Ora the Pit Bull

A lot of people, myself included, find and get drug into the sport of canine disk by a dog with insane drive and energy. As the roles of canines in society have evolved over the centuries and poor breeding practices have taken root these crazy high drive, high energy beasts are not as common as they once were but they do exist and they come in all shapes and sizes. These are the dogs that invariably find their way into shelters and end up euthanized because people find they simply cant handle them and its really a shame because they truly are magical beasts when you learn to “speak their language”.

Whats far more common today is an active dog with decent drive. A lot of people have them and a lot of people can cope, often times just barely, with their dogs drive and activity level. Many will seek out dog sports or try their hand at various forms of obedience etc. Others will simply get by with trips to a dog park or a game of fetch in the back yard. Occasionally these people will make their way into the world of canine disc but more often than not they dont.

There are clubs all over the world dedicated to the sport of canine disc. As a member of such a club, we always hear from folks who have gotten involved but rarely if ever from those who have thought about it but have never taken the first step.

With the above in mind, I have a couple questions for those of you dog owners with dogs who love to play, to run, to chase and to tug…..and even those whose dogs are only mildly interested in those activities.

Have you ever thought about getting involved in canine disc and if so why haven’t you?

Id really love to hear from you on whats holding you back. What are your concerns or fears? Its only with a better understanding of why people dont get involved that we can we make getting involved easier.

Its been a long winter with 2 foster dogs in the house plus 2 of my own but ive managed to make some good headway with Japser and as of last week have officially adopted the little guy. I think he has a great future in disc dogging and we celebrated Japsers adoption by attending a 3 day Disc Dog Seminar hosted by the Minnesota Disc Dog Club and taught by the crew at Pawsitive Vybe. I highly recommend anyone interested in positive sport dog training or Rescue to take advantage of their expertise if they are ever in town.

Some of you may remember Haley from earlier posts, she is one of the dogs that was recovered during the nations largest dog fighting busts in the summer of 2009. After 3 months in a shelter while she awaited her fate we finally got the green light to evaluate some of the dogs seized. Haley was one of the lucky ones who got a second chance at life. Not knowing life as a companion animal she had some quirks and was quite shy so we just let her hang out an learn what its like to be a companion animal and that life wasnt all bad.

As the weeks went by and she romped and played with our other dogs she began to favor her left rear leg. In typical pittie fashion she plays rough so our initial assumption was she just had a muscle pull or the like. We gave her a bit more crate time and would crate and rotate so she wouldnt be enticed to play and rough house with the other dogs. A week later with no progress we took her to the vet for xrays and as luck would have it this little girl had a horribly Luxated Patella. Her knee cap wouldnt even stay on the front of her leg and with her new active lifestyle the aggravation of her knee cap constantly moving around over her leg caused a lot of pain. The prognosis for a surgical repair was good but expensive and for a rescue that is totally nonprofit and operates on the kindness of others this was a bitter pill to swallow.

Friday Feb 5th I dropped Haley off at our awesome veterinary partner Blackberry Vet where they performed the surgery. She was a bit out of it Friday evening when we picked her up but Saturday, in typical pit bull fashion, she wasnt going to let a little thing like knee surgery slow her down. If you would like to be a part of Haleys rescue & recovery and help ARLP pay for Haleys surgery, please think about making a donation on her behalf. You can make donations via the paypal donate button below the video which will take you directly to A Rotta Love Paypal page.

This little guys name is Jasper. Hes been in the program for some time but is new to my home. Dogs like Jasper have a lot of drive and generally a lot of energy as well. They can be a bit hard to train and work with because they often place a lower value on food rewards than their non driven counterparts. They also often get very excited when toys are present or at least something they perceive as a toy, like a squirrel.

I been working with Jasper for a couple days now with a goal of bonding with him and to help him learn toys are funner when I am involved. It very common for dogs to place a lot of value on possessing something. My goal is to shift the focus away from possession and toward the act of playing itself. I like to downplay the value of the toy while increasing MY value to the dog. This naturally builds a retrieve and reduces toy guarding all while increasing YOUR value to the dog.

Im leary to even bring up the name Michael Vick and its hard to articulate my feelings for the man and what he has done. All of that aside he was one of the worst and best things to happen to the pit bull breed. His involvement in the activity of dog fighting single handedly brought the plight of the bit pull to the forefront of media and with the help of some very dedicated people many of his dogs got a chance at a real life. This really helped to show the loving side of the pit bull and their resilience. Dogs like Hector who have every right to be angry at the world show the world that in light of the horrors they have been through they still have an amazing capacity to forgive human and animal alike. Before the Vick case pit bulls where usually euthanized without a second thought, even pups who didnt have their teeth yet, simply because their parents where made to fight. Their fate was decided because of their breed and not because of anything they have done.

Today, we are seeing more and more government agencies that are allowing these dogs to be individually evaluated and judged solely on their own individual merits. After all, isnt that how we would all like to be treated? Proponents of pit bulls and other condemned breeds arent asking for any favoritism, we just want the same freedoms and penalties to apply to all dogs and all dog owners. In early July there was a nationwide bust and once again some heroes stepped up and fought for the dogs involved to be treated as individuals and judged individually. After 3 months in a shelter many are finally starting to trickle out to rescues and homes around the country.

On Sunday we were able to step up and do our part by driving down to IA to pick up a few of the dogs from the July bust. The dogs were being held at Animal Rescue League of Iowa and they couldnt have asked for a more caring and dedicated group to help them. I highly recommend that anyone in the Des Moines area visit their web site and see what they can do to help. To see the news coverage you can visit the KCCI channel 8 web site.

Today marks the first day of the rest of Haleys life. Shes a spunky little girl but clearly a little out of place. She likely has never known a loving home and has a little catching up to do when it comes to learning what most dogs her age already know but we are committed to making her transition a positive one so she can go on to make someone a wonderful pet and show the world what wonderful pets pit bulls can be.

Meet Tank, yeah I know the name is kind of cliche but he knew his name so well when he came to us we havent had the heart to change it. Tank has had a rough go of things starting out life as someone best friend, given up due to financial concerns and ultimately ended up as a junk yard dog guarding someones property, away from human contact. After being picked up multiple times by animal control it was decided that he needed and deserved a more stable and loving home.

We brought Tank home about 5 weeks ago, covered in scabs and not smelling so good. We cleaned him up and got him on some good food. He was a lovable guy but clearly had some trust issues. We eased him into the daily routine, keeping him separate from the other dogs so he could acclimate to us humans first. He proved to be a quick study and eager to please. As the weeks have gone by he has warmed up nicely to all of us and enjoys some rough housing with both Ora and Magnum.

We attended our first adoption day last weekend and as I suspected he was a bit stressed out, but overall did pretty well. Its obvious his overall exposure to the world has been limited but I am confident with a little time and exposure he will gain confidence and become a much more relaxed companion when in busy environments like that.

Tank doesnt do well with cats but he seems to get along with a variety of dogs fine. He is house trained and now crate trained as well and of a moderate energy level. The knowledge we have of his past puts him at about 2.5 – 3 years of age. If you would like to meet Tank in person please check out the A Rotta Love Plus website for more pics of him and upcoming adoption days or fill out an application for him and schedule a private meet and greet.

Its going to be tough to see him go but as is often the case in rescue we need to do whats best for our dogs. Right now that means Tank will be moving on to one of our other foster homes so we can take in a high drive little guy thats need some special attention. In addition to that we will be taking in a dog from America’s Biggest Dog-Fighting Bust. We are going to have a full house for a while but I look forward to working with both of these new dogs.

Stay tuned for updates on our 2 new fosters in the days to come.

Its that time of year again folks, the snow has started to fly and the ground is getting hard and cold. For those of you with short haired, high energy dogs this mean its time to shift gears and find an indoor activity to keep your dogs exercised and mentally stimulated.

When Ora came to us I tried all the usually things to get through to her and work on training. They all fell short and I was running out of ideas. I had never had a dog so driven and with so much energy. I started reading about various canine sports, especially schutzhund and how they worked with dogs to build focus and drive. From this reading I pulled bits and pieces and put them to work with Ora and she responded immediately by displaying operant behavior.

As luck would have it I was building a solid foundation for playing disc, or more generally a solid foundation for life that involved exercise, mental stimulation, confidence building and bond building. I had always played tug with my dogs and thankfully never bought into the hype that tug was “bad”. Im sure you have all heard people claim that tug was bad because it brought out aggression, if the dog won it would think its superior to you blah blah blah. The only good excuse I have heard to date for not playing tug with your dog (note I did not say puppy) is that the human wasnt strong enough and her dog was a rottie. Since I have a rottie as well, I can sympathize with a 110lbs of dog tugging and flailing at an item your trying to hold, but where there is a will there is a way and I would still try and find a way to play tug with my dog, its just too powerful of a tool to not try and take advantage of.

Since my immersion into the game of tug as a training tool a couple years ago I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet Ron Watson from pawsitivevybe.com who has mastered the game and its use as a tool for training. He has a few articles and videos on the subject so if you have a few minutes to spare I recommend checking them out. Its never too late to start and even dogs who dont naturally play tug can be taught to play and usually love it. I have had quite a few fosters over the years that didnt know how to play tug, at least with a human, but once they learned they loved it.

Saturday Sept 19th the MNDDC was invited to hold a competition at Richfields Cattail days. It turned out to be quite warm for being so late in the season and all the dogs seemed to have a blast. We brought Ora along to get her disc on but I opted to sit the event out to help with judging and what not. Luckily Amy got the bug so she was eager to take the field for both distance/accuracy and freestyle.

We had a great turnout for the day and got to see some nice routines. It was kind of bitter sweet event though since our disc season was at an end. As we packed up the club trailer and got loaded everyone said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Looking back however, this was an amazing year in so many ways. Oras illness and continued recovery still has me amazed. To this day she still seems to grow in strength and it gives me great hope knowing that she may recover enough to take to the air.

The club also made some great showings attending a couple national events in force and 2 of our club members where even invited to Chine to compete in a major competition over seas. There were so many things learned and many new faces, human and canine alike, that got involved this year for the first time. Its truly a joy to see the club grow and expand. New people from all over the state, and beyond, join us to play with their dogs and build the bond!

This my friends is what a happy dog looks like. Once again the MNDDC put on a truely awesome spectacle of support, fun and camaraderie that I have to say is not very common in todays society. Its like one big extended family that actually likes to be together. People of all shapes, sizes and ages converge and celebrate the bond between human and dog.

The festivities actually started Friday night where many of us got together at Bluff Valley campground where the event was held. An evening of socializing and fun followed by a long day of competing. Saturdays event consisted of the MNDDC Freestyle events and the MNDDC Catch 22 event. This was the clubs largest event to date and each event was broken down into two divisions, Novice and Pro. Ora and I competed in Catch 22 Pro class where we took first place last year. With the turbulent winter and slow recovery has put our training in kind of a holding pattern but none the less we were able to sneak out a 5th place in a field of 26 teams. That was better than I expected we would do and I was so proud of my little girl.

Initial registration for novice freestyle was a little light so with some coaxing from me I was able to convince my lovely wife to take the field for novice freestyle. Apparently she wasnt the only one affected by peer pressure to take the field since the field blossom from 2 entries to 8. Amy doesnt work with Ora so doesnt really know how to cue up her tricks etc but none the less was able to pull off some nice tricks and Ora was able and willing to motor around and catch some plastic to pull off a 3rd place novice placing for their efforts.

Saturday evening started out with 2 live bands, Ghost hand Punch and Blurry followed by a presentation from the club members who ventured out to Colorado a few weeks earlier. We took the opportunity to Present our current club president JG with some fine, one of a kind, hand crafted discs which was followed up by a nice little “Roast” which caught him by surprise and was quite the laugh.

Sundays events consisted of the states fasted dog competition in the chase and recall as well as a UFO Long shot event. We had some insanely fast dogs and some super nice throws to round out the weekends games and I headed home exhausted yet exhilarated at the same time.

Some members brought friends or significant others that had yet to experience the draw of discdoggin and I hope many of them left inspired by what they saw and took part in. It really is hard to describe, its almost something you have to experience first hand. We are all there to compete against each other but at the same time we are there to support each other, cheering for who ever is on the field. Competition or not, win, lose or draw, everyone there is a winner in my book.

If anyone has some free time this coming Saturday, we will be holding the years final competition at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Richfield MN. 9am Registration. 10:00 start time.

If you would like to see more pics from the 2009 MN State Championship weekend, you can Find them here!

Wow does time fly! Its  been a great, albeit difficult year. Ora continues to slowly improve and we have moved beyond just getting her strength and stamina back to working on some new tricks. I know that we will never have a shot at any majors unless Ora can get back in the air so we will just have to wait and see what the future holds. In the mean time she can once again motor around pretty well so we may as well start working on some additional tricks and just enjoy our time together.

With the above in mind our next event will be the Minnesota Disc Dog Club 2009 Club Championship. It will be held at Bluff Valley Camp grounds in Zumbro Mn the weekend of Sept 12th and the 13th. Friday night the tents will get set up for a relaxing evening of BBQ and fun.

On Saturday starting at noon with Freestyle and the MNDDC’s own Catch 22 event. That evening will be followed by more BBQ and socialization along with the return of the Band Ghost Hand Punch and an appearance by Blurry as well. Sundays events will consist of the MN fastest dog competition and UFO Longshot competition.