Lab/pit bull mix from Clarkston area needs to find new home

Daisy, lab/pit bull mix, needs a new home

As noted in my earlier post about the pit bull overpopulation problem in Southeast Michigan, it can be difficult to get pit bulls and pit bull mixes adopted into new homes.
Every once in awhile, I hear from pit bull owners who, for one reason or another, need to find a new home for their dog.
Many good dog owners, faced with a situation that forces them to say goodbye to a beloved family member, will do everything they can to rehome the dog themselves to avoid giving it to a shelter. But when your dog is a pit bull, it's just not that easy.
The Starkey family recently reached out to me, hoping I could lend them some advice on rehoming their pit bull/labrador mix.
"It is with a heavy heart that we, as a family, have decided to find new homes for our dogs. Due to a loss of job and a growing family, we cannot financially support our dogs anymore," wrote Amy Starkey in an email to me. "Our chocolate lab has already found a new home with a great family."
The dog they are now looking to find a new home for is Daisy. She is 6 years old, spayed and up to date on shots.
"She is a sweet heart who loves to give kisses and likes lots and lots of attention. She will chase a tennis ball all day long," Starkey wrote.
Starkey said the dog has been with them since she was just six weeks old. The couple has two children, a 3-year-old and 9-month-old. 
"She does wonderful with (the kids)," Starkey said.
As for her temperament, it sounds like Daisy would love a low-key household. Since she has lived with another dog, she may enjoy having a canine companion again. Starkey wrote this:  "She does sometimes get nervous if there is too much going on around her, but she will generally just go lay down somewhere or curl up next to me or my husband. We have been a two dog household until recently and she has always gotten along with other dogs. She does put her gaurd up at first around new dogs, but will settle down after a little while."
As for cats, Starkey said: "She has been exposed to cats and gets really excited about them, but again will settle down after a little while."
She is certainly a pretty girl and I wish the Starkey family all the best in finding a good forever home for her.
If you're interested in being that forever home, feel free to contact me (karen@oakpress.com) and I'll put you in touch with the Starkeys.
"Daisy needs a good loving family who will spoil her and give her all she needs," Starkey added.

Even friendly dogs should be kept on leash

Me and my on-leash dog enjoying a day at the park

The other day, I pulled into my favorite park and spotted a man sitting at a picnic table with his two dogs. One was on leash, the other was not.
I pulled the Jeep near him and rolled down my window.
"Excuse me, sir," I said to get his attention. "I noticed you have a dog off-leash and I'm going to be walking my dog. He's not friendly and I was hoping you could put your dog on leash."
Let's note that I totally went the polite route with this request. I could have scolded him for breaking park rules that require all dogs to be kept on a six-foot leash at all times, but I've always figured you get more bees with honey, right?
"It's OK, she's friendly," he said back to me.
"Well no, it's not OK," I said. "My dog isn't friendly, and if she approaches him, he'll bite her."
Sometimes you have to spell it out to get people to understand, and he did, and put her on a leash. Sensi and I went off on our walk without a hitch.
Unfortunately, this is situation that I hear about a lot from folks, even folks with pretty good, even-tempered dogs.
Even my husband and I debate this.
"Don't you think, if we had a perfectly friendly dog, that we wouldn't see things this way? That we'd want to let him off leash?" he asks me.
My reply is always the same: "No, because even when we do have a perfectly friendly dog, and one day we will, we will remember Sensi. We will remember that if that wonderfully friendly dog wanders up to a not-friendly on-leash dog, it will probably get into a fight. We will remember."

How dog behavior factors into on-leash aggression
OK, so let's start with some dog behavior facts.
One — A dog that charges head-on toward another dog is making a threat. The charging dog may not intend a threat; perhaps it is charging because it is over-excited and has poor doggie social manners. That is often the case, I think. However, the dog on the receiving end of the charge is likely to perceive the behavior as a threat. The only time that this may be entirely non-threatening and understood as such by both parties is amongst dogs who are good friends and play together frequently.
Two — Proper dog behavior protocol for introducing ones' dogself to another dog includes keeping a comfortable social distance and avoiding prolonged eye contact until proper signals have been exchanged. The signal exchange comes after dogs have had time to scent one another from a comfortable distance apart. After an initial whiff from a safe distance, dogs will give tons of tiny little signals that communicate whether it is desirable to decrease social distance. It is only after these things have been undertaken and both dogs have agreed to decrease social distance that butt-sniffing and rompin' good play takes place.
Three — Many dogs become overly excited upon meeting other dogs. This does not mean they are bad, aggressive dogs. It usually means they do not get to see other dogs very often or did not have a lot of doggie social contact in those formative puppy months when dogs learn how to properly introduce one's dogself to another. The danger of an overly-excited dog is that it is an unstable energy, it is not happy nor confident nor friendly. It is just excitement. This unstable state of mind can quickly devolve into aggression at the drop of a pin.
Four — Fight or flight. We are all familiar with this, right? In situations where an animal (even us) feels threatened, it will opt to either fight or flight its way out of the situation. When restrained on a leash, the dog effectively has no option to employ flight. This means if the situation suddenly turns from extreme excitement to slightly unsure or a little anxious, the dog will likely turn to aggressive signals to communicate to the other dog that it wants to increase social distance (get further away). Dogs in close physical contact who employ aggressive signals are much more likely to bite or be bitten, as these communications, and the behaviors they warn of, generally happen in mere milliseconds.

Analyzing the on-leash, off-leash meet that turns into aggression
So, let's say I'm walking a pretty friendly dog. This dog has never shown aggression to other dogs. It lives in an only-dog household, so the only time it gets contact with other dogs is when I have friends or family over who have dogs, or the occasional trip to the dog park. In all those instances, the dog has been friendly. It does get REALLY excited upon first coming into contact with other dogs, and I presume that means my dog is just SUPER friendly, especially considering the excitement has always led to playfulness and companionship with the other dogs it's around.

The dog park is a great place to let your dog off-leash

I overlook the fact that when my family and friends bring their dogs over to my house, none of the dogs are on leashes, or if they are, it is only for a brief moment while walking in the door and the visiting dog is almost always unhooked or has its leash dropped upon entering my house.
I also overlook the fact that while visiting the dog park, my dog is not a leash and has all the space in the world to let off steam, determine when it wants to make physical contact with other dogs and has plenty of room to distance itself from dogs it does not want to be close to.
Now, here I am walking my dog at, let's say, a state recreation area. Rules dictate that all dogs be kept on a six-foot-leash at all times. In addition to this, my dog is not very good off-leash — he runs and runs and runs, doesn't always pay attention when I call him and sometimes, I've had to chase him through some pretty thick brush or swamp because he wouldn't come when I called him. I get nervous that he might run off and not come back, so I decide to keep him on leash.
All of the sudden, a dog who did get lucky enough to be let off leash by his owner comes tearing through the bushes at full speed — no doubt exactly what my dog wishes he was doing.
The dog slows down only a little bit, from full-tear to slow run, and comes right up to mine.
My dog is startled, first of all. We were upwind from this other dog, so my dog had no scent warning. Plus, the dog couldn't be seen until he emerged from the bushes, and by that point, he was right upon us. So, the only forewarning my dog had was some startling thrashing noise and then boom! Dog in his face.
The dogs go right into the butt-sniff mode and both their excitement levels are rapidly increasing. They are jumping around a bit and other than having to hold on for dear life to the leash, I think everything is going to be just fine.
But then, something happens that I didn't even see. All the sudden, the hair on my dog's back is up and he's lifted a lip; I can hear a low growl.
Before I even see this other dog's owner, the situation has turned sour and both dogs are now snarling and lunging at one another.
I pray the other dog owner arrives in time to help me pull the dogs apart before the injuries get so bad we both wind up at the emergency vet.

What happened?
A safe bet would be that the dogs didn't get enough time and space to know whether they really wanted to be that close to one another. They became too excited, too fast, and were too close together. My dog was on a leash and so, when he starting having doubts about wanting to be this close to the other dog, he had no option to physically remove himself. All he could do was warn the other dog — hackles raised, snarl — to get away. But the other dog didn't get away, and instead, responded to my dog's threats with his own threats. One decided not to back down and the other one couldn't run away, so they got into a fight instead.
This doesn't mean that either dog is bad or unfriendly.
The only thing that was bad was the situation the dogs were placed in while they met for the first time. Had the same two dogs been in a dog park, both off leash, this probably would've never happened. They may have even become pals and romped around a bit.
But the element of surprise combined with the extreme excitement combined with the leash-factor turned it all to shit.
And here's the thing — it doesn't take a bunch of things to go wrong for a bite or attack to happen. Just one thing. And sometimes, that one thing is just the leash factor.

Keep your dogs on leash
So here's the simple solution, folks — keep your dogs on leash in public places where it's required you keep them on leash.
Beside the mere fact that there are rules for a reason, there is also the fact that even if you want to risk breaking the rules, other people don't. Other people will have dogs on leashes, many of them are friendly dogs too, but as we've just found out, even friendly dogs are more apt to get into fights while on leash.
Adding to this whole idea of following the rules is the fact that there are people out there like me with dogs who are less than perfect. So long as we are responsible with our dogs — we keep them on a leash and we keep them away from you and your dogs — there is nothing wrong with us wanting to walk our less-than-perfect dogs. In fact, if our dogs are ever going to become better, we MUST get out there in the world to exercise our dogs and socialize them to different scenarios. Our less-than-perfect dogs will never become better dogs if we keep them locked up inside a house all day.
The ironic thing is, it is we-owners-of-less-than-perfect-dogs who are more likely to follow rules than those who own perfectly-friendly-happy-go-lucky dogs.
And one more thing — there are a whole lot of dog owners out there who own less-than-perfect dogs and don't realize it or even refuse to acknowledge it. Now that is worth being scared of, and it's certainly worth protecting your dog from.
Leashes — a cheap tool to prevent expensive emergency vet bills. Isn't that reason enough to use them?

Caught hiking in a thunderstorm

Sensi and I, soaked but still smiling

Nothing's worse than a rainy weekend.
Last Sunday's forecast called for the storms to move out of the area after noon. The rain cleared earlier in the morning and still, I waited for noon. Just for good measure, I waited until 1 p.m. With no rain in sight and the sun peeking out, Sensi and I headed out to the trails.
About ten minutes into our walk, it began sprinkling. We were already out on our favorite (OK, my favorite. I shouldn't speak for the dog) trail in the woods and the trees provided good cover. A little sprinkling rain wasn't going to convince me to turn around, though I did pick up the pace a bit.
Just as I reached the point where the trail wraps around the lake's edge — this is about half way through the loop, the point of no return —the thunder began rumbling. I listened as it got closer and closer, the sprinkles turning to a light rain.
Where the trail departs from the lake's edge, it turns and goes up a rather steep hill.
This, of course, had to be where the storm hit us.
The rain began pouring down on us, a steady stream flowing down the center of the now muddy hill.
Since I'm not quite a serious hiker, I rely on basic old tennis shoes to get me around the trails. Bad choice for a steep incline muddied and slick.
Sensi scooted up the hill with no problem.
"No fair, buddy," I said, reaching out to a tree to help pull myself along (yes, I do sometimes talk to my dog. Even in public places). "Your nails are like built in cleats."
We eventually made it back to pavement, soaked and tired from our quickened pace.
I took Sensi's Halti off because 1) I figured no one else was dumb enough to be out walking with their dogs, 2) He was too tired to pull anyhow, and 3) I wouldn't like a wet strap around my nose.
We jogged the rest of the way back to the Jeep. Sensi thoroughly enjoyed being on a regular collar and leash and jogged proudly beside me.
All things considered, it was still a good hike.

Muddy mess
I lovingly refer to my Jeep as the 'dirty Jeep' after having pointed to it on many occasions and said: "The dirty one's mine."

The dirty Jeep

But I am trying to be better about washing it more frequently.
On Saturday, I took the dirty Jeep to the car wash. On my way home, I stopped by the Salvation Army and picked up Sensi four stuffed animals.
I tossed the "babies" in the backseat of the Jeep and figured they could be his prize on the way home from our daily walks, taking one baby inside with him upon arriving back at the house.
He was thrilled to see the stuffed animals in the backseat when I put him in the Jeep to head out for our walk Sunday. Of course, the walk was far more exciting.
On our way home, thunder and lightening and pouring down rain,

Sensi's muddy baby

the Jeep became a muddy mess yet again.
Still, I love living on a dirt road.
I pulled into the garage, parked the Jeep and opened the hatch for Sensi to jump out, the mud draining off the Jeep and on to the garage floor.
Sensi gingerly picked up one of his babies and during his leap out of the back, dropped it on the garage floor.
The new baby was instantly muddy.
Sensi looked at me.
"What now, Ma? I don't want to pick that thing up," his look said.
I picked it up and shook my head while wiping his baby down with a rag, telling myself I should be grateful for a dog with a sense of cleanliness.

Reader recalls being attacked by a Greyhound

After reading Monday's post about a pit bull mauling a 6-year-old girl in Rochester Hills, Dog Blog reader Deb Runyan emailed me her own story of being attacked.

It's pertinent to what I was trying to express, which is that all dogs of all breeds can have sets of circumstances — regardless of how narrow and unusual those circumstances might be —specific to the individual dog that can act as triggers for attacks.

Here's Deb's email to me:

Read today's blog about the Pit Bull attack, and thought I'd share my personal experience with a dog attack.

The background is I am fairly active in dog rescue, so I usually have my personal dogs (4) and anywhere from one to four foster dogs in the house.  This story goes back to 2009, when I adopted a retired Greyhound racer.  I named her Nova.  I adopted Nova because our 2 year old Bloodhound, Sexi, had died after six weeks of frustrating vet care trying to determine what was wrong, and I missed having a big hound in the house. Nova lived with us for 8 months very happily.  

Unbeknownst to me, my husband had mopped an area of our foyer, which is ceramic tile, and I walked through carrying a paralyzed foster dog.  I hit that wet tile and fell hard.  The little foster only made a tiny squeak, as I had not let him hit the ground, but for whatever reason, Nova came flying off the couch and to the foyer, and with awful growling, snarly sounds, grabbed me by the ankle and bit hard, not letting go.  My Dachshund Bizzy came running to protect me, the foster dog dragged himself into the corner away from it all...and as Bizzy rushed in growling, Nova grabbed him around the neck and clamped down.  I managed to get him away from her and shoved him into the bathroom which was right there, and shut the door on him.  I was on my hands and knees - with all my weight on my left hand which was supporting me.  She grabbed my arm and mauled it.  While biting, she started shaking her head, as if to try to kill small prey.  (all dogs do it when playing with toys)  I was yelling at her, but she would not stop, and the sounds were like something from a horror movie.  This all happened really fast, seemed like ages, but was more like seconds.  My husband and son came running in, and when they got there, she just stopped and acted like nothing was wrong.   My arm had a baseball sized lump on the under-side between elbow and shoulder, and long gashes where her teeth ripped my skin while she was shaking her head and pulling back on me.  

I called the rescue and told them she had to go and to come get her.  I couldn't chance her being in my house, I would never trust her again, and I didn't want to be responsible for anyone else getting hurt.  My arm had nerve and muscle damage, and took the better part of a year to totally heal - plus a nasty infection and I had to have it lanced.  My Dachshund, Bizzy, ended up with a crushed disk in his neck, and had to have a couple MRI's plus 2 surgeries to try to fix it.   He was in pain forever after.  12 months later he was dead.  Not as a direct result of the attack, but I feel if he hadn't had to endure that plus the surgeries, he'd have been strong enough to make it.  He developed an bowel obstruction, survived that surgery, but then developed pancreatitis, and he did not survive that.  He was only 6 years old.

Dog attacks do scar you emotionally.  For me, the biggest trauma was losing Bizzy of course, but as far as my emotional trauma from just the attack on me - there was this huge sense of betrayal.  I dog I rescued, nurtured, babied and loved had turned on me for no apparent  reason.  That was really difficult to deal with.  Even though I am still active in dog rescue, and own 4 dogs, there is always that little niggling thought about getting bitten again.  Not bitten, as a dog bite would have been a bite and done - but being attacked and mauled.  It all happens so fast, and is so vicious that you can't really free yourself from the attack.  It didn't hurt while it was happening, there was too much going on to feel the pain.  I can only remember the awful sounds she was making.  Like some wild animal killing it's dinner.  The disbelief was high - how could one of my own dogs possibly be not only biting, but attacking me?  My arm was deep purple/black from armpit to wrist.  I still have the scars on my ankle and arm, but the biggest scar is in my heart.  I almost wish I hadn't known the dog that did it, because then it would be a random act of violence rather than something I can't explain.   This was a Greyhound, a breed known for it's gentle and calm demeanor.  They aren't famous for their jaw strength - and this HURT - I cannot imagine how much more it would hurt if bitten by a stronger jawed dog.   And to be only 6?  Horrific for both child and parents.  I feel so bad for this child.  My experience has really brought home the fact that the breed does not matter - any dog, in the right circumstance can hurt you.  Yet I still love dogs, and I wouldn't change that.

'Read and win' contest: question #3

All right, here's the third question in the "Read and win" contest series.
The same rules apply — first person to email me (karen@oakpress.com) with the correct answer will get to choose a prize from this list of available prizes.

Today's question has been answered. Deb Runyan of Commerce Township is the winner, for a third time! She answered correctly, choosing number 5. 

As with the first two questions, the answer can be found in one of these three posts:
Behavior 101: Shaping vs. training, Part I
Behavior 101: Shaping vs. training, Part II
If the dog likes you, I like you

I will update this post as soon as the question has been answered correctly by someone.

Today's question is multiple choice. Here it is:

Dog owners are famous for allowing their dogs to have an opinion about people they meet, and giving that opinion credibility — call it the, "If the dog likes you, I like you" mentality. Why does this happen?
1. Dogs are incredible readers of human body language and are frequently quite good at picking up on a person's trustworthiness based on general body language cues.
2. The confirmation bias — the dog studies its owners response to a person and reacts accordingly.
3. Dogs have a sixth sense that guides them in determining the general goodness of a person.
4. Answers 1 &3.
5. Answers 1 & 2.

'Read and win' contest to continue Wednesday

There are still six prize packages and six books available in my "Read and win" contest!
So far, Deb Runyan of Commerce Township has been kicking butt, being the first to answer my questions correctly.
This week, the third question in the contest will be posted at noon tomorrow (Wednesday, April 4).
The first person to email me (karen@oakpress.com) with the correct answer will win a prize of his or her choosing, so review the list of available prizes.
As with the first two questions, the answer can be found in one of these three posts:
Behavior 101: Shaping vs. training, Part I
Behavior 101: Shaping vs. training, Part II
If the dog likes you, I like you

Another reason I love my pit bull

Sensi's ninth birthday passed recently.

Sitting, impatiently, on the trail

His face is peppered white where it used to be jet black. The skin on his underbelly is wrinkly; his armpits peppered with skintags. Gravity is taking its toll on him — not only are the flaps of fur hanging farther down around his collar, but his you-know-what has also taken on a rather aged appearance.
He is old. But not in spirit.
No, not my pit bull. Pit bulls are forever young.
I don't know that a dog of another breed but of similar size would be able to keep up with me at his age. But he does.
We've pushed ourselves this spring — or winter, if you want to be technical. I say "we" because truly, he pushes me as much as I push him.
Sensi and I have found some great trails this year. In all likelihood, we will be run over by a mountain biker before the season is done. It's worth the risk, I figure.
We're up to about four miles a day, sometimes five. We take routes that are half walks, half hikes.
On the pavement, Sensi likes to trot. I like to watch him trot. He prances like a prince. And so, my goal is to keep him at a trot — speed walking or half-jogging behind him so he doesn't have to slow down.
On the hiking trails, he is more reserved. He glances back at me often, as though the well-worn footpath isn't indicator enough as to where we're headed. But there is one thing we both agree on — steep hills are easier jogged than walked. I think we both just want to get it over with as fast as possible.

Enjoying the view from the top

He doesn't show his age on the trails. Sensi always wants to go faster.
One path we take cuts through a big meadow. I've always had a thing for meadows. However stupid we may look, I pick up the pace to a full run through the meadow — Sensi grinning and tail wagging wildly. He likes to run.
On those hot days we had a couple weeks ago, we'd climb down some a small ravine to a pretty little creek. Sensi briefly laps up some of the crisp water, his eyes darting after every frog that hops in from the banks, and then stands to cool off, looking up at me with a dumb smile on his face.
And so, I'm grateful I have a pit bull. I'm grateful my old man of a dog not only can, but wants, to keep up with me. And pushes me to go faster too.
It's not just pit bulls that you'll find this never-aging energy with — just about any terrier will be the same. 
The pit bull is just my terrier of choice.