Saturday, April 30, 2016

Miss Porkchop


It's pouring non stop today so I figured I would do a short little post introducing my latest foster before I get back to my coffee and books. I'm making the most of this rainy day off!

Stassi went into boot camp with the rescue founder after we discovered her separation anxiety (and my torn carpet) and she's doing really well. Since we traded, I get this adorable derp face instead. She had a different name but we changed it asap since it was awful. Now we call her Miss Porkchop which fits her goofy personality. She's crate trained, potty trained (although the outside elements are testing that today), and great with other dogs. She's a little shy of men but she tolerates Johnny pretty well. I don't doubt she will get adopted quickly, being the great little dog she is. The sooner the better, we are getting filled up at the shelter as well as in the rescue so we can't take more until these littles find their homes!

How's your weekend going? The weather is crazy but I'm loving it!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Snapshots Lately



Crazy how April just flew by! May is looking to be even more jam-packed. The Humane Society of the United States is coming to Vegas for a conference and will be throwing a bunch of workshops at my shelter which is going to keep us insanely busy but I'm looking forward to it. Lot's of good changes are in the works.

Some things happening lately:

+ I got my car fixed only to have to bring it in for a recall, so I'll have a rental car for a few weeks.
+ Johnny and I went to the County Fair a few weeks ago. I ate so much and we rode the Ferris Wheel in the rain.
+ I've been thrifting a lot on my days off and finding some great stuff.
+ Some of my favorite dogs ever have been coming through the shelter and getting adopted. We also have wolves (!) currently from a confiscation case which might be one of the craziest things I've seen thus far.
+ I bought Murderface a new pool and he is loving it. Something to keep his mind off his healing hot spots.
+ We have had our foster Stassi for a few weeks and she's definitely out of her shy stage. However she resource guards food, high value treats, and space from me and the dogs. She also has separation anxiety as we found out yesterday when she broke out of her crate and tore up the carpet in our bedroom. Notice how pleased she looks with herself after all that. Sigh. So we will be trading in fosters as our schedule won't work right now with a dog with those issues. New foster comes tomorrow.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

RIP Sweet Prince


If you know me at all, you will know my obsessive love for Prince. My phone exploded this morning with friends texting me to see if I was ok, if I had heard. It's kind of funny in a sad way because it does feel like a personal loss. I've loved Prince since I was a teenager. It was this weird little quirky thing my friends and family found amusing considering the era I was growing in. But I adored him. I have his music videos on dvd and I would play them over and over until I knew them by heart. This poster was my favorite. 

I actually cried this morning. I've never done that over a celebrity before, someone I really didn't know and yet knew intimately through his music. The day I saw him play live was one of the best days of my life. I took as many blurry phone photos as possible despite the no photos ban knowing I would never have another chance. He sang Purple Rain. I swear we made eye contact. The concert ticket is on my wall, a cherished memento.

I was sad about Bowie. I was more upset about Rickman. But Prince... I'm absolutely heartbroken. 

"Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called life
Electric word LIFE
It means forever and that's a mighty long time
But I'm here to tell you
There's something else...

The after world
A world of never ending happiness
You can always see the sun, day or night."

RIP Sweet Prince.
                                                                             Credit

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Pit Bulls and Why I Rescue Them.


I've been working in rescue and animal welfare for about 2 years now. Two years of happy and sad tears, frustration, pure joy and fuzzy warm feelings, and a little thrill of danger every now and then. I'm so glad to have finally found my calling but it wasn't easy.

I was always one of those kids that had a million different ideas in my head on what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was always bringing home animals when I was a child, I was obsessed with them. I went to zoo summer camps and most people figured I would become a veterinarian. However I never had any interest in that idea. It just wasn't appealing. So I flitted through my teens and early twenties just kind of floating by while everyone else went to college and had a plan. Everyone else knew what they were meant to do... Except me. Now I'm not complaining, I had some great times that I'll forever cherish. It just took longer for that lightbulb to finally go off.

A cute guy after a bad breakup was the one who finally switched on the light. A friend had passed away and we had met at a memorial party. We should have always known each other, the tight circle that our friends had... But we didn't. A couple of my friends introduced us, "He likes dogs." They said. And he did. He lived out of state and was passionately involved with a pit bull rescue. We loosely dated for a few months and in that time period, not only did I fall hard, but he inspired me so much when it came to his rescue work. I had always heard the myths surrounding pit bulls although I can't say I took it as seriously as some people did. He had three of them, all rescues, and were some of the sweetest dogs I had ever met despite coming from awful circumstances like fighting rings. He had rescued dogs in the field, had cut them free from chains... I learned a lot from him. I learned about the stigma, and the truth that was buried beneath it. That time spent with him and seeing what he did, it sparked something in me that I hadn't felt in a long time, if ever.

While we didn't work out romantically (but are still friends) he gave me something better than a relationship. He planted the seeds of inspiration to finally do what I was meant to do. I started looking into rescues to volunteer with which led to me photographing dogs for adoption. That led to me helping with events and pulling dogs that were being surrendered (or in a few instances rescuing in the field). I wanted more, I wanted to do more. Itching to learn from the best of the best was what inspired me to apply for the internship at Best Friends. That internship led to employment at Best Friends and my time spent there is what ultimately helped me land the job I have now. And my guy friend gave me advice and supported me along the way. I feel like I can look to him as an Animal Welfare colleague these days and still hope to be able to do half the things he has accomplished.



I fight hard for bully breeds these days even though I aim to rescue all dogs. They hold a dear place in my heart. They are wonderful, loyal, happy, energetic dogs. I have yet to meet one I didn't like. Yes they have their issues but that goes for any breed. A dog selective bully is no different to Murderface, my Husky/Border Collie mix who's also dog selective.

You never know how or when you'll find the path to your future. It might be in the sparkle of a cute guy's eyes, an unexpected loss, or the slobbery kisses of a cropped ear dog. But it will find you, eventually.