Pit Stops 2 Review

 

Pit Stops 2

Adventures with Kara

by

Michelle Sathe

Don't let the title fool you. This isn't just a book for pit bull lovers. It goes without saying that you will love this book if you love the breed.

But this book also speaks to any and all road trippers out there. It's a fast, fun ride. You discover new places, you get to see the new faces that Michelle and her Pitpanion, Kara, meet.

We live in a diverse country. This breed is owned and loved by a diverse group of owners. You get to meet them all (and some may surprise you - which is good thing!).

 Michelle admits that she started the last trip with starry eyes, convinced that she would be able to change the world with her passion and education. Haven't we all been like that about some cause in our lives? Jumping in with that relentless enthusiasm knowing that we were going to be Super Person - changing minds and the world? And how disappointing when we realize that reality is quite different and mindsets are hard to change.  The important thing is - her passion didn't die and she's right back out there.

This is a wonderful, heartfelt book that doesn't just champion the breed. It shows us the courage and faith of people in this breed.  We see the love of ordinary families.  We feel the desperation and the hard work of shelters across the country to make a difference.

Michelle pulls you from the first page and keeps you turning pages until you're done. I will warn you - her food description will make you set aside the book in search of something to eat.  Her ability to paint pictures with words isn't limited to landscape and she goes into detail on some mouthwatering meals!  This book will make you want to take a road trip...and don't forget the dog!

We're giving away an autographed copy of Pit Stops 2!  Leave a comment below or on our Facebook page under the link - be sure to leave your name if you're doing this anonymously! - and we'll pick a winner next Wednesday, October 24th!

For more information on the book (and to order your own copy), click here.

Of Kids and Dogs

Today I want to talk about dogs and children in a way that we don't normally speak of them.  Most of our education involving the two is geared toward helping parents prepare the dog for the new family and teaching kids when it's okay and when it is not okay to pet the family dog.  It's very worthwhile and Dog Safety is one of our most popular presentations.  This week we will be doing it in two separate schools for four straight days. 

But right now, I want to blog about the pure joy that children get from dogs.  It struck me when I was out walking Lily this morning.  We have several routes that we take depending the day, the temperature, and how much time we have to spend out and about.  This morning, we headed toward the elementary school in the neighborhood.  Along the way, we had a mom approaching with her toddler in a stroller.  As always, I got Lily off to the side in a sit stay.  When the little boy caught sight of Lily, he immediately started to bounce in his stroller and his grin was ear to ear.  They stopped so that he could look at the 'bow-ow'.  The genuine joy on his face just melted my heart.  This little guy has seen her before and every time the reaction is the same.  He's fascinated by her - and he just loves the sight of her.  He can be in full blown tantrum mode when we walk by and the tears will stop, his face is alert, and a smile breaks through.  Very cute.

Our next stop was the elementary school. The kids were at recess and some of them rushed to the fence, calling her name.  They're not allowed to pet her (or any dog) through the fence (I've hit this one home and it's been nice to watch them NOT reach fingers through even when it's someone else's dog).  But they love watching her do tricks.  They raise their hands and each get to choose a trick.  It's cute when one will say "Dance!" and another child will say "Awww, I was going to say that!"  Lily is comfortable in her performing role.  We spend about five to ten minutes doing tricks for the kids.  Lily gets a standing ovation at the end.  These boys and girls are always willing to give up their recess to watch her.  Last week, I had a little girl tell me that she was having "the worst day ever" but that Lily had brightened her day.

When we go into classrooms, we see the joy that the kids get from their dogs.  They always want to tell us all about their family pet.  It saddens me when we have to speak someone who wants to give up their dog because of a new family member, because it's "too much" to have a dog and a baby.  Whether their dogs live inside the house as members of the family or in the backyard, children genuinely care for their pets.  To think that a child is going to miss out on that special bond, that unconditional love, pushes us to try to find a way to make it work - for the dog and for the family.

Lily and I ended our walk by passing the toddler and his mother one last time.  He waved "hi" as soon as he saw us.  His toothy grin and high pitched squeal said it all. That pure joy at the sight of this dog.

Does your child enjoy your dog?  Do they love seeing dogs when you are out and about?


We've extended our deadline to enter to win a signed copy of Pit Stops 2!  Don't forget to comment on the post for your chance to win this amazing book!  Click here to enter.

FUN Friday

TGIF!  Let's bring the weekend in with some FUN videos.

This is one of the cutest videos ever.
 



From Shelter Dog to SuperStar - Jesse didn't come this way, he had an incredible owner who saw potential in him and worked very hard to get all these tricks!



Just so we don't leave Cats out of the tricks. Here's a very smart Bengal!


Have a great weekend!

Ants Are Like Zombies

They look fairly harmless.  Some people might shudder at the sight of them.  Imagine hordes of them.  In your house.  Every time you turn around.       

That has been our life for the last few months.  We've been living through Antpocalypse. 

 

Having been through infestations during particularly dry winters and long summers growing up, I know that poison never works.  I also grew up with parents who believed that every creature had a reason to be here - in the case of ants, they killed off fleas and bedbugs.  Is this true?  I don't know.  We grow up with so many myths that get passed down from generation to generation.  In the classroom, we frequently hear that pets can't sleep with you because if you swallow a hair, you will get cancer.  Not true.  But their grandparents are telling them this and the children are really afraid.  I would like to believe that ants kill fleas and bedbugs, but my cats and dog were scratching through the summer so I'm pretty sure we can cross fleas off the list.

 

As an adult, I live with a man (my husband) who believes that Humane Education should extend to all creatures that venture into our household.  Every spider is safely corraled and taken outside to safety.  He wasn't feeling the ants, though. 

 

First they cropped up in little places around the kitchen.  We're clean people.  I spray down the counters nightly.  But these little suckers could find any little crumb.  And they would swarm, voracious appetites devouring the crumbs tiny piece by tiny piece.

 

 

 

Like zombies, they are relentless.  You beat them back in one place and they crop up in another.  If the cats didn't finish the entire piece of food they took out of a dish, they were there.  If the trash wasn't taken out each night, they were there.  Anything sweet had to be ziploced or tupperwared.  Sealed.  Still, they would swarm if they caught a scent through the bag.  And they can fit through the tupperware seals.

 

Enter Google.  I searched for every home remedy to be found.  Let me save YOU, the reader, some time:

 

Cornmeal - Didn't work.  The whole theory that they take it back and explode?  More like a population explosion.  They loved the cornmeal - and they brought friends who brought friends who brought friends of friends.

 

Cinnamon - Sweet enough to draw the most picky of ants. 

 

There really wasn't a scent that they didn't like (bay leaves, vinegar, cloves, cayenne pepper).

 

Talc - Guests started asking when we had a baby.  And still the ants would come.

 

The best solution?  Tracing them back to their entry point and sealing it tight.  Caulk has become my new bestest friend. 

 

The second best friend?  Soap and water. 

 

First, we caulk.  Then, we spray the area like crazy with a mixture of method dish soap and water.  Finally, we wipe it down.  This erased any scent.

 

Like the folks on The Walking Dead, we're protecting our little home.  We're beating back the ants and sealing up the cracks to keep our residence safe.  Thanks to a little soap and water (and a whole lot of caulk).

 

What about you - are you having ant problems this year?  Have you ever found home remedies that work?

 

 

Of Cats and Paws

I am obsessed with my cat's paws.  Each one of the cats has different colored pads.  (I apologize in advance for the low quality pictures.  I don't have a decent camera.)

These are Pip's.

Her pads are a mixture of her Tortie coloring in cool, random patterns.  Her mouth is the same mixture of pink and black.  When she yawns, it's super cool.

Eowyn's pads.

I love how Eowyn has fur growing between her toes.  She's a long-haired cat.  Perhaps that's why?  They swirl like little eddies in a pool of water.

Wednesday

Wednesday's pads are the most interesting to me.  I had never seen a cat with purple pads before.  The color goes so well with the gray fur.  She'll get you if you touch them, though.

Cat Facts (Paws):

Have you ever seen your cat climb up a tree?  To get down, they must back down (otherwise, jump).  This is because all of their claws face the same direction, making climbing the tree a cinch but getting down from it a bit more complicated.

Cats, like humans, are right or left-handed.  Females tend to be right-pawed, while males tend to be left-handed.

Cats have carpal pads on their front paws that help to prevent them from sliding on a slippery surface when jumping.

Most cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.

Scratching is normal cat behavior.  Cats scratch  to remove the dead outer layer of their their claws.  It's also a way to mark their territory - both visually and by leaving a scent (cats have scent glands on their paws).


What color are your cat's paw pads?

FUN Friday

Happy Friday everyone!

The weekend is almooooooost here.  Let's bring it in with some laughs!


Anyone who has had a dog that likes to eat things can identify with this commercial



I love the Shelter Pet Project commercials. You really do touch more people with funny.




How cute is this cat? Excuse me, Owner. I can haz pets?

Does your cat touch your arm when asking for petting? Are any of your pets pushy about it?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Mama

This is Mama.

Mama came into my life when I moved into an apartment complex in Studio City in 2000.  The parking lot bordered a restaurant and hotel, providing enough food to keep the local ferals fed (but not healthy).

When I first moved in, there were 37 ferals that were living in the area and eating out of the dumpsters.  The apartment manager admitted that she would call Animal Control every six months to have them trapped.  But more would always show up to take their place.  I pointed out that there was a good food source with the dumpsters and asked if she would let me handle the situation my way.  She was exasperated enough to let me try!  With some help from friends and Catnippers (now FixNation), I started TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release).  By the time I moved, we were down to two ferals (both neutered Toms).

Mama was a skinny, scrappy, smart young kitten who had her first litter young (my guess would be no more than a year old).  And kept having them.  No matter how I disguised the traps, no matter what I put in them (KFC, tuna, mackerel, salmon, you name it and I tried it!), she wouldn't go in them.  In fact, she would sniff it, hiss at it and lay down in front of it, waiting for me to come downstairs and see her.  Defiant little thing.  I had to admire her pluck.  She also didn't trust me enough to eat with me standing anywhere near her so netting her was out of the question.

Mama gave me three litters a year for 7 years.  She was an excellent mother. I was working on a television show and would get home at 1 or 2 in the morning to find her teaching those kittens how to hunt in the parking lot using the crickets.  At 6 weeks, the kittens were weaned and she would chase them off.  They were hurt, confused, and I would pluck them up and find them homes.  Only to have her give birth again.  (Pictured is the Harry Potter litter:  Harry, Draco, Dobby, and Weasley)

For 7 years I fretted over her and her 3 litters a year.  She brought 84 kittens into this world.  I had given up hope of ever fixing her, but I hadn't stopped trying new angles.  My last tactic was luring her ever closer to my front door with the wet food she loved so much.  Eventually, I would just shut her inside and figure it out later.

The colony numbers were slowly dwindling as no cats were reproducing.  We had two fairly territorial Toms that would tend to run off any new cats.  Still, they'd let females stay without much of a fight.  Two new cats had shown up in the past few weeks so I was trapping.  I set the traps, headed upstairs, and waited for the sound of the door snapping shut.  I put tuna in them, which was standard - nothing fancy, just smelly enough to lure them in.  I had barely walked in the door when the first one clicked shut.  My husband I raced downstairs to pull the trap before the other cat figured out what was happening.  When we got the trap upstairs, he lifted the cover up to see which lucky feline had wandered in.

"Hey hon," he hollered from the bathroom.

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to believe this."

"What?"

"It's Mama."

No.  It couldn't be the elusive, smart cat that had been dodging my traps for years.  I set them with TUNA.   I didn't bother to disguise them.  I stormed into the bathroom in disbelief, lifted the cover and there she was.

"Mama?" I asked.

She meowed at me.

She had a litter outside waiting for her.  We got her spayed the next day, much tears of joy were shed, and she went back to the litter 24 hours later.  I had her for two more years.  She started coming upstairs for dinner every night.  Mama wasn't going to eat with the rest of the street's ferals.  She wanted her own plate.  She had earned it.  During the winters, she would spend hours curled up in front of the space heater while my own cats were locked in the bedroom.  If I ever tried to shut the front door, she would bounce off the walls and howl like crazy.  But I could be patient.  The plan was to shut the door eventually.  I was easing her into things.

Mama disappeared one Christmas.  I called to her every night.  I wandered up and down the street in search of her.  Ten months later we moved to Burbank.  The colony was down to two cats and a neighbor took over the feeding.  I left my number with the new apartment manager and the neighbor.  If Mama showed back up, they were to call me.  I would come over and get her.

But I never got a call.  We would go looking for her, driving the fifteen minutes to the neighborhood, and wandering the streets in search of her, for the next year.  It's been five years.  I miss her like crazy.  I wonder what happened to her.  Sometimes, I cry.

She left me one reminder, though.

This is Pip.  Pip was one of her kittens.  She's living the life her Mama should have lived.  I'm spoiling her rotten, and have been for ten years now.