Love-A-Bull’s membership package for 2012 is now available for purchase through the store! We partner with many local businesses and supporters to offer a variety of discounts and benefits with you $25 yearly dues payment.

As a reminder, your dues sustain the full range of programs, activities, events and initiatives that Love-A-Bull presents to its members and the public on an ongoing basis, including our training programs, education and outreach efforts, flyers/brochures, legislative tracking, community events (including National Pit Bull Awareness Day), and more.

We appreciate all of our dues-paying members, and this is a great way for you to feel that while you’re helping Love-A-Bull achieve its goals, you’re also getting more “bang for your buck”!

Here are the discounts in the package for 2012 (with more being added throughout the year!):

• Love-A-Bull (http://love-a-bull.org/programs/training/) FREE training program – Basic and Advanced classes (http://love-a-bull.org/store/) plus discounts off merchandise and events
• Dr. Mockler/Oak Hill Vet Clinic (http://www.oakhillvet.com) 10% off all vet services
• Austin Eco Cleaning (http://www.austinecocleaning.com) 10% off cleaning for life
• Buddy’s Chance (http://www.buddyschance.com/) 20% off training services for new clients
• Dress-A-Bull (http://www.dressabull.com) 10% discount PLUS 20% donation to Love-A-Bull
• Fancy Pants Pet (http://www.fancypantspets.com) 10% off all non-shipped items
• Fetch! Pet Care (http://www.fetchpetcare.com) 10% off all services
• Groovy Dog (http://www.groovydog.com) 10% off boutique items (excludes treats and food)
• Jakey the Clown (http://jakeytheclown.com) 10% discount for a scheduled birthday party (must mention membership when booking)
• K9 Savvy Training (Jess Wilson) (http://www.k9savvy.com) $10 off a private session with a free or low-cost consultation
• Leaps N’ Hounds (http://www.leapsnhounds.com) 10% off training sessions/packages AND 40% off single private in-home training session (new adopters only)
• Paw Print Photography (http://www.paw-print-photography.com) 20% off photography packages AND 10% off pet sitting in Leander, Cedar Park, and Georgetown areas
• Woof Gang Bakery (http://www.woofgangbakery.com) 15% off everything in the store

Dues can be purchased through our online store here or by sending a check made out to Love-A-Bull to: Love-A-Bull; P.O. Box 18792; Austin, Texas 78760.

You’ll receive your membership card via e-mail upon receipt of payment (please include e-mail address with your check, if sending by mail). Print out and present your membership card when redeeming discounts.

Join us as a dues-paying member for 2012 — the pitties (and Love-A-Bull) thank you!

Tagged: discounts, dog training, free, membership, merchandise, pet owner, pit bullFiled under: Uncategorized

Pit Bull Confidential

Pit Bull Confidential is a short film produced by Linda Gunter. The film explores the side of adopting America’s dog through interviews with Washington Animal Rescue League CEO Dr. Gary Weitzman, Julie Paez of The Big Bad Woof, and pit bull adopters.

Click on the photo below to watch this short film…

Linda is self-described as a parent, partner, environmentalist, animal lover, and burgeoning short filmmaker. The video was intriguing, so I asked her for a brief Q&A.

Q&A with Linda Gunter

Naturally the first question, why did you decide to create this video? And why about pit bulls?
I noticed that the city/county shelters especially were full of pit bull mixes and pit bulls – I periodically drop in on shelters if I am in the area; I guess this is some form of masochism since then I want to take half of them home! But it’s also to inform myself more about shelter challenges. I also learned, in volunteering at my local shelter, that pits are generally really sweet-natured people dogs. So I looked on YouTube to see if there was a short video dispelling some of the many myths about pit bulls. While I found lots of mainly raw footage about people’s sweet pit bulls, I could not find an informational piece. So I decided to make the video. It’s my first video so it was also exciting to finally master the technology and accomplish a longstanding goal to make a short documentary. The main purpose was to try to encourage more people to consider adopting pit bulls when choosing a rescue dog and to answer some of the concerns they may have because of the adverse publicity.

How did you choose who to work with on the project?
I am a volunteer at the Washington Animal Rescue League – and two of our animals were adopted from there, a dog and a cat. So it was the logical place to start. They were also then able to put me in touch with successful pit bull adopters. I also knew that our local petfood store owners had a pit bull (Yaya). Originally, I was going to diversify more and shoot more “at home” footage and at city shelters, but expediency eventually decided the focus on WARL.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for pit bull type dogs?
The misconception that they are “bad” dogs that can sometimes be trained to be nice, whereas the reverse is obviously true and unfortunately the so-called pit bull problem is actually a bad people problem. So people are afraid to adopt pit bulls because all they hear about the breed is related to fighting rings so the assumption is that they are dangerous as a breed which is not the case. Consequently, pit bulls languish needlessly in shelters and of course many are euthanized.

How did you become involved in animal welfare?
I’ve been interested in this area since childhood (I won a prize at 6 for filling my doll pram with stuffed toy animals and making it a charity fundraiser for the RSPCA in the UK!) At about 9, I dragged my mother off to an animal rescue sanctuary – only to be crushed that the owner, who I idolized, was a rather bossy old battleaxe who clearly didn’t like kids! Undeterred, I’ve been a would-be animal sanctuary owner ever since. This has not turned out to be what I do, but I have volunteered on and off over the years at a couple of shelters. It’s a passion but not a profession for me, although I probably wouldn’t turn down the right offer in the field!

What is your relationship with the Washington Animal Rescue League?
I am a volunteer there. I help with the animals but mainly I have been making short videos on individual animals (mostly cats) that they place on the animals’ web site bios to help get them adopted. This has proven remarkably successful. I think all the cats with videos were adopted by people who “fell in love” watching the video. One person flew in from Puerto Rico to adopt one of the video cats!

How many animals do you have? How did they end up in your life?
Currently we have five animals in our family – two dogs and three cats. They are all rescues. (Our two children are also adopted). We also tried fostering a really sweet older cat, Agnes, but unfortunately my resident female cat decided to make her life miserable, so we had to stop which was sad for all of us. (She’s still on Petfinder in case you want to put a plug in for her!) There was a guppy until recently…)

So what’s your regular occupation? ‘Real job’ as we like to call it, since we know most of us do this in our theoretical ‘free time.’
I am an anti-nuclear activist. I founded a group called Beyond Nuclear and we work to end nuclear power and promote renewable energy. In fact, Pit Bull Confidential, which I had to do in what passes for my “spare time” was interrupted by the March 11, 2011 Fukushima reactor disaster in Japan so I had to delay shooting and editing for months because I had absolutely no free time outside of my real work.

What do you have planned for the future?
I am hoping to do a piece on why you should adopt an older cat. The “older” concept seems to start quite young – at 8 or so! But in shelters, the kitties over 8 linger, especially during kitten season when they are constantly passed over. It’s the reason we fostered Agnes, and while we had her it was depressing how little interest there was in an 8-year old cat who was sweet as can be. It’s a difficult story line to find substance for so I still need to map it out a bit and then clear some “free” time to make it. I shot some footage already of a wonderful “older” cat at WARL who was quite the comedian. So hopefully there won’t be any more nuclear catastrophes for a while (or ever, actually!) and I can get started soon. Another option would be to make Pit Bull Confidential, Part 2. There are a few owners and their dogs it would be fun to put on tape. I think seeing a dog in the home environment might actually be the best advertisement of all. So if you have suggestions for aspects I didn’t cover this time, let me know! I am also pondering whether I can get a celebrity owner to participate in Part 2, which might get both films a higher viewership. I was actually a bit disappointed that this piece did not get circulated as widely as I’d hoped.

Tagged: advocacy, breed specific, bsl, education, media, pet owner, pit bull, rescueFiled under: Uncategorized

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

June at TLAC

June & Matt at Shangri La

June with Crab

June, Clementine, and Rory

Beautiful photo at a Summer BBQ captures the true nature of this relationship.

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

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

Love-A-Bull, Austin Animal Services, and Prevent-A-Litter (PALS) have launched another Pit Stop for the month of September. The free spay and neuter neuter program for pit bulls includes vaccines, e-collar, microchip and take-home pain meds, if needed.

There are so many reasons to spay or neuter your dog, and it’s an important part of being a responsible pet guardian: 

• Reduced risk of cancer and other health problems
• Decreases aggressive behavior
• Less desire to roam, therefore less likely to be injured in fights or auto accidents
• Reduces spraying and marking
• Reduces number of unwanted puppies
• Reduces shelter population

Please share with others to help us spread the word!  Download these digital flyers to print out, distribute, post or e-mail:

• Pit Stop Flyer: Free spay and neuter program for pit bulls (121 kb, PDF)
• Volante de Pit Stop: Esterilizacion gratuita para perros pit bull (126 kb, PDF)

To make an appointment with EmanciPET, please visit emancipet.org or call 512-587-SPAY (7729).

Tagged: advocacy, event, nonprofit, pet owner, pit bull, pit stop, spay and neuterFiled under: Uncategorized

Lisa Deppe

Many people seem to be unaware that pets are members of the family for life. By bringing a dog home, we’ve committed to be their care taker, protector and friend. Not just when it’s fun, but especially when it’s inconvenient, tedious or during difficult times.

Veterinarian Lisa S. Hindle Deppe from Jewell, Iowa writes on her blog Veterinary Rescuer about a recent conversation about pets she had with a woman at a nearby table at a restaurant.

Rehoming a pet should be reserved for dire circumstance.  It should not be a casual decision made out of convenience.

If you cannot make time to give the animal its care, then something must be dropped from the schedule.  The something that must be dropped should not be something that depends on you for life and that is capable of loving you, and missing you when you abandon it.  The basketball, the television, these items will not miss you, and they will not die without you.

Read Deppe’s blog post in its entirety: Too Busy for the Dog?

Best Friends Animal Society encourages responsible dog ownership with its social contract called “Promises to my dog.”

Sherry Woodward does an excellent job of describing how benign neglect can happen in “What dogs need to be happy.”

In the beginning, it seemed like there wasn’t enough of Cowboy to go around – he was very much a part of the family. Slowly, however, things began to change. As Cowboy grew into an adult dog, he started losing his puppy charm. He had never had training, and the antics that were cute when he was a puppy were
now annoying.

Become a fan of the Veterinary Rescuer Blog on Facebook or Best Friends Animal Society on Facebook.

Tagged: adoption, education, owner surrender, pet owner, pet ownershipFiled under: Uncategorized

Please join Love-A-Bull in welcoming Best Friends Animal Sanctuary’s famous dog handler John Garcia to Austin on the weekend of October 24-25, 2009, to participate in a weekend of family-friendly events in Austin.

John is nationally known for working extensively to rehabilitate 22 of the 49 dogs (now affectionately referred to as the “Vicktory Dogs”) seized from the bust of the Michael Vick/Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting ring. He is best known for his work and public appearances with Georgia, a sweet, 7-year old toothless female pit bull who, despite being a victim of cruelty and abuse, responds with love to all she meets.

The weekend will feature these FREE events:

A Family Fun Day with John Garcia
October 24, 5 PM – 9 PM at Zilker Hillside Theater
Free to the public! Dogs on leash are welcome. Chairs are not permitted, but blankets or towels are encouraged.

This fun-filled evening of activities will include:

• A public screening of National Geographic Channel’s “Dog Town,” including footage of John working with the Vicktory Dogs at Best Friends (begins at 7:30 PM). Courtesy of The Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow.
• Autographs with John Garcia
• Games and crafts, including: henna tattoos, face painting, balloon animals, bandanna painting
• Under Pressure t-shirt silk screening
• Pumpkin patch photo booth
• Dunk tank (dunk “Michael Vick” for charity!)
• Raffle
• Refreshments: Amy’s Ice Cream, Aloha Sno-Cones and Waffles, Zuzu’s tacos, Solar Natural Foods, Sweet Leaf tea
• Pick the Pit Bull game, trivia, and prize giveaways
• Information and adoptable pets from Emancipet, Happy Endings, Town Lake Animal Center, Best Friends, and Reunion Rescue
• Booths featuring our trainer, Jessica Wilson and Haute Dog Magazine

A Downtown Pet Parade and Costume Contest, led by John Garcia
October 25, 2 PM at Austin City Hall
Free to the public! Bring your leashed loved ones and the whole family for this walk through downtown. Austin Java and Lofty Dog will provide rest stops, and there will be prizes for the best dog costumes!  DJ Yoshi will be spinning tunes for your enjoyment. Free Parking in the City Hall Garage (entrance on Lavaca).

Sponsors

You can be a sponsor and see your company logo featured prominently here!

Click here to find out how to sponsor.

Tagged: advocacy, dog, education, event, family fun weekend, free, national pit bull awareness day, nonprofit, participants, pet owner, pit bullFiled under: Events

Love-A-Bull
www.love-a-bull.org
love-a-bull@hotmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PLEASE CROSS-POST)
DATE: August 28, 2009
MEDIA CONTACT: Lydia Zaidman (718) 791-5493 or training@love-a-bull.org

PIT BULL NONPROFIT GROUP OFFERING FREE TRAINING TO MEMBERS

AUSTIN, Texas — Love-A-Bull, a local nonprofit education and advocacy organization, invites pit bull owners to join the group in order to register now for free, 4-week basic skills dog training. The next session runs from Saturday, September 26th through Saturday, October 17th, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm, at Southpaws Playschool.

Love-A-Bull promotes tools for responsible pit bull ownership, and is pleased to offer this opportunity in partnership with trainer, Jessica Wilson, and Southpaws Playschool. It is the only one if its kind for pit bull owners in the Austin area.

Love-A-Bull, composed of over 400 local owners, works to share information with the public on issues such as the importance of spay/neuter, rescue and training, active advocacy against breed-specific legislation, and promotion of a more positive public image of pit bulls and pit bull mixes. The free training program started in January of 2009, with the goal of helping members’ dogs gain Canine Good Citizen (CGC) status through a rigorous evaluation conducted by the American Kennel Club for all breeds. To date, more than 80 owners have taken advantage of this free program, with 10 Love-A-Bull members’ dogs having attained the CGC distinction, and 3 dogs working as certified therapy dogs in hospitals and schools.

Members of the group who have participated in the program have found consistent improvement in their dogs’ behavior and continue to highly recommend it to other pit bull owners. To join Love-A-Bull or to learn more about the free training program, please visit www.love-a-bull.org.

About the Participants:

Love-A-Bull was organized to educate and to advocate on behalf of the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Terrier, and Bull Terrier (all breeds commonly referred to as “Pit Bulls”) and Pit Bull mixes. Love-A-Bull encourages its members to serve as role models of responsible ownership and engage in activism, including support of rescue, and promotion of spay/neuter programs, and to oppose breed-specific legislation.

Southpaws Playschool is located at 2324B South Lamar; Austin, TX 78704. The mission of Southpaws Playschool for Dogs and Puppies is to provide a safe, pleasant and stimulating environment in which clients can leave their dogs and puppies with confidence during working hours. They sponsor activities at the facility and in the community that promote enhanced human/canine relationships. Southpaws Playschool believes that giving back to the community is important and sponsors activities that will benefit service animals and animal rescue organizations.

Jessica Wilson is a Certified Canine Training and Behavior Specialist through Triple Crown Dog Trainer’s Academy. She has experience with a variety of canine behavioral issues such as separation anxiety, aggression, housebreaking problems, leash pulling, fence climbing, digging, barking, and many other problems that dog owners frequently encounter. She is also well-versed in all aspects of obedience and home manners training, including preparation at the competitive level. She also has experience with footstep tracking, search and rescue, dock dog training, agility, rally, scent discrimination, and more. She currently offers training at Bobbi Colorado’s Canine Camp in Oak Hill.

Love-A-Bull, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, promotes education, advocacy and responsibility on behalf of pit bull owners, and seeks to improve the public image of pit bull-type dogs.

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Tagged: Canine Good Citizen, dog, dog training, education, event, free, nonprofit, participants, pet owner, pit bull, training classFiled under: Press Releases