So far we’ve received $580 in the Chip-in and $670 in off-line donations, for a total of $1,250 !!

Dr Hampel wants to do the surgery on Thursday – tomorrow – so we’re on a big push to try to raise the remaining $450.  Please tell everyone you know and crosspost our original plea like crazy! Every donation of $1 and $5 really does add up!!  Look what we’ve been able to do just since Sunday night!

If you have any trouble with the Chip In link, please contact Kelly at mdgrrrl@msn.com.  The Chip-In link again is: http://pugglesnpitties.chipin.com/bentleys-leg-repair

Thank you!

Thank you for your generosity! We’re so happy we’re going to be able to help this boy!

Well, we can’t imagine putting down a 3 yr old dog for a broken leg, so we agreed to help.  But now we need help helping little Bentley!!

Bentley needs to have his leg plated.  There is some question as to whether this is an old injury that wasn’t properly treated the first time or whether it’s completely new.  The girl who brought him in last week said she got him off of Craig’s List just a few days before but apparently he had been to this vet with his prior owner because he was in their system and they do have a record of him breaking this leg previously.  At that time it was splinted and he was put on crate rest. Now he needs the plate to make sure the repair holds.

Here’s the estimate from Animal Medical Center for the repair (click image to enlarge):

We’ve created a Chip-In for Bentley’s surgery and hope to have the money raised by Friday the 4th so we can schedule the surgery right away.  The vet wanted to do the surgery last Friday or this Monday but we had to put the brakes on to try and raise the funds.

http://pugglesnpitties.chipin.com/bentleys-leg-repair

Please share this post and the Chip-In link! If everyone can donate just $1 or $5, we can reach his goal in no time at all. This poor little nugget needs to get better soon…can you please help??

Please help me!

THANK YOU!!

For $27, you can order a Thundershirt for a Puggles & Pitties dog, $10 off their regular retail price plus free shipping.

To donate a Thundershirt to Puggles & Pitties, simply click the banner ad on the right of our home page (or below, or click HERE) to be taken to the Puggles & Pitties Thundershirt donation page. Simply place the order for a medium Thundershirt, and they’ll ship it directly to us – so easy!

This is a wonderful opportunity to support our small rescue without spending a lot of money. Any shirts donated through this program will go with the dogs once they’re adopted to help with their acclimation to their new environment.

Thank you in advance to anyone who might donate, and thank you to Thundershirt for this fantastic program!

We are THRILLED to announce that Puggles & Pitties is partnering with Our Pack and Whole Dog Training to bring you Pit Bulls 101, a free information session about pitties! This is an excellent opportunity for people curious about the breed or new pittie parents to learn more about these amazing dogs, dispel some myths and quash the rumors about these “vicious” beings.

This 1-hr class is FREE. Bring yourself, your friends, your significant other, and let’s talk pittie!

MONDAY, OCT 10th
7 PM
10035 Carroll Canyon Rd, Ste D (as in Dog)
San Diego, CA 92131

Please RSVP to Renee @ luckydogLT@gmail.com.  Seating is limited to 35 people. This session is for humans only, please leave your pooches home.

We look forward to seeing you there!!

Thundershirts are excellent tools for dogs with anxiety issues. They were initially marketed for dogs with storm anxiety but have proven to be helpful in a variety of anxiety-inducing situations.

The shirts fit snugly to the dog’s body and mimic the swaddling effect that comforts human babies. If you know a storm is coming, put it on your dog BEFORE the thunder starts in order to help him before his anxiety spirals out of control. If your dog is generally an anxious dog, you can leave the Thundershirt on her around the clock.

Thundershirts have proven to be effective in the following situations:

• Noise phobias – thunder, fireworks, etc;
• Separation anxiety;
• Crate training;
• Travel/Car anxiety;
• Nuisance barking;
• Hyperactivity;
• Leash pulling.

The Thundershirt website offers a lot of information about the shirts, how to get your dogs used to them, what types of training to do with them depending on what issues are being addressed: http://www.thundershirt.com/HowItWorks/

After checking out the Thundershirt website, please please PLEASE go to Helping Udders to purchase your shirt. Puggles & Pitties receives 10 – 50% of the proceeds from any purchases at Helping Udders, so purchasing through them will help  us with the costs of vetting and day-to-day care of the dogs in the rescue!

This is a fantastic tool for your dogs that we wholeheartedly support.

When finalizing your purchase at Helping Udders, please specify “Puggles & Pitties” as your rescue of choice. It’s that simple!

We thank you for your support; your furkid will thank you for the Thundershirt!

Hi All!

Yes, Brooke is still looking for her foster or forever home.  Her current owner, who needs to rehome her, has agreed to hold onto her while we screen applicants.  So if you’re interested in sweet Brooke, please contact us for an application!

Also, Ed E Hopps is still available.  He’s now a little over 5 months old and just as cute and sweet as ever.  He loves playing but he also loves cuddling up with his people. He’s just waiting for the right someone to find him.  Please contact The Mutt Scouts if you’re interested in Eddie!

Came across a great article on examiner.com today.  We get asked about our application a lot.  Here’s a very good response to the question of why in the world we ask so many questions, about things that some people think shouldn’t matter.

http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/those-darn-dog-rescues-with-all-of-their-rules-and-questions-what-gives

Hope you’re having a great summer!

Best,

Kelly
Puggles & Pitties

Brooke is 4 yrs old, UTD on shots, spayed, housetrained, good with kids and cats. Used to living a very active lifestyle – regular walks and roller-blading excursions with her mama, but has had to move into an apartment through no  fault of her own and has become very depressed.

We really really want to help this sweet girl, and her mom. Please consider being a temporary home for her during this difficult transition.

Thank you!

Isn’t he the cutest little thing ever??

We’re fostering Eddie for The Mutts Scouts - an awesome rescue based out of Los Angeles.  Eddie was born 2/16/2011 so as of this writing is 4 1/2 months old.  He’s a pure-bred boxer that was surrendered to the Scouts by…let’s call him a Good Samaritan.

Eddie is adorable and loving and funny and everything you would want and expect from a puppy.  He loves to play with anything he can get his mouth on; we’ve provided him with every kind of toy under the sun and he plays with them all, each one as enthusiastically as the next. He also loves playing fetch and is very proud to bring the ball (or whatever’s been thrown) right back to you.

Yes, he has one blue eye and one brown eye and,  if you know boxers, you know what that means!  Yes, Eddie the Hopper is deaf. Truth be told however, you’d never know it. We’ve been working with him on his training and have gotten him into such a strong “focus” as his default behavior that he rarely takes his eyes off his foster mom, except when he’s zonked out from all his playing. This makes it very easy to call him or to get his attention. He also knows “sit” and “off” and we’re working on “wait” and “down.”  Little Eddie is a smart boy and loves learning new things.

There isn’t a dog or person that Eddie doesn’t like. He plays with all of his foster brothers and sisters, and the ones who don’t want to play just have to change their mind because Eddie is a very determined pup!

Eddie is looking for a forever home that will keep up with his training, provide lots of playtime activities, take him on Great Adventures, and love him all the rest of his days.  If that sounds like you, please contact The Mutt Scouts at themuttscouts@gmail.com .

Eddie’s waiting…

We’ve just finished updating our Available Dogs page – check out the update on Fiona, Karma’s new profile, and our newest P&P member, RUFUS!!

If you’re interested in any of our cuties, please email us at mdgrrrl@msn.com for an application and to ask us any questions you may have!

We’re setting our clocks ahead an hour tonight, so Spring must officially be here, right??  That’s what we choose to believe anyway – enough of this winter’s rain!

Have a great weekend, and we hope to hear from some of you soon!

Puggles & Pitties

Things have been quiet here (on the website) because things have been anything BUT quiet at the Puggles & Pitties house!  Thought we’d take some time to give you all a quick update on the kids!

KARMA

Karma is doing spendidly! Every morning she’s a little more wiggly than the next. As soon as she wakes up, we go out in the backyard where she knows exactly what to do. Once she’s done, she wiggles and waggles her whole body back over to her foster mom for some early mornin’ lubbins.  Still haven’t introduced her to the other dogs in the house, but she’s such a doll-baby she will make someone a WONDERFUL companion whether or not she can share her life with other dogs.

Her stitches come out this weekend, so we’ll see how she’s healing up – and we can finally take her to have a bath!!  Happy dance!!

On the fundraising front, the Walkin’ the Bark fundraiser last week did really well!  Apparently they were able to raise $430 for Karma’s medical bills!  Once that payment is applied to Karma’s account, we’ll give another update as to the account’s remaining balance.  Thank you to Judy and the rest of the folks at Walkin’ the Bark, as well as to everyone else who has made Karma’s recovery possible!

LINUS

Little Linus is our current resident imp! He’s adorable as can be, and he knows how to work it to his advantage! He’s begun his puppy classes and did really well in his first class.  We’ve discovered that Linus is deaf, so he’ll need a very patient human who is willing to maintain his training and provide him with constant guidance and reassurance. But look at dat face!

Linus would do very well in a foster-to-adopt situation,  as he does need more training before we’d feel comfortable placing him, but we know you can’t wait to get some of that puppy breath!! As a foster, we would ask that you also take him to his training classes which are Saturdays at 11:15 in Encinitas. This is so that you, as his potential forever home, can learn the important skills of communicating with a deaf dog.

FIONA

Our little FiFi…what can we say? Yes, she IS still with us and yes, she IS still available.  After an exhaustive round of testing, the best educated guess at the moment is that her medical problems are actually not medical problems at all; they are mostly psychogenic in origin, meaning they are all results of the stress she’s under. Get rid of the stress, and her medical issues will likely correct themselves.

To that end, we have been making changes at Puggles & Pitties. If Fi’s under stress, the other dogs probably are too. We have done further research on nutrition and its effects on dogs and have changed the food we now feed all of our kids. We’ve also added different types of toys or other tools to help them pass their time while their humans are away. We are consulting with Nan Arthur (CDBC, CPDT, KPACTP) of  Whole Dog Training  to learn exercises and activities we can do with the dogs to help bring their stress levels down, as well as learning about changes we can make in the environment of the home as a whole.

Fiona will be meeting with Dr Lee Harris, a Veterinary Behavioral Consultant, in the next fews weeks. It’s possible she’ll need some doggy Xanax to help her focus on the training and behavior exercises we’ll be working on with her.

What would do her the absolute MOST good right now would be to find her forever home. She gets along great with other dogs, but she needs a home with not quite so many dogs in it, and much less activity constantly going on around her. She also needs more one-on-one time than her foster mom can give her right now because of the needs of all of the other dogs in the house.

If you are interested in Fiona, we’d like to place her in a foster-to-adopt situation. This will allow her to be in a place where she can relax and calm down; will allow Puggles & Pitties to continue to oversee her care until things level out for her; and would allow you to bring her into your home sooner rather than later.  There is definitely work to be done with Fi, but it is not difficult nor does it take hours every day. It takes someone who is dedicated, patient, open-minded, and loving.

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If you think one of these kids might be right for you, please contact Kelly at mdgrrrl@msn.com to request an application. Once the application is received, we’ll schedule a home visit and check references. The application process for a foster-to-adopt is the same as for a straight adoption, as the understanding is that you are fostering with the intent of eventually adopting the dog once s/he is ready.

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Have a happy weekend everyone!