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

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

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, PBAD

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

On November 6th, we’ll be celebrating great dogs like Juneaux and wonderful owners like Amanda — please see her wonderful letter and heart-warming story below, and join us at our Texas-Sized Pittie Pride event!

Dear Friends:

In May 2010, we decided we were ready to adopt our third dog from TLAC. I knew I wanted to choose a “Pit Bull Type Dog” (AKA Staffordshire Terrier/American Staffordshire Terrier/etc.), because our first dog is a Staffie mix and he has been an amazing companion for the last ten years. There was no shortage of Staffies at the shelter, so I spent several weeks visiting and playing with lots of different dogs until I found just the right one. All of the dogs were wonderful, but Juneaux (formerly Rhonda) completely stole my heart. She was smiley and wiggly and spent the whole time snuggling up to me and playing with her ball. I took this picture (check out pic #1) and sent it to my boyfriend, and told him I’d found our new dog. He couldn’t say no to that goofy face.

The next day we brought her home. Since then, she has brought so much happiness into our lives. At first she was shy and scared, but after a few weeks she started to warm up and show her true colors. Over the past year and a half I’ve watched her grow into a loving, carefree dog that she never had the opportunity to be in her past life. She has taught us the true meaning of being happy no matter what bad things you may have experienced in the past. Her clipped ears and “stray” status told us people may not have always been kind to her, but she still puts all of her trust in people.

Nowadays we take her with us everywhere. Her favorite thing to do is go to the bar (I don’t know where she gets it from ). She stands next to our table wagging her tail and smiling at every person who walks by. People can’t help but stop and give her pets and hugs because she is just so friendly. She LOVES it, and I think it’s great for people to see the true nature of a “Pit Bull Type Dog” in a public situation.

She is affectionate, gentle, and very eager to please. Her training was so easy, because her desire to make us happy is so strong. I just want to tell people who may be unsure about “Pit Bulls” that this is the true nature of these kind of dogs. They get a bad reputation because they are willing to do anything their owner asks (including fighting) and will tolerate extreme abuse without turning on their abuser. Unfortunately, these traits often get exploited. I hope people will give these dogs a chance because they make wonderful family dogs and companions, and are great with kids.

When I meet new people with Juneaux the topic of “Pit Bulls” often comes up, and I frequently hear people say, “They can be great dogs — it’s all about how they are raised.” I will be the first to say we had nothing to do with the way Juneaux was raised; as far as I know she was turned loose as a stray. The truth is, you can adopt a great Staffie at the shelter and make them a part of your family, even if they didn’t get the best start in life. I’m not saying that all shelter dogs would fit into any family, but many dogs can overcome difficult pasts and make great family companions. All they need is someone to give them that chance.

Juneaux is proof that this is possible, and I honestly don’t know what our life would be like without her now. Thank you Town Lake Animal Center, for adopting out Staffie mixes and giving them the chance at a life they deserve. To those reading this who wouldn’t consider adopting a Staffie, I encourage you to look beyond the media hype and see what these dogs are really like. If you spend an hour at the shelter, and you might change your mind.

Sincerely,
Amanda Hill

Tagged: adopt, adoption, discrimination, love, national pit bull awareness day, pet owner, pit bullFiled under: Rescue

Yep — of course we’re having a pet costume contest at the annual Pit Bull Awareness Day festival! Think you can be the best? Well then dress up your pooch, and maybe even yourself, and come show off at Republic Square Park on Sunday, November 6th.

Check out some of the awesome costumes we saw last year!

Even Sharky the Pit Bull and his mom Helen will be there in costume with their bells on! — Okay well maybe not really bells, just hats.

Check out the festival schedule to make sure you don’t miss out on this charming and amusing show of pets on parade!

Be sure to RSVP and join us on November 6, 2011 for this FREE event!

Tagged: #costumes, calendar, event, family fun weekend, free, national pit bull awareness dayFiled under: Events

Love-A-Bull will be hosting a “mini-clinic” during the Third Annual Pit Bull Awareness Day festivities.

We are proud to partner with PALS (Prevent-A-Litter) of Central Texas, EmanciPET, Town Lake Animal Center, and Oak Hill Veterinary Clinic to make the following items and services available!

• EmanciPET will be on-site to offer and schedule FREE spay/neuter appointments.
• Town Lake Animal Center will be providing FREE microchips, FREE I.D. tags, and FREE leashes/collars.
• And we’ll have a Q&A session with Dr. Mockler from Oak Hill Veterinary Clinic.

Yep, it’s the real deal. You just have to join us on Sunday, November 6 between 1 PM – 5 PM and get hooked up! Check out the schedule to see more information on the event.

Don’t forget to RSVP here on Facebook or Meetup so we can make this even bigger and better than last year. You won’t want to miss out!

Tagged: community, event, free, microchip, national pit bull awareness day, pet owner, services, spay/neuterFiled under: Events

Hey folks! It’s Jessica from L-A-B guest posting!

HI!

We are frantically pulling the last details for the BIG, HUGE, FANTASTIC, AMAZING, ALL PIT BULL (and their friends), ALL THE TIME , FESTIVAL AND PITTIE PARADE  in November!  And getting SO excited!  It is going to be fantastic!

You are all coming, right?!  Still on the fence?  Well, we have several confirmed guests (Holly Marie Combs, BAD RAP, John Shipe) and just confirmed another one!  SHARKY the Pit Bull!  I bet you are coming now!

No offense, but if you have not heard of Sharky the Texas pit bull – you do not have access to the internet.  Or, like my grandmother, computers scare you.

I digress – Sharky the big, beautiful, gentle PB type dog and YouTube favorite has confirmed with us that he is attending the festival!  In costume with his mom no less!  They will be walking in the parade and col’ kicking it with us and our doggies at the festival!  By the way, there will be a costume contest – so get your dogs ready!

You can find his YouTube movies here: SHARKY THE SUPER RAD PIT BULL FROM TEXAS.

I can’t decide which is my favorite.. Is it the bunny ones?  Or the chick ones?  And, who doesn’t love a cat pestering a dog video?

They are all great!  What a fantastic breed ambassador!

So, get those doggie costumes ready and come on down on the 6th!  Meet and mingle with all of our special guests, including Sharky.  And, let’s celebrate our pit bull type doggies in front of the whole city!  Hell, in front of the whole state!  No, wait – in front of the whole country!

Oh!  And be sure and check this out!  Sharky and his mom, Helen made a special video just for little ol’ us!  Dogs in hats are awesome…Jus’ sayin’

See you in November!

XOXO – Jessica

 

Tagged: #Austin, #BadRap, #costumes, #HollyMarieCombs, #JohnShipe, #Love-A-Bull, #SharkyThePitbull, #youtube, advocacy, calendar, dog, event, family fun weekend, free, friendly, fundraiser, national pit bull awareness day, news media, nonprofit, pit bull, rescueFiled under: Events, Media Coverage, PBAD