We Are "Breeder X"

IF IT DOESN'T HELP - THEN DON'T DO IT...PLEASE

There seems to be an assumption being made by a portion, sometimes a large portion, of the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community that publicly vilifying people who surrender their dogs to a shelter or rescue somehow helps aid the dog as it travels through the system.  I can only assume that this assumption exists on the part of a reasonable number of people in the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community based on the high volume of extremely critical, judgmental and very often hateful comments made by people when posting in Facebook threads where a dog needs to be rescued, fostered, adopted or has been surrendered and/or is in need of expensive medical care. 

Routinely, as I check my Facebook messages in an ongoing effort to network for dogs in need, there seems to be many people, more than you might think, who’s only comment is to say very nasty, judgmental and hateful things about the person(s) who surrendered a dog to a shelter or rescue.  There is no way to know if these same people also share the post with their friends, contacts and colleagues in addition to their comments about the people who surrendered the dog(s) but the only assumption I can make is that these people truly feel as if their harsh criticism is helpful to the dog.   These comments, that can only be counterproductive to the process of getting the dog(s) what they need from the shelter or rescue they are surrendered to, are often made with minimal knowledge of the details or facts surrounding the situation but yet these people still feel it’s ‘helpful’ in some way to spread their judgment and hatred around Facebook thread after thread after thread.  I assume, because at times it’s what I’m told, that many people who do rescue, who advocate or who work in shelters feel that if a dog owner is not perfect in every way (like they believe they themselves are) that means they are abusers, low life’s, horrible people who don’t care about their dog and should never own a dog…never again.  It is rarely, if ever, taken into account the circumstances that surround the situation and many assumptions are made in the comments on these threads as to what the former owner was feeling, how they felt about the dog and what kind of dog owner they were.  Most often it’s assumed and documented that the former owner didn’t care about the dog, was a poor dog owner to begin with and doesn’t deserve to have had the dog or to ever have another dog.  So often you will see people comment that they would NEVER do that no matter what; however saying one would never do something when one isn’t faced with the situation or circumstances only reflects intention but can’t reflect actuality.  In fact it's possible that the very people who surrender their dog to a shelter may have themselves once exclaimed that they would NEVER surrender their dog to a shelter.

Sure venting personal opinions or aggravations is a part of Facebook, sometimes more than a huge part of it, and sure everyone is entitled to their opinion and entitled to express that opinion.  But when people are working tirelessly, some people 24 hours a day, to help a dog why do so many feel it necessary to take up space on the thread to vent their anger at anyone who would ever surrender a dog to a shelter?  I couldn’t venture a guess as to why they do it but all I can say is that they do it, they do it very often, they do it with much vehemence and they seem to feel as if it somehow is helpful to do it.  Concurrently while these harsh assumptions may be partially or even completely true about the surrendering dog owners how can airing the suspicions in public help the dog?  Can pointing out that the former owner didn’t really care about the dog, like the person commenting believes people should care about their dogs, pay for medical care?  Can it pay for boarding for the dog?  Can it find a foster for the dog?  Can it get the dog adopted?  Based on what I see time and time and time again on these networking threads to save or help a dog apparently there are some, many, people who do believe that their personal opinion about the former dog owner(s) is helpful and will make a difference in the ultimate outcome for the dog.  If people are overpowered by the need to vent about the dog owners who surrender a dog to a shelter then perhaps they should consider beginning a new thread where they can vent to their heart’s delight while leaving the thread posted to help the dog to only that; to help the dog. 

However there are people in the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community who choose to suspend judgment and instead help those dog owners who feel that their only option is to surrender their dog to a shelter.  These people operate under the assumption that not everyone is resourceful and therefore when people come to a shelter to surrender their dogs there are a significant number of cases where the people can be provided information or assistance that will allow them to keep their dog and therefore keep the dog out of the shelter.  It surely is considered a radical approach based on my experience with the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community but I am hoping it will become the norm in our community.  I’d like to think that as more and more of us suspend our judgment so that we can help the dog by helping its owner that in time attitudes will change and more of our community will avoid the harsh, judgmental, hateful criticism of anyone who would even remotely consider surrendering their dog to a shelter no matter the reason why.  I feel it prudent to mention here that IF the most horrible, hateful and abusive thing that any dog owner can do is to surrender their dog to a shelter then what does that say about how our shelters are being run?  What does that say about how we choose to operate a shelter and what being in the shelter means to the animals?

There’s an organization who saw a need and filled it; Home Dog L.A.  Their story is one of looking beyond the action of surrendering a dog to a shelter deeper into the varied reasons why the dog owners feel they need to do it.  They decided that perhaps being understanding and compassionate would be a much better way to help the dog(s) than to simply pass judgment on the owner and take the dog.  Through this unfortunately unique program/organization untold numbers of dogs have been helped to stay out of the shelter and to go back home to lead improved lives by helping their owner instead of judging them.  The time has come for the paradigm to shift in the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community and I hope that this organization will catch on so that once and for all as a community of people who claim to only be interested in helping the dogs we will also learn that by helping the dog’s owner the dog is being helped and room is being made in shelters for dogs that have no owner or have been removed due to abuse.

To find out more about the organization who is helping people keep their dogs in Los Angeles go to Home Dog L.A.

Dojie's Law For A Safer Oregon's Fundraiser video - rejected by kickstar...

ALL FOR THE DOGS

How many times do you hear someone say that what they do to advocate for and rescue dogs is ‘ALL FOR THE DOGS’?  

It’s a common statement made by many and yet how many really do it ‘all for the dogs’?  How many out there honestly and truly set aside ego, the need for recognition and personal feelings about everything from training methods to how a dog is to be kept including all the little differences we may have with others to work solely for the benefit of the dogs?  How many? 

In my experience of three years traveling through the animal welfare/pit bull advocating and rescuing communities I have found many people who share my concerns and goals and who make public claims that everything that they do is ‘all for the dogs’ and yet I have met so few that suspend personal preferences and feelings to do it ‘all for the dogs’.  It’s not that unusual to connect with a new person on social networking that appears on the surface to truly be on the same page as you are when it comes to advocating for or rescuing dogs but who over time finds too many ‘differences’ in opinion and philosophy to continue the association.  Things go along famously, working together for the good of the dogs, until one ventures an opinion on something like let’s say…dog training methodology.  Then you can sense a coldness and a distance all of a sudden and in extreme cases a promise not to associate with you in any way in the future.  You agree to disagree, to continue to work for the dogs together, but they go on to harangue and to admonish you in a not so veiled attempt to convert you around to their way of seeing and/or doing things.  They insist that they are right about whatever issue you are discussing and that because you are not right that you surely can’t be their equal nor can you possibly offer any adequate support for what they are trying to accomplish.  Some gather forces to wage a war of words, and often enough alliances, where it ends up more of an ‘us vs. them’ situation where one side is against the other even though both sides share a common goal and everyone claims that everything that they do is only for the dogs. Yet all the while, while they are fighting against you, they are vehemently claiming that they and only they know the facts, that they are the ones who have it right who can do the best for the dogs and that you will only bring harm to the dogs.

IF it is ALL for the dogs then why allow differences of opinion and philosophy hinder forming an alliance where more can be done for more dogs with less obstacles?  IF it is ALL for the dogs then why be so immature as to be unable to look past another person’s opinions and philosophies so that together more can be accomplished?  IF it is ALL for the dogs then why shut others out when they reach out to be a part of what you are doing for the benefit of your cause?  IF it is ALL for the dogs then why refuse to join forces with someone else on their project simply because you don't see eye to eye on everything or they might get the lion's share of the credit?

Ego seems to permeate all corners of life but I think it’s a bit more prevalent in the animal welfare/pit bull advocating and/or rescuing world.  So many led purely by their emotions who believe that drama is just a fact of the animal welfare community and who go along with whatever drama seems to be out there being passed around.  So many forming friendships that flourish as long as the other person sees things and believes just exactly as they do and that fall to pieces at the slightest indication that there might be a different view or opinion about things lurking in the other person.

Bottom line as I see it is that when we ignore the help of others so that we and only we will get all the credit, whether we do it consciously or not, some dogs are losing the help that they need.  When we fight amongst ourselves about such things as training methodology, prong collars and the like we are robbing the very dogs we claim to care so much for and to be working so hard to help.  

Helping dogs, regardless of in what capacity, is a highly emotional undertaking at the very best.  There are so many dogs failed every single day by us humans; dogs that we are unable to help simply because there is so much to be done and so few of us to do it.  So doesn’t it make sense to work hard to reduce the emotional aspect of helping dogs as much as possible so that we can accomplish more?  Doesn’t it make sense to STOP CEASE AND DESIST our own personal campaigns about dog training methods, kinds of collars, on or off leash and all of the other things that we so often argue about that takes precious time away from our being productive for the dogs?  Doesn’t it make more sense to bite our tongue, hold our head high and work with others who are different than ourselves for the benefit of the dogs as opposed to separating ourselves into groups of people who prefer this kind of training or that kind of collar or whatever the ‘differences’ are?

I often think of all of the people I see out there on social media who are all working toward the same goals for dogs and yet who work alone as if they fear that if they join forces they might get lost in the shuffle and no one will ever really know what our contributions were.  I often think of all of the people out there who go it alone simply because they are intolerant of other ideas and ways.  I often think of the many, many, many, thousands if not more, people out there who could do so much good and save so many dogs together but yet because of personal opinion and differences in beliefs they remain isolated or at the very least form a small select group of people who often do little else except argue with other people about how it should be done and what needs to be done for the dogs.

Maybe, just maybe, it's time for us in the animal welfare, pit bull advocating and rescuing community to cast our differences aside like mature adults and join together for the good of the dogs we all claim that are the sole purpose that we do what we do.

GUNS AND PIT BULLS...

The tragedy in Santa Barbara this last weekend when a young man killed several people, all innocent of any wrong doing toward him in any way, by both knife and gun was just that; a tragedy.  Trying to wrap one’s mind around what led this person to do what he did and making any sense of any of it seems impossible.  Which is all the more reason why everyone needs to take a step back and take the time to reflect on the ‘true’ source of the problem that ended in these unnecessary and tragic killings is/was.

Right now everyone who thinks guns should not exist or be owned by responsible people is jumping on the ‘ban guns’ bus using this tragedy as a perfect example why guns should be more heavily regulated and even some are suggesting that no one in the general public should have guns at all; not even those responsible people who understand what guns are and the potential for disaster using guns. 

There is a LOT of blame going around at the moment and most, if not all of it, seems to be focusing on guns as if any gun at any time could come to life and begin to kill of its own accord free of any human involvement whatsoever.  Once again we Americans, with our very fine tuned knee jerk reaction reflex, are focusing attention and placing blame on an inanimate object or an object that in and of itself is typically harmless until in the hands of a human being.   Once again we forget that logic exists and run in droves to either condemn or defend an inanimate object with tempers flaring and accusations flying.  Once again there is little or no mention of the human being who executed a detailed plan that had no doubt, according to their own words, been brewing for some time in the mind of the human.

This horrendous act was perpetrated by a human being.  This human being thought it through from every angle, apparently according to his own words, and then executed it with calm resolve as if executing a plan to do something totally normal by most human standards.  The mind of the person who did this with such calm resolve obviously was not a mind that operates like the vast majority of people but was a mind that has focused so much energy and intent on his inability to attract women that it became an obsession with him; an obsession that dictated to him, in his mind, that he had to do something about it, that he had to punish others for it.  The young man wrote a 137 page diatribe for crying out loud.  Extremely few of us would ever go to that length even if we were really, really, really pissed and upset about something.  Could it be that the young man who committed this heinous attack on innocents was nothing like most of the rest of us?  Could it be that he was an example of the extreme's that very few of us would go to when felling rejected or disrespected?  Could it be that we have much more to fear from others like him than from the inanimate objects that are their weapon of choice?

This was something well thought out and executed; something that he more than likely thought about most of his waking hours day after day after day.  Was he insane?  Was he mentally ill?  Or was he simply a privileged young man who perhaps had never been shown that disappointment and rejection happens to us all and that we get over it…we move on…we grow from the experience?  At any rate from the sound of what has been revealed so far from his diatribe and the u-tube video he made just prior to carrying out his plan this person would have formulated a plan with or without guns and would have found some way, any way, to exact his revenge on all beautiful young college girls because a few had not found him attractive or date-worthy.  But no one seems to focus on that or even care about it.  No one seems to be looking any further than one of the tools he utilized, he also stabbed his roommates to death but no one seems to care about that, nor do they seem to care about anything but the gun(s) and the way they feel about guns personally.

The gun issue so reminds me of the pit bull issue.  It doesn’t really matter to most people that there are humans involved that have complete control over the guns or the dogs.  All that matters is that the guns/dogs caused harm, always as if on their own without any involvement whatsoever from human beings, and that something must be done so it never…ever…not ever…happens again.  Many people are of the mind that if the gun/dog didn’t even exist that the injuries and fatalities would never have happened nor could anything like them occur in the future as if guns are the only tools we can use to harm or kill others or as if pit bulls are the only kind of dogs that can harm or kill.  I can’t say that I understand that logic at all.  I don’t understand how so many people can become so blinded by fear that they neglect to consider the involvement of human beings.  Maybe it’s because if one human is held responsible for their actions then we too must be held responsible for all of ours.  Maybe it’s because people don’t understand or like the idea that if one human could do such a heinous thing that another can and therefore we could given the right circumstances and mindset. 

Holding the ‘tool’ responsible for the ‘deed’ is in my estimation one of the least productive and most asinine things we as a society can do.  Take away one tool and humans find another, take that tool away and we will find another and another and another.  The bottom line is that we humans more than likely will never stop hurting and killing one another, we will never stop being irresponsible dog owners that have no control over our dogs, we will never stop allowing rejection and disappointment to drive us to harm or kill others as our revenge on them for hurting our feelings, we will never stop allowing our dogs to roam at large or be around those who can’t defend themselves unsupervised.  These things and many more are things that humanity does and until humanity looks within and fixes the issues that drives these acts and more by using insight, empathy, compassion and help for those who need it these situations will occur AND they will occur long after there are no more guns or pit bulls should those who choose to hold the guns/dogs completely responsible get their way. 

Many people see these mass killings by guns and also people being harmed or killed by pit bull type dogs as a sign that we need to eliminate these things from our midst entirely so we can be a safer society.   What I see these continued horrendous and tragic incidents being a sign of is that it’s high time we humans STOPPED blaming the tool and started blaming ourselves, the society we have created together and the individual human beings that perpetrated the crime or neglect that resulted in injury or death. 

In the end do we need better gun control laws?  Surely we must; although the gun(s) used in Santa Barbara were purchased legally by a person who by all outward appearances was a nice young man, a ‘normal’ person.  Do we need better animal control laws?  Surely we do because humans are not understanding the importance of taking complete and full responsibility for the actions of the dogs or pets they take into their care.

So why am I going on and on about this when a vast majority of the people who read it will balk at the idea of taking focus off of the gun/pit bull issue.  Sure many of you will fume at the very thought of anyone with half a brain thinking/believing that guns are okay to own or that pit bulls are okay to have when both of them have caused so much pain and suffering for so many in the past.  What many won’t see or understand is that it is BECAUSE of where we place our focus when these tragedies occur that we continue to have them with such frequency.  NOT because there are still guns.  NOT because there are still pit bulls.  But because we have yet to place the blame and our focus on the one common denominator in every single incident where people have been harmed or killed since time immemorial and that one common denominator is the human being who used the gun against others or who allowed the dog to be out of control that harmed someone/something.

These incidents are painful and so very tragic but instead of allowing them to bring us together as one solid community that will work on improving things for the future we use them to divide us in ways that don’t really matter because we are all focusing on the wrong end of the gun/leash and that gets us nowhere.  If it did get us somewhere then these incidents would be on the decrease but as anyone who is exposed to the news media anywhere can tell you they are on the increase.  If anything I’ve written sinks into one person’s mind and helps them see where focus needs to be made in order to every truly fix these problems every word will be worth it.  Sure most will be closed off to any idea that guns or pit bulls are acceptable on any level and the rest will think me some sort of gun toting vicious dog raising idiot who has their head in the sand…but I say to those who choose that perspective that if my head is in the sand theirs is right there next to mine deeply embedded in the sand of fear and lack of logic where there is absolutely no real honest idea of how to fix the problem.

BEFORE YOU GET A DOG

Getting a dog is a lot of fun especially for those who love dogs.  

It can be quite an exciting and joyous occasion for most families. However, there are people who do not understand fully the responsibilities of having a dog until they already have one.  Some people will choose to step up to the plate, accept the responsibility and do what needs to be done even if they must do research and seek help from professionals.  Some people unfortunately don’t recognize how involved even the most basic care is required for a dog to be happy, healthy and a safe companion.  When how much work and dedication is involved is realized by some people they either end up returning the dog to where they got it from, re-homing the dog, surrendering the dog to a shelter or worse yet inadvertently through ignorance and/or the unwillingness to do what is needed abuse the dog; sometimes even unto death for the dog.

Breeders, shelters and rescues can only do so much to ensure that someone taking one of their dogs will fully accept the lifelong commitment required to have a dog and so unfortunately some dogs end up in shelters and depending on the condition of the dog physically and/or behaviorally the dog may end up being euthanized.  So perhaps the onus on understanding what is involved with having a dog successfully should begin to fall on the public which logically needs to begin with recognizing what a dog truly needs to be a happy, healthy and well-behaved companion/family member.

Based on what I’ve seen and heard over the past three years as a pit bull advocate through my associations with people in the animal welfare/animal rights community there are some basic but extremely important factors that every person needs to seriously consider prior to taking on the responsibility of having a dog.  I would like to think that if people are considering getting a dog they will be interested in determining first of all what is required to have a dog successfully.

To be clear I am NO expert but based on what I've heard around and seen here’s a list of things to ask oneself and answer honestly BEFORE getting a dog.

1. What is my personal reason for getting a dog?  Am I giving into a spouse or child against my better judgment or is this something that I really want?
2. Do I expect my dog to fulfill all of my emotional needs, to be my sole source of unconditional love, OR do I honestly want to give a dog a wonderful home while getting a great companion?
3.  What kind of dog do I want?  Am I interested in a breed I think is cute or am I looking for a dog that will suit my lifestyle, that will match my own energy level and abilities as a dog owner?
4. Am I prepared to have a dog in that do I have the time, the energy, the finances and place for a dog?  Am I ready, regardless of the size of my home or yard, to take my dog for a walk EVERY day for exercise?
5.  Am I ready and willing to have a dog live inside of my home as a family member?
6. Am I ready and willing to be a proper ‘parent’ to my dog?  Do I realize that a dog requires more than shelter, food, water and vetting to be a safe and happy member of my family?
7. Am I ready and willing to do whatever it takes to assure that my dog is safe around all other living things?  Will I be willing to seek training assistance should my dog’s behavior become a problem?
8. Am I ready and willing to teach all members of my family how to interact with the dog and handle it properly as well as to require them to do so?
9. Am I prepared to keep the dog, no matter what, for the entire length of its life even through old age and the possible medical issues that come with it?
10.  If something happens that I can’t take care of my dog do I have a commitment from friends/family to take over the care of my dog?  Am I committed to making arrangements for the dog in the case that I can no longer care for it? 

If the answer to each and every question above is a firm, resounding and confident YES then you are more than likely ready to get a dog and have taken into consideration some of the more important aspects of having a dog.  If you can’t answer YES with confidence to every question then perhaps it’s time to rethink getting a dog right now and wait until you are better prepared emotionally and are better qualified to have a dog.

The excitement and joy of getting a dog only lasts for a short while but a dog’s life is anywhere from six or seven to fifteen or sixteen years depending on the breed of dog.  So the question is whether or not one is prepared to fully meet that commitment until the end.

Things happen.  Life happens and typically the trauma’s, tribulations and emergencies we are faced with are unplanned so that is understood (well at least it’s understood by me) but the more we think through getting a dog before we get it the less likely that our dog will end up back to the breeder, back to the shelter, surrendered to a shelter, will have to be re-homed or have to be euthanized.

Give A "TWEET" 4 Dogs!