Pit Bull Awareness Day

Today I went to Albany to help spread the good word about my brothers and sisters at Pittie Palooza. Mom and I set up a table with all the good reading material from Animal Farm Foundation and National Canine Research Council. The posters and trading cards were very popular. When do I get one with my picture on it?These cuties were helping sell food and drinks.

This is Ramona. She is up for adoption from Mowhawk Hudson Humane Society.These are doggie cupcakes that I got to sample. I brought home one to share with my brother.
After a very long day doing tricks and showing everyone what a well behaved dog looks like, mom said I earned a few hours of freedom when we got home. I used my freedom to lick my brother's unfinished peanut butter kongs and make a nest on the couch. I don't even care about the cats screaming for their dinner. I am pooped.

I love tricks

My mom and her friends get together one night a month for something they call "Dog Salon" at Dogs of Hudson. They watch dog training videos and eat sweets and stuff. This month everyone brought their dog and we learned new tricks. Colten showed us what Ceiba has been working on... skateboarding!! Then he showed us how to start learning. Here is Nova and her mom Erica trying it out. Then my mom showed everyone what I have been working on...backing up! The smart people at Pawsitive Vybe have been teaching us cool stuff like this and I can back up a good distance because I learned how to target my back feet to a mat. I like doing it and I offer it a lot now. Here is my friend Ceiba practicing at home.

I had so much fun and did so good at skateboarding! My mom made a video for me.

Tikki Tembo is my girlfriend

I have many friends. Some have already been adopted and others are still waiting. I help cheer up my buddies that are still waiting for homes by running and wrestling with them. Tikki Tembo is my girlfriend. She is especially pretty and has the nickname "Blonde Ambition"! She is very popular with all the boys and girls at Animal Farm but I think she might like me best. I hope her people come for her soon. She can cuddle and keep them warm when it gets cold.

I am now a Therapy Dog

Two weeks ago I received my Canine Good Citizen award and started on the road to Therapy Dog status. Today mom and I drove to Tuckahoe, NY and visited an assisted living facilty with Therapy Dog evaluator Ann King of Canine King. I was a bit distracted in the new environment and wanted to sniff everything but when mom asked me to lay down to be pet by the nice ladies, jump up into a chair so that wheelchair bound folks could reach me, or do tricks for the small crowd, I made sure to listen and perform. My favorite lady was the lady that couldn't talk but smiled a lot. She seemed happy. I also liked the lady who reached into her handbag to grab a Hershey's Kiss to give me but Ann reminded her that chocolate is no good for dogs. Phewy! Towards the end of our short visit I started feeling like I wanted to act silly and roll around on the carpeting but mom can read my mind and told me to think of something else.... so I crawled. I think they thought it was a cute trick or something. Anyway, I passed my evaluation, no sweat. Mom says for our first REAL visit we will have to come up with a short dance routine to make people laugh. We have little bits and pieces but she wants something snazzy. I hope she doesn't make me wear anything glittery........ Good night. It's been a long day.

Hello Friends!

Hello Friends! After waiting a long time for Hanna my mom to realize that she was meant to be my mom, she officially adopted me! She bought my big brother Coleman and me these fancy bow ties and took this picture to commemorate the special day. I am still getting used to looking in to the camera when she points it at me but I'll get the hang of it soon.(That chunk taken out of the crate bottom was not my fault. Mom said Coleman's step sister did that a long time ago.) Many people who met me while I was staying at Animal Farm Foundation couldn't understand why it was taking so long for me to find the right home. I loved meeting all kinds of people big and small (I especially like kids) and liked playing with dogs. I walked really good on leash and I knew all my basic obedience commands like the back of my hand. My problem was that I did not like to be separated from my people. I got adopted out once to a very nice family but I could not be left alone anywhere without screaming and trying to get to my people. I cried in my crate at night and I busted through doors to be reunited with my people. I was returned to the shelter and that made me really sad. Luckily, Hanna and the other AFF staff were there and they started to help me be calmer in a crate. Hanna took me on as a project dog and soon decided that it would be much easier to work on my separation anxiety if she fostered me. SCORE! It's been almost 4 months since I first arrived at Casa Fushihara Aron and I am much better at being crated and have not screamed my loud and famous "cry of the bat monkey" in a while. I still whimper sometimes but mom says that is a very nice improvement. Now, one of the things I am working on is being loose in the house with the kitties. I still don't really get what they are, but I am very curious. Mom said that I can be loose with SU-PER-VISON as long as I am not in my crazy mode which happens every once in a while when I am very silly and wild. That is when I roll around on the floor and want to zoom around and grab random objects that normal dogs would not want to grab...like bags of dried spices or canola oil bottles. I am not allowed to do this indoors. Hanna says I can zoom around outdoors only. Anyway, here is a picture of me on my mat in the kitchen and Mini the cat in the background. When my mat is out, I know I am supposed to hang out on it and chill. It's very easy, see? I like finding my mat.
When Momma can not SU-PER-VISE me 100%, I am on a tether and I have toys and chews to work on to keep me busy. I really like all these rules because I don't like getting in trouble and I am good at listening...most of the time.

Tomorrow I am going to an assisted living community to finish my Therapy Dog evaluation I started two weeks ago. I'm not nervious or anything and Mom seems to think I'll do alright so I think it'll just be like a party - just with lots of people who walk slow, have white hair, and can't remember everything. Sounds fun to me.