covered in bad scars,” she said. “However, you would never know by his demeanor his past was so horrible. Hector loves life. He’s a sweet confident dog that lives comfortably with several other dogs. He goes to events to help educate people about pit bulls and dogs from fight busts. He’s so friendly and lovable.”

McDaniel plans to photograph 3 more Vick dogs before the photo tour ends.

Memorable Austin pit bulls

While in Austin, McDaniel photographed several dogs, including Hooch, a hearing pit bull-lab mix who has a deaf owner.

“Austin has some really well trained dogs,” she said. “The shoots went really well.”

One of McDaniel’s favorite photo shoots of the trip was of a pair of deaf dogs who have deaf owners: Staffordshire terriers Thumper and Rimel.

“Both dogs played together so well for the camera — we got a lot of great action shots — and they were so well-behaved and so cute,” she said. “It was a really fun time.”

Another memorable Austin shoot included two Austin Humane Society dogs that were taken from a large dog fighting bust by the Humane Society of the United States a few months ago, McDaniel said. Alan, pictured above, was one of those dogs.

Publishing a book

McDaniel spent the past 3 months touring 15 states to photograph more than 60 pit bulls. The photo tour will end July 19, after which the real work will begin: picking and adjusting photos, writing text, laying out the book and going through the editing process. After that, promoting and marketing begins. McDaniel will then review proofs and attend press checks.

“Unfortunately the work doesn’t end when the shoots do,” she said. “I love picking out my favorite photos, though — the ones that will be in the books. That is one of my favorite parts of the whole process.”

Two things make the enormous amount of work worth the effort: spending time with animals and the people who love them and having the opportunity to showcase the beauty of dogs.

“It’s a treat to meet so many different pets, with their different looks and different characteristics,” she said. “I have had a number of people contacted me after their pets have passed away to tell me how grateful they were that they had their pets photographed by me and how much those photos mean to them.”

Her greatest hope for “Pit Bull Photo Book” is to help people see pit bulls for the beautiful and goofy dogs they really are.

“I want people to hear their stories and learn that they are working as therapy dogs. I want them to realize they don’t deserve the bad rap they so often get,” McDaniel said. “These dogs are the best educators out there. They aren’t these ‘vicious creatures that you can’t trust because they could turn on you at any moment,’ which is what the media makes them out to be. They are dogs. Period.”

Pre order “Pit Bull Photo Book”

Read Melissa McDaniel’s blog

Tagged: advocacy, book, discrimination, dog, dog fighting, michael vick, pit bullFiled under: Uncategorized

Best Friends Animal Society, the website for the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary featured in the former National Geographic TV series Dogtown, announced June 27 its efforts to help pit-bull type dogs are gaining traction.

Shelter Partners for Pit Bulls aims to decrease shelter euthanasia rates for pit-bull-terrier-type dogs, increase the number of pit-bull-terrier-type adoptions and positive outcomes, and redeem the image of pit-bull-terrier-type dogs in local communities.

The group started with five pilot communities: Cucamonga, Calif.; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Tampa, Fla.; and San Diego, Calif. PetSmart Charities granted the effort $240,000 along with additional support from Best Friends.

The result has been an increase in adoptions and happier dogs.

To further these efforts, Chrissie’s Fund recently provided a $20,000 donation to the two California Shelter Partners for Pit Bulls. Later this year, each shelter will receive $2,000 to buy enrichment toys for the shelter’s pit bull-type dogs and $8,000 to fund their upcoming Neighborhood Pit Bull Days.

Love-A-Bull is in the process of organizing its own celebration for National Pit Bull Awareness Day.

The Texas-Sized Pittie Pride Parade & Festival will include vendors, non-profit information booths, celebrities and a downtown parade that will attempt to set the world record for the most pit bulls in one location. Join the festivities 11:30 a.m. Nov. 6 at the south end of Congress Avenue Bridge, 305 S. Congress Ave., Austin.

Tagged: advocacy, dog, national pit bull awareness day, pit bullFiled under: Uncategorized

Amy and Rod Burkert of GoPetFriendly.com posted an article on StubbyDog describing what prompted them to found the website for people who want to travel with their pet.

Visitors can plan a road trip, find accommodations at hotels or campgrounds and pick from restaurants, services and activities that are pet friendly.

A destination guide lists activities by state, with three entries for Texas, including A Day in Austin with the Dogs.

Stay up to date with Take Paws, the Go Pet Friendly blog, and learn tricks for how to travel with pets in the tips & resources section. Visitors are encouraged to comment and add listings to the pet friendly database.

The couple travels with Ty, a 35-pound Shar Pei therapy dog, and Buster, a 75-pound German Shepherd—the fourth most restricted dog breed, behind Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and Dobermans.

They recently spent 10 months traveling more than 27,000 miles through 30 states and two Canadian provinces.

Honestly, we don’t feel we’ve made any gut-wrenching sacrifices to travel with Ty and Buster. A goal of GoPetFriendly.com is to connect pet lovers with businesses and service providers that will help make their travel experiences with their furry friends exceptional. Why? Because we believe that if it is easier for people to travel with their pet, more pets will get to go on vacation, and that will encourage more businesses to “Go Pet Friendly.”

Tagged: advocacy, community, dog, restricted dog breed, therapy dog, travel, websiteFiled under: Uncategorized