ACTIVATE: SOUTHGATE 67 Update
Downtown Dog Rescue is very happy to report that of the 2 pit bulls that we took on from the horrible SouthGate 67 animal cruelty case , Roja now has a wonderful foster family and Danity was adopted over the weekend.
DEB’S DOG OF THE WEEK: Puppy Love: Travis!
4 months old If you’re thinking about getting a puppy do some research first. (A good book to read is “Before You Get Your Puppy” by Ian Dunbar.) All puppies are not created equal. Some are shy, some are bold and some start out shy and then become bold! Think about your lifestyle and try to choose a dog that matches it. If you adopt a pup from Downtown Dog Rescue, the dog generally has the benefit of learning how to play and interact with the other dogs in the pack. Travis is a great example of this. DDR got him after he was attacked by a house full of Chihuahuas. As you may have read in Mia’s blog post last week, she nursed him back to health and now he’s benefiting from being socialized with the pack downtown. It’s a good thing too because Travis is a bold little puppy that isn’t afraid to take on the big dogs. Travis needs a strong, experienced adopter, but until he finds his forever home, he will continue to learn from Lori, Clancy and the rest of the pack. Exactly what every young pit bull needs!
DDR DOG SPOTLIGHT(s): COME SAY HELLO TO US AT ADOPTION THIS SATURDAY! 2/27/10
RICKIE LEE
TRAVIS (I’m Deb’s Dog of the Week!)
Here we go!
AMANDA
Amanda is 4-5 year old and is about 35 lbs. She is spayed and current on all vaccinations. She is a very petite and friendly pit bull terrier. She has had a very hard life. Her original owner, a taxi driver, lost his home, and he had no choice but to keep her in his taxi and drive her around with the passengers he picked up. This worked until someone complained to the cab company. He found a neighbor in Compton with a yard who already had 15 dogs on her property. This was ok for a few weeks until Animal Control mandated that she get rid of 12 dogs, Amanda being one of the dogs. Off she went to a poorly run kennel where she was warehoused in a tiny crate with hardly any food and dirty water. She was attacked by other dogs at this facility and as a result, suffered bite wounds to her face and muzzle. She is definitely not a fighter but had to fight for food and water at this kennel. But don’t worry, Amanda is sweet sweet sweet and she did not let this bad place change the lovely personality that she has. Animal Control began investigate the kennel and they were mandated to reduce their numbers; this is where Downtown Dog Rescue came in. Amanda was rescued because she had no chance of a good life if we didn’t take her. Emaciated, full of fleas, a bad eye that is still being treated, she is so grateful to have food, water, a blanket and a dog house every night to sleep in. Slowly, we are teaching her to walk on a leash and allowing her to enjoy her time with our dog pack. Please consider adopting or even fostering to adopt sweet Amanda who has been to hell and back.
LORI’S CORNER: Introducing New Dogs into our pack
AMANDA 
ASKIMWhen we take in a new dog, it’s always a week or two, before we introduce the new dog into our pack of dogs at the kennel. For some dogs, the introduction moves very quickly, in the case of Danity, it was clear immediately, she loves all dogs. In other cases, it’s more of what Clancy has already told me, as in Askim’s case, he is already cool and I have nothing to worry about. More often, we take in dogs like Precious or Amanda, clearly abused + neglected, underweight, requiring medical attention before we can start with any dog introductions.
One of the most common questions that I get e-mailed to me or asked in our Sunday Pit bull class is, “How do I know that my pit bull won’t fight if I let him go off leash with a dog(s) that I don’t know?” My answer is always the same, how well do you know your dog? When we introduce a pit bull, or really any new dog into our existing pack, we put a few trusted dogs that we know really well. My dog Clancy usually serves as the initial evaluator of the new dog, often conducted on leash, then when we do decide to test the new dog with a few dogs, we usually select a dog like Chasui because he is not playful and can co-exist with just about any dog in the yard and absolutely knows when to back away from a dog who is nervous and might become aggressive. Another dog that we use a lot if Cookie, who is often the first dog that most of our new dogs meet. Cookie is wonderful at greeting a dog slowly and understanding the new dog’s play style. Cookie can also just co-exist in the yard without playing, allowing the new dog to investigate and relax before the play begins.
Now that Danity has been in our rescue for a while, we also use her to try out new dogs. She is more high energy, like Sasha and enjoys chasing. My young pit bull Curtis who is very dog friendly but almost feral with people is the best, he is a pusher. He likes to do a lot of investigating which can stress a new dog out and lead to a some aggression but Curtis always knows when enough is enough and he will back away from the new dog, opening up some space. When we want to move to the next level, we bring out Edwina, Freeway, and eventually […]
DDR DOG SPOTLIGHT: NERO!
If you are considering adopting Nero, we ask that you either crate him when you are not home, or have an adequately fenced yard, otherwise, he is a really good boy who has been neutered and vaccinated. He was in a foster home but the person can’t keep him anymore and doesn’t have time to work with him. Right now, he is living back in a kennel and needs a forever home or a foster who cares enough to understand what he has been through.
DDR DOGGY SNIPPETS: EDWINA & VANILLA
Vanilla is a 5 month old Yellow Lab-Pit bull mix puppy that loves other dogs, cats and everyone she meets. She was rescued from the South LA shelter where she would have been euthanized. She is not spayed yet but will be done before she is placed. She lives at our rescue kennel with lots of other dogs. She is very sweet and likes to cuddle and chill with her guardian after a day of playing like a puppy. Vanilla is up-to-date with routine shots and house trained.
Edwina is about two years old. We rescued her from the South LA shelter on her very last day before she was set to be euthanized. She had a very bad skin infection, a broken tail, and was under weight when we took her into our rescue. She is now a happy healthy dog who lives and plays at our rescue kennel with lots of other dogs. Every night she goes home with me and back to work to play with the dogs. She is crate trained, rides in the car nicely, very respectful and obedient inside the house, high energy outside. This is a wonderful dog for an experienced dog owner who can appreciate the subtle ways that she communicates. She has some obedience training, and walks great on a leash. She needs to be in a No Cat home. Edwina is up-to-date with routine shots, house trained and spayed/neutered.
DDR Adoption Form Link:ADOPT ME!
TO FOSTER: Please call our Adoption Hotline: 818-407-4145
SOUTHGATE 67: CRUELTY CASE NEEDS YOUR HELP
Hello my name is Teddy. I am very sweet and affectionate young male pit mix. My rescue friends say I have beautiful green eyes and think I am about two years old. Despite the severe hardships I have gone through, I am very gentle and loving with people. I seem fine with dogs, cats and even rabbits, too. I get along with everybody and I am pretty easy going. I am one of first dogs that need to get out of the shelter immediately as I have some mange that does not look like it is getting better. Living at the shelter has been very stressful for me. Once I am in a warm, loving home, I can really start to heal my physical condition. Please consider adopting or fostering me and I will show you how much love I can give you.DEB’S DOG OF THE WEEK: When rescue goes wrong: Amanda
There are many rescue groups and well-intentioned private citizens that work tirelessly everyday to help save the lives of animals living in the city and county shelters. Pleas are posted on Craigslist and yahoo groups; donations are raised; and people rally behind animals to save them from death, just in the nick of time. It can be inspiring to see a dog that is up against the odds make it out of the shelter,but sometimes there are unintended consequences. A rescue might take a dog, but then what happens to that dog? I would like to believe that 100% of the time the dog is taken care of and finds a nice forever home where it lives out the remainder of it’s days. That’s the Disney version. In reality, sometimes dogs, especially pit bulls, have a heard time finding a permanent home. It can take months and even years. What happens to them during this time? Well, if a dog ends up with Lori and a place like Downtown Dog Rescue, they are super lucky and get to run around, play, go on field trips and be dogs! If they end up in a place like Amanda did, they are barely fed, barely taken care of, and forced to live in unsanitary conditions. Worse than a shelter…and all in the name of “rescue”.
Amanda was brought to Lori because the rescue she ended up at become overwhelmed with too many dogs. Clearly, Amanda was not taken care of. She has scars all over her face because she had to fight for her food. Her left eye is “dead” and should probably be removed. She has another scab on the top of her head from who knows what. But despite all of it, Amanda is a sweet, gentle girl. She is new to DDR so we are finding out more about her, but if you spend just a little bit of time with her, you will see what a sweet gentle soul she has. Amanda is a young dog and could use a home where she can get healthy and gain confidence.
If you would like to adopt or foster her, please contact lori@modernica.net.