My Confession

I yam Mr. Buddy Rose and I yam a very good boy! I yam! I LOVE every single person I meet and am very gentle with small children. I even love little Ms. Bossy Pants. But...

Over the past several months a problem has come up and I had to go to school so me and my Mom could get some new tools to help me. My problem - I don't like all dogs and have had some bad reactions to some doggies just walking by me at my park. I think I get along very well with all small dogs and puppies. I get along well with most female doggies. It looks like I might have a problem with male dogs my size or bigger.

My Mom has been really worried about me. She really wants me to continue my training and be one of those Canine Good Citizens but this has kinda put a change in the course of my training. This past Sunday I got to go to a Dog Reactivity Workshop offered by Chako Pit Bull Rescue.

The drive to get there took almost 2 hours. We got there early so I could walk around a little bit, sniff out the new place and leave a little news on the trees for all the other dogs to find. Then it was time for class.

I tried not be nervous in this new place.

But then the other doggies came in and they looked at me and I looked at them. I have to be honest, I had to give them a few big Bubby barks too.

Guess what? My Mom had brought steak for me as treats! STEAK!! A whole bagful. This helped me keep my attention on my Mom and not on those other doggies. My Mom might have needed treats for herself after she was told she needed to be stronger with me...firmer. She was told I was learning to take advantage of her. HUH? Me? Who knew I was spoiled???

Back to my workshop, my trainer was Dawn Capp. She was a great trainer and knew lots of stuff about doggies like me. She had lots of really good advice, tools, exercises & experience to share. I think she helped me a lot!

Sometimes during training, I was not a very good boy.

After an hour and a half of serious stuff. I was very tired.

For the last exercise, I didn't even want to get up. I didn't!

When the workshop was over, I was so tired. I just wanted to crawl into my Mom's lap and fall asleep, but she still had to drive us home.

I want to be the best doggie I can be. Please don't think bad of me. There are lots of other doggies like me with reactive problems. My Mom is trying to do the best thing she can for me to learn how to work through my issues. We have homework which I think means I will get some really, really yummy treats for awhile, but after that the homework continues forever and I won't get any more steak! This part is sad, but do you know what is even sadder, seeing a pit bull doggie in public who cannot control himself. Sometimes that is me. With some work, training and time I yam gonna get through this to move on to my next training course.

I yam Mr. Buddy Rose and I yam a very good boy, but I yam gonna be a better boy soon!

How To Identify a Pit Bull

There has been much woofing about how to identify a Pit Bull type dog. This week a friend of mine was given a real Pit Bull test. Forget your DNA or your pictures to tell you, we have the sure-fire method.

This is Sully. Sully is a Pit Bull mix, a Certified Therapy Dog, a real AmbassaDog and an all-around good boy!

Sully & his Mom encountered a woman yesterday who knew the sure-fire way to identify a Pit Bull. When she was told Sully is a Pit Bull mix, she said, "I can tell if he has Pit Bull in him." She held up three fingers and placed them across Sully's nose and said, "Yep, he passes the three-fingers test, he has Pit Bull in him."

Sully's Mom showed us how to give the test.

Yep, Sully passed so he's definitely a Pit Bull.

How about me?

I yam a Pit Bull too!

We wanted to test this theory, so here's my friend Ruby Roo.

Yep, Ruby Roo is surely a Pit Bull.

But then something happened. We tested 14 lb. Rascal.

Rut Roh! Rascal's a Pit Bull too!

So, we needed to test this theory further. I know my older sister Mollie is a real Mini-Schnauzer. She is not a Pit Bull! So, we tested her.

Oh no! Mollie's a Pit Bull too. She must be a mix!

So, I guess it is very, very hard to tell just by looking at us if we are Pit Bulls or not. You should never judge a book by its cover. Who knew that Rascal and Mollie were both Pit Bulls!?!?

I guess when Mollie & I are on our walks and people ask what kind of dogs we are, my Mom can just tell them we are both Pit Bulls!

I Found A Baseball!

During my daily walks to the park, I find stuff, like balls - lots of balls! Tennis balls, golf balls, plastic balls and lots and lots of baseballs.
Today at my park, lying right there in the grass, waiting for me, was a baseball. I pounced on it!
I had found a real prize. I love baseballs and they are big enough that they don't get taken away from me really fast like those little golf balls do.
Something about choking on those little golf balls....but baseballs are just the perfect playing size for me!

My Mom thought I was being so cute with the baseball, she took out her phone and started taking pictures of me.

She took lots and lots of pictures while I gnawed on the best baseball I had ever found!
And I do mean lots of pictures, like more than 40 of them! Whew! I can't even count that high! She always says she has to take a lot of pictures of me to get enough to use here, on FaceBook and Twitter. So she took pictures while I just kept chewing on that baseball.

After a little while of me chewing and gnawing that baseball, and Mom taking pictures, she told me it was time for me to give her the ball. So I let her have it. But there was this little piece of leather sticking out that I just had to grab with my teeth.

Guess what? The whole cover came off of that baseball and was in my mouth.
I never eat stuff like this. I just chew it a little and spit it out. Not this time.
I went CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP and I swallowed. Yep! I swallowed the whole baseball cover in one big gulp! It was pretty tasty I think!

Swallowing the baseball cover apparently did not make my Mom very happy. I know because we didn't get to finish my walk. Instead, we walked straight home.
Then I got to go for a car ride! YAY! I love to ride in the car!
And we went to one of my favorite places, my Vet's office. I LOVE everybody at my vet's office and they love me too. All of the people at my Vet's office were very happy to see me and they were laughing at all of the pictures my Mom had taken of me and my very favorite baseball!
I won't give you all of the rest of the really gory details. I'll just tell you that I yam fine. I yam my regular ole happy, yappy spot-headed boy self! I yam!

Here's what that baseball cover looks like now.

My Mom said two things. First, she's an idiot and has the pictures to prove it. Second, I can't play with baseballs anymore. WHINE!

I Was the Easter Buddy!

Hoppy Easter is over! It was so much fun! I got to be the Easter Buddy! The bunny ears were okay but I had the most fun with those little rolly polly eggs!









I had to count all of 'em to make sure they were all there. Didn't want to lose any of 'em!














And I had to guard 'em to make sure nothing bad happened to them!







I'm such a good, fierce guard dog! My little friend Ellie came to check out the eggs. I stuck my tongue out at her. She wasn't scared at all!






I didn't have to worry about little Mollie Wabbit messing with the eggs, cause she didn't like her ears! She was a cute little bunny wabbit, but not a very happy one!







The best part of being the Easter Buddy is I got to hide ALL of the eggs so the kids could have something called an Easter egg hunt. Don't tell anybody, but I helped a few of them find the eggs too! We had so much fun!







It was a very, very busy day! When we were all done, I was one tired Easter Buddy! I hope you had a very happy Easter too!



**WOOF** **WOOF**

One Pig - Flat Pig - New Pig

In my old life, I never really knew what toys were. I had sticks and dirt. I chased cats, birds and leaves. But, I never really had any toys. During my first week in my new home, one day when we were out in the yard, my Mom threw a leash in the grass. I got so excited! I crawled over to that leash and grabbed it. I had the best time!

After that day, I always had that leash and a few toys in the yard with me. When I first played with a toy or ball that squeaked, I was a litte scared by the noise. Sometimes I would sneak up on one of those squeaky toys and press it with my nose to see if I could make it squeak. When I wasn't afraid of the noise anymore, I tried really hard to make squeaky toys squeak. It's hard to admit, but I had real trouble making my toys squeak. I learned really quickly though.

Once I got the hang of those squeaky toys, I quickly learned how to make them squeak, squeak, squeak! And, then I learned how to make them not squeak anymore. Oh, and all of that white fluffy stuff inside my toys - that stuff is supposed to come out! Squeakers too! Now all white fluffy stuff and squeakers must come out!

The first dog toys I played with belonged to my BFF Mollie. I killed the squeakers and removed that white fluffy stuff from a lot of Mollie's toys. One of my very own first, brand new toys was this pig. I LOVED my new squeaky pig!

I would prance around the room carrying my pig in my mouth, proudly showing it off to everyone who would watch. My pig was supposed to be tough and a challenge for me to tear up. I started with it's feet. Then I moved on to it's ears. Then some of that white fluffy stuff had to come out so I could get to that squeaker!

Soon, I had a very flat, turned-inside out pig, but I still proudly romp around the room carrying it, offering to play tug-o-pig with anyone in the mood.

For Christmas, Santa Paws brought me this new pig. I LOVE it! It's supposed to be in-de-struct-a-ble!
We'll see about that . . . I'm starting with the ears! **WOOF** **WOOF**

I Believe I Can Fly

If you read my last post, you know there was a time when I couldn't walk and only crawled.

Guess what? Now, I believe I can fly!

I start out in a "good boy" sitting position.

Then I just start walking.

Then I start to run.

While I'm running, I start to hop and jump.

And then next thing you know, I CAN FLY!

**WOOF** **WOOF**

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my peeps and paws friends! What kind of year was 2010 for you? What kind of year will 2011 be?

Last year was a great year for me! It could have been a very bad year, but miraculously, I am ALIVE!!

For those that don't really know my story, here is how my 2010 went. I used to live in a big fenced yard where I pretty much had to fend for myself. I got my water from flower beds or mud puddles and well, when my old owners finished eating, they threw their leftovers out on the patio for me, or set their leftover pot out for me. At least I could walk when 2010 started. I don't remember what happened to me, maybe it was something I would rather forget, but in May, my legs wouldn't work anymore and I couldn't walk. So I crawled around my yard. That's when my new owners spotted me. My old owners said they couldn't afford to take me to the vet and they were going to take me and give me to a place called the Animal Shelter. My new owners thought it would be a very bad thing for a Pit Bull type dog who couldn't walk to go to that place called the Animal Shelter, so they asked if they could have me.

The next thing I remember I was really excited about riding in a car and then I was at the vet's office. The people here poked and prodded me. They took lots of ticks off of me and gave me a pill that made my fleas just hop right off! I thought that was a great pill!

When we got to my new home, my new owner carried me straight from the car to a place called a shower and I got my first bath with shampoo and everything. I smelled really good! This picture above was taken my first whole day in my new home. There was another dog in my new home, her name is Mollie. She's a Mini-Schnauzer. At first, Mollie hopped around me and tried to play with me. I didn't feel very good and was not much of a playmate for Mollie then. I slept a lot. Every day become a routine. My new Mom would wake me up and pick me and carry me outside to the grass where I would crawl around and do my "business." Then she would carry me inside and I would eat my breakfast and sleep for a little bit. Then I would get carried back outside to the grass. We would sit outside for hours everyday. I loved to crawl around in the grass and snooze in the sunshine. I made a lot of new friends too! Some were kind of scared of me until they got to know me. Neighbors would lay down in the grass with me and pet me. Some came and took pictures of me, like this one on the right. I loved everybody and really loved getting all of the attention. In the afternoons, we would come back inside and I would sleep on my nice soft bed. Later I would have supper and we would go back outside in the grass for a little while.

The only thing that changed my routine was when I had to go see the vet, or another vet, or a specialty vet. I got to see lots of vets. They did lots of tests on me. They even shaved my back in two places to take something called spinal fluid from me, but I slept through that test. I went to sleep and woke up with two big shaved square patches on my back. See the picture on the left. I tried to walk, every day. But I couldn't. I was happy and I wanted to walk, but my legs just didn't work. Finally, a month or so later, one vet put me on a new medicine and I took my first wobbly steps! This was the first day I started walking again!


I wasn't very good at walking at first, but I kept getting better and better. Everyday I would walk on a leash with my Mom a little bit further. I had to lay down and rest many times. Soon, I was walking around the block and then a bigger block and then I made it all the way to the park! I love the park and it is still one of my favorite places to walk. The picture of me at the water fountain was taken at my park!

So, there you have it! Today, I am pretty healthy! I am so thankful I have a new warm home, a bossy little BFF named Mollie, lots of great food and treats, fresh, clean water, bully sticks (they are my favorite!) lots of toys with squeakers and white fluffy stuff that must come out. Most importantly, I YAM STILL HERE! ALIVE!!!

In 2011, I will start something called school. My Mom says I can be an Am-bass-a-Dog for Pit Bulls and Staffies and other dogs like me if I have manners. I don't really know what school or manners are yet, but I'll keep you posted as I find out.

I hope each and every one of you has a great 2011! **WOOF** **WOOF**

For my 2011, I'll be Lovin' Life ~ Staffie Style! Thanks for being my friend!