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February 2017

COMING HOME

The story behind the man who brings our dogs home

WHY TOM HARDY IS OBSESSED WITH DOGS OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Keep your pup safe outside

The

Pit Bull

Myth

How lies turned America’s Sweetheart into America’s Nightmare U.S. $5.95

CAN $7.69

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Contents NEWS AND COLUMNS

FEATURES

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Tom Hardy Loves Dogs A look at his decade-long love affair with dogs and the media

The Must List

12 Words from our Editor

13 Letters to the Editor

15 Spotlight!

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33 The Pit Bull Myth A look into the storied history of the pit bull and a couple of the myths surrounding them

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This Month’s Picks

Insta Fame How four parents turned their silly hobby into a major movement

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Tips for Training

Rescue Road One man, thirty thousand dogs, and a million miles on the last hope highway

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58 Welcome to the Great Outdoors Tips on taking your dog on your outdoor adventures

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Editor in Chief Sarah LaGrasta Deputy Editor Pluto Design Director Odie Director of Photography Toto Features Editor Scooby Doo Copyeditor Nana Production Assistant Lassie Columnists Balto, Shadow, Chance Special Guest Columnists Sassy Digital Manager Scrappy Doo Publisher Snoopy Advertising Manager AirBud Partnership Managers Lady, Tramp Sales Representative Pongo Member, City and Regional Magazine Association Audit Bureau of Circulations Member, American Society of Magazine Editors 621 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115 Phone: 555-555-5555

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The

Must List 3

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Filled with inspiring stories and photographs, this heartfelt tribute to the pit bull celebrates one of America’s most popular yet misunderstood dogs.

Charmingly illustrated Frenchie magnets for the lover of all things silly! What a great addition to any fridge, whiteboard, or any other magnetic surface!

Handmade by Etsy seller The Paw Collection, these magnets are sure to make your friends (and Frenchie enthiasts!) squeal with delight!

From the makers of BarkBox, the celebrated monthly subscription box for your pup, come BarkShop! BarkShop is built around two beliefs: all dogs are unique and all dogs deserve to be healthy and happy.

You’ll find toys for your pup and and dogthemed products for yourself. Check it out!

The Other End of the Leash shares a revolutionary, new perspective on our relationship with dogs, focusing on our behavior in comparison with that of dogs.

All odds were against the pit-bulls freed from NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring. This award-winning documentary follows the courageous people who risked everything to rescue these dogs and illustrates how their lives were ultimately changed forever.

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Wunderball is a ball unlike anything your dog has ever experienced! It features a Wacky Unpredictable bouncing action that dogs just love. It’s made from 100% Natural Rubber so it’s Safe for your Pup and the Planet. Plus for every ball purchased a ball is donated to a shelter dog as a part of Project Play!

You love dogs. Maybe your friends don’t and should. This’ll be that pre-warning for them before they step foot in your dog loving abode to brace themselves and accept the fact that you have one or four dogs running around. By the way, should they really be your friend at this point if you love dogs and they hate em? Think about it.

The powerful bond between humans and dogs is one that’s uniquely cherished. Loyal, obedient, and affectionate, they are truly “man’s best friend.” But do dogs love us the way we love them? Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns had spent decades using MRI imaging technology to study how the human brain works, but a different question still nagged at him: What is my dog thinking?

For three years, fashion and portrait photographer Richard Phibbs has donated his services to the Humane Society of New York, making portraits of dogs up for adoption as part of the Manhattan shelter’s work to find them all forever homes. The best of his photographs are featured in this simple and moving album, along with the story of each dog on its journey from often-shocking circumstances of abandonment and rejection, through rescue and the joy experienced in the new homes these pictures helped them find.

Keep unused dog toys tidy with chic yet durable dog toy storage from Harry Barker. Harry Barker dog toy storage is made to last from sustainable and earth-friendly materials.

Add your pup’s name for a personal touch!

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Words from our Editor

For the Love of Dog

I

’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes our canine companions so great. Is it that unending loyalty? The goofy smile on their faces when they’re playing? The fact that it takes one sad look and all our anger about the trash covering the floor disappears? Or how about the frantic way they greet you, as if they thought you were never coming back? Perhaps our love for dogs stems from their love for us. You can read scientific article after article about how dogs feel emotions, how they perceive the world, there is certainly enough of it out there now, but it’s all just a fancy way of saying what we already now, it’s love. It’s a rare and beautiful thing to find that one person you want to be around all the time, to share your whole life with. True love can be a rare but hard sought after commodity, but dogs give us the opportunity to experience that kind of love. They remain devoted and loving despite our anger, our discipline.

Despite leaving for hours, despite ignoring them when they want to play because we have that important deadline, despite accidentally buying the wrong food, or stepping on a toe. Our canines will always love us, faults and all, because we mean everything to them. And in turn they mean everything to us.

The term “soulmate” is most often used in terms of a romantic partner but that seems so restrictive. The word itself literally means the other half of your soul, doe that not describe your dog? Some people argue that dogs don’t have souls but to that I think Gary Kowalski puts it best in his book, The Soul of Animals, in it he says this, "To me, animals have all the traits indicative of soul. For soul is not something we can see or measure. We can only observe its outward manifestations: in tears and laughter, in courage and heroism, in generosity and foregiveness. Soul is what's behind the scenes in the tough and tender moments when we are most grippingly alive....Soul is the point at which

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our lives intersect the timeless, in our love of goodness, our zest for beauty, our passion for truth. Soul is what makes each of our lives a microcosm--not just a meaningless fragment of the universe, but at some level a reflection of the whole."

I don’t know about you but my dog is most certainly my soulmate. We’ve shared happy moments and times of grief.

He’s comforted me at my worst and supported me at my best. There is no one who understands me better, no one who knows what he knows, seen what he's seen. He helped me through a bout with depression, through tough changes in my life. He saw me graduate, fall in love, fall out of love. He's seen me dance around the house belting Christina to the rafters, no judgement when I trip myself down the stairs. If that’s not love I don’t know what is!

Losing him was the hardest thing that has ever happened to me. I have never cried that hard in my life, not for any friend or relative lost, because it never felt like a piece of me died like it did when he died. Even now, two years later, I tear up at the thought of him. I thought I would never love another animal again, not like that, but a mere six months after his passing the grumpiest little puppy I’ve ever seen walked into my life and I was in love again. He reminds me so much of my first love, and though he may never fill that hole, he has made his own nest in my heart. So my advice to you, dear Reader, is you can spend your whole life searching for The One or you can look down at the pup at your feet and realize you’ve already found them.

SA R A H L AG R A S TA

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Barking Up a Storm for a doggier life

PLUS! WHAT’S THAT SMELL???

January 2017

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Check out these cool doggy businesses and maybe open your own!

NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO PET YOUR DOG And maybe you shouldn’t let them

Spring Break? Bring Fido!

Cheap, fun things to do with your pup over break

Say

What?

What your dog is trying to tell you and why you just don’t understand U.S. $5.95

CAN $7.69

Last year, the day before Christmas, I lost my job as a product photographer for a major Danish brand house. Three months earlier, my girlfriend bought an old farmhouse with a piece of land. We fenced in the property and now run a successful doggy daycare and boarding. Its a booming industry and we hit it at just the right time. But I missed taking photos.

I used my photography skills to do some marketing and it was a hit! Photographing the dogs during their stay posted our Facebook page and we haven’t spent a single dime on external marketing. The owners love the pics of the pups and some even book photo sessions along with the regular boarding reservations. We were able to stay in our house, and the business is doing great. Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me!

— Rory

Last week’s issue was all about communicating with our pups and you guys had a lot to say about it!

I thought your article on canine communication was so insightful!

It’s something I’ve thought about a lot. My first dog, Mercy, was a border collie mix whose body could convey an epic narrative—especially when she was in the dog park communicating at once with dozens of her kind. I soon began to wonder just what they were all saying. Their gestures were obviously dense with meaning. At times, a nearly invisible movement by another dog would change Mercy’s course dramatically: She would bend into a play bow, or stiffen in alarm, or look away as if hoping that the dog enthusiastically eyeing her would suddenly forget she existed. Often he would.

Watching those intricately choreographed ballets of intention in the park, I realized that to each other, dogs speak loud and clear.

Humans, by contrast, have real trouble deciphering their language.

Though dogs have been our best friends for tens of thousands of years, they still read us far more skillfully than we read them.

We tend to think that dogs have relatively little to say because they don’t speak our language, but we are too focused on speech.

The language of dogs is primarily visual, enacted with their bodies.

They speak with the direction of their gaze, the tilt of their tails, the distance they keep and the arc of their movement. Canine language is rich for the same reason ours is: We are both social, cooperative species.

I loved your article “10 Cheap, Easy Spring Break Adventures”. I tried out three of them with my labrador, Romo. We hiked a nearby mountain and I think he did better than me! He was bounding up the path even when we reached the top. I, on the other hand, was wheezing but I loved seeing him so excited to be out in nature. Later that week I took him to the lake and I thought he would never leave! He dove right in and we played fetch in the water for two hours! I can’t believe this dog’s stamina! By the end of the week I was exhausted so we drove upstate to visit my parents and their spaniel, Lucy. They had a great time together and I got to kick back on the patio. Your suggestions were so on point. They’ve brought Romo and I closer together and I’ve discovered that he is definitely an outdoors man!

— Heather

The other day I walked into my gym and saw a dog. A half-dozen people were crowding around him, cooing and petting. He was a big dog,a lean and muscular Doberman with, I later learned, the sort of hair trigger bark you’d prize if you wanted to protect a big stash of gold bullion.

“This is Y.,” the dog’s owner said.

No explanation was offered for the pooch’s presence, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to have a dog in a place usually reserved for human beings. Huh, I thought. The dog came up to me, because in my experience that’s what dogs do when you don’t want them to come up to you. They get up real close, touching you, licking you, theatrically begging you to respond. The dog pushed his long face toward my hand, the canine equivalent of a high five. And so — in the same way it’s rude to leave a high-fiver hanging, especially if the high-fiver has big teeth and a strong jaw —I was expected to pet him. I ran my hand across his head half-heartedly. I guess I was fairly sure he wouldn’t snap and bite me, but stranger things have happened — for instance, dogs snapping and biting people all the time.

Anyway, happily, I survived.

Clearly, I’m not a dog person but I wanted to say to all you dog people out there: not everyone thinks your dog is precious! Stop flaunting them and letting them rub all over everyone. We don’t want that.

— Cameron

— Chelsea

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Spotlight!

We asked for you to show us how your pups were dealing with the cold weather and boy did you deliver! Take a look!

Penny, California

Rosie, Iowa

Charlie, Connecticut Bucky, New Jersey

Watson, Michigan

Herby, North Carolina

Stealie, Washington

Mumford, Delaware 18

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Buster + Kiki, Maine

Linus, Nevada

Basil, Georgia

Dood, Massachusetts

Nutt, Illinois

Ollie, Indiana

Jake, New York

Molly, Mississippi

Brown, Minnesota

Amos, Alabama

Waffles, California

Ruby, Alabama FEB 2017

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written by shiloh beagle

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T

om happily returns the love and companionship he receives from Woodstock, and he’s wellknown for his genuine affection for dogs. In fact, he’s so dedicated to animal rescue that he joined PETA to share the important message of animal adoption in an adorable ad highlighting the love people find when welcoming a shelter animal into their homes—and hearts.

Unfortunately, not every dog is as lucky as Woody. Every year, more than 6 million dogs and cats end up in U.S. animal shelters, and half of them have to be euthanized simply because there aren’t enough good homes. Countless more end up on the street, where they may starve, freeze, get hit by cars, or suffer from other abuse. That’s why Hardy and PETA are encouraging caring people to adopt from local shelters and never buy from breeders or pet stores, which only exacerbate the homeless animal overpopulation crisis.

Tom Hardy loves dogs. He has owned them, co-starred with them, posed shirtless with them, cried with them, hugged them, and kissed them. He has also spoken about them—at length!—in many interviews with press over the years.

So in celebration of the actor’s new PETA adoption campaign—(he is doing public service with them, too)— which shows him in loving embrace with his rescue dog, Woodstock, we take a look back at Hardy’s many entertaining and endearing remarks about his beloved species.

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2007

Sept Dogs Today In an interview with Dogs Today, Hardy discusses how he used to take his late Staffie-Labrador, Mad Max—fatefully named for the character he plays in next month’s reboot—to drama school with him.

"I wouldn’t go to class unless Max was allowed in,” recalls Tom. “My old drama teacher said, ‘I remember when you used to walk into class with your dog in one hand and a can of Coke in the other.’ Max was my support unit, it’s like I had a focus; I had an identity and higher self-esteem because something relied on me and loved me constantly. Then I felt important. I can’t stand those kind that fight their dogs, but I wonder how many sleep with their dogs under the covers at night?

I’m very, very lucky that people—from 17 to now—have always allowed me to have my dog around.”

2010

2011

July The Guardian Hardy discusses his dog’s ailing health with The Guardian: He’s also worried about his own dog, Max, who had a heart attack this week and is now on beta blockers. “I call Max ‘Lives-in-Hope,’” he says, “because he does—‘Can I have a biscuit?’ Max asks. ‘Can I go for a walk?’ Inevitably the answer is no, but even if it’s a rainy day he lives in hope.”

Sept Interview Hardy tells an interviewer that his dog, Max, had passed away three months prior. The journalist adds: “Hardy definitely misses his companion/best friend and he confided that Max’s ashes are currently on the couch at his home, occupying a place Max used to love to hang out.”

Hardy tells another interviewer about his dog’s ashes.

“My dog and son recognize me no matter what. Actually, my dog’s dead now so he won’t. We had him cremated. There’s a cardboard box of his ashes on our sofa that we’re working out what to do with him.”

Tom loves his rescue pup, Woodstock

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2012

Feb ScreenCrave Asked whether he has conflicts with friends by ScreenCrave, Hardy reveals that he prefers dogs to humans.

“I don’t have any friends. I don’t keep them or entertain them for any of that kind of problem. So I like to keep [to] myself. I have a dog and a son. A dog couldn’t do anything to upset me, you know, and neither could my son.”

May GQ While discussing male grooming with GQ, Hardy reveals that he has very strong feelings about poodle haircuts.

“I feel sorry for a poodle because he’s a dog. You know, a dog is a fucking great creature. They would do anything for you. And the poodle gets a haircut. No one asks if the poodle wants his hair cut like that. Do they? They just fucking cut his hair like that. And he just walks around. And everyone is like, ‘Why is that poodle so snarky?’ Fuck you.”

In the same interview, Hardy reveals that his love for dogs extends to his TV viewing choices— and that he regularly watches The Dog Whisperer.

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2014

June Glamour

August Vulture

Hardy admits to Glamour that when he leaves his dogs at home, he sets the television to his favorite British reality cooking show so that they can watch while he is away.

“I’m into Come Dine with Me at home, religiously. I’m an absolute fanatic,” said Tom, 36, adding: “I put it on for the dogs as well when I go out. They’ve got to feel that someone’s in the house.”

Sept Refinery29 Hardy reiterates his feelings for dogs in an interview with Refinery29.

“I’m an absolute sucker for dogs, and I normally find a dog on every film I do. They always end up in the house somehow, even if I have to take it from someone’s car. I’ve got no scruples. There’s always a way for a stray.”

Tom Hardy uses the word “dog” or “dogs” 62 times in a single conversation with Vulture. Among the highlights: Hardy discussing how he relates to dogs, how dogs “are like angels,” how he took a dog to a bar, and how he took his canine co-stars home at night to “cuddle” while filming The Drop. On the last subject: “He used to come home with me from work, which is such a privilege—to be able to take home a co-star. . . . He was a buddy. They all were. And T was the first one we had, then he started to grow, then he started to get bigger, so J came in, and they had two different personalities —all dogs have different personalities. But it was hard. I was getting favorites. T was my favorite, and then T started getting boisterous, he didn’t really care so much, so I found J. J was really cute and he wanted to just kiss all the time, and like, lick. He was the one that came back with me, and then T got upset because I was taking J back, so I had to take T back, and I was like, I’ve gotten really on with these dogs.”

In the same conversation, Hardy also reveals that he helps find homes for orphan canines. “[While filming The Drop] I found one at Sean Casey’s animal-rescue center, and then she was on set for a while, and she ended up coming home. Carol is

her name. Terrible name, [laughs] but that’s her name. We found her a home, which is the main thing. I always find dogs wherever I go, and if people say they’re looking for a dog, I’ll find them one. In fact, I’ve got two on my mobile phone right now, which I’m going to find—an English bulldog and some kind of Weimaraner. I’ve got friends who work in places—ex-police handlers and people who’ve got quarantines or kennels, and they say, ‘We’ve got two dogs that came in. Can [you] find a home for them?’”

Tom Hardy, pit bull advocate, drops some trivia on Yahoo! Movies.

“It’s so sad, because—and I know it sounds silly—but sausage dogs bite more people than pit bulls do.

Labradors bite more people. There’s always a dog that’s getting the bad deal, like: ‘He’s the bastard! That’s a bad dog.’

But in the right hands, that dog could be a very different dog.

Did you know that the pit bull’s the highest-decorated military dog?

It’s true, because of their loyalty, and its sensitivity. They would run through artillery fire and bring ammo. And they used to be called the nanny dog, as well, and it was the favorite American dog for many, many years. They’d leave the baby on the porch with the dog. Go online and look it up! You’ll see all these pit bulls with babies.”

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I’m an absolute sucker for dogs, and I normally find a dog on every film I do

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Tom and the St Bernard mix, Georgia, that he borrowed from a close friend who owns an animal shelter 28

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2015

March Esquire Hardy mentions to Esquire that he has “borrowed” a Bernardcross called Georgia to keep him company while filming the upcoming drama The Revenant in Calgary. He also talks about watching Come Dine with Me with the dog, and how his ideal level of fame would be one that allows him to “be with my dogs, and walk down the street, and people know me and say hello."

Tom Hardy goes off on a tangent with Details about how he and his dog were essentially brought together by fate.

“Do you believe in serendipity?

I do. No such thing as coincidence.

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April Total Film So here’s my dog, right? [Displays a photo on his phone] His name was Mad Max when I got him. Like the first dog I ever had. Anyway, I fell in love with Max’s mom, Cass, when I was 16. My friend had her.

And I was like, ‘If she ever has puppies, please can I have a dog?’

He was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And then my friend disappeared, and I never saw him again. But I went to visit his mom, see how she was and say hello. And she said, ‘Oh, we’ve got something for you here.’ And I open up the door, and there was Mad Max. And I was like, ‘I don’t like that name.’ ‘Cause he’s not mad, he’s just misunderstood.”

Hardy tells Total Film that Max died the same year he filmed Mad Max: “By the time I was 15, 16, 17, I got a dog called Mad Max. He was given to me actually. They said, ‘His name is Mad Max,’ and I changed the name to Maximoose.

A black dog, pit bull cross Labrador.

Brilliant dog. He died the year that I made Max. There’s a linear sort of coincidence as to how I feel about this now that I’ve ended up playing him.”

If it wasn’t clear, Tom Hardy really loves dogs.

Are you ready to add a companion animal to your family? If so, be sure to adopt! Every time an animal is purchased from a pet store or a breeder, an animal in a shelter loses an opportunity to find a loving home. Head over to your local animal shelter, where you’re sure to find many eager animals of all breeds, shapes, sizes, and ages who’d love to become a member of your family.

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The

Pit

Bull

Myth

by Spot Chaser

It’s time we talk about one of America’s most beloved and most despised breeds. It’s time we try to right the wrongs we have committed in the name of “safety” and “justice”. It’s time we talk about the Pit Bull Myth.

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Reviled, pit bulls have become representative.

There is no other dog that figures as often in the national narrative — no other dog as vilified on the evening news, no other dog as defended on television programs, no other dog as mythologized by both its enemies and its advocates, no other dog as discriminated against, no other dog as wantonly bred, no other dog as frequently abused, no other dog as promiscuously abandoned, no other dog as likely to end up in an animal shelter, no other dog as likely to be rescued, no other dog as likely to be killed.

In a way, the pit bull has become the only American dog, because it is the only American dog that has become an American metaphor—and the only American dog that people bother to name. When a cocker spaniel bites, it does so as a member of its species; it is never anything but a dog. When a pit bull bites, it does so as a member of its breed. A pit bull is never anything but a pit bull.

There are two ironies here: The first is, as pit-bull advocates like to point out, "the pit bull is not a breed; it's a classification.” The term “pit bull” or “pitbull” refers to a type of dog, rather than one breed everyone is in agreement on. “Pit bulls” are not recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC), though some recognized AKC breeds, like the American Staffordshire terrier, are often called pit bulls by the general public. The United Kennel Club (UKC) does recognize the American pit bull terrier as a breed. Meanwhile, the term has come to be used interchangeably to refer to a number of breeds, or even mixed breeds with unknown parentage.

Breed enthusiasts and detractors alike can have strong opinions about what a pit bull is — and isn’t. But when people refer to “pit bulls” it could mean any of the following breeds or combination of breeds: American bulldog, American Staffordshire terrier, American pit bull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, English bull terrier. Yet Luis Salgado, the animal-services investigator charged with enforcing the pitbull ban in Miami, admits that "there is no reliable DNA testing for that breed. DNA is useless. If you look at where that breed came from, there's American bulldog, there's terrier—all watered down and mixed together to produce the dog we now call the pit bull." What Salgado uses to establish a dog's genetic identity is not genetics but rather "physical characteristics—we have a forty-seven-point checklist. Any dog that substantially conforms to the characteristics of a pit bull is considered a pit bull.” Today, any dog with a short coat, wide head and muscular build might be labeled a pit bull. The thing is, infinite combinations of breed mixes can look like that. It may be a boxer and Dalmatian mix, or a beagle, mastiff and retriever mix, or a dog that’s several generations of mixed breeds.

You know one when you see one, in other words—and so the second irony proceeds from the first: You see a lot of them. The pit bull is not a breed but a conglomeration of traits, and those traits are reshaping what we think of as the American dog, which is to say the American mutt. A few generations ago, the typical mutt was a rangy dog with a long snout

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and pricked ears—a shepherd mix. Now it looks like a pit bull. This is not simply because so many pit-bull owners oppose spaying and neutering their dogs and their dogs are bred so frequently and haphazardly; nor is it simply because so many of the traits associated with pit bulls have proven common.

It's because the very definition of a pit bull is so elastic and encompassing.

As Salgado says, "It doesn't have to be purebred to be considered a pit bull."

A German shepherd crossed with a pit bull is a pit bull. A cocker spaniel crossed with a pit bull is a pit bull. "We had a beautiful dog in here not long ago that was a pit-Weimaraner mix," says Lieutenant Cheryl Shepard, who runs the animal shelter in Cobb County, Georgia. “But we try not to call dogs pit mixes, because then nobody will adopt them. So we called it a Weimaraner mix. And it looked like a Weimaraner. It had a lot of the traits of a Weimaraner.

We found a woman to adopt it. But she took it to her vet and he said, 'No, that's a pit bull.' She returned it the next day."

Though there’s little consensus today about what a “pitbull” (or pit bull terrier) actually is, most dogs encompassed by the label originate from bulldogs. Bulldogs were bred in England starting in the 1600s, for use in the brutal sport of bull baiting. Before more modern ideas about animal cruelty took hold, people would attend weekly bull baiting for entertainment. A bull was held in a pit, and the dogs’ job was to immobilize the bull, biting it about the head. Thankfully, the sport has been banned for over a hundred years, and in that time, the dogs went from being prized fighters to family pets.

Pit bulls were America’s darling dogs for many years. Famous and influential people had them, and due to their loving and loyal nature, pit bulls were featured in ad campaigns. But in the 1980s, after pit bull terrier–type dogs became popular with irresponsible dog owners, the dogs fell prey to sensationalized stories in the media, which led to panic policy making. That media bias still clouds how some misinformed Americans view the dogs today.

“

An unwanted pit bull is different from an unwanted golden retriever in that a market exists for unwanted golden retrievers and golden-retriever mixes; they are literally shipped from animal shelters in the south to animal shelters in the north because there are not enough of them

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“ ”

Although we adopt them by the thousands, we abandon them by the millions

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Throughout history, dog breed trends have changed, with different breeds topping the charts for popularity, as well as perceived danger. Breeds tend to fall in and out of favor, and either end of the spectrum can be bad news for the dogs themselves. In the post–Civil War era, bloodhounds were the dogs who struck fear in Americans’ hearts. Interestingly, this coincided with the rise of newspapers.

Then Nordic breeds became the dogs everyone was afraid of, after newspapers ran stories about people being attacked by roving packs of huskies or malamutes in Canada. Around World War II, the most feared dogs were German shepherds, Rottweilers and Dobermans, as these breeds were favored by the German army, and were often used as guard dogs.

Somehow in the midst of our villainizing we developed a list of entirely false characteristics for these dogs. A list of pit bull myths that have become such a pervasive part of our culture that we no longer recognize them for what they are, false. Among these is the popular locking jaw myth. Pit bulls are often thought to have locking jaws, making them physically impossible to open once they bitten down. Think alligator jaws but on a dog, with a bite pressure PSI of 10,000 lbs. This is absolutely not true. The average dog has a PSI of 320 lbs with Pit Bulls scoring well below that at 235 lbs. So not only do they have completely normal jaws, they also have one of the weakest bites of any breed.

Which leads us to the second myth, that pit bulls bite more than any other breed. This is such a hard statistic to measure because it depends entirely of the popularity of a breed, the number of bites actually reported, and the guesswork of the people on scene. A peer-reviewed study found that nearly 85 percent of dog bite fatalities were from unneutered dogs, and the co-occurring factors that led to bites were things like lack of socialization and positive interactions with people and animals, abuse or neglect, and tethering for long periods of time. Breed had nothing to do with it.The likelihood of a dog to bite depends more on the individual dog and its personality and history than on any breed. Dalmatians, largely regarded as the friendly firehouse dog, are actually quite aggressive as a whole because of inbreeding.

But even this is dog dependent. There are dalmatians that want nothing more than to love you, but there are also dalmatians that might snap and attack at any moment. It comes down to responsible breeding, the way a dog is treated, and the situation that

the attack occurred in. Very rarely does the breed of the dog even matter. But if you’re really hung up on breed, take this into consideration, small breed dogs are much more likely to bit than large breed dogs. Consider that the next time you want to pet that doe-eyed cocker spaniel.

Another pervasive myth about Pit bulls is that they are an aggressive breed. This is again false.

They are definitely tenacious and stubborn but they’re terriers at heart so what else would you expect?The American Temperament Test Society, which provides a uniform national program of temperament testing for dogs, has found that pit-bull-terrier-like dogs passed the test at a higher rate than many other dog breeds, such as golden retrievers and border collies. Some people think these dogs are somehow physiologically and genetically different from other dogs, but they aren’t. Pit Bulls, despite their intimidating appearance, are actually one of the sweetest breeds. They adore pleasing their owners and are known for being exceptionally gentle with other animals and with children. They’re broad, muscular appearance tends to put a lot of people off because our culture associates muscles with strength and aggression. But if we take a look at their history, they get a lot of their DNA from Bulldogs, a breed that was bred to bait bulls. You can’t send a willowy sight hound into a ring with a 2,000lb bull. They need to be able to withstand a hit should the bull get the best of them, so they

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were bred to be just as strong and compact as a bull. As far as the scary ear crop, yes it is commonly used amongst fight dogs to minimize the available space for another dog to grab hold of, but it is also part of the UKC and AKC breed standard. Show Staffies have the cropped ears and seeing this, many uneducated owners try to mimic that look. Also, unfortunately that ear crop is associated with fight dogs so a lot of owners try to mimic that look on their dogs for better street cred and to make them look tough.

The reality is, no, pit bulls are not for everyone. But neither is any breed.

Responsible pet owners should do some research into whatever breed they are interested in owning because all breeds have they’re own unique quirks that won’t mesh with everyone. Pit bulls are a high energy, tenacious breed and they need an owner that understands that. They also need an owner that understand the stigma of a pit bull and feels comfortable combating that. You learn a lot about America when you own a pit bull. You learn not just who likes your dog; you learn what kind of person likes your dog—and what kind of person fears him. You generalize. You profile. You see a wellheeled white woman walking a golden retriever and expect her to cross the street and give you a dirty look; you see the guy who's cutting down her trees or pressure-washing her driveway and you expect him to say: "That's a beautiful dog." Or: "How much you want for that dog?" Or: "You fight that dog?" You learn that the argument about pit bulls takes place along the lines of class and, to a lesser extent, race. The opposition to pit bulls might not be racist; it does, however, employ racial thinking. If a pit-bull-Labrador mix bites, then the pit bull is always what has done the biting, its portion of the blood—its taint—ineradicable and finally decisive.

We are not a pure country or a country that values purity. We are a country of adoption, a country of rescues, a country of mutts. At least that's how we like to think of ourselves. But we are also a country that likes to create idylls of its own good intentions and then penalize what doesn't fit. Pit bulls don't fit. They don't fit in the idyll of the dog park or sometimes even in the idyll of rescue, in which dogs that demand total responsibility are instead expected to rise above what they really are. They have upped the ante on American dog ownership by narrowing the margin of error to the point of nonexistence. Their detractors say they are more likely to kill; their advocates say the only thing they are more likely to do is die. We make a habit of asking dogs about their own goodness without expecting or getting an answer. But go to an animal shelter and before they are euthanized, ask the dogs you see there—the pit bulls you see there—about our goodness. You will get all the answers you need.

“ ”

The reality is, no, pit bulls are not for everyone. But neither is any breed.

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Insta Dog written by ghost stark

photos courtesy of instagram

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MUTKA instagram

location

@whythankyew

Turku, Finland

This is Mutka, an 18-month-old Great Dane. He lives with his owner, Krista Aalto, and half sister, Luna, in Turku, Finland. Mutka has a very expressive face. Like, really expressive. “Ever since I brought Mutka home, he has been making his funny faces” says Aalto, 29.

So she decided to document the facial contortions of her Great Dane Mutka. The result is a gallery of jiggling jowls, gurning, wide-open mouths — and an absolutely huge tongue.

Aalto brought Mutka home when he was just 8 weeks old. He got his name, which means “curve” in Finnish, in honor of his slightly bent tail.

“I have always had dogs, and I’ve always liked big dogs,” says Krista.

After officially welcoming Mutka into her family in June of 2014, she ended up adding to the pack with Luna. “I swear [people] thought I’m crazy when I had a 6-month-old 44

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Great Dane puppy already and then I got another one.”

“Crazy or not,” she gleefully adds, “that was the best decision I have made. It’s been a lot of work with two young dogs, but it has definitely been worth it. They’re best friends, and they do pretty much everything together.”

Aalto, who is a photographer, quickly noticed his goofy, floppy expressions in photos. She explains: “I have a passion for photography so I consider myself lucky to own such photogenic dogs.”

“Mutka is quite a character and I began to receive a lot of comments about his funny facial expressions, so that gave me an idea to start capturing these expressions” Mutka’s expressions have a ton of range, like this one, for when a dog’s person gets the kind of food they don’t like. Or when you bought your dog the good treats and he can’t wait to eat one. Or when he’s

learning a new command, but doesn’t quite understand it yet.

“I think his face may just be more elastic,” she said. “Also, adding the pink nose and blue eyes with that elasticity, that may make his face really unique. And his goofy personality of course.”

She’s been capturing all of his goofy expressions ever since. “He is always in a good mood! Luna is his calm and quiet counterpart.”

Aalto said Mutka is the “silliest and goofiest dog I have ever owned.”

She said he’s very active and seems to never tire out. “He’s always been doing those faces,” said Aalto. “And they only get better!”

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JUJI instagram

location

@christophercline

Buffalo, Minnesota

This is Chris Cline and his goldendoodle, Juji.

Juji isn’t actually the size of a house. He just looks that way on Instagram. The fluffy one-yearold pup from Buffalo, Minn., is now a digital celebrity, with fans in England, Japan and all over the world.

Cline, a graphic designer with an illustration background, never expected to make a living with photography — but Instagram has changed his life in unpredictable ways. The photo-based social media network is where he first met his girlfriend.

He was living in Weyers Cave, Va., at the time, and she was based in Minnesota. They spent six months talking on the phone.

“Finally, we just agreed that we were either going to have to meet, or we were going to have to move on with our lives,” Cline said. “I jumped on a bus to come to Minnesota for the weekend, and just never left. That was three years ago.”

The pair now lives in Buffalo. Last year, they expanded their small household to three when his girlfriend, Christine Ann Fagerlie, brought home Juji. That was a year and a half ago. At first, Cline wasn’t sure about having a dog, but he and Juji became fast friends.

“Within weeks I was really head over heels for this dog,” he said.

About a year ago, Cline said he was at a “stale” point in his life as an artist. One day, he decided to photoshop a picture of him and Juji to make the pup seem larger than life — literally.

The first dog photo Cline edited featured a miniature version of him riding Juji like a horse. It snowballed from there. Now Cline, who works from home, spends hours perfecting each giant-dog scenario he dreams up.

Cline said he had only intended for the silly photos to be seen by his friends online.

“I started to do edits of him just to put on my Facebook and Instagram just to make people giggle,” he said.

Much to his surprise, the photos really took off. Cline then started to make more, and photoshopped himself and his dog into truly magical adventures.

Chris Cline managed to turn his loyal goldendoodle into an international sensation by editing photos to make the dog look as though he’s 10 feet tall.

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Cline will also appear in the whimsical photographs — at just half of the size of his furry friend.

It started as a joke more than a year ago, but now it’s become Cline’s — and Juji’s — ticket to fame.

Cline said that his background as an illustrator has helped him come up with the creative poses and ideas.

“I wanted to take pictures and give them an illustration feel,” he said.

The photos are truly larger than life, with Juji transformed into a real-life Clifford. And their antics have become even more creative as time has gone on.

Last week, the TODAY Show picked up the larger-than-life story, featuring Cline’s photography on TV. Before the TV segment, “I was getting two or three emails a day,” Cline said. “Now, I’m getting 200.”

His number of followers on Instagram has skyrocketed from less than 800 last year to almost 65,000 today.

The most popular photos are the ones in which Cline and Juji are doing adventurous things.

“Most people like the action shots and they like to see us active,” he said.

The duo now has more than 30,000 Instagram followers, and Cline has started making custom photos of fans and their pets.

The photos have become so successful that Cline has been able to start making them full time.

He described his success as being “the American dream.”

“That’s everyone’s dream, is to find something that you love to do and do it better than anyone else,” he said. Now, not only is Juji Cline’s best friend, but through their business, he’s also his “partner.”

“Since we’ve been doing this, it has made us a real team,” Cline said.

“It’s more of a partnership almost when we are working.”

Cline explains his process, ”I go out and take the background shot first, because I need to know what the lighting is supposed to look like,” he explains. Then he brings out Juji. For each edit, he takes as many as 60 photos of the dog — some in more ridiculous positions than others.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to get the poses, but we’ve been working together for over a year now on these, so we know each other really well,” Cline said. “I know when he’s in the mood to work, and when he’s not.”

Finally, Cline photographs himself. Every finished edit he posts on Instagram started as at least three different pictures, but could contain elements from as many 10. Cline combines them in Photoshop, where he smooths edges and adjusts shadows.

So far, he’s featured shots of Juji riding a bike, taking the place of the shark in the “Jaws” poster, towering over him in a lawn chair and leaping through the foggy woods looking like a character from “The NeverEnding Story.”

“I keep thinking I’m going to run out of ideas, but I don’t, because every day is new,” Cline said. The surreal pet project has turned into his full-time job.

He edits other people’s pets into towering giants for a fee of $50.

He’s done dogs, cats — and even a snake. “That one was strange,” he said.

The bizarre world of Internet fame has taken some getting used

to. A few weeks ago, while out in Stillwater, a woman recognized Juji on the street.

“Oh my god,” she said. “I saw you on Instagram!”

Next, the doggy groomers recognized Juji when he came in for a trim. “Then Ashton Kutcher posted my pictures on his Facebook page the other day,” Cline said.

“That was kind of a big deal to me.”

Next up, Cline hopes to do a children’s book starring his twostory-tall dog. For now, he and Christine Ann are just trying to keep track of all the emails, calls and messages pouring in.

“We keep looking at each other and saying: ‘This is weird.’”

Juji, for his part, hasn’t let the fame go to his head.

“As long as he gets his treat for taking pictures for an hour, he doesn’t care about anything else,” Cline said. Juji still likes the same old things — mainly, sticks, and spending time with Cline.

“It’s brought us really close together,” Cline said. “He’s definitely my best buddy.”

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IGGY JOEY instagram

location

@iggyjoey

Toronto, Canada

Meet Iggy Joey. Dog. Canadian.

Fashion and lifestyle guru. An Italian Greyhound, Iggy Joey first joined Instagram as just a normal dog, but has now gained over 25,000 followers after her owner began posting photos of her in homemade sweaters.

She was born on April 1st 2014.

The name Iggy is the abbreviation of Italian Greyhound and Joey is because of her resemblance to a baby kangaroo. Iggy Joey lives in West Queen West in Toronto, which was recently named “2nd coolest neighbourhood in the world” by Vogue Magazine. Obviously because they’ve seen Iggy Joey wearing her fashionable sweaters and onsies in the area.

In the world of ridiculously cute dogs, there’s some that really push the limits of reason. These pinnacle-of-cuteness pups have a certain look that can stop you in the street, almost forcing you to make friends with their owner in order to be closer to their unreasonably beautiful 48

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features. That’s pretty much what happened with Lyndal Moody and her dog, Joey. We were strolling across Queen Street and there she was, a slender Greyhound dressed to kill with the face of an angel.

Turns out, @IggyJoey has quite the following of loyal dog, fashion, and dog fashion enthusiasts — and for good reason! This dog rules.

Moody, who is originally from Australia, is the social media manager and photographer for her own business, Moody Social.

She represents and promotes clients mainly in the fashion and film industry in Toronto. Her day starts with a coffee and some Internet catch-up time, followed by a photoshoot or two and then back to her computer for editing and more Internet time! At night she likes to watch movies, sew things or make music. She decided to adopt Iggy Joey a few years after she moved to Toronto.

“I’m allergic to most dogs and luckily Italian Greyhounds are

hypoallergenic,” Moody said. “I couldn’t find any Italian Greyhounds in need of adoption so I contacted several local breeders.

When I met Joey she was four-anda-half months old. She climbed into my lap and gave me a lick. It was love.” But just a few weeks after adopting Iggy Joey, Moody made a horrifying discovery: The breeder she used had been running a puppy mill. “Obviously, I was shocked, angry, and devastated,” she said. “I don’t regret Joey coming into my life whatsoever. I just hope that by sharing this, it will help other people to do the right amount of research when getting a pet.”

“It’s obviously easy to make an emotional decision about bringing a dog into your life, but the outcome might not as be as positive as it has been for me,” she said. “No one should support animal cruelty.”

Luckily, Iggy Joey is happy and healthy. But how did she become a fashionista?

“I knew Italian Greyhounds got really cold easily … She would shake and cry outside when it started

getting under 20 degrees Celsius,” said Moody.

“I started @IggyJoey’s Instagram account when we first got Joey mostly because I didn’t want to annoy all my friends with my constant stream of dog pictures. I started to notice an increase in her followers when I began getting her winter clothes. I had a lot of trouble finding clothes that would fit her unusual body shape so I ended up ordering her some custom made clothes from Etsy. While I was waiting for them to arrive it was getting colder and colder so I had to improvise. I read online that you could cut the sleeves off old sweaters and then put some holes in them for legs so that’s what we did.

The bright patchwork sweater you see her wearing in a few pictures was the middle section of a $4 value village sweater that I sewed together. The one sweater ended up giving Joey three coats! And of course the bright colours made her Instagram account start to get popular. Once she got the clothes from Etsy it really took off. She’s so skinny that she really relies on her clothes to go outside and she really seems to love

them. She looks so comfortable in them, she’s always posing. I guess you could say I accidentally created a doggy supermodel.”

She gets so much positive feedback from her Instagram account.

A lot of people comment that her posts really make their day and others want to know where to get her clothes. So far they haven’t received any negative feedback online, maybe a few eye rolls on the street. But the amount of people that smile and have a laugh makes it worth it!

The nearly-two-year-old canine also wears the hell out of a string of pearls.

“I was working with a vintage clothing store in Toronto … and I would take Joey with me when I was taking photos. She would immediately jump in the store window and ‘Sphinx’ or ‘vogue.’

One day we put pearls on her and she stopped traffic! And so pearls became a regular part of her doggy wardrobe.”

Would Iggy Joey have advice for any aspiring fashion icons (dog or otherwise)?

“Believe in yourself and always exude confidence.”

“You don’t always have to obey the rules… Unless there is a treat involved.”

Iggy Joey has been crowned “The World’s Most Fashionable Pooch ” by Bow Wow Times and “The Most Fashionable Dog On The Internets” by Whole Mum.

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ROCCO instagram

location

@roccothepug

Austin, Texas

Had a long day at the office? Don’t worry, Rocco is here to help you.

We love bartenders, but they’ve also been missing a certain quality… and that quality is being a pug.

Rocco, a 12-year-old pug, is the best bartender you’ll meet with a sharp fashion sensibility. He and his owner, Lili Novosel, whip up expert cocktails in their Austin, Texas, kitchen. The cocktails look incredible, but the ever-dapper Rocco is the real star here.

Rocco’s owner, Lili, spoke about her boozy pup. “It’s his insatiable appetite for treats and attention that drove it. I was so proud of the first cocktails I made that I would snap a picture while enjoying them to send to my husband,” Lili said. “When Rocco would see me snapping the pictures, he’d rush to get on the sofa and sit next to the cocktail, or try and claw his way up the breakfast table to be in the picture.”

It isn’t ALL cocktails and bowties. Since rescuing him eight years ago, Lili has been taking the most incredible photos of Rocco and his brother Weldon. Lili buys all of Rocco’s snazzy shirts from The Stylish Bisou on Etsy, each made to fit his ‘pleasantly plump physique.’

Like all true style legends, Rocco isn’t a follower of trends.

“He likes choosing his outfit based on the mood of the cocktail he is making. The entire process takes about three to five minutes, and that includes putting his shirt

and bow tie on”. Rocco has become accustomed to his new routine.

“After making a cocktail, he gets excited because he knows a picture and a treat will follow.”

And if you’re wondering what Rocco’s favourite drink is, “he’s a sucker for a lavender gin and tonic”.

Someone get this pug his own bar, already. We’ll live there! #pugtender

Social media has made it the age of the dog! People everywhere are taking their silly dog photos and doing amazing things with them. What can you do with your photos? Fetch wants to see! Send us your silly dog pictures and your pup might just make it into our next spotlight!

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As Greg Mahle,unshaven and road weary, pulls his 12-wheeled rig into a parking lot in Putnam, Connecticut on a sunny Saturday afternoon, he peers through the grime of nearly 3,500 miles that has collected on his windshield since we left his home in Janesville, Ohio five days ago. In front of us are a couple of dozen people, many of them children, clapping and waving signs of welcome. It's a scene Mahle has witnessed here almost every other Saturday for the past ten years.

His cargo? Approximately eighty lucky rescue dogs-dogs once lost, abandoned, neglected, or abused; many just hours away from being put to death in high-kill shelters in southern states.

Over the past five days Mahle, whose not-forprofit operation is called Rescue Road Trips, has driven from Ohio to Texas and along the Gulf Coast picking up dogs saved from various rescue organizations. The people waiting? “Forever” families ready to welcome their new loves into their homes. This day, when dogs and their new families are united, is known as “Gotcha Day.” In a moment, Mahle will leap from the cab of the truck and announce in a booming, cheerful voice, “Hi everybody! I’m Greg! Are you excited?

I know you’ve been waiting for these guys for a while, but they’ve been waiting their whole lives for this moment!”

But before he does, Mahle sighs gently and turns to me. He says, “you know, a few days ago these dogs were all going to die. Now, the doors will open, the light will pour in, and each one will be delivered into the arms of a loving family.

This is heaven.”

I first learned of Greg Mahle in 2012 when, after a twenty year "discussion" with my wife and children, I finally agreed to get a family dog.

When we adopted a yellow Lab mix named Albie, it was Greg Mahle who brought him north from Louisiana. Alfie had languished in a public shelter in Alexandria for five months, very fortunate to survive. About nine in ten dogs who end up there never leave; they are euthanized, to put

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it politely. The south, simply put, has a massive canine overpopulation problem, but there is demand for rescue dogs up north.

I was intrigued by Mahle’s bi-monthly odyssey and persuaded him to let me tag along. I also spent time with some of the tireless people who save these dogs, nurse them back to health, often at great expense, find them homes and bring them to Mahle’s truck to begin the final leg of their long journey home. These people see so much suffering that compassion fatigue can be an occupational hazard. For every dog they save there are thousands they cannot, and the faces of those left behind haunt them.

Mahle’s trips begin on Mondays and by Tuesday night he’s in Texas, ready to begin picking up dogs the next morning.

On a Wednesday morning in May, Mahle and I and his other driver “Tommy” started picking up dogs at designated meeting places. (“Tommy” prefers that I not use his real name.) By afternoon we had about fifty. In southwest Louisiana, we stopped at a service station with a large, grassy field nearby to give each dog a short walk, a job that has to be done in the brutal heat and humidity of a Southern summer and bitter cold of a Northeast winter. As Mahle and I walked the dogs Tommy changed paper in the kennels and filled water bowls.

As we walked, I was struck by how physical Mahle’s work is. Tires need to be changed, roof-mounted air conditioning units checked, and the endless hours of driving a big rig are far more wearying than driving a car. Then there’s lifting dozens of dogs, some weighing eighty pounds or more, in and out of kennels, securing the leashes and sometimes being towed along by a large dog very happy to be free of his kennel so he can do his business. Some bounded down the stairs of the truck; some had to be handed down

into our waiting arms. Zack, a mixed breed, seemed petrified as he climbed into my arms.

Jenna, a black Lab, just rolled over, wanting a belly rub.

It’s impossible not to get peed on or to get poop smeared on your clothes when you’re handling so many dogs. Mix in the sweat from walking dozens of dogs in the Louisiana heat with no shower for two days (and none to come for another two), and you have a recipe for an undeniably pungent yet oddly sweet smell. And yet, just as I was wondering how I was going to go another two days without a shower, Mahle ambled by with one of the dogs and said, in all seriousness, “I pity people with real jobs.”

Mahle charges $185 to transport a dog.

Expenses are high; fuel alone can run $7,000 or more per month, there are salaries to be paid (to Tommy, for example) and constant, costly, repairs among others. Male donates upwards of 400 hours a month to his work; even when he’s not on the road, Rescue Road Trips is a more than full time job. When you do the math, he’s making less-often significantly less-than minimum wage, depending on how many dogs he has on a run.

By the time Mahle pointed the truck north we had more than 80 dogs on board. The longest stretch of driving is from central Louisinana virtually non-stop through the night to Allentown, Pennsylvania where Mahle arrives every other Friday evening. But on Thursday evening outside

Some people will wait months for their dogs to arrive so it can be a very emotional time

“

I pity people with real jobs

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of Birmingham, we stopped for a few hours.

Here Mahle’s “Birmingham Angels,” as he calls them, a group of some three-dozen volunteers, come and give each dog an extended walk and a whole lot of love. Similar groups meet the truck in Allentown and Rocky Hill, Connecticut every other week.

As we rumbled north through Tennessee and Virginia, Mahle spoke frequently about the people in rescue whose faces adopters never see and whose names they may never know.

“We are all cogs in a wheel in rescue,” Mahle explained. “Everyone has a role to play. No one’s job is any more important than anyone else’s. It takes a hundred people playing their roles to save a dog.”

From the moment we left Janesville on Monday - a bittersweet parting because Mahle adores his wife Adella and stepson Connor, 12 - Mahle made frequent use of Facebook. He documents every rescue road trip, and posts dozens of pictures of the dogs along the way. For the eager and anxious families waiting down the line he wants the excitement to build as they follow their pups from the deep South to the North. He wants Gotcha Day to be unforgettable.

Mahle’s Facebook chronicles have another audience too - the many people who extended hearts and hands to make each dog’s journey possible. They may never see a Gotcha Day in person but through Mahle’s posts they can share

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the joy and see the happy endings they helped make possible.

Mahle also writes a Facebook post after the truck crosses into Pennsylvania on Friday afternoons. “We have crossed the Mason-Dixon Line!” he wrote. “All bad memories of being homeless, starved, abused, abandoned, unwanted, and unloved are behind us. Our thoughts are on forever families and forever love. Gotcha Day is almost here. Are you excited? Is your welcome sign ready? Get ready, we are almost there!”

The next morning, inside the trailer, the start of Gotcha Day is marked by the sound of a single dog barking, then two, and then three. Soon you can hear the sound of wagging tails brushing against kennel walls, paws scratching at kennel doors, and an occasional whimper. The sounds build gradually, as the rising din stirs more dogs to wakefulness, until the trailer is alive with the sounds of eighty dogs on the threshold of a brand new life.

For Mahle, this is the day that makes the endless miles of blacktop, the long absences from home, the exhausting work and the burden of carrying so many people’s hopes and dreams on his shoulders worthwhile.

As we approach Putnam, I ask Mahle what it’s like for him at the end of Gotcha Day when, suddenly, the trailer is empty and quiet.

“It’s a difficult emotion to explain,” he says softly after a long pause. “I’m happy to be

finished and excited to be going home to see Adella and Connor. But I don’t like going back in the trailer because the dogs are all gone. It’s lifeless and cold, plastic and metal. Right now, it’s full of life in its best form.”

“When the last dog is handed to his new family,” he adds, “I survey the panorama of people with their new dogs and think, I’ve never seen so many happy people. They’re all having the same experience and you can believe the world is a better place.”

Check out the book!

Love this story?

Read all about Greg and his road trips in the book Rescue Road. Peter joins Greg for a cross country trip to get the inside scoop. Follow them through the ups and downs of rescuing dogs and bringing them home.

Gotcha Day is a very exciting time for both the rescue dogs and their new families

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Weltoctheome Great

Outdoors

by Lassie Collie It’s no secret that most dogs love the outdoors and for good reason. Giving your dog time outside not only physically stimulates them, but it mentally stimulates them as well. If you want a truly tired pup there’s no better solution then a trip outside. But before you start scaling mountains, here’s some tips to make your trip as smooth as possible.

1. Attach an S-Biner to the end of all of your leashes Whether we’re traveling in the backcountry, cross country on a roadtrip, or grabbing a cup of coffee in town, Hilde is almost always with us. This means that sometimes she needs to hang out while we’re focused on the task at hand. We attached these cool S-Biners to the ends of all of her leashes so that we could quickly and easily secure her leash to almost anything. They’re cheap, and helpful in so many situations!

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2. Get a smell barrier bag for hiking Will and I are big proponents for packing out dog poop whenever possible, so this one has proved to be invaluable for us.

Unfortunately, there’s a certain aura that often accompanies the poo-packer that can make doing the responsible thing easy to ignore. Luckily, we found this awesome product at REI that stores the poop AND contains the smell! It works so well that I’ll happily hike behind Will even when he’s carrying multiple Hilde bombs. Gross.

Even better is putting your pup’s no-smell poo bag in their own backpack! Then you don’t have to smell it or carry it, either.

3. Teach the “Whistle Stop” There are SO MANY things your dog can encounter in the wilderness, and not all of them are good. Recall is an incredibly important skill to teach your dog, but a lot of people struggle with it, especially when there’s a ton of interesting stuff competing for attention. Will and I have started to teach Hilde a special “emergency only” recall just for use in the backcountry: the Whistle Stop.

The idea is this: our packs all have a safety whistle that generally goes unused. Over the last few months we’ve been reinforcing to Hilde that a short two blasts on the whistle means that she’s going to get a REALLY awesome treat, like

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the end of a block of cheese or a few pieces of salami. We will never use this as a general “come back here” command, but if something truly life threatening came up we could use it to get her back to us quickly, no questions asked.

7. Get an all-in-one multivitamin and supplement When we started building up Hilde’s endurance for longer adventures, the vet suggested a long list of vitamins and supplements to make sure she’s getting all of the nutrients and support she needs. When I started looking into all of the requirements I quickly got overwhelmed with choices. Luckily we found Platinum Performance, an all in one supplement that supports her joints with glucosamine (super important for large dogs that do heavy activity) gives her the right omega 3 fatty acids, and has a ton of good vitamins and antioxidants that are not included in her regular food. They use high quality ingredients and their claims are backed by some of the best veterinary science in the industry. On top of that, it doesn’t smell fishy and she loves it!

8. Fight fleas & ticks the easy way Fleas and ticks are our worst enemy. Not only do they carry life threatening diseases, they’re just downright gross. We tried several topical treatments for Hilde but found that they just weren’t working the way they were supposed to. Apparently

Hilde does a little too much swimming for the supposedly “waterproof ” topical solutions. Our vet recommended the Seresto collar and it’s been worlds better! She has long tick-grabbing hair so we used to find 3–5 on her after every hike in California. Now, with the Seresto, we only find one once in a blue moon.

9. Give them a bear bell It’s no secret that dogs bother wildlife. However, if you can alert the wildlife that your dog is coming through, they can get out of the way before your pup even knows that they exist.

We always make sure that Hilde wears her own bear bell when hiking in Grizzly country, for her protection and our awareness.

10. Get the right vaccinations for your area When it comes down to it, one of the best adventure dog “hacks” isn’t really a hack at all! When we transitioned from Colorado to California there were all kinds of new dangers on the trail, abundant rattlesnakes being one of the scariest.

A quick chat with our vet revealed a rattlesnake vaccine, that would help slow the effects of venom should she ever get bit and give us precious extra time to get to the animal hospital.

Make sure to talk to your vet about whatever you’re doing out there, they have lots of helpful local advice!

Happy

Adventuring!

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Breed of the Month Rhodesian Ridgeback

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Breed Characteristics Breed Group: Hound Height: 2’ - 2’3” at the shoulder Weight: 70-85lbs Life Span: 10-12 years Energy Level Exercise Needs Intelligence Easy to Train Grooming Needs

Overview The Rhodesian Ridgeback, once known as the African Lion Hound, was developed in South Africa by Boer farmers. The farmers needed a versatile hunting dog who could withstand the extreme temperatures and terrain of the bush, survive when water rations were low, protect property, and be a companion to the entire family.

They started by crossing dogs they’d brought from Europe — such as Great Danes, Mastiffs, Greyhounds, and Bloodhounds — with a halfwild native dog kept by the Khoikhoi, a pastoral people. This dog had a distinctive ridge of hair along its back, and breeders noticed that crosses who had this ridge tended to be excellent hunters.

The first thing people notice about the Rhodesian Ridgeback is usually the characteristic ridge that runs down his spine and gives him his name.

They also notice his strong athleticism, noble carriage, and the intelligence in his eyes. The history of the breed only adds to his allure; owners are often asked, “Did they really hunt lions?”

Today, the Rhodesian Ridgeback is still used for hunting, and some members of the breed have even adapted to pointing and retrieving.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback can also be found competing in various dog sports, including agility,

lure coursing, obedience, and tracking, and he’s a good hiking or jogging companion.

As a pup, the Rhodesian Ridgeback is active and exuberant, but he matures into a dog with moderate exercise needs. Give him a vigorous walk or game of fetch a couple of times a day, plus a chance to run in a safely fenced area a couple of times a week, and he’ll be satisfied — at least in terms of physical exercise. This intelligent breed also needs mental stimulation: a bored Rhodesian Ridgeback is a destructive Rhodesian Ridgeback.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is dignified and reserved toward strangers. With his family, he’s a quiet, gentle companion, one who’s able and willing to defend his home and people if the need arises.

Because of his size, intelligence, and power, he’s not the breed for everyone. First-time or timid dog owners may find him to be much more than a handful. People who want an outgoing dog who will love everyone should keep looking.

But if you are looking for a strong, confident dog, a dog who encompasses gentleness, hardheadedness, and a sense of humor in a shorthaired, easy-care package, the Rhodesian Ridgeback may be the perfect match.

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Personality The Rhodesian Ridgeback is independent and intelligent, a combination that can be entertaining, frustrating, and rewarding, all in one. It’s important to begin training early and to be firm — but not harsh — and consistent.

Because of his hunting roots, the Rhodesian Ridgeback has a high prey drive. That means stray cats and other small furry animals aren’t safe in your yard, and it also means your yard should be securely fenced, to prevent him from going hunting on his own.

Exuberant and active in puppyhood, he matures into a quiet dog with moderate exercise needs. The Ridgeback is protective of his home and a discriminating barker who can be counted on to alert you to trouble. He’s reserved with strangers but gentle and affectionate with family members.

Like every dog, Rhodesian Ridgebacks need early socialization — exposure to many different people, sights, sounds, and experiences — when they’re young. Socialization helps ensure that your Ridgeback puppy grows up to be a well-rounded dog.

Health Rhodesian Ridgebacks are generally healthy, but like all breeds, they can get certain health conditions. Not all Ridgebacks will get any or all of these diseases, but it’s important to be aware of them if you’re considering this breed.

Because some health problems don’t appear until a dog reaches full maturity, health clearances aren’t issued to dogs younger than 2 years old.

Look for a breeder who doesn’t breed her dogs until they’re two or three years old. The following problems are not common in the breed, but they may occur: • Elbow Dysplasia is a heritable condition common to large-breed dogs. It’s thought to be caused by different growth rates of the three bones that make up the dog’s elbow, causing joint laxity. This can lead to painful lameness.

Your vet may recommend surgery to correct the problem, or medication and weight loss to control the pain.

• Hip Dysplasia is a heritable condition in which the thighbone doesn’t fit snugly into the hip joint. Some dogs show pain and lameness on one or both rear legs, but you may not notice any signs of discomfort in a dog with hip dysplasia. As the dog ages, arthritis can develop.

X-ray screening for hip dysplasia is done by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals or the University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program (PennHIP). Hip dysplasia is heredi-

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tary, but it can be worsened by environmental factors, such as rapid growth from a high-calorie diet or injuries incurred from jumping or falling on slick floors.

• Dermoid Sinus is a congenital skin defect in which a cyst or narrow tubelike structure occurs along the spinal area. It can penetrate the skin to varying degrees, and some reach into the muscle tissue and can be attached to the spinal cord. If the dermoid sinus becomes infected it can cause other problems. Some puppies with this defect are euthanized, but others are treated with surgery.

Grooming When it comes to grooming, the Rhodesian Ridgeback is pretty low-maintenance. Give him a good going over with a rubber curry brush

weekly to remove loose or dead hair, then wipe him down with a damp cloth. Voila! A clean Ridgeback.

Other grooming needs include dental hygiene and nail care. Brush your Ridgeback’s teeth at least two or three times a week to remove tartar buildup and bacteria. Daily is better. Trim his nails once or twice a month, as needed. If you can hear the nail clicking on the floor, they’re too long. Short nails keep the feet in good condition and don’t get caught in the carpet and tear.

Start grooming your Ridgeback when he’s a puppy to get him used to it. Handle his paws frequently — dogs are touchy about their feet — and look inside his mouth and ears. Make grooming a positive experience filled with praise and rewards, and you’ll lay the groundwork for easy veterinary exams and other handling when he’s an adult.

The “ridge” on thier backs is actually just a strip of hair

Rhodesian puppies are adventurous

that grows in the wrong direction.

and strong willed

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Shelter of the Month

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L

ocated five miles north of Kanab, Utah, Angel Canyon, home of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and about 1,600 homeless animals, has been known for thousands of years as a sacred place to the people who lived here.

It continues to this day to be a very unique and extraordinary place.

When you arrive in the canyon, you immediately feel the peace and tranquility of a place where so many ancient peoples have gathered in centuries past, and where today, so many animals are loved and heal from their hard life journeys. The Sanctuary is home to dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, horses, pigs, goats, mules, sheep, burros and wildlife.

The animals come to this sanctuary in the canyon from far and wide. Some are ill, some have been neglected or abused, and all are homeless. But once they’re at the animal safe haven, at what is so much more than a no-kill animal shelter, they receive everything they need, physically, emotionally and psychologically, to thrive and find good homes.

For those few who are never ready to take that next step, Best Friends is their safe haven for life.

There really is nowhere else like the Sanctuary on earth.

The Sanctuary was conceived 30 years ago, by a group of individuals with one thought: why do shelter pets have to die? For so many animals, it was the beginning of a miracle. It was the 1980s.

Shelters across America routinely killed cats and dogs as the primary method of handling unwanted pets. Around 17 million animals per-

Keepers make a commitment to show all the animals love and affection.

Dogs are encouraged to socialize and play all day

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ished every year. Older, sick and problem animals were the first to go. Then, a group of friends began taking some of those “unadoptables” to a safe haven to heal. With proper care and patience, the vast majority of these animals found loving forever families. The remaining animals spent the rest of their days romping in the new sanctuary.

That group of friends who cared so deeply about animals grew and flourished and became Best Friends Animal Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and animal welfare society.

At the core of Best Friends’ work is the dream that one day animals will no longer be killed in America’s shelters. By implementing spay/neuter and trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs to reduce the number of animals who enter shelters, and increasing the number of people who adopt pets, they know they can end the killing. They know they can Save Them All.

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At the heart of Best Friends is the Sanctuary, where, at any given time, about 1,600 animals are turning their lives around, receiving the medical help they need, and getting love and acceptance to help them overcome their past.

While searching for their forever homes, they live in a scenic, healing environment among human and animal friends.

Best Friends owns nearly 3,700 acres, and we lease another 17,000 acres of state and federal land. Nearly 30,000 people visit every year to meet the animals and tour what has become the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals.

The Sanctuary now hosts visitors on what is know as a “Volunteer Vacation”. People travel from all over the country to stay on the property and volunteer with the animals. It’ll cost you a pretty penny but the rewards are so worth it.

Does this all sound familiar? Best Friends received some media attention with the release of The Champions, a movie about the Michael Vick dogs. Best Friends was able to take in 22 of the rescued dogs, including Meryl who was one of two dogs ordered by the court to never be adopted out due to poor behavior skills.

Watch the movie for an even better look at this amazing sanctuary.

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Brand of the Month Hiro + Wolf

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Amy and Bee with their pups Hiro and Wolf who inspired the company

A sampling of some of the vibrant patterns that Amy and Bee use, all sourced ethically from all around the world

Accessories designer Amy Fleuriot and craft development expert Bee Friedmann first met in 2011 while walking their dogs in London Fields Park in Hackney, London. They quickly discovered a common love for design, animals, and sustainability and almost as quickly converted their shared passions into an accessories brand named after their two dogs, Hiro + Wolf.

The brand officially launched in the Summer of 2013 with a collection of vibrant, ethically made products for pets.

All fabrics for their collections are hand selected from around the world, many ethically sourced during trips to Kenya, featuring striking patterns and colourful designs. Amy + Bee are proud to hand make all of their pet accessories in the UK. Amy and Bee collaborate with the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya’s Bombolulu workshop on their collections. A member of WFTO (World Fair Trade Organisation), this ‘not-for-profit’ organization works with people with physical disabilities and provides them with training, education and a valuable source of income.

All leads and collars are skilfully trimmed with bright neon and luxury vegetable tan leathers and fitted with hardware by hand in an all female enterprise in Staffordshire. Now an internationally recognised brand, Hiro + Wolf collections are sold in stores worldwide, as featured on Elle Decoration, GQ magazine, Living etc & Timeout.

Visit their unique shopping destination for people and their pets situated on Columbia Road Flower Market, ‘Artisans + Adventurers’ , stocking the full selection of Hiro + Wolf accessories alongside their much loved collection of jewellery (formerly also under the Hiro + Wolf brand), homeware and gifts all handmade to Fair Trade standards.

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Training 101 The 5 Essential Commands

Training your pup is one of the most important activities you can do with them. While it is easier to train a puppy, don’t discount the your older dog. Old dogs do learn new tricks and they like it!Not only does it benefit you by giving you more control over they’re behavior but it also benefits your dog by stimulating him mentally and giving him the tools to understand you which makes them happy! Training also helps you to establish and reaffirm your role as Pack Leader. It’s a great bonding experience. If you’re new to training, or even if you’re a veteran trainer, here is a list of the five most essential commands to start you’re pup off right!

Sit This is one of the easiest dog obedience commands to teach, so it’s a good one to start with.

Hold a treat close to your dog’s nose.

Move your hand up, allowing his head to follow the treat and causing his bottom to lower.

Once he’s in sitting position, say “Sit,” give him the treat, and share affection.

Repeat this sequence a few times every day until your dog has it mastered. Then ask your dog to sit before mealtime, when leaving for walks, and during other situations where you’d like him calm and seated.

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Come This command can help keep a dog out of trouble, bringing him back to you if you lose grip on the leash or accidentally leave the front door open.

Put a leash and collar on your dog.

Go down to his level and say, “Come,” while gently pulling on the leash. When he gets to you, reward him with affection and a treat. Once he’s mastered it with the leash, remove it — and practice the command in a safe, enclosed area.

Down This can be one of the more difficult commands in dog obedience training. Why? Because the position is a submissive posture. You can help by keeping training positive and relaxed, particularly with fearful or anxious dogs.

Find a particularly good smelling treat, and hold it in your closed fist.

Hold your hand up to your dog’s snout. When he sniffs it, move your hand to the floor, so he follows. Then slide your hand along the ground in front of him to encourage his body to follow his head. Once he’s in the down position, say “Down,” give him the treat, and share affection.

Repeat it every day. If your dog tries to sit up or lunges toward your hand, say “No” and take your hand away. Don’t push him into a down position, and encourage every step your dog takes toward the right position. After all, he’s working hard to figure it out!

Stay Before attempting this one, make sure your dog is an expert at the “Sit” command.

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First, ask your dog to “Sit.” Then open the palm of your hand in front of you, and say “Stay.”

Take a few steps back. Reward him with a treat and affection if he stays. Gradually increase the number of steps you take before giving the treat.

Always reward your pup for staying put — even if it’s just for a few seconds. This is an exercise in self-control for your dog, so don’t be discouraged if it takes a while to master, particularly for puppies and high-energy dogs. After all, they want to be on the move and not just sitting there waiting.

Leave it This can help keep your dog safe when his curiosity gets the better of him, like if he smells something intriguing but possibly dangerous on the ground! The goal is to teach your pup that he gets something even better for ignoring the other item.

Place a treat in both hands. Show him one enclosed fist with the treat inside, and say, “Leave it.” Let him lick, sniff, mouth, paw, and bark to try to get it — and ignore the behaviors. Once he stops trying, give him the treat from the other hand.

Repeat until your dog moves away from that first fist when you say, “Leave it.” Next, only give your dog the treat when he moves away from that first fist and also looks up at you. Once your dog consistently moves away from the first treat and gives you eye contact when you say the command, you’re ready to take it up a notch. For this, use two different treats — one that’s just all right and one that’s a particularly good smelling and tasty favorite for your pup.

Say “Leave it,” place the less attractive treat on the floor, and cover it with your hand. Wait until your dog ignores that treat and looks at you.

Then remove that treat from the floor, give him the better treat and share affection immediately.

Once he’s got it, place the less tasty treat on the floor… but don’t completely cover it with your hand. Instead hold it a little bit above the treat. Over time, gradually move your hand farther and farther away until your hand is about 6 inches above.

Now he’s ready to practice with you standing up! Follow the same steps, but if he tries to snatch the less tasty treat, cover it with your foot. Do not rush the process. Remember, you’re asking a lot of your dog. If you take it up a notch and he’s really struggling with it, go back to the previous stage.

Just these five simple commands can help keep your dog safer and improve your communication with him. It’s well worth the investment of your time and effort. Remember, the process takes time, so only start a dog obedience training session if you’re in the right mindset to practice calm-assertive energy and patience.

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January 2017

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NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO PET YOUR DOG And maybe you shouldn’t let them

Spring Break? Bring Fido!

Cheap, fun things to do with your pup over break

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