Thoughtful and Happy New Year

This year brought a lot of work with Pit Bulls for us now that so many orgs are giving dogs from dog fighting abuse raids a chance at life. The world has had a chance to see what these wonderful dogs are all about being on such visible platforms. These dogs were always wonderful though and most of us doing Pit Bull rescue, education or canine behavioral counsling of some sort knew this way before the high profile cases in the last two years.

A new day has come for Pit Bulls and there really is so much to appreciate and be happy about. Our dogs have shown us courage, unconditional love and a humanity that they themselves did not receive. I think if I could just maintain the same attitude that they have I would probably get a lot more done!

Our dogs are now more and more being judged as individuals as they should be and there's so much to look forward to ringing in the new year. There's more work to do but in my opinion often focusing on what's positive and right begets more positivity and rightness while doing the tough work. The dogs show us everyday their positive attitudes in the worst ever situations.

So I'm going to cuddle up on my couch with my professional snugglers and appreciate the heck out them, give them all a kiss at midnight and look forward to another year of helping the dogs to be seen as what they are. I hope you all do the same!

I think this photo shows thoughtful reflection and appreciation. I'd like to thank one of our friends Christina for sending in this wonderful photo of her son and his "BFF".

Happy New Year!

Humane Society of Missouri Dog Released to Our Pack

Jakob is coming to California!

We are thrilled to finally be able to announce that Jakob, one of the dogs seized in Humane Society of Missouri fight bust, the largest dog fighting bust in U.S. history, has been released into Our Pack's care.

Jakob looking optimistic about his new future.

Jakob is one of three dogs that will be rescued by Our Pack from the more than 500 dogs seized in the multi-state raid coordinated. The remaining two dogs are still being held at HSMO while they await the results of forfeiture proceedings in federal court. Like Leo, the former Michael Vick dog, Jakob will be trained by Our Pack for a new career in therapy work.

Associated Press reporter Cheryl Wittenauer was on hand today at HSMO for Jakob's release. You can read her article here: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13562726.

As soon as we saw pictures of Jakob, we knew he was special, and our first impressions have been confirmed by our good friends Gale Frey of Mutts-n-Stuff and Our Pack's Tracey Cutler. They have been on the ground in Missouri working tirelessly to care for and evaluate these dogs.

Jakob looking happy at his release.

Therapy dogs are trained in basic manners, then provide affection and comfort to people in need in hospitals, retirement homes, schools and similar situations. Although Jakob comes from an abuse case, we’ve seen time and again these dogs are cut out for therapy work and we think he is a great candidate for this kind of work. The most important characteristic of a therapy dog is temperament, and as we know, Pit Bulls have loving, affectionate natures that often make them perfect for this kind of job.

This is not the first time that Our Pack and Mutts-n-Stuff have teamed up to train former fight bust dogs for therapy work. In 2008, Our Pack trained Leo, a dog rescued in the infamous Michael Vick case. Despite his rough start at Bad Newz Kennels, Leo blossomed under Our Pack's care and received his therapy certification in just five weeks. His work earned Leo headlines in national media outlets, including the Washington Post, MSNBC.com, Animal Planet’s “Animal Witness: The Michael Vick Case” and many others. See Leo’s story here.

Our Pack and Mutts-n-Stuff also worked on a HSMO bust case in Stoddard County in 2007. Gale Frey, founder of Mutts-n-Stuff, trained some of the dogs from the Stoddard case to be therapy dogs, and has been helping with the evaluation of Jakob and other dogs held at HSMO in this more recent case.. “The dogs from these cases are so resilient and wonderful to work with,” says Gale. “We’re thrilled to be helping to find them new and loving homes.”

Sometimes You Gotta Have Balls

Of course, I mean that in the proverbial sense!

Here's Rachael. She was leash reactive when she came into our program three years ago. Her fate sort of hung in a gray area.

Rachael with her balls.

We brought her into our program and she was fostered by Cynthia, who did an awesome job with her. Cynthia later adopted Rachael, and the two moved to L.A. a year and a half ago. We've missed them both so much. Cynthia has done wonderful work for Our Pack, and has helped many dogs! I can't say how much we all appreciate her for that. Here's Cynthia with Gino on the beach, making sure to socialize him with all kinds of people, children and other animals.

Cynthia with Gino on the beach.

Cynthia and Rachael decided to visit and come by the Our Pack Pit Bull Manners class. Rachael was fabulous. She was attentive to Cynthia, nicely and politely ignored the other dogs, and was confident and happy to work for her person. She was also friendly with everyone there, happy to see people and just an all-around wonderful, well-adjusted girl. I was so proud of them both, and happy for Rachael and the many of our other dogs whose lives hang in the wobbly balance of a not so black and white area. Cynthia, thank you for your work! Lovely job!

I guess you could say they both have balls!

I thought I would write this blog to count our blessings and the many reasons we do the work we do.....sometimes it's easy to forget about this part of it with all that goes on.

-- Marthina

Foster Families Needed!

Help Rescue One of the Missouri Fight Bust Dogs! As many of you already know, the Humane Society of Missouri is coordinating the rescue of dogs in connection with what is believed to be the largest dog fighting raid in U.S. history -- over 400 dogs were rescued in the multi-state raid, and are awaiting evaluation. The Our Pack team is talking with the HSMO to help rescue and rehabilitate these dogs. While we work with them, we need foster families to give these pups a place to stay. Opening your home to a foster dog is a very valuable and rewarding way to contribute to Our Pack's goals and to help our Pit Bulls become and stay adoptable. For more details on how to foster or to volunteer, visit our site: Our Pack Foster Homes or email us at info@ourpack.org.