A few photos for pleasure

Okay, what do you think this is? It's got a dog's head on it, with man boobs, and a buddha type body.
Charlie doesn't know what to make of it. Everybody has had a good sniff of it. It's made out of something like papier mache - with a metal type head. We're all buggered about it. Has anyone else seen anything like it? Is it a door stop? Should it be bowed down to and revered? Any ideas?
Me and Buttercup went and had some fun tonight watching other dogs having fun - this is Maximo, Pickle and Pax - Paxel? Paxet?, Shit, I can't remember the black dog's name, sorry. He's from Tennessee, and very cute.
More cute wrestling.
This is Maximo - who a lot of people know. I took pictures of Maximo when he was a brand new puppy - only a year ago, and he looked a lot different then! You can see those photos - here - you'd be amazed!
He is of course, still completely beautiful, though.
This is Maximo with his new brother - Pax....
And this is Buttercup - looking down upon the fray - of which she chose not to enter into - but which she controlled the whole evening with her bottom lip alone - with the slightest little growl. She is the queen of all she surveys wherever she goes.
Max and Pax poke into the photos again.
And then one last photo of the very photogenic Maximo to end the evening with....

What to do?

So my last post about Brindi the dog ended on a high note, asking the local dog community to rally around her owner, Francesca Rogier - because she is the only one who can keep Brindi at this point from being killed by HRM's Animal Control and the office of the Crown Prosecutors - who've said from the beginning that it has been their aim to kill Brindi - because that was the reason that they seized her on July 24th, 2008. They have been unwilling to back down from their original claim that they believe that Brindi is a danger to society and must be destroyed.

Since that time Francesca Rogier has made it very difficult for herself because of things she's written on the internet - lashing out at everyone she can think of, making very personal statements about everyone in the local humane community, the Nova Scotia SPCA, the HRM Animal Control Department - saying that people are libelling her, slandering her, and at the same time doing it to the very people that she's accusing.

She has thought that she's been very smart using pseudonymns, fake profiles - but everyone knows that the things are being written only by her - especially a blog called "Nova Scotia Truth or Fiction" - a blog that has some very explosive things written on it. It must be nice to have a blog where you can call yourself "nobody important" and feel you can say whatever you want.

There are a couple of posts on it currently that lay bare Francesca's true feelings that are quite amazing. One is called "The SPCA makes a fabulous discovery: Brindi is a peaceful, non aggressive dog" where she once again goes into the fact that Brindi is her property, that cannot be taken away from her - and that the SPCA has been keeping her in sub-standard conditions for the past 19 months - so they should have no right to have any say in what happens to her now that Francesca has been convicted of her charges and the question of what to do with Brindi has come up.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Kristin Williams wrote a letter suggesting an alternative sentence to euthanasia - and Francesca's response to that is - "The SPCA are NOT animal experts, trainers, or behaviorists, and they are NOT qualified to make such statements."

As I said in my previous post - the workers at the SPCA have known Brindi longer than Francesca has at this point - someone pointed out to me that me saying that has probably REALLY pissed Francesca off - but it's a fact - and the people who work there probably DO know what would be the best kind of home for her. Sorry, Francesca.

In another post that I hear is quite actionable - as in, a person could sue the owner of the blog for - the title is "How bright is Bob Ottenbrite, Mary Wile?" - and I've got to tell you, this post is a doozy!

This post fills in quite a few blanks for people in the dog community who couldn't understand why Bob Ottenbrite was at the verdict on Tuesday - because we all knew that Francesca was probably suing Bob for money that he refused to return to her for agility lessons that she never took from him because Brindi had been seized - we knew there was very severe bad blood between them - to the point that there were emaills circulated by her previously where he had said that he would support Brindi - but he would never support her. And there he was in the courtroom talking to her like as if he was supporting her - so everyone was AGOG.

But this post - explains it all. Very graphically. And I guess Mr. Ottenbrite is not amused. She says in this post -

"Ottenbrite wants to complete the process started by their own staff at Animal Services, namely, a rape in all but name of a single woman who came to Canada to fulfill her dream. Ottenbrite is shamelessly using this woman's misery and her dog's life simply to promote his own business and protect his friends."

So Bob Ottenbrite has raped Francesca Rogier. Nice.

There's lots of other good stuff in the blog post, you should go read it. It is as they say - horrifying, yet at the same time, titillating.

There is one last recent post on that blog I want to give a short comment on - and that is a post about a dog up in New Brunswick that was given a second chance by a judge and returned to her owner. And it is very inappropriately called "Dog bites old lady in NB, gets probation. Are you listening HRM?" First thing - I think it's entirely offensive to call the dog bite victim - and "old lady". That is just plain rude. It shows what she thinks of victims - which is - not much - she obviously likes to minimize suffering.

But there are big differences between her story and the dog owners in New Brunswick - since the dog bite incident - the dog owner has made real and meaningful changes in her and her dog's life - she has ACTUALLY BUILT a 4 foot fence around the perimeter of her property - not built a chicken wire something that resembles a fence around some parts of her property. She has taken her dog to intensive obedience classes.

Side note here - I wonder if she would have petitioned the court to let her have one on one time with Brindi - and an obedience trainer - would she have gotten extra time with her to do obedience classes to make Brindi better in the last however many months? Would that have improved her chances of getting Brindi back instead of her just languishing in her cage? Maybe being proactive like that might have helped her case a bit.

So we have this horrible blog - with all the horrible things that she's saying about everybody - and you'll notice that her "official blog" - has remained empty - no posts at all, isn't that weird?

And then at the same time - she releases what she's calling "Brindi and me: SPCA Secret Tapes" - which is 9 minutes of her and Brindi in the yard at the SPCA last September playing with the ball, and then her and Brindi on the ground and she's petting Brindi, and Brindi obviously is loving being petted by her. It's heart breaking.

While you're watching that video, all you can say to yourself is - that dog needs to go back to that woman - because that dog loves that woman.

Because you have to think - what IS best for the dog - we have to rise above all this bullshit that Francesca has put out on the internet - none of that is real, anyway - what is real is the dog, Brindi - and what is really best for her?

And you look at that video, and you see that that dog loves that woman, and you think - you don't want that dog to be shuffled around anymore - she should go back to Francesca.

But then you think - is THIS an act too? If she gets Brindi back - will she take her home, stick her in a corner and go back to her computer and continue on with all her attacks and lawsuits and Brindi still won't get any attention? Or will she drop all the bullshit and just love Brindi to death like she did in the video.

That's the quandry. And there's no way to know. Which one is real. The video, or the 19 months of internet bullshit.

But luckily - none of us have to make that decision - judge Alanna Murphy will have to make that determination. Thank dog - and I'm certainly glad I'm not her.

ps - to cover my ass - here's something to go to -

Am I too lenient?

I was tired tonight so I decided to order a pizza - and it was the same price to get a large pizza as it was to get a medium pizza, so I got a large pizza from Uncle Buck's pizza - so there was some leftovers - which I'll be giving to the dogs in their dishes over the next couple of meals - so I left the pizza sitting on the kitchen table -

And a couple minutes ago, I walked into the kitchen and this is what I found. And instead of freaking out, I laughed! If my Dad was not in Florida right now, I would have been in deep shit! But right now it's just me and the dogs - so my first thought was - where's my camera, and I hope he keeps eating until I can find it! haha! Whisky is pretty amenable, so he kept gnawing away on the cheese for the 5 or 10 seconds until I found my trusty camera, and I got about 5 photos.

I don't think the dogs will mind that their pizza is a little bit cat chewed, do you? And probably he walked on it a bit too while he was under there. Whisky deserves to have a good time once in a while too.

This would be as good a time as any to show my video that I took this week of how I'm having to feed Buttercup currently. She's always been a tough dog to feed - and I used to have to feed her this way years ago, too - she's always never liked having to put her nose into a bowl, but lately she's refused to do it altogether. All the dogs will eat off of forks - they'll even eat rice from a fork - everybody is so delicate! But it makes a cute video, too - so here it is - the ultimate in feeding a dog - feeding them with a fork!

Today was the GPAC Doggy Expo!

So I'd say today's GPAC Doggy Expo was a big hit - there was a TON of people and their dogs who went through the Multi-Purpose Centre at the Halifax Forum - this year was the biggest turnout for vendors and people, I'd bet. This photo is a picture of Buttercup saying to me - "you're going to leave me to go take pictures now, aren't you! I hate you!"
Is this not the cutest thing? If I could get Buttercup to sit in a stroller my life would SO much easier! I wonder if these are the same chinese crested dogs I saw at the Halifax Kennel Club show last weekend - if not, there are a BUNCH of chinese crested dogs in Halifax now!
Now this is a table that I didn't realize was funny until I got home and looked at the photos I'd taken - look at the 2nd photo -
The table had little poo's on it! haha! I've known about this company for awhile - Scoopy Poo - this is a good idea - especially for people who don't pick up in between snow falls, and all of a sudden they've got a ton of shit in their back yard because they've got a winter's worth of shit in their back yard - suddenly paying someone to clean up is worth it!!
Therapeutic Paws of Canada - I've talked about these guys several times before - a fellow I know who has a great dog by the name of Cody volunteers with these guys - this is a super organization and a great way to spend time with your dog - as well - Lee Anne Tibbo down in Cape Breton also volunteers with these guys - Lee Anne is famous in many bully circles.
Is this a neat machine, or what? It's a "Pawtrekker" and you hook your dog up to it and he pulls you along and gets super exercise! They only cost around $450 - and I have to admit that I've probably spent more for things that aren't nearly as good for the dogs. And this is a local company too who've been around for awhile - http://dogsingear.ca/ - they also sell life jackets, back packs, ganglines, and all kinds of fun stuff - they are super.
Now for some fun stuff! I didn't get this guy's name - he was in front of the Halifax Kennel Club booth - he was gorgeous
And he certainly didn't seem to mind all the stuff going on around him - he was having a great time!
Here is the Animal Rescue Coalitions booth - look at all the great stuff they were selling! With all proceeeds going to their rescue of course! They are one of the rescues that I personally volunteer with the most, so I always have to take a photo of their booth!
And here's another booth who takes in a lot of local dogs - because there's a lot of dogs who are of this type - labrador rescue! Run by Pittman - and right next door to this booth was the store she owns - the Doggy Bag Treatery, which sells you can probably guess what!
This was a dog of a co-worker of mine! Yea!
This is the very famous Gary! From the blog "For the love of the Jowl" - I was so happy to finally get to meet him - he was an amazing dog to meet - I was so happy to see him. He is as beautiful in person as he is on the internet.
This is Gary's sister who his Mom Heather adopted last year - who is also gorgeous, and from the look of Gary's blog seems to be keeping up quite well with Gary.
This is Jenny - another famous dog in the local dog community in some circles - his Dad Marc takes her to all the local hot spots - Seaview, Long Lake - her and her brother are super active (and lucky) dogs!
This dog was impossible to take a bad photo of! This is a keeshond named Jack who's Mom is a local dog trainer by the name of Aimee Luedey - she is also a vet tech in Dartmouth - she's currently on maternity leave though, and right at the end of our conversation I noticed she had a baby carriage with her! haha! I noticed her dog and took photos, and we talked - and never noticed she had a little baby - I suppose most people would have right away gooed and gaaed over the baby - dog people are funny, eh? But with a dog like this - who could blame me?
I saw so many famous dogs today! This is a great dane from the owner of the Great Danes of Nova Scotia group owner Denise - who I officially met for the first time today - but I can't remember if this dog's name was Daisy or not. At this point in the day I was getting a bit bleary eyed!
Here are a couple of very beautiful entlebucher dogs - Sante and Sandy - Sante is owned by the sister of a very good friend of mine - they are wonderful, kid friendly, gentle dogs - aren't they beautiful? Lovely dogs.
And here is the current queen of letter writing for letters to the editor - Tracy Jessiman with one of her dogs - Sam! Can you see what's written on Sam's leash? It's very true! haha!
This is a little shot of my table - I've added a new product to my "dogkisser" line - a thing I'm calling "Magic liver dust" - it's a food topper that you put on top of your dog's food if they're a picky eater - and it's my dehydrated liver that's been ground up into a powder. Buttercup was my tester for this because she's a notoriously picky eater (I'll post later a video of how I'm currently having to feed her) - and if you sprinkle some of this stuff on your dog's regular food - then it makes it more palatable. If you dog likes liver - they'll like this stuff.

I also got good news today - because Global Pets in Bayer's Lake is going to start to carry my liver! Yea! So no Metro Dog Wash, 3 Dog Bakery, and Metro Dog Wash will be carrying my liver. I may actually have to start paying my Dad for helping me to cut the stuff up!

I also had information on my table about the new website for anti-chaining legislation - I've been working on the site, so there's some good information there now - http://bringthedogsin.ca/ - there's going to be a petition there shortly for people to start signing - a few people stopped to take the cards, so I was happy about that.

Hopefully everyone had a good day - I had a pretty good time - I got to meet a lot of new people - it's always a great day to schmooze - now I think I'll lay on the floor and let the big dogs lay on top of me for a few hours!

Past GPAC Doggy Functions -

Doggie Expo from 2009: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2009/02/todays-gpac-pet-expo.html

Doggie Expo from 2008: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2008/02/todays-gpac-doggie-expo.html

Doggie Expo from 2007: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2007/02/responsible-pet-owners-in-hrm-love.html

Doggie Expo from 2006: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2006/02/we-survived-our-first-show.html

Doggie Expo from 2005: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2005/02/me-and-buttercup-went-to-doggie-trade.html

GPAC Dog Carnival in 2006: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2006/08/gpac-dog-carnival-was-today.html

Daddy - Cesar Millan's Pit bull

No matter what you thought of Cesar Millan - Daddy, his pit bull was a wonderful ambassador for his breed.

Yesterday Daddy passed away.

Since Cesar Millan came onto the dog training scene, he's been preaching that what we should be giving dogs is exercise, discipline and affection - and we should be giving it to them in that order - and in fact a dog can live without love at all.

Daddy was 16 years old when he died yesterday - and there is no doubt that Cesar had a long and deep connection with him - one that was deep and spiritual.

I am sure that Daddy has taught Cesar many things over the years - I really hope that one of the things that Daddy taught him was that dogs do need, and deserve to give and receive a large quantity and quality of human grade love - and sometimes they need it before exercise and discipline as much as they need it after exercise and discipline in order to have balanced and high quality lives - and it's also okay to love one dog more than another when you have a pack of 30 dogs.

I am sure that Mr. Millan is torn up right now over the death of his longtime once in a lifetime canine companion, and I hope his grief is deep, heartfelt, and in proportion to the depth of love his dog Daddy felt for him. May Daddy have a good rest, now.

Bud Wheatley faces animal cruelty charges

I should have known something was up today when I was left this comment on a 3 year old blog post -

"I use to work there, and it is true. His brother and the lax standards are the reason he gets away with it. All the Golden Ret. puppies he had were sick with parvo. His phone was ringing off the hook and he told us not to answer it. He also kept the dead bodies of puppies and kittens in a freezer in the basement so he could "bring them back to the breeder" for a refund. But his "foreman" got drunk and told me it was his job to get rid of em."

The 3 year old blog post was a letter to the editor that I had published about a Chronicle Herald article where Bud Wheatley was denying that he had sold a puppy who had died of parvo. At the time, the Chronicle Herald was still allowing places like Snookums to advertise in their classified listings. At least some things have changed in a positive way - the Chronicle Herald doesn't allow that anymore - they still DO allow puppy mills to advertise. Hopefully that will stop someday.

But on to today's story - it turns out that Bud Wheatley was charged today with animal cruelty in PEI - and that's why a former employee of his felt compelled to be surfing the web and share this little nugget on my blog. I was also emailed by someone the below the following CBC news article - which is fabulous news - it's because back in October 2009 he had his animals seized - so this is the follow-up to that I'd imagine -


Online pet shop owner faces animal cruelty charges

Bud Wheatley, seen in January 2008, faces seven charges of animal cruelty. (CBC)

A P.E.I. man who operated an online pet store has been charged with causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to animals.

Bud Wheatley faces seven charges, five under the Criminal Code and two under the provincial Companion Animal Protection Act.

Wheatley, who up until about three years ago owned Snookums pet store in Charlottetown, ran PuppiesAcrossCanada.com.

He took orders online for puppies and kittens and either transported the animals himself to buyers in the Maritimes or sent them by plane.

His website said he bought the animals from breeders and that a veterinarian inspected them for health problems.

The charges stem from a four-month investigation in 2009.

RCMP raided Wheatley's home in Covehead, on the North Shore, in October 2009. The provincial Department of Agriculture seized about 80 cats and dogs at the time and took them to the Humane Society.

Wheatley was served with a summons to answer to the charges of animal cruelty this week.

He declined an interview on Friday, saying his lawyers have told him not to talk.

Wheatley was in the news about three years ago after several people who bought puppies at Snookums claimed the animals died from the parvovirus within a week of coming home from the store.

At the time, Wheatley blamed the pet owners, saying he only sold healthy puppies. When business was good, he said he sold 3,000 puppies a year.

No charges were laid at that time, but Wheatley closed the store. He had been in business for about 15 years.

Wheatley is scheduled to be in court March 8 to answer to the charges against him.

Waddell Inquest

I was reading through the Waddell Inquest report from back in the mid 1990's. I have always loved that report. Quite often I am asked by my co-workers advice on whether or not they should get a dog for their family, and I always ask how old their children are - because that really is the key. And then I always point them to the Waddell Inquest Report (thank you to Chicobandido for maintaining this website) and tell them to read the recommendations. It gives the reasons why they should or should get a dog, and when they can start to think about it. It's great.

If you don't remember - the inquest was ordered because of the death of a 4 year old boy after he was mauled by 4 rottweillers in New Brunswick in 2003. It delivered recommendations for parents, for municipalities, for physicians, public health nurses, and for veterinarians. It was fabulous. It was just the beginning of some wonderful things that have come out of New Brunswick.

In going through it tonight - I came upon some great paragraphs that not only have to do with anti-chaining legislation - they also have to do with owner responsibility when it comes to responsiblity for attacks on other dogs and people (ie current cases before Halifax's municipal court) - as well as whether Municipalities should operate shelter's AND Animal control facilities! I tell you - this document has everything! I couldn't believe it! So I'm going to quote all the good stuff I found - so bear with me. Here it is -

The first part I thought was great was in the "recommendations to Parents" - it said:

Recognize that dogs require frequent contact with social partners to maintain balanced behaviour. Social isolation as a result of being tied outside or kennelled excessively will predispose dogs to a wide variety of behaviour problems, including aggression.

Isn't that awesome?

Then it goes onto "Recommendations to municipalities"

It says -

With the understanding that a significant number of community members will continue to own dogs, but that not all dog owners will behave responsibly, it is the responsibility of municipalities to adequately fund the personnel and facilities required for effective animal control (including registration, enforcement, and public education), similar in many respects to the support provided for police, fire, and other municipal services. Municipal officials should take the lead in demonstrating respect for animal control personnel, providing a role model for community attitudes.

Fund and maintain animal control separately from shelter/adoption facilities, as the former is a municipal responsibility and the latter are generally non-profit organizations.

Adopt and enforce dangerous dog by-laws to restrict or prevent the ownership of dogs by individuals who have demonstrated themselves to be irresponsible,

and to provide a process for appropriate decisions regarding the humane destruction of dangerous dogs.

Banning particular dog breeds is unlikely to be effective in reducing the number of serious incidents in the long-term, unless steps are taken to prevent irresponsible owners from adopting a different type of dog.

In its recommendations to veterinarians it even goes so far as to recommend -

Promote positive dog socialization experiences through:
- puppy classes
- fenced dog parks
- dog trainers who use positive reinforcement methods

These are all things that I have been writing about ad nauseum for the last couple of years. It's unbelieveable, really.

I will tell you though that I am definitely cherry picking. It also recommends things that I don't particularly agree with, like mandatory spay/neuter, early spay/neuter, increasing the cost of licencing of dogs, mandatory microchipping of dogs and things like that - so there are some things in there that I don't agree with - but by and large - if this report would have been implemented in 2004 - we'd be living in a different world right now.

It's funny - because I wrote a blog post in 2004, and I said - "New Brunswick is currently gearing up to study what to do about dangerous dogs because they've had a lot of attacks lately involving children and they even had an enquiry last year after a child died after being mauled to death by 3 rottweillers. But anyway - they're contemplating enacting a law where all dogs have to either be on leash, muzzled or CHAINED OR PENNED whenever outside the owners house!" I was writing the post because a child had been mauled - where else, on a native reservation - and the dog that had attacked him, and another dog on the property, were now dead. I ended the post saying -

has anyone else noticed that with the exception of the drunk breeder in Toronto walking the 2 pitbulls in the middle of the night that almost killed him (for what reason they attacked him we may never know) it seems that just about ALL the dog attacks in the news in the last couple months - and there seems to have been an explosion of them - have been either
1. unattended children approaching unattended dogs who are chained or confined in some way;
2. unattended dogs running at large attacking strangers - and the dogs are usually running at large because the owners weren't properly supervising them because they were chained outside and didn't realize they'd gotten off their chain and because they'd been on a chain all their life they weren't socialized at all and were therefore just a ticking time bomb.

Marjorie at Goodpooch.com has once again gotten it all right when she says that the key to not getting bitten by a dog is
1. Avoid unsupervised dogs;
2. Never leave children unsupervised with dogs and;
3. Ensure our own dogs are properly socialized and adequately supervised at all times.

Unfortunately though, I think we're fighting a losing battle in regards to certain breeds of dog and having them banned. The Sue Sternberg dog is going to win (dogs under 30 pounds who are soft and fuzzy and cute looking with no apparent issues). They can kill children too, it'll just take a few more chomps. So enjoy the extraordinary love that your bully dogs give you - you may be the last generation who does.

That was 2004 - this is 2010 - things haven't changed much, have they? Except I think a lot less people know who Sue Sternberg is, which is a GOOD thing!

Killer dogs being brought to Nova Scotia

That is what some commenters on an article from today's Chronicle Herald will have you believe. I cannot believe some of the comments left on an article about a rescue that is bringing pit bull mixes to Nova Scotia from Ontario that would be killed if they stayed in that province.

It just boggles my mind that people actually believe those things that they're saying. Why can't they see that all dogs are exactly the same - that any dog given the right circumstances - the right level of abuse, the right background, the right personality, the correct "perfect storm" of bad owner and everything else - if you could peg killer dogs just to breed - then we'd have stopped dogs killing humans a long time ago - but dogs continue to kill - simply because it's NOT related to breed.

Why are people so blind and stupid? I just do not get it. Going back through the archives of my blog I found a REALLY interesting article from 2004 - it's an article that relates to why the Ontario ban actually did happen - it happened because 2 pit bulls attacked a guy - and this article details the circumstances - and it really pointed out at the time the hysteria and stupidness that surrounded the story - it's such a hoot - you've got to read it - you can read it here - "this is how silly Ontario is"

But back to today's article in the Chronicle Herald - which was a great article - about a local rescue called "Ador-a-bull" - they bring down dogs who would die in Ontario because they were born after the ban was put into place in 2005 - so they are dogs that are pit bull mixes who never should have been born so are automatically mandated to be killed by the "Dog Owner's Liability Act" - which is another thing you've got to read to believe. They even say in there that you can't so much as travel through the province with your pit bull type dog because they will seize and kill it. Can you BELIEVE that? This is a province of the country we are living in.

I'd like to also interject here about statistics and pit bull type dogs killing humans - and one of the major people who was the spearheader for this legislation - he has killed a human - Michael Bryant, last year - KILLED a bike courier because of road rage. A pit bull type dog - has NEVER killed a human in Canada EVER. Michael Bryant HAS. One of the commenters on the Chronicle Herald article said we lost 28 people to pit bulls in the last 20 years - I don't where he got his statistics from, but that is ludicrous. Maybe 28 dogs have died. But not people. Can you imagine. I wrote a post once about misleading statistics and pit bulls and the media, because it's ridiculous what some people can come up with.

The dogs that Ador-a-bull are bringing down from Ontario are no different than the dogs that are already here in Nova Scotia. They are young, cute, fuzzy, little dogs that are going to have great long, happy lives that are not going to impact negatively on anyone. You can see them for yourself on Ador-a-bull's Petfinder site -

Ketch looks like a lovely puppy - and he doesn't even look like he has hardly any pit bull in him anyway - and I'm sure he's loving it here in Nova Scotia
Memphis was only 3 1/2 weeks old when he came here - I don't think he was figuring he could kill anything, I don't think his eyes were even open when he arrived!
Kenya is still looking for a home and is being fostered - but he doesn't look too dangerous to me. He pretty much looks like he just wants to lick me to death.

What kills me the most about Ontario's pit bull ban is the fact that dogs don't even have to be pit bull type dogs to be killed - they just have to fit the characteristics of what someone in charge might consider to be what they think "might" fit into the quality of a pit bull to have your dog seized - and you've got no way to fight it - your dog is going to be taken away from you - and your dog - that you love, you sleep with, you've spent tons of money on - you consider to be your soul mate, you care about more than anything on this earth - is going to have a needle put in him - and is going to be killed - simply because by some mean trick of fate - happened to run into someone in some kind of power - and they decided that your dog had a blocky enough head to be considered a pit bull type dog. And now your dog is going to die.

And this is happening in our own country - it's happening right now in Brampton Ontario with 2 dogs - and it's also happening in Mississauga with a dog named Bowser - who I talked about last year - and also compared to Daisy - because Bowser and Daisy actually look quite a bit alike. And Bowser got turned in by his VETERINARIAN when his owner took him in to be neutered.

Can you imagine living in a place where you are afraid to be a responsible dog owner and get your dog needed medical attention because you're scared your vet is going to misidentify your dog and turn him in to authorities and your dog is going to be killed? That is what is happening in Ontario with the pit bull ban.

And people in today's Chronicle Herald article want to bring that to Nova Scotia.

And isn't it funny that Jerry Blumenthal is mentioned again in relation to BSL. I think we should write a letter to Mr. Blumenthal and say that we've noticed that Mr. Blumenthal seems to have a problem with pit bulls. I'm just saying - I wrote a post called "We Need to Keep a Watch over Councillor Blumenthal" - and I think now I need to make a category for Mr. Blumenthal - I am worried about him.

I think it's great what Ador-a-bull are doing - they are not taxing the shelter system here in Nova Scotia, they are not adding to our over-worked shelters - they are using foster homes and doing their own fundraising. They are only bringing in dogs that are temperamentally stable and adopting to good homes. It's all good.

Some of the commenters in the article though, I have grave concerns about. I'm glad the articles at the Herald only hang around for a couple weeks - I wouldn't want that negativity about Nova Scotia to be in cyberspace for too long. It looks very bad on us.

Fun in the snow!

The dogs had a ton of fun in the snow today, so I videotaped it a little bit - we got 34 cms here in Halifax. Even Buttercup had fun

Here's the video -


Jack had other things on his mond though
He's not really into going in up to his neck in snow, so he chose to spend the day in bed. He's much better at that kind of activity anyway - it burns far fewer calories, and he's got his stomach to work on!

An updated Logo for a very special anniversary

Tonight I made a new logo for the "Dogkisser" empire - to honour the fact that yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of Jack coming to live with me and my family. It was 2 years yesterday that he came to my house during the whole Celtic Pets fiasco.

I am not going to go into a whole diatribe about the whole history of what went on and the aftermath, I personally am really fatigued of the story and want to get on with my life - but I am super happy that it brought Jack into my life. He has been a great addition to my family. He has taught me a lot about patience, and accepting beings for what they are, as they are, where they are, and letting them be, until they are ready to come out to greet the world.

It's only been the last 5 months that Jack has really started to blossom - and I have to say it's been amazing to watch. To finally truly be able to cuddle with him, and have him snuggle up to me, and have him sleep all night in the bed with me - has no words to attach to it. It was so long in coming, I never thought it would happen. But I am so glad it has. He is another example that what other people throw away is truly a gift every day. Every life is precious.

And I wanted my logo throughout all my sites to have his photo shining on it - so now it is! Yea! Jack is such a good boy. And he hasn't even tried to bite me in months - now my groomer would tell a different story - but no one likes having their nails cut by someone with humungous nail clippers, do they? That's why I leave things like that to professionals! haha!

If you care to read more about Jack's story - he has his own category that you can explore at http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/search/label/Jack

Today's Halifax Kennel Club Show

So I went out and had a spin today at the Halifax Kennel Club Show - I always seem to go and find myself a beautiful poodle to take some photos of, and I was not disappointed. I found this lovely specimen - her name was Angela.
She's from Prince Edward Island - and her owner has a kennel called "Leanns poodles" - I couldn't look at the site too much because they have puppies available - and I cannot bear to look at poodles until certain white dog has passed into the great beyond. When Angela's handler mentioned today that Leann also had adults available, I just had to focus on the face of Buttercup and keep taking photos!
This was a table I've never seen at a dog show before, but I've seen their brochure before - it's for a store called "the Spinner's Loft" - and they're over in the Head of Jeddore and they teach you how to spin wool - and they'll even teach you how to spin your own dog's hair! Yea! They had a few items there today made from a combination of wool and dog's fur - and they have a page on their site where they talk about dog fur and products you can make from it - that page is at http://www.thespinnersloft.ca/products.htm
This majestic beast's name was Pierce - he was from Amherst I think - at least the groomer who was walking him when I took his photo was from Amherst - which is where I grew up!

This was a neat table, and service - a lady named Valerie Brideau will guide you on everything that you need in order to get yourself the perfect purebred dog - and she also will help you live through the death of your animal too, which is pretty neat. She's got a website that explains it pretty well at http://home.wearegettingadog.com/

I was SO good today, the only thing I bought today was this book - and it looks like such a neat book - "Scared Poopless" - I bought it from my friend Maureen Tate who sells the Urban Carnivore line of raw dog food, and she is into natural and healthy dog stuff and knows everything about alternative health for dogs - so she'd know a good book when she's selling one! haha! Usually I go and spend gobs of money, but today I was very good and only spent money on that book - and of course a cupcake from the yummy cupcake lady who was also there last year!

If you want to go down memory lane - here are past Halifax Kennel Club shows that I've gone to - check them out to see if I've taken your photo there!
2006 - September 2, 2006
2007 - February 10, 2007
2008 - February 10, 2008
2008 - August 30, 2008
2009 - September 5, 2009
2009 - September 6, 2009
When I got home I got some serious what-for from Jackie because I went out and left them all alone during prime-time weekend time - but hopefully I was able to make up to them for it - I'm cooking liver all weekend long in preparation for next weekend - because next weekend is the GPAC doggy expo - and I'll be at that to sell the liver - but don't tell Jackie - because that means I'll be away from them for another 4 or 5 hours, and he won't be too happy about that once again.When we were taking a nap and I realized that I actually had all 4 dogs with me on the "couch" - I had to extricate myself and take a photo of it for posterity - it's not too often that they'll deign to squish themselves all up to all get together like this. Usually someone will stick their foot in someone else's face - and then that ruin's the party and they'll jump down and it's just me and 3 dogs - I never have the pleasure of all FOUR dogs with me. That was pretty sweet.
Yes, I DO have the most beautiful little dog in the whole entire world.