DEB’S VIDEO OF THE WEEK: 1st Annual Compton Pet Fair
DEB’S DOG OF THE WEEK: What in a name: Baby Girl from West LA Shelter
What’s in a name: Baby Girl
This week I’m writing about a dog named Baby Girl. Now, you may have heard of former DDR dog Baby Girl that was one of the sweetest dogs around. Luckily, that Baby Girl was adopted and is in a wonderful forever home. I am not writing about DDR’s Baby Girl, but another Baby Girl, who is currently for adoption at West LA Shelter.
When I first met West LA’s Baby Girl, she immediately reminded me of DDR’s Baby Girl. OK, so one is black and the other is white. And yes, they obviously have the same name. But it’s their wonderful temperaments that are so similar. Both arrived super shy, under-socialized, and felt more comfortable around other dogs than people…but oh, so sweet and loving and wouldn’t hurt a fly.
So why feature West LA’s Baby Girl? Exactly for the reasons I mentioned above. She’s shy and under-socialized! As sweet as she is, this is what makes her a tough adoption. She went to the big Best Friend’s adoption event and it was clear that all the activity (loud noises, wind blowing, crowds of people) was overwhelming for her. At the shelter, different volunteers take her out of her kennel, but the variety of exposure she gets is limited. She needs a person that has the patience to help build her confidence and see her full potential.
When DDR’s Baby Girl arrived with Lori, she had the benefit of Lori spending lots of time with her to socialize her, introduce her to new things and help her come out of her shell so that she would be ready for her forever home.
West LA’s Baby Girl is looking for that same chance. It may not take long to get to get her out of her shell, but time can be a dog’s worst enemy at a city shelter and she’s been there since March 22. If you’re thinking about adopting, please consider meeting Baby Girl (ID# A1101726) at West LA Shelter.
West LA Shelter
11361 W. Pico Blvd Los Angeles 90064
Shelter Numbers:
213 485-0494
213 485-0495
DEB’S DOG OF THE WEEK: PRECIOUS
LETTING GO OF THE PAST: Precious
Dog’s are amazing creatures! I’m sure anyone reading this can attest to that. Over one dog’s lifetime, they can go through so many things…abuse, neglect, abandonment, hunger, loss of loved ones, and so on and so on. If any one, not to mention several of these things happened to a human being, the natural tendency would be to carry the hardship with us throughout our lives until the choice is made to address it: let it go, get counseling or whatever the person’s process is. Dog’s on the other hand live in the moment! There may be some residual scaring that takes place, but in general dogs are pretty darn resilient. Dogs that have been abandoned at the shelter are able to “keep their chin up” and wait for their next home to come along. Okay, so I realize that humans are not dogs and that we have different brain capacities and ability to empathize and everything…but we as a society tend to humanize our dogs anyway, so why not focus on the good stuff!
Precious is a great example of a dog that was dealt a rotten hand but hasn’t held on to any of the baggage. She was living at a home in South Central Los Angeles where she was chained to a tree for most of her young life. She only weighed 23 pounds when DDR rescued her, she’d been infested with fleas that had bitten her raw, and she had two big sores on her hips that had been left untreated. She was given absolutely no attention! But Precious doesn’t care about any of that. She was brought back to health, socialized with dogs and is just a good dog. When you see her at adoptions she is very quiet and gentle-never pushy or demanding. She even gets to spend time at Lori’s house on weekends. I think we can all take a lesson from Precious and learn to let go of the past and look forward to the future!
If you would like to meet Precious. Please email
lori@modernica.netVIDEO FOR PRECIOUS:
DEB’S DOG OF THE WEEK: Senior Dog Spotlight!
Senior dogs…they have so much to offer. They’re great companions. They don’t need that much exercise and usually love just hanging out. Yet they are so hard to find homes for. Most people have the idea that once a dog hits 5 yrs old they are over the hill and it’s all down hill from there. And when a dog hits double digits, well…forget it, might as well call the doggie nursing home. Of course, this isn’t true at all and most senior dogs would probably like to let us humans know that it’s 10 years YOUNG, not 10 year old.
Look at DDR’s resident senior dog,Clancy. He’s about 13 years old and the epitome of “young at heart”. He still plays with the pack and when he meets a new puppy or adolescent dog, there’s a twinkle in his eye and spring in his step that is a joy to watch.
If you’re looking for a dog, please consider opening your heart to one of the many senior dogs out there looking for their final forever home. Downtown Dog has recently spotlighted Cooper and Sugar, both looking for new homes.
I’d like to spotlight a dog that I met at West LA shelter back in December. His name was Gio, a 10 yr old blind pit bull that was found wandering Pico Blvd. In his eleventh hour he was rescued by Rescue Reunion and transported to a foster home in Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, after 3 months he needs a new foster or forever home…NOW.
Please read the following blog post from fellow shelter volunteer, Lola McKnight, about this sweet dog. And check out his video from when he was still at the shelter.
This incredible dog was rescued from the West LA shelter a couple of months ago on the day he was to be put down! Reunion Rescue decided to take a chance on an older blind Pit Bull because they saw what a wonderful dog he was and that he deserved to have happiness in his golden years.
Unfortunately the current foster situation isn’t working out due to NO FAULT of Jack’s. He is very chill with other dogs, but the foster’s dog doesn’t like Jack 🙁 so here we are now. Jack really needs some help! Reunion Rescue is a great operation and fully support their fosters.
THE FAMILY DOG: What To Do If Your Dog Is Missing or Stolen!
by Debbie Fan
What To Do If Your Dog Is Missing or Stolen!
A dog trainer friend of mine, Karen Reardon Taylor, just sent a success story from one of her clients whose dog was stolen. This is a great story with lots of useful information and may help you if your dog is ever missing.
—–
“A note from Danielle and Brooklyn”
Thank you so much for all of your support, efforts, and prayers while my little girl was gone. I got her back after 28 and 1/2 hours on Saturday night at 9:30 pm. It took what felt like a village to get her back, and it took me being a relentless detective to bring her home, but it was well worth it. I wanted to share with all of you what happened, because I think it could help anyone who has lost or had a pet stolen.
After some serious PI work, I found out that there were 4 witnesses that had seen Brooklyn get taken from right outside my apartment front doors. They were kind enough to provide me with the details of what had happened, and a very detailed description of the woman who took her. They also said that they would provide a statement to the police and could positively identify her if they saw her again.
So with that information, I went to the police station and filed a police report. I learned that if anyone finds a dog, collar or no collar, you have 6 hours to bring that animal to an animal shelter to have it scanned for a microchip and document it as a found dog. You do not have to relinquish the dog to the shelter, but it does need to be reported properly. If you fail to do so within those 6 hours, it automatically becomes a crime and is considered stolen property. If the animal is valued at over $400.00 or you have proof that you have spent at least that amount of money on the dog, it then becomes Grand Theft and a felony!!!
With this information, I re-made all of my “missing” posters to “Stolen Dog” posters and put in bold letters on them, that a police […]
DEB’S DOG OF THE WEEK: Roxy!
How are they with other dogs?: Roxy
When I’m at the shelter, one of the most frequent questions I get from adopters is “how are they with other dogs?” While we try our best to test dogs to see if they are friendly, sometimes we just don’t know. We have to do introductions on-leash, one dog at a time. It’s a very unnatural way for dogs to meet but we have to ere on the side of caution because if anything goes wrong it could cost the dog its life. Often, one or both of the dogs are straining at the end of the leash and it’s not always clear if their intentions are good. If we don’t know, we won’t take a chance but this can greatly diminishes their chance of getting adopted or rescued. With bully breeds, they have to be held to a higher standard because of the stereotypes and misinformation that is out there. For example, if a little chihuahua and a pit bull meet and the chihuahua is lunging and trying to attack the pit bull and the pit bull is remaining as calm as he can but then gives a “warning” growl…who’s going to get blamed/labeled as aggressive? Unfortunately, it’s usually the pit bull. And once a dog has been labeled as possibly dog aggressive, it’s hard to remove that label.
Roxy was a dog that fit into this category. I met her way back in January 2009 when her previous owners turned her into West LA shelter. She quickly became a volunteer favorite because of her super friendly, “in your face” personality. She had a big wide smile that no one could resist. When her time at the shelter was up we tried to get her into a rescue but they wanted to know how she was with other dogs. The truth is, we just didn’t know so they passed on her. Roxy’s last option was to be relinquished for a fee, to a man that came recommended by other rescue groups. He would keep her as his own and work with her on whatever issues she had.
Fast forward seven months…the man she was living with was on the news and being charged with animal cruelty! Roxy was one of the many evidence dogs that ended up at the Downey shelter. She was super skinny and […]
DEB’S DOG OF THE WEEK: TIGER REDUX-WEST LA SHELTER
A couple of months ago I wrote about Tiger, a dog that came from South LA and ended up at the West LA shelter. Well…unfortunately he still hasn’t found a home and he’s still living at the shelter. The good news is that we’ve continued to work with him and he’s really become a great dog. Tiger is such a ladies dog that we use him as our “tester” dog for females when we want to find out if they are dog friendly. The shelter also neutered him and since then we’ve been able to introduce him to some other male dogs. (He seems just as relaxed as long as they are also fixed and not too dominant. We also took him to a huge mobile adoption at Roxbury Park in Beverly Hills where there were dogs, people and vendor booths everywhere. He did great!
As well as Tiger is doing…his time is running short. He’s been at West LA for almost 4 months which is definitely pushing his luck! Tiger needs to be adopted quickly. Please consider meeting Tiger before it’s too late. You can visit him at the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter or he will be at a mobile adoption this Sunday, April 11th at Kiehl’s, 1516 Montana Ave, Santa Monica 90403 from 1 PM to 5 PM unless it rains.
TIGER’S VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE
AN EXTRA SPECIAL PLEA:
LORI WEISE WILL PERSONALLY DONATE
$200 to a 501(C)(3)rescue to pull TIGER
FROM: NICOLE SALTER
Hi all,
I’ve been visiting this dog at WLA 4x a week for 2 months. While getting the most urgent ones out, he sits there modestly behind his bars, not barking and just being the little Pei mix that he is. He’s not overly animated but will PLAY PLAY PLAY when in the yard. I’ve had Pei Mixes and this is how they are….and they are the most understated GEMS. And they get overlooked. Just like Tiger is getting overlooked. The shelter neutered him so they consider him VERY adoptable…..Debbie Fan has worked with him a lot and takes him to mobile adoptions so she’d be able to tell you a lot about his personality and temperament. The WLA Shelter uses him as their “test” dog w/females since he’s so good with them.
Tiger is a great little dog and he will be an amazing companion….he needs to get out.
Contact Nicole Salter at nicoleasalter@yahoo.com
310-621-4137 or contact the shelter directly!
What a sweet calm face and those ears!! […]
LORI’S CORNER: KEEPING OUR PITBULLS SOCIAL
Most of our loyal PITStop readers already know about our free pit bull training class, lead by Dog Man and Debbie, every Sunday at the Coliseum in Los Angeles but in case you were not aware, check out the video, created by Jeff Fleiss, our class videographer. Jeff compiled this video over the course of a couple months of Sunday classes.
If you own a pit bull and you need some help getting your dog social, please get in touch with me (lori@modernica.net). Our goal is to pass 100 pit bulls through our Canine Good Citizenship Certificate (CGC) program this year. On Sunday April 11th, we will be testing again. Our Sunday class helps prepare the dogs to pass the test. To learn more about CGC and to find out if you pit bull might pass, check out this
LINK.
Be part of the solution, keep your pit bull social
with people and animals.
The dogs are counting on all of us!
The dogs are counting on all of us!
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