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“Landlords are greedy and they don’t like pit bulls. If insurance companies would lighten up, more pit bulls could get homes.”  False.  Well, mostly false. According to nearly 70 landlords and property managers who responded to a 12 question survey we circulated recently, insurance and breed types have been non-issues in their decisions to rent to pet owners. Instead, they told us that the main obstacle to maintaining a dog friendly policy is the  damage, mess and nuisance noise  caused by former tenants with all types of dogs. That, and the fact that housing is at such a premium that there are dozens of qualified families without pets standing in line, ready to pay  historically high rents   for their hard-to-find apartments. Supply and demand, headaches vs. landlord convenience. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Only three of the landlords we polled mentioned insurance as a potential obstacle to renting to pit bulls and other dogs, and only one had breed restrictions

Hello and welcome! Welcome to the Pets Behaving Badly blog, version 2.0! So yeah, I’ve been  a bit  ok, VERY slack the last few years, blogging-wise, but I’m excited to be back and hopefully posting on a regular (or at least semi-regular) basis. So, what’s news? Let’s just say that life got in the way a bit, as it tends to do, but some pretty exciting stuff has been happening. Firstly, I became a mum! Last May my husband and I welcomed our first little human, Nathan, into the world. I can’t believe he’s nearly 15 months old already. Everyone says the first year flies and it really did. Being a parent has been such an incredible experience and we are beyond excited to be expecting our second little person next month. I’m currently on maternity leave and taking a break from consulting but I anticipate returning to work, on a part-time basis, in March next year. In the mean time I’m looking forward to keeping in touch via Facebook:  Pets Behaving Badly with Dr Kate – Animal Behav

This blog post was originally published in 2010. We hope this information is helpful to dog owners with questions about rabies exemptions for their dogs. ___ Several years ago, shortly after getting her vaccinations at a boarding kennel, our pit bull Sally experienced an immuno-collapse that sucked the life out of her and scared the hec out of us. Our once outrageously vivacious pit bull melted into a lethargic lump of swollen glands who could barely raise her head. She developed mast cell cancer soon after. Talk about owner guilt. Although she slowly recovered and has been boosted greatly with diet and holistic care, we decided to stop giving our sick girl her vaccines. None. Our vet fully supports our decision, although we are, technically, breaking the law. While we need to keep our pet population healthy with standard immunizations, the question has come up: How much is too much? Christie Keith reported on the growing awareness of the downfalls of over vaccinating dogs recen

A little peek into the goings-on at the Rescue Barn this summer.  Three of the pups are mixed-breed dogs who were found emaciated and sickly, but are now bouncing back. The husky-x pup – ‘Chessa’ – came from a breeder who has asked for help with placement and spay/neuter for Chessa’s parent dogs. Adult pit bulls Snorkles and Mila make an appearance, as well as mentor dogs Eddie (pit bull) and Elliot and Billie (husky/shepherd mixes). Finally, in the last slide, is the tiny ‘Lily,’ who is new to our program. All photo credits go to Kathy Kinnear. Enjoy. Can’t see it? Look here:  LINK

It’s a time every dog owner dreads. And although it’s inevitable at some point, most of us push the thought of our beloved dogs no longer being with us to the very back of our minds. This is not surprising, considering the close relationship most of us share with our companion animals. Golden Oldie (Source: chriswsn on Flickr) Pet attachment, loss and grief Pets are considered family members and significant attachment figures, especially in Western culture. Characteristics of our relationships with pets mirror those of our relationships with people and include unconditional love, acceptance and distress at separation (Brown & Symons, 2016). Not surprisingly, the loss of a beloved pet, especially an unexpected loss, can be profound with  complicated grief, depression and trauma commonly experienced.  Symptoms of grief can include loss of sleep and appetite, decreased social activity, difficulty concentrating, loss of motivation, stress, depression, anxiety, worry, anger,

Jonny made new friends in SF city gov’t after his meeting but as of December 2016, there has been no indication that SF wants to end its discriminatory policy and language towards blocky dogs. SF Dog celeb Jonny Justice has an important meeting  with San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed on Tuesday, March 15. He’s going with his adopter Cris Cohen and while he’s there, he hopes to explain how SF’s current designation of �pit bulls� as a special � problem � dog has been stigmatizing both the dogs and their owners and contributing to a homeless pets problem in SF and other cities.  Photo right: Mark Rogers Breed specific mandates endorse discrimination and profiling of all kinds, including and especially breed bans by landlords and insurance companies. Cris experienced San Francisco’s BSL first hand  when he was out walking Jonny’s sister dog Lily. He told us that, two blocks from their home in the Sunset district, “a uniformed ACO in a white Chevy Astro van, w