Salt Lake County Animal Shelter Unveils New Bully Program

Meet some of the new adoptables in the progressive new Bully Program over at SLCO. This program offers the opportunity for volunteers to pair with an adoptable pittie or pittie mix to obtain the AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate. Additionally, it provides FREE spay and neuters to pitties and pittie mixes in the County, as well as low cost Canine Good Citizen training for all pitties and mixes in the County. The goal of this program is to address the disproportionate numbers of pitties in the shelters which would also reduce the disproportionately high euthanasia rates for pitties.

Best Friends will be supporting and collaborating on the program with it's Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign. I will be a volunteer extrordinaire and photog, and am hoping this program is a huge success. As always, these programs rely on YOU, faithful readers to volunteer, donate, foster, whatever you can do!

 

 

 

 

Meet from the top: Ziggy, Zip, Lewis, Lilly- ALL ADOPTABLE

Photos by Yours Truly

AscenDance

My good friends Skippy and Isa came to town to put on a helluva good show at the Outdooor Retailer street party last Tuesday.

AscenDance can be described as dance-climb fusion, and as a former dancer, gymnast, and current climber, I think it's pretty badass.

Isa and Skippy live in the Bay area, and they are incredible athletes and all around great people. Isa's choreography was beautiful and displayed so much strength and grace in each piece. They made it look effortless, and trust me- it's not. They taught me one move, and I was sore for a week!

Check out their website, AscenDance Project.

 

 

 

Tiggs- One Year Later

Today marks the 1 year anniversary that Tiggs was diagnosed with the dreadful, awful disease IMHA/AIHA (Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia) that nearly took him from us.

He is in remission and off of medications to treat this disease as of today, and after fighting so hard, we thought he deserved a little party. We made him a big hamburger and he LOVED it! We also got him a special bandanna from the Morris Animal Foundation's Meisha's Hope Fund, which donates money to research that helps find better treatments and hopefully a cure for this terrible disease. Perfectly timed, his bandana arrived today.

We are so grateful that Tiggs is doing so well, he continues to be a joy and a friend to all, and inspires me daily with his happiness, kindness and love.

We are so proud of him. Way to go Tiggy!

 

 

 

 

Please Help a Climber in Need

Any amount will help! We all have to stick together, that is what makes the climbing world so special.

This is Tacos, a climber from Japan, who was seriously injured in a car wreck here in the States. Tacos needs help getting back home with two caregivers. To read more about her, please visit over at my good friend Rachel's blog.

Martha Stewart

 

 

 

 

Every now and then I get a wild crafty hair up my butt. I have been searching out new dog collars for my crew, and I always seem to have champagne taste on a beer budget- with everything!

I asked my artsy friend Catherine at work if she knew anyone that made cool custom blingy dog collars, and she said, 'why don't you just make one?' Huh...could I?

I went to the Leather Craft store...scoff if you will. There were really nice, albeit interesting people that work there, and are into Leathercraft. Braveheart was playing on a screen in the back, and a group of teenagers were working on projects like a giant leather shield.

With an open mind, Craig, the very large (he told me you have to be fat to go behind the counter), very nice guy working there, gave me an hour and a half lesson on how to make a collar, which is apparently a 'good beginners project.'

We chose my supplies, decided on purple with pink crystals and domed rivets, and off I went. Adam made fun of me and didn't believe I'd do it. Anyone here who knows me shouldn't be surprised that I'll try anything at least once. Why not?

Hope you like how my first project turned out. Honey is blinged, and I will design another for Tiggs and Winn next.

Capitol Hill

 

 

 

 

 

Every now and then it's fun to take time to smell the flowers. After walking some of my client's dogs, Adam and I headed out to the Capitol Hill area to photograph the sunset. It was simple and beautiful, and the dogs had a ton of fun rolling around in the four foot deep wheat grass. It was a great way to unwind after a long day.

Ogden Update

Hi friends,

Thank you Erin and Shannon for you comments, as always, I love my friends!

We attended the 'work session' last night, and though unable to participate, myself and Nikki Sharp of Best Friends were able to introduce ourselves after the meeting. I felt that the council did ask some good questions, and may be open to other ideas. Hopefully Nikki will be able to meet with them to propose some alternatives.

Here is what they proposed (they were clear not to say 'ban'):

Ogden City (Utah) Council regarding their proposed BSL that would add pit bulls and pit bull 'type/mixes' dogs to their dangerous dog ordinance. They are proposing legislation that would require:

*special registration of pit bulls and their owners
*special microchip and tags identifying the dog as a pit bull
*6 foot privacy fence WITH 2 FEET of underground fencing, or kenneling your dog in your yard
*for renters, written landlord consent that you have permission to make alterations to fence/property and own a pitbull
*immediate notification if your dog is loose
*special insurance or surety bond in the amount of $50,000
*Animal control can inspect at any time for compliance

They can be emailed or contacted through:

www.ogdencity.com/government/city_council.aspx

I feel this Ordinance is flawed in many ways. The problems Ogden is having relates to irresponsible ownership, people who wouldn't follow these requirements anyways. They cited their gang problem as issue number one for pit bulls...So why not address that?! They will punish the majority for the issues with the minority, and this will do nothing the help the hundreds of dogs in the shelter find good homes. It will only increase their euthanasia, and harm the dogs, and the responsible people who love them.

I am looking forward to seeing where this process goes. I do hope that we can make some headway in presenting Ogden with better alternatives.

City Of Ogden Proposes Breed Specific Legislation

There will be a meeting tonight at 5:30 pm in Ogden to review their City Council's proposed BS legislation....

Ogden City Municipal Building
2549 Washington Blvd Ste 340
Ogden UT 84401

For the uninitiated, Breed Specific Legislation simply means a ban on a particular breed (pit bulls in this case), or any pit bull 'type' dogs. What does this mean? The burden usually falls on the owner to prove that their dog is NOT the affected breed, lest their dog is impounded and euthanized, as is the case in Denver. Please read Desiree's story about her beloved Coco:

I can remember how I felt the day I came home on 6/23/2008.... When I came home & saw the card in my screen door with the writing on the back "call us about your dog." I felt so empty because I knew the destiny for my son. Denver Animal Control had taken Coco from the back yard while we were gone. The hardest thing for myself while Coco was on death row was going to visit him. He didn't understand what was going on. He thought we were there to take him home. It broke my heart every time. He was in their 3' by 5 ' cell for nearly 2 months. They said they took him outside every day, but by the way his nails looked, I doubt it. Every time I would leave I could hear him cry & scream all the way to the door. He was so confused. Several workers there at the dog pound told me how he was such a good dog, so I would reply to that, "How do you kill a innocent family dog," and they would always have the same response, "It's just our job." One animal control employee even nicknamed Coco, "Cocolicious."

The last day Coco was alive they had finally moved him to a double cell which is just a metal slab in between 2 of the 3' by 5' cells so he could run back and fourth through the 2 cells. I believe he knew what was going to happen to him within the short hours to come. He was very nervous. His eyes & nose were bright pink & I could not get him to calm down. Maybe he felt how sad and scared I was because I knew it was coming down to his final hours. I lay on the floor with him for about an hour then I said my final goodbye!!! That was the longest walk out the dog pound. I felt that I had let my son, my innocent son that has never hurt anything or anybody in his life, down. He never knew anything about violence; he was a spoiled brat that our entire family loved. The next day when we picked up his remains was even harder than the last walk. They had him in a black trash bag. About 20-25 of our family members were there and we all held hands and said a prayer. Now he is at home with us in his urn on our front desk. He will remain in our hearts & thoughts forever.



I will be in attendance with written materials to give to the Council. I'm told that while the public is invited to attend, they are not however, able to participate. Don't ya just love democracy?!

Casino Night

 

 

 

 

We volunteered at the 2nd Annual Canine Casino Night to benefit No More Homeless Pets, it was a blast. Everyone wears a wig, and people bring dogs of all shapes, sizes and pedigrees. There is a huge silent auction. I donated a few items, and won a few. I won the auction on these beautiful small hand made bud vases, as well as 2 arial dance classes at a studio called Revolve! I didn't even know we had that here, but I have a feeling I'll be addicted- it's all fabric and trapeze, Cirque du Soleil style! I also bought a beautiful handmade necklace with an old fashioned picture of a pitty bull on it. The artist's name is Paige Burris, and she is a pitty advocate too. Her necklaces show through the old photos that pit bulls were once revered family pets, not ostracized outcasts. Fun was had by all, and I hope that we raised a lot of money.

Five Years

 

 

Adam and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary on June 5th. Adam got me peonies, just like my bouquet. It's hard to believe five years have passed. We went to the Tin Angel and had a nice meal in an eclectic setting. Followed by a day of pumpy sports climbing actions in Maple Canyon with our old, dear friends from Fort Collins, Melissa and Jimmy, and Lisa and John. All of my peeps have kiddos now, and it was a total trip to see all of these cute little 3 year old mini-me's running around the crag. I forgot my damn camera at Maple, but fun was had by all.

Need a Lift? Volunteer!

My good friend Rachel, recently back from her kick ass 10 month climbing road trip, asked if she could come and check out what we do with the dogs when we volunteer for No More Homeless Pets. We were thrilled to have her, and Sparky the pit bull was even more thrilled. Rachel fell in love, and Sparky was a fantastic breed ambassador. Rachel has an inspiring view on volunteerism- give back by choosing a weekly volunteer project! She not only takes time out of her busy life as a brilliant venture capitalist, but then takes even more time to spread the word and the mission of whatever lucky, wonderful organization that she has helped. Awesome idea!

 

 

Michael Vick is Released from Prison

Yesterday, disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick left prison after serving 19 months for dogfighting. He will serve two more months at home, and has apparently offered to work with youth through the Humane Society to educate others about dog fighting. Hmmm...the irony there being that the HSUS wanted to euthanize all of the dogs that were seized.

Well, as you all can imagine, I'm not in the group of people that feel MV deserves a second chance.

The silver lining is that many of the wonderful dogs that were taken from his hellhole, were given a second chance, and they are thriving. Several have become therapy dogs, been adopted to good homes, are in foster care, or are living their days at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab.

I'd love to hear from you, I have posted a poll on the right sidebar. Vote, and tell me why you chose your answer here in the comments.

Salt Lake Capoeira

This is a group I used to train with, Salt Lake Capoeira, and it was so fun to see them perform. I miss it tremendously, I wish I could still do capoeira and climb, but alas, hopefully these pics convey the athleticism and training required. It was just too hard with climbing. If you ever have a chance to see or participate in Capoeira, do it! It's an amazing Brazilian martial art, heavily influenced by African culture, it's part dance, part acrobatics, part music, and all culture! For more high rez pics, go to my flickr page.

 

 

 

 

Please Vote for the Shelter Challenge!

Hello faithful readers! Please take less than 10 seconds out of your busy days to vote for No More Homeless Pets on the rescuesite.com's Shelter Challenge.

Go here, and then type in No More Homeless Pets in Utah- 1 click, and Voile! you're done. No registration required.

Thanks for supporting our local awesome no kill program! We will receive a $20000 grant if we win.

Garden Boy

 

 

 

 

Holmes has been toiling alot in the garden. He built this beautiful redwood box, and it is really cool. He built a square foot garden, and has planted veggies a plenty. He is very proud, as he should be, he worked pretty hard to get this going. Hopefully the bounty will be great.

Apartment Therapy AGAIN!!

Um, super sweet, third time this year, BOOYAH, thanks AT!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/inspiration/how-are-your-home-resolutions-coming-along-083170

My Exciting News- My Own Business!

Some of my faithful readers already know this, but I have been working on getting my own dog walking and petsitting business going. It's called WOOF! SLC.

I have a LOT of details still to work out, but so far, I have registered as an LLC with the State of Utah, and created my own website...nothing fancy, just simple and easy to use.

I'd love feedback on the website, or anything else that you might have thoughts on. I hope to be taking real clients by June 1.

Please stop over to the site and it's sister blog, which you can link to from the site, or also from here on the lower right link list.

http://woof-slc.com/

New Bamboo and More PJ's

 

 

 

 

Adam has been killing himself making some new garden beds for his vegetable garden that he is so excited to plant. We also finally ripped out that dark grey, dated berber carpet in our bedroom, painted the walls white, and had some beautfiful woven bamboo installed by Underfoot Floors, they did a fantastic job, and we love the room. Also, a nice shot of Winn's face that I love. My girl is getting old, she is now over 13 years old!

Did You Know?

Famous Pit Bull Owners

Helen Keller (Pit Bull Named - Stubby)
Anthony Robbins
Molly Price (Actress)
General George Patton
Jan Michael Vincent
Fred Astaire
Stephany Kramer
President Woodrow Wilson
Pink (the singer)
Ashley Olsen
Jan Michael Vincent
Alicia Silverstone
Humphrey Bogart
Ananda Lewis
Linda Blair
John Steinbeck
Fatty Arbuckle
Malcolm - Jamal Warner
Mary Tyler Moore
Steve & Terri Irwin (Pit Bull Named - Sui)
Mo Vaughn (NY Mets)
James Ellroy (Author)
Amy Jo Johnson (Actress)
Jack Johnson (Hawaiian singer)
Sinbad
Barbra Eden
Rosie Perez
Kelli Williams (Actress from The Practice)
AJ Mclean
Rachel Ray (from Food Network) (Pit Bull Named - Isaboo)
Orlando Bloom
James Caan
Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal
Judd Nelson
Barbara Eden,
Veronica Mars
Walter Scott (Author)
Ken Howard (Father in Crossing Jordon - his Pit Shadow saved his life)
Usher (Singer)
James Caan (Actor)
Michael J. Fox
Thomas Edison
Mel Brooks & Anne Brancroft
Julian schnabel
Jessica Alba
John Stuart
Jesse James and (Pit Bull Named - Cisco)
Stephan Jenkins (Singer)
Madonna
Jack Dempsey
Brad Pitt
Theodore Roosevelt
Bernadette Peters
Stephan Jenkins
Tamika Dixon (Athlete)
Singer Rick Springfield
Actor Vin Diesel
Barbra Ede
Cassandra Creech
Sir Walter Scott (Poet)
Shannon Elizabeth
Earl Holliman
David Spade
Robert Ferguson (Green Bay Packer)
John Stewart (from the Daily Show)
Bill Berloni (Broadway show dog trainer who has said that the Pit is the breed of choice for training),
Roy Jones Jr.
Serena Williams
Justin Miller
Cozy Coleman
Veron Haynes
Hugh Douglas
Kamal
Jermaine Dupri
Richard "Rip" Hamilton
50 Cent
Young Buck
Lloyd Banks
Jordan Babineaux
Jonathan Babineaux
Maurice White
Andrew Vachss
Ira Glass
Rosie Perez
Kelli Williams
Judd Nelson
Thomas Edison
Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft
Julian Schnabel
Stephan Jenkins
Jon Stewart
Tamika Dixon

Well known sports figures who own Pit Bulls include:

Tennis Star Serena Williams (Pit bulls Name - Bambi)
Professional Basketball Players Desmond Mason (Pit Bulls Named - Zane & Capone)
Rashard Lewis (Pit Bull Named - Cookie, Angel & Ginger)
Amare Stoudemire (Pit Bull Names - JT, Ace & Deuce)
Alton Ford (Pit Bull Names - Mischif, Rosy, Spicey, Diable +3 pups with names unknown)
Tamika Dixon and Mo Vaughn