A definition:

Dubious:  causing doubt, uncertainty, or suspicion : likely to be bad or wrong.....

The big, big world

"Holy smokes, what's that?!"

"Holy smokes, what are THOSE?!"

"Is that what I think it is Mom?"

"It's gotta be kid...

....it sure is small though."

"Yeah, really small."

***

"Yikes.  Those thing are really BIG!"

"Just look at the size of those noses..."

"Who needs noses like that?"

"Hmmmm, maybe I should bite that nose?"

"Who knew the world was so big out there?  Maybe I'll just stay right here..."

".....Then again, look at these treasures just strewn about on the ground.  Who'd have thought? This world can't be all bad."

"But it sure can be a bit much.....

....even for a crazy Border Collie puppy."

A New Face

I went to see some puppies today, they were very nice puppies.  I had a terrible time choosing!  I kept trying to pick out the one i thought was prettier, but every time I tried to look at him this little devil kept crawling in my lap.  How could I say no?

He is an 8 week old male Border Collie and he needs a name.  Any suggestions?  So far we've come up with:

Granger
Xander
Mason

Technical Difficulties

Every time I try to upload a photo, my computer crashes.  It just blinks off like someone pulled the plug, which is why there was no post today.  Anyone have any clue how to fix this beside pitching the whole thing out the window, which is what I would kinda like to do right at this moment?

Good As New

"Say Ma, WHAT is that thing?  That can't really be what I think it is can it?"

"Huh?  Oh that's just my rain coat.  What's the big deal?  You saw it all the time last winter."

"Yeah, I kinda thought maybe that's what it was.  I just didn't think I'd see it again given its condition.  Why don't you'd get a new one? How old is it anyway?"

"Oh it's not that old, I've only had it since...um...well...hmmm, I suppose maybe it is a little older than I thought, but it's still OK!"

"Sheesh Ma, are you kidding?!  I mean, c'mon, LOOK at this thing...."

"Well, it's not that easy to find a rain coat that fits just right you know.  Besides, it's not that bad, the duct tape works great.  And you know how I feel about shopping." ugh, shudder

"Hmph, you aren't gonna make ME wear something this decrepit are you?"

"Heavens NO!  You know I'd never let my donkey be caught dead in something this ratty!"

"Well, that's good to know.  At least you have your priorities straight.  Although you might want to think about that Ma, maybe you ought to go see a therapist or something."

"I don't need a therapist, that's what you're here for."

"Oh yeah, right.  Say Ma, why don't you just buy a new coat from the same place you got this one a hundred and ten years ago?"

"That's a good idea except that I think I stole this from an ex-boyfriend a year or two before he became an ex.  Hmm, that was a long time ago now I think about it.  Oh well, at least I got something useful out of that relationship."

"Well, maybe you need to find a new boyfriend who has good raincoats that you can steal.  I suppose that could work."

"You know, I think I'll just add a couple more pieces of duct tape on that seam instead, I'm sure I can get a few more years out it yet."

"Ma, you're completly hopeless."

"I know.  Good thing you donkeys love me no matter how I'm dressed."

The Pit Bull Conundrum.

I've been thinking a lot about dogs.  I'm trying to find a new dog.  The search has been more difficult than I ever imagined.  I have a lot to say on the subject, maybe too much, but that's what blogs are for right?  I will get to all of that once I figure out what I am doing.  For the moment, I want to get some of the clutter out of my head. 


I am not trying to start any debates with this, I know that Pit Bulls are a touchy subject.  If there are any Pit Bull friends out there starting to feel like you need to jump in and defend your beloved companion, please, there is no need.  I have nothing against the dogs.  The dogs are not the problem.  The animals are never the problem. 

***

Twenty years ago, the animal shelter I worked in would not adopt out a pit bull.  That policy had nothing to do with what the people who worked in or ran the shelter wanted, it was a dictate of the insurance company.  The shelter was funded by the county and the county would not fund it without liability insurance.  It wasn't a choice.

I never agreed with the practice, but twenty years ago, it wasn't much of an issue.  In all the years that I worked in that shelter we had ZERO pit bulls brought in.  None, nada, zip, zilch.  To that date, the shelter saw an average on ONE pit bull per DECADE. 

It was just about this time that pit bull advocacy really started gaining ground.  The no-adoption policy was being challenged all over the country.  The campaign to change the negative image associated with these dogs was just taking hold and the crusade to “save the misunderstood pit bulls” was really taking off.  Suddenly, even calling them 'Pit Bulls' was anathema.  They were American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers or American Staffordshire Terriers.

That campaign to end the persecution of the breed hasn't been terribly successful, although they did manage to do away with many of the no-adoption policies, including at 'my' shelter.  The dogs still face most of the same challenges that they did twenty years ago.  However, the crusade to 'save' them has had one major, unintended consequence.  It led directly to a massive surge in their popularity, which in turn means that they are suffering through the biggest Pit-Bull-baby-boom ever.  They are now the NUMBER ONE most often bred dog today.  They are also the dogs most often turned into shelters.  There are more of them now than there ever have been and there are more of them euthanized in shelters than ever before.  They now make up 35% of all dogs turned into shelters in the US and that number is as high as 65% in urban shelters.  Last week, I looked at the dogs available in the shelter where I used to work - twelve out of fifteen dogs were purebred Pit Bulls.

If ever there were a living embodiment of good intentions gone horribly wrong, Pitt Bulls are it.  I see the results of this phenomenon every time I drive into work and it plays out in one of two ways:

Scenario 1:  The gang boys strut down the street with their huge, drooping jeans bagging around their knees, ear-buds dangling.  Each group has at least one pit bull straining at the end of a heavy chain lead. 

These gangs routinely breed these dogs to sell to their friends.  I see at least 4-6 of these dogs each day.

Scenario 2:  A young woman in color-coordinated, matching exercise gear is jogging with her very well-mannered, sleek and shiny pit bull at her side.  The dog is missing half of one ear, has numerous scars on his face and is wearing a hot pink harness with little purple hearts and peace signs on it.  

This is one of the crusaders.  She and the three other young woman I see her with rescued their dogs from the local shelter.  Their dogs were produced by one of the first group.  They are doing a great job of demonstrating that these certainly can be very nice, well behaved dogs.  

I honestly can't decide which of these groups is a bigger problem for these dogs.  On the surface, the would-be gang-bangers are the problem, but it is the tireless advocates that have pushed the dogs into such prominence and they die by the thousands because of it.  

I don't know how to cram this genie back in its bottle.  As long as the would-be badasses think it is cool to have a big, mean dog at the end of a chain, they are going to keep breeding them.  As long as we keep promoting them as the perfect pet, they will remain popular, which is the worst thing that can happen to a breed.  At this point, all these dogs can hope for is that this fad, like most others, will finally run its course and they can fall back into obscurity to lick their wounds. 

Trick or Treat

"Hey Bloggy peoples, Ma has been all preoccupied latley and we have a question.  We tried to get Ma to explain and she said she COULDN't!   Maybe you can answer this for us....."

"We went for a walk down the road and there's this skeleton dude aiming a cannon at us!  What is up with THAT?" 

"So then we kept going and there was this tree with a dead body hanging in it only it's not a real dead body, it's made out of straw so we kinda thought maybe it was another hay net thingie, but Ma wouldn't let us eat any of it.  What is up with that?  If you hang up bags full of food, why shouldn't we eat it?"

"Ma just muttered something about stupid human tricks and we kept walking and there was ANOTHER tree and this one had little white plastic bags hung all over it.  We checked those out too and they couldn't be eaten either."

"So, you think you all could explain this too us?  We especially want to know why that guy wants to shoot us.  What'd we ever do to him?"

"psssst, Mom, you think we might at least be able to eat some of the pumpkins sitting by the mail box?"

"Those gotta be edible Kid.  See?  The flag is up on the mailbox thingie and everything.  I'm sure that  means we can eat 'em.