I've been a bad, bad blogger!

Hey Everyone,

So, my last post was in October! GAH! So much has happened and there is so much that I want to do with this blog. I do not know how I'm going to find the time to do it.

Anyways, here are some updates on Loki and the Family K:

1) At Loki's year check up, we discovered that he gained 10 pounds. :( It's our fault because we (and our parents) spoil him with treats and table scrapes. In my opinion, the "grandpa's" were the worst offenders! So we scaled back a bit on Loki's food and introduced carrots and green beans to him. His exercise is still the same (1.5 - 2.0 mile walk or run). When we first introduced green beans to Loki, it was hilarious!  Check it out!

2) In January, we found out that our city (well township really) has a Vicious Dog Ordinance. Unfortunately, the Vicious Dog Ordinance has breed specific language:

Vicious dog [according to Canton Township] means:

(1) Any dog with a known propensity, tendency or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury to, or to otherwise endanger the safety of humans or other domestic animals;

(2) Any dog that attacks a human being or other domestic animal without being provoked; or

(3) Any dog known by the owner to be a pit bull terrier, which shall be defined as any American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or American Staffordshire Terrier breed of dog or any mixed breed of dog known to contain as an element of its breeding any of such breeds. (Source; Click Chapter 14 – Animals; Article I - In General)

So, Canton Township is calling this a vicious dog:

I cry bull-sh*t! So, I’m working with various pit bull advocate to get the breed specific language removed!  I’m a bit nervous taking on this campaign, but I really cannot sit by as I see various dogs in Canton Township automatically labeled “vicious” just because of their breed. It’s funny that we discovered this two years into adopting Loki. For the first year, Loki was pretty much one of the few bully dogs in the neighborhood. In the last year alone, Marcin and I have seen more and more pits and pit mixes. 

I haven’t sent the letter to the Board of Trustees yet. I’m waiting to consult with one more pit bull advocate.  I will keep you all updated on my progress. My goal is to have the breed specific language removed from the dog ordinance by the end of this year!

3) To end on a good note, our friend and talented artist, Kate McGilsky, took our family photos:

Well, that is all for now . . .hopefully I will be better this year with blogging!

National Pit Bull Awareness Post

October is National Pit Bull Awareness Month.  This past Saturday, October 27, was the day to celebrate the awesomeness of pit bull kind! I have to admit, I had a really hard time deciding what to write about this month to go along with the theme.

At first, I thought that I would write about our experiences with the doggy prejudice that we've encountered since Loki joined our family. There are not too much, but there are some doozies. 

I also thought of re-hashing the Michael Vick dog fighting scandal after reading Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant.  There were numerous time I had to stop reading because I was in tears over what happened to many of the dogs.  At times, I thought that the author went into some gruesome details at times that were too much for me.

In any case, I went back and forth on what to write.  But then I remember my original purpose of this blog - more POSITIVE images/stories about pitbulls and bully breeds like Loki. 

So I give you, what Loki, a Pit Bull AND American Bulldog, likes to do:

 Loki likes to . .

Watch T.V.

Sun Bath

Hog the couch while napping

Show off his laser eyes

Go on nature hikes

Sit nice for a treat

Let me dress him up in my scarves

Gives kisses while we are driving

And snuggle (not fight) with his pit bull friends

Pretty tame (and cute) for a breed that is "vicious and dangerous" huh?

The Family K Hiking Adventure

Hey Loki Fans!
Fall is in full swing in Michigan.  I love this time of year, especially with having Loki with us.  We can take him for longer walks.  We take him on bike rides.  One thing that I wanted to do with Loki and Marcin this fall was to go hiking. 

One of my co-workers told me about a great hiking area in Wixom - Proud Lake. At Proud Lake, there is a five mile nature walk.  While Marcin has done more advance hiking before and we hiked together on our honeymoon in Hawaii, I wanted our first hiking adventure with Loki to be relatively easy.  Five miles is a bit of a distance, but it the trail was relatively flat. 

Needless to say, Loki was very excited for the trip.

Are we there yet, Jess?

 Once we got to Proud Lake and found the trail, the Family K went a-hiking!

Loki, getting the lay of the land.

Check out my boys!

During our hike, we found this great big tree trunk that had fallen.

Trying to get my yoga on.

Four miles in, we found a tall corn field with a beautiful tree in the middle.

Even Loki was amazed with this view:

But alas, Loki wanted to continue on the hike:

The hiking trip was a complete success!  It took us roughly 2 hours to go around Proud Lake and we definitely enjoyed the views.  Loki had a blast on the hike and was zonked out for the rest of the day. 

Loki - one happy, spent pit bull!

We are hoping to get another hike in before the cold sets in.  Next time, Mama K will be joining us too!

Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather!  See you next time. 

Now it's time to enjoy a nap and night cap:

Three Strikes and I'm . . . Adopted???

Hey Folks, I'm Loki.  

Jessie wanted me to write something for the second post of this blog thing that she is writing about me.  She’s typing for me because when I get on the computer, it looks something like this . . .

k,mvc kmbgvl,fcjnkvcxnkmjgbvlpDSejuh <----That's me, trying to type my name . . .

 

Anyways, I guess I want to tell you folks how lucky I am to live with Jessie and Marcin (I know that they are my mommy and daddy, but we have more fun when I recognize their names . . .I’ll blog about that later :)

The thing is - I should not have been adopted.  I should be moving from foster home to foster home, waiting eagerly for a forever home.  Why do you ask?  Because I have three strikes against me.

Strike 1:  I’m a Bully Breed Mix . . .

. . .and not just not any bully breed mix, but a pit bull and a bulldog mix!   

You can see my pit bull smile here

First time dog owners like Jessie and Marcin normally would be hesitant to go for a dog like me.  There are so many stereotypes out there about bully breeds, especially the pit bull breed.  Aggressive, violent, uncontrollable – these are the words used to describe pit bulls (and bull dogs to some extent).  

Luckily, Jessie and Marcin were already exposed to the breed through my foster family – The Lords and their pitbull mix, Lola.

Here's Lola, my doggie girlfriend

Jessie and Marcin were used to Lola, so when they met me, they were very open-minded.  Also, I was very charming with Jessie when I first met her.  She was so sweet, and Miika and Lola (my foster sister and girlfriend respectively) were happy to see her, I knew she was good peeps.  So, I turned on the charmed and showered her with kisses when we met.   

Strike #2:  I’m a big dude . . .

When my foster parents Tasha and Brian first took me in, I was a 2 year old, 90 pound pup.  That’s a lot of dog!  

See how big I am compare to Jessie and Marcin:

Me next to Marcin who is 5'9"

Me napping with Jessie who is 5'2"

Again, most first time owners want something cute, little, or at least manageable!  Lucky for me, Marcin wanted a “DOG” and I fit the bill.  Jessie was a little bit intimidated at first.  When we first met, I got a little exuberant with my kisses and knocked her over when she bent down to pet me.  I was just so excited to meet her!
 

But she took it in stride and my charm prevailed!  Now she feels safe having me around the house.  I also help boost her confidence as she has great pride with having me as her dog.  She loves telling everyone she meets that I’m an 84 pound pit bull/bulldog mix and there is nothing wrong with that. 

Marcin loves the fact that we can wrestle and rough house a bit.  Also, since they are both active humans, they take me on walks, runs, and bike rides.  Now I’m a healthier 84 pound pup.

Strike #3:  I’m Black . . .

Crazy as it sounds, but there is color discrimination even in the dog world.  It’s called Black-dog bias.  Big Black Dogs have the stereotype of being aggressive, violent, and territorial (thanks media!).  Also, apparently, we do not photograph well.  Personally, that is a bunch of hooey!  My mom, obnoxious photographer that she is, has gotten some great photos of me:

Here I am keeping the couch arm warm

I so wasn't ready for this close-up, but whateves

Jessie calls this my puppy face

Once again, I’m lucky that Marcin and Jessie love my coloring.  In fact, they were not aware of this bias until after they adopted me.  They call me Guinness (I hear it’s a great beer) because of the hints of brown that comes out of my coat in the summer.  
 

So despite being a pit bull, big, and black, Jessie and Marcin, two first time dog owners, took a chance and welcomed me into their home and now I have a family.  We call ourselves a Wolf Pack of Three. 

I have no idea where that came from, but they keep saying it, and I like the sound of it.  

So I want to leave you folks with this thing called a meme about pit bulls.  

It’s the truth yo!

Loki, the Loco Dog!

Hello Friends!

This is Jessica from Healthy Obsessions of a GirlieTomboy.  For those of you who came over from that blog, you know that I have been a bad, bad blogger since November.  I’ve stated my reasons over in my last post of that blog.

Now it’s time for a new blog!  One dedicated to one of the best things to happen to me – Adopting a Rescue DOG!

Meet this blog’s star:

Loki "Loco" K.

A.K.A – La Loco, Pups, Poops, Monster, Whiney the Pooch, plus many more. . .

Stats:

Breed:  Pitbull/American Bulldog

Age: 3 years old

Sex:  Male

Weight:  85 pounds of muscle, love, and silliness

Temperament:  An excitable pup who is sure to greet everyone at the door with a smile, sniffs, some licks, and few whacks of his strong tail.

Loves:

Naps

Walks

Belly Rubs

How Loki came to be a part of our wolf pack of two and turn it into a wolf pack of three:

I first met Loki in March 2011.  He was turned into the Buster Foundation (a pitbull rescue) a few months earlier (probably at the beginning of the year).  He had another foster home, until our friends Tasha and Brian decided to foster him.   

Best Foster Parent's EVER!  (Here they are singing at our wedding!)

Tasha, being the most awesome foster mom, started a blog on Facebook about Loki and I was intrigued by a few pictures that she posted of Loki with their dogs Miika (Catahoula ) and Lola (pit bull mix).

Loki and Miika

After a workout date with Tasha, I met Loki and his charm knocked me over.  Actually he literally knocked me over because I was not prepared for 90 pounds of dog to come after me with licks and snuggles!   I fell in love with his face and his temperament. 

His sized scared me a bit, but his charm won me over.  I immediately texted Marcin to come over and meet him (I had showed Marcin the same pics that Tasha posted, and he wasn’t too impressed).  After an evening of wrestles with Loki, Marcin became more curious about dog ownership Loki.  

The next week, Tasha brought Loki over to our house for a visit because we wanted to see if our house was “dog-friendly.”  Loki made himself right at home on our couch! 

He also likes our kitchen floor! 

After this visit, we decided that we were ready to consider adopting not just a dog, but Loki specifically.  He fits in right with both our personalities, we just couldn’t say no!  We met with Deniece from the Buster Foundation and Tasha to go over the process and what dog ownership of a bully breed would mean.

As I stated before, Loki is a pitbull (you can see that part of him when he smiles) and American bulldog mix (where he gets his size from).  Now I know what you are wondering.  For two first-time dog owners, why on earth would you get a bully dog mix?!  Well for one thing, pitbulls are fairly misjudged.  It’s the OWNER’S responsibilities to train and socialize their dog to behave well - no matter the breed.

Also, I am a sucker for the underdogs (pun intended).  I’ve always been the underdog growing up – always have, always will be.  I knew in my heart that we would adopt a dog instead of getting a purebred.  When I heard Loki’s story (abandoned first by his first owner, they given to the Buster Foundation after the next owner couldn't afford to take Loki, 3 boys, and two other dogs with him), it just broke my heart that anyone would abandon such a lovable, easygoing dog.  

The next step was to do an overnight.  We got permission from the Buster Foundation to do an extended weekend over Easter 2011.  

Needless to say it was a success!

On April 30, 2011 we officially adopted Loki.

The Family K

So stop by this blog and see Loki's adventure through this crazy thing we call life!  I have a lots of material to share with you all.  Loki's excited too:

Big THANK YOU to. . . 

. . .the Buster Foundation and Deniece for giving Loki a chance to be adopted.

. . .Tasha and Brian Lord for giving Loki a home while we ready ourselves for Doggie ownership.

. . . To all our friends who have shown their support and have met and enjoy Loki's company!