pibblelove4life

[pibblelove4life]

whippet

[pibblelove4life]

it’s 2015, we should stop saying “adopt dont shop” and change it to “adopt wisely and shop only from a reputable breeder who health tests their dogs and cares about their temperament and needs.”

[pibblelove4life]

I’m going to beat this dead horse and just say that I find it amusing that in every one of these spay/neuter ‘debates’ someone tries to argue that a person who dedicates a great part of their own time to providing for their dogs and ensuring their welfare should snip-snip their dog because many irresponsible pet owners let their dogs reproduce.

accidentally hit the nail right on the head, got right to the root of the problem.

[pibblelove4life]

Ok so I’ve covered why you should not actually clone your pet. But to be honest, I’m not sure how many of you were actually considering dropping 50 G’s for the procedure. Still, maybe you want some sort of memory of a pet who passed away. So let me tell you about CUDDLE CLONES

Basically it’s this company that will make a PLUSH replica of your pet. A cat, dog or horse is $249, and smaller animals like rabbits and guinea pigs are $179. 

In addition to being much cheaper than actual cloning, it doesn’t require any invasive surgery on innocent surrogate ovum donors and mom dogs! Note that this isn’t the only company that does something like plush replicas, for example Feltpets will make your animal out of felt.

But OK Cuddle Clones look particularly quality to me, look at how close they look to the original

they also do figurines

Furthermore, they’ll do any animal you like

cat? dog? horse? gerbil? donkey? it don’t matter to cuddle clones, they will MAKE YOU THAT PLUSH

Also, they donate money to animal-related charities  Did I mention they will do any animal? it doesn’t even have to be real. it can be the fursona you made when you were 14 for deviantart

hell, they’ll make your How to Train Your Dragon OC if you want it

Cuddle Clones is there for you, and i need one of my blob monster please 

[pibblelove4life]

if i recall correctly, you mentioned in a post about the dodo that theyre buddies with peta. ive been trying to look for evidence because i hate peta and a lot of people dont know theyre buddies. do you have any evidence because i cant find any, thank you!

There’s not a lot of direct evidence to point to, no single specific thing I can give you to CITE. What does exist is a lot giving PETA a platform, reproducing their claims with very little original research / actual fact checking, and some interestingly coincidental timing. 

PETA is actually an author on the Dodo’s website. 

More importantly, though, they love to use claims from PETA, cite reports from PETA, and frequently align the premise of articles to what PETA is messaging about various exotic animal situations. (It’s likely they do this with agriculture topics as well, I just don’t watch that side of things). They mirror PETA’s stances and policies very closely - sometimes they’re repeated almost exactly, and they commonly use buzzwords, phrasings, and appellations from PETA’s messaging.Because it appears that authors for The Dodo don’t ever actually fact-check or do real reporting about anything that comes from an animal rights set of talking points, it’s really easy to see how much they’re just repackaging the press statements and agendas coming from that organization. Their video and advocacy-based content also frequently focuses on areas where PETA is currently advocating and PETA-specific successes. 

I’ve also found instances where PETA would release a press release about an expose - one I remember distinctly was the “horrible conditions” at a movie animal compound - and an article from The Dodo promoting it appeared really, really quickly. Maybe the website just has super attentive staff who will read a PETA release and can barf out a post about it in less than a couple hours because they’re not doing any independent research, but I consider it far more likely there’s a collaboration there. 

The Dodo also has a huge audience for animal content (over 20 million people) and allows brands to sponsor videos and posts, so I would make an educated guess that PETA has taken advantage of that in some way just from knowing how they operate as a business. 

I hope that’s helpful. I would mostly just point out to them that The Dodo tends to repeat all of the talking points from groups like PETA, and that almost none of the in-text citations ever actually lead to real information - they just promote other articles that also have no links to factual sources. 

[pibblelove4life]

What do you think the racing ban will mean for the future of the greyhound breed?

i think there are greyhound blogs on tumblr that can answer this far more eloquently than i can, but i will try to give you a decent answer.

you’ve probably seen posts flying around that claim that we are about to lose “the breed as we know it.” i think that wording has been confusing to people who aren’t familiar with greyhounds.

to me, that phrase means that the lean, muscular, powerful, and yet sweet and humble athlete that so many people know and love will devolve into nothing more than couch ornaments. greyhounds are an extremely healthy and genetically diverse breed that has been bred to hunt for centuries. i think it is unfair to a dog to tailor its genetic code to not only excel at, but LOVE, racing, and then to pull the rug out from under that animal and keep it from the thing that makes them happiest.

over time, the genetic health and fitness of these dogs will likely deteriorate. it will become more difficult to find a greyhound capable of what it was bred to do. show greys will become more the norm, and it’s possible and probable that most dogs will go to homes that will never give them the chance to hunt.

this is where most parties diverge, i think. some people think this is all well and good—better to end it now, so that all future greys don’t have to “suffer”. they believe it is cruel to make a dog work or compete. that there is nothing wrong with leaving behind traits that traditionally make a greyhound a greyhound.

i don’t believe this. i believe it’s cruel to condemn a born athlete to live its life languishing on a sofa. and i think it’s just fine to have a breed that exists to hunt!

other breeds are looking at what happened with horror and trepidation because they fear what happened in florida could happen to their dogs—german shepherds that can’t do bitesports, huskies that can’t mush, retrievers that can’t retrieve.

mankind has spent its history with dogs forming a partnership that makes both parties fulfilled and happy. we have created dog breeds to fill spaces in our societies and cultures. we created most breeds with specific working purposes to help us in our daily lives. to deny decades or even centuries of this partnership with the belief that a couch dog is a happy dog is laughable and saddening.

a couch is nice for a while, but i know that if someone took my job away, i would be miserable. i was born to teach—it’s in my blood. i’m good at it. i want to do it. confining me to a house and a walk a day wouldn’t make me happy or fulfilled. it would make me less than what i am.

i only being up the couch thing because there’s this prevalent north american myth that all dogs would be happy as indoor couch ornaments. maybe some dogs would. but i think it’s foolish to cry “liberation” when all you’ve done is condemn.

i ENTHUSIASTICALLY invite greyhound people to correct me and add to this, as i am just blabbering at this point. i am on mobile and late to a workout so goodbye for now~

[pibblelove4life]

Racing greyhounds in the United States

I have so many good resources to share with you!  I want to first emphasize that when I speak of racing practices, my knowledge is solely about racing in the United States.  I have not done extensive research into other countries (other than the plight of the galgo in Spain, which is separate from racing), and I don’t have enough of a knowledge base to comment one way or the other on them.  I want to make a pretty comprehensive post here but not make it so heavy that it is hard to dig into, so I’ll try to summarize a few issues and at the bottom give multiple references.  I know there is simply no way to cover every question that may be out there, so hopefully the references can help with that.

All photos courtesy of Rachel Hogue, who has graciously allowed her photos to be shared for informative purposes.

Misconceptions of cruelty

I thought I should address this first.  A lot of people completely unfamiliar with greyhounds or sighthounds think they are too thin, malnourished, or starved even when they are in peak physical condition.  So keep in mind when you hear people claim that they are all starved, the person may be simply uninformed and uneducated about the ideal body condition of a sighthound.  It’s not uncommon for adopters to let their greys become overweight after adoption due to being alarmed at the sight of ribs, spine or hip points. 

Another misconception is that a nervous or scared hound proves abuse occurred.  There can be many reason a hound is scared.  One is that simply the stress of a complete environment and routine change for the dog has caused him/her to be particularly anxious.  Going from a racing life to a home life is an incredible transition and some handle it better than others.  Nothing I’ve read brings a better understanding of that than this wonderful excerpt from a seminar by Kathleen Gilley titled “What is your new adoptive greyhound thinking?”

Another possibility, if the hound seems to be very extreme in their anxiety and shyness, is that a small number of hounds are what is termed “spooks.”  Just like some people become very anxious, or OCD, or perhaps have agoraphobia, some dogs have these issues (and it’s not limited to greyhounds as a breed).  It CAN be hereditary.  While generally severe spooks are often simply retired quickly because they just don’t handle racing well, some actually do quite well in racing and only become more “neurotic” when they are taken out of their comfort zone.  For these types, it takes a very long period of adjustment in retirement and a patient person to deal with their sensitivity.  You can read an interesting discussion about spooks here on the Grey Talk forum.

Simple Logic

Stopping to think about some of the wilder claims made, when you really think about them, make no logical sense.  Consider, for example, that racing owners and breeders want a top performing dog.  A top performer will win more races, more purses, and ultimately perhaps become a sought after stud or a brood bitch whose pups will be highly valuable.  A breeder spends thousands of dollars to have and raise a litter.  It’s not simply taking a male and female and throwing them together.

If you look at pedigrees, and every racing hound’s pedigree is registered and recorded online here, you will see certain sires and lines in common with many, many hounds.  That is because those dogs were exceptional performers.  That means that people pay an expensive stud fee to have litters with those bloodlines.  Already it makes no sense that there would be that kind of money and care put into a litter only to abuse and treat them badly.  If a person starved and abused their dogs, all it would take was someone who didn’t do so to have dogs that outperformed the others.  Even if you don’t believe these people care for their dogs (and most do), sheer logic says that if they want to make money and have any success that the dogs must be able to perform well. 

Let’s then move on to the logic behind the claim that the dogs are being forced to race all their lives.  I have to say, as an aside, that it’s laughable that these dogs are forced to run in any way.  There can be no doubt that these dogs love what they do, they love running and racing.  When handlers take them out for schooling or race day, they leap and strain and can’t wait to get to the track.

If you haven’t seen it, this video of a retired racer watching other dogs race is quite telling as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqdRV6HNfPQ

In truth, most race for one season, maybe two.  If they are very successful, they don’t want to continue to race long-term a potential breeding hound because there is always some amount of risk of injury (as there is with any activity).  A dog that has proven exceptional skill is going to be an excellent candidate to add to the gene pool of future racers.  On the flip side, they won’t want to keep a poor racer around because they have to continue to pay for that dog’s upkeep.  The track has a limited amount of space and kennels, and owners are going to want to keep their newest prospects there, not have a dog that isn’t winning languishing there and draining resources.  It makes no sense.  The kennels are owned by the track, and the track is not owned by the industry. 

The Pro Greyhound Movement

A really great resource on Facebook is The Pro Greyhound Movement.  It is a closed group so you must be approved to join; however if you don’t look like a spambot you can generally be approved within a day or so.  There are many owners, breeders, trainers, track workers, and other adopters in this group.  It was created to be a means of communication and connection between those in the industry and adopters.  They are very willing to answer questions, and often if you give your dog’s racing name you might find out information about them.  Some trainers may specifically remember your hound, or can give you more information about where your dog came from.  If you’re lucky you might be able to connect with a trainer or breeder and get past photos of your hound from their racing life.  I must warn you, however, that if you join up and immediately start out attacking people there your reception will not be a good one.  They are understandably wary and defensive with people who seem to have an agenda other than learning.  AR groups have “joined” before and stolen pictures only to edit and post them out of context in anti-racing propaganda.  So that’s something to be aware of.

Dennis McKeon

Dennis really deserves a special mention here because he has written extensive essays and articles to share what goes on in the industry and debunking myths surrounding racing in the US.  He has been involved in the industry as a trainer most of his adult life.  A list of some of his myth debunking pieces can be found here:  Debunking Lies.  Dennis also posts often on his own Facebook page which is set to public so that it is open to all.  I have spoken to him and asked him if he’d be willing to answer questions directly from people, which he generously agreed to.  If you have questions that you just can’t seem to find good answers to, you can contact him through his Facebook page.

Resources and more Resources

I could go on forever here, but this is probably too long as it is!  So here are several wonderful resources that you can check out to see what normal racing greyhound life is like and how they are treated.  You might be pleasantly surprised!

Greyhoundfacts.org:  Greyhound Facts is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to provide a place to learn about all aspects of present day greyhound racing in the USA from those with hands on experience. Our network of volunteers includes people who are actively involved in the breeding, raising, training, and rehoming of these wonderful hounds. 

All About Greyhounds:  Welcome to All About Greyhounds!  We hope you will explore all the pages of the website, Greyhounds have many facets and we hope to showcase them all.  We endeavor to keep this website fresh and up to date, so please enjoy your visit and come back often.

 Oh Happy Racing Greyhound:  Community on Facebook. 

Adopted Greyhound Puppies:  Article and photos about greyhound puppies who, for whatever reason, don’t become racers.

Racing Greyhounds and Their People:  There seems to be a common misconception that racing greyhounds don’t get much human contact while they’re at the track.  A look behind the scenes shows how much trainers and kennel staff truly love these dogs in their care, as well as how much the dogs love them back. 

Blanchard Greyhound Racing:  A racing kennel that has graciously opened up to the public with updates, photos, and videos about their hounds.

Jason Michael:  Works with Palm Beach Kennels in Florida.  He shares photos and videos of the racers daily.

Life at a Greyhound Track (Rachel Hogue):  A beautiful photo blog that takes you through the life of the typical racing greyhound.  Browse through the photos and read the captions, you will learn a lot!  She has other albums with fantastic photos from racing hounds to puppies at the farm.

American Greyhound Council:  The American Greyhound Council (AGC) was established in 1987 to fund and manage greyhound welfare, research and adoption programs for the racing community.  It is a joint effort of the National Greyhound Association, the official greyhound registry and breeding organization; and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association. The AGC works with breeders, tracks, adoption groups, regulators, elected officials and others to ensure the health and safety of greyhounds at every stage of their lives. 

National Greyhound Association:  The NGA is the official registry of the breed, a membership organization devoted to overseeing the recording of the breeding, registrations and performance of the Sport of Queens in the United States.  Greyhound racing starts here, where professional members gather information to breed, whelp, humanely raise and produce the world’s fastest canine.  Most importantly, we celebrate a history of the breed and exalt the finest traits, to produce the finest athletes and amazing all around dog.  

Conclusion

If you’ve adopted a racer, perhaps try to get in touch with your dog’s breeder or trainer.  It can’t always be done but sometimes it can and they are happy to hear from adopters.  Cole’s breeder was pleased to hear about him and sent me farm and puppy photos.

© Boeckenstedt farms

Rudy’s breeder became friends with me on Facebook where she loves sharing videos I post of him to her own page.  I know a certain someone here on Tumblr who found people at the track through the Pro Greyhound Movement who remembered her hound, and even told a story of a specific song they used to sing to him ;).  

I’m not trying to make people pro-racing here.  I’m trying to stop the spread of misinformation that is completely false.  They aren’t starved and beaten.  They aren’t raced their entire lives, and they don’t live in a tiny cage 24/7 except when they race.  They haven’t been deprived of all love and caring their whole lives.  They aren’t forced to run.  They are not mass-killed if they don’t win races.  I only ask you listen to the other side and find out the facts before spreading information that may be inaccurate and ultimately harmful to the very dogs you are trying to help.

Cole and Rudy, 2015

[pibblelove4life]

hi hello CATS!!!! CANNOT!!!! BE VEGAN!!!!!

i cannot believe i have to fucking say this.

dogs are omnivore and IF YOUR VET APPROVES your pooch MAY be able to go on an APPROVED(!!!!!) commercial vegan dog food like the brand “v-dog” which has all the essential vitamins, protein, etc. (the oldest record winning dogs have been vegan)

cats are CARNIVORE and cannot fucking live on a vegan diet. a vet would laugh in your face and probably find some way to have your pet taken away from you because you’re obviously not fit to have an animal if you think you can feed a cat a diet based on your own ethics

i’m vegan but this is so fucking harmful.

it’s about minimizing your harm, not putting your animals on risky diets in an attempt to be perfect.

DON’T FUCKING DO THIS TO YOUR PETS

[pibblelove4life]

collab with M Jesu (site/twitter)

[pibblelove4life]

What the hell? This man is a monster. He doesn’t keep his fish in the right conditions AT ALL, makes his own pets fight to their death, and straight up blatantly abuses animals. The list just goes on. Make his name known. I can’t believe people like this exist.

[pibblelove4life]

Feel free to share

[pibblelove4life]

sex is intimate and sacred. your body is a temple, and you shouldn’t share it with anyone who believes pitbulls are a naturally aggressive or dangerous breed.

[pibblelove4life]

give me cookie pls??

[pibblelove4life]

Just so you all know..

This blog is 100% anti PETA.

We love our vegetarian and vegan friends and family (and I have a lot of them!!). We don’t support an organization that claimes to love animals and does nothing but hurt them and the people who love them.

Hugs and support to my extended dog show family at Crufts.

[pibblelove4life]

“…be as selective about your dog as possible. That means doing your research, being certain of your needs, and not getting a dog from a shelter or from even a reputable breeder on a whim. That means not selecting a dog based on what’s trendy, or what’s cutest, but basing your selection on what you have envisioned as the ideal functional relationship between the two of you. That means putting in the work necessary to make sure that you create that ideal relationship and not just settle for whatever is easiest.”

— Mike Ritland, Team Dog (via fakebicolor)

[pibblelove4life]

rehoming a pet by finding a loving caring person to take them in, or finding a good rescue organization or shelter, doesn’t make you a bad pet owner or a bad person

circumstances sometimes necessitate a major change. it’s not your fault.

[pibblelove4life]

Hi guys. I’m here to ask for help.

As some of you know, I have been waiting and searching for a service dog prospect for a while now (for those on my friendslist who don’t know what this means; it is basically a puppy or a dog that is going to hopefully be trained as a service dog).

We weren’t expecting a dog or a puppy for at least another 3-5 months, but Monday night a 6 week old standard poodle puppy became available. Long story short, the puppy is mine, and will be coming home late June/early July!

We thought we had months to prepare, to save money, and get everything ready.

I need to scramble together the money in a very short time period.

I am in a huge pinch, and I need help paying for this sweet little puppy.

I’m fully capable of paying for everything the puppy needs, if that’s anyones concern. I am just unable to come up with 2000 dollars in about 2 weeks.

We’ve set up a paypal account for this (and not a funding site, because funding sites will take % off of the income).

I feel like most of you have known me long enough to trust me that this money will solely be going towards this puppy. Any amount donation helps immensely <3

*The paypal account is; gdbfdogtraining@gmail.com*

Thank you so much to everyone who decides to donate.