mp3rude

Dealing with hate-think and discrimination  is familiar turf for many pit bull owners. We�ve become pros at navigating situations where fear-based judgment can pose real threats to our canine family members. We fight breed bans by wearing thick skins and arming ourselves with facts to help educate, and we participate in creating effective animal laws and policies that reflect contemporary science while embracing canines as the individuals that they are. The animal welfare community as a whole has done beautiful work to disarm the stigmas and stereotypes attached to blocky headed dogs, and trends are swinging towards game changing Owner Support programs that are fueled by empathy for families in our communities. We�re evolving � At least in some corners. In recent months,  some of our rescue partners have been hit with a different form of stereotyping crisis in their personal lives.  As animal advocates,  they�ve been heroes.  But as immigrants,  they�r...

This post was written in response to those who asked why representatives from dog advocacy group BADRAP chose to participate in the Jan 21 Women’s March. Last Saturday , we canceled classes and lifted foster dog  Lolo  into our car along with some quickly made signs and headed downtown to  Oakland’s Women’s March . We didn’t know what to expect to be honest, but – serendipity – the first people we ran into were former adopters with their three young kids. Kids and families with handmade signs were everywhere, in fact. We were definitely at the right place. We soon had to give up on keeping track of our friends – The crowd was just too massive. (One  in 45 California residents marched. An estimated 100K counted in Oakland and upwards of  4.6+ million  just in the US). While waiting for some kind of announcement to signal the start, we were squeezed into a shoulder to shoulder, slow motion lava flow down Madison Street with the impressively resilient Lol...

Now seeking a very special Super Hero who has the vision and fortitude to help us ramp up our  Keep’Em Home  work in the SF East Bay.  Thank you for sharing with your community-minded friends and colleagues. Keep’Em Home Manager Part Time Position Opening

October�s dappled light likes teasing us into reflecting on life’s lessons and mysteries. In the spirit of celebrating our bond with dogs, our supporters have been sharing some truly remarkable stories of the power of dogs to change, and in many cases, to save the lives of their people. (When you can, please visit this amazing facebook thread for  reflections on profound personal change .) 2014 has been an especially good year  for activating lessons learned from living with dogs. At no time in our eons long history with canines have humans had access to so much  credible information  regarding dog behavior, bite prevention and the all-important human element in creating and maintaining safe, humane communities. That swell of knowledge is changing us for the better. As a result of dog owner education for example, the number of reported dog bites has been plummeting in many major cities. ( Link ) This year, we�re happy to see Aurora, Colorado put its toe ...

I recently received an email which made me feel nauseous. In it, a concerned dog owner explained how his dog isn�t great with children because when they put their arms around the dog�s neck and hug it, or get up close to the dog�s face, the dog responds by snapping or growling. The email goes on to explain that the dog has never bitten or made contact but the behaviour is a concern because their toddler loves to interact with the dog and other children just want to hug it because of how cute it looks. This isn�t the first email I�ve received about dogs that behave aggressively when people (especially children or strangers) get too close, hug or grab a dog and it won�t be the last. In fact, in my work as an animal behaviourist and consultant, human-directed aggression is a common issue I�m called in to assist with. Image 1: Do you think this dog is enjoying being hugged?  What�s wrong with hugging dogs? So why do some dogs respond aggressively to being hugged? What�s wrong ...