Greetings dog friends, friends of dogs and cats,

We here at Rosie's Barkery think that Pit Bulls are pretty great! Myself I am part "Pit", or American Staffordshire Terrier, as is the proper breed name and I have a whole lotta friends who are "pit bulls" too!

Like many other dogs, "P Bo's" (as my Pa Pa calls us), are experiencing hard times. That's why Rosie's Barkery is proud to announce a new group to the list of organizations we support, they're called Stubby Dog!

Stubby Dog is all about educating humans about American Staffordshire and English Staffordshire Terriers and supporting the rescue's who help those breeds. They're doing important work that gets to the root of the issues and we here at Rosie's Barkery think they're great!

But don't just take our word of course, you can read what they have to say in this month's "Sniff N' Greet an Animal Do-Gooder". I interviewed Stubby Dog's VP of operations and co-founder, Laura Petrolino.

What areas of the country are you a helper to?

StubbyDog is a national organization. What we are doing is helping dogs throughout the country (and internationally as well).

How did Stubby Dog get started?

StubbyDog was formed in 2009 and launched in 2010. We observed all the wonderful organizations and their amazing work on behalf of pit bulls – from rescue and rehabilitation, to shutting down dog-fighting operations and tackling legislative injustices, etc. Unfortunately, despite all their terrific work, there still remain well over a million pit bulls being killed in shelters every year.

An organization whose sole mission was to change the discussion and public perception!

Our goal is for people to no longer view pit bulls as a special category of dog – but, instead, as just a dog.

And this why we formed StubbyDog: to change the discussion and public perception, and in turn make the world a kinder place for these wonderful dogs!

These are hard times for animal friends and human friends, what are some of the challenges facing your organization today?

As with most non-profits, being able to properly fund the outreach and campaigns we are currently pursuing, as well as those which we have planned for the future is of up most importance. We really feel like our potential positive impact is only limited by the resources we have available to allow us to pursue our goals.

What is a BSL?

Breed Specific Legislation and Breed Discrimination Laws are laws put into place that discriminate agains, ban or in some way target a particular dog based on their breed or appearance.

Pit bulls used to be America’s favorite dog, called the nanny dog for their patience and protection of children. There are a lot of pit bull heroes. Personally mine are Cesar Milan’s Daddy (R.I.P.), Hercules from the show on Animal Planet “Pit Boss” and Sgt. Stubby. Who are some of your pit bull heroes?

My pit bull heroes are simply the every day dogs that do nothing other than be loving, fun and loyal companions to their families. Every dog is a hero for the family that loves him or her.

I like happy tails, do you have a favorite success story?

Oh wow! That’s a tough one, there are sooo many! These dogs simply overwhelm me sometimes with their amazing ability to overcome enormous odds and not only live out happy lives with loving families, but in many cases also serve as therapy dogs or pit bull ambassadors in one way or another. A few stories I particularly love are Jagger, Sal , Sarge, Mr. Buddy Rose , Handsome Dan and Hope .

Do you serve treats at your dogs and if so, what flavors? I like peanut butter but I know there are other flavors out there.

Well, my dog loves sweet potato :)

Do you have any fun events coming up for party animals feeling festive?

We do, but they are top secret right now. Stay tuned to our Facebook

 and Website for announcements.

How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?

Anyone interested in donating can either contact me

 or simply do so through our online system.

Anyone interested in submitting a story can contact Micaela Myers.

Anyone interested in volunteering or with any other questions can contact me.

Thank you for your time and efforts on behalf of all pit bulls out there! 

 

Good Bloggy!

Greetings dog friends, friends of dogs and cats!

Hi everyone, just wanted to shout out to a new friend to Rosie's Barkery, Daylyn of "Day's Pet Product Reviews!" She recently reviewed our Easter cookies and recorded her dog trying our treats. While her dog is a bit camera shy, that didn't stop her from loving our goodies! Go to:
http://www.dayspetreviews.com/2012/04/rosies-barkey-treats-arrive-first.html

Thanks for sitting, staying and reading, good human!

"Snuggling" like Dogs and Cats

Greetings dog friends, friends of dogs and cats,

I know what you're thinking, the title is wrong! It should be "Fighting" not "Snuggling", but I beg your pardon, we dogs and cats can get along just fine if the two parties are willing. See exhibit A, that's me and that's my brother Lincoln on the couch sleeping, together.

And my other brother, Bucky is posing as the "Easter Bucky" on our website, www.rosiesbarkery.com. Don't worry, he was not harmed in the making of that picture, he's quite the ham...um, well, I suppose in shape and in his love for showing off....Anyways, I'm not the only one with cat siblings. My partner, Bella, comes from a big feline family, 6 cats! Allow me to introduce them:

This is Maggie                                                 This is Kurt

This is Kopie and Pumpkin                    And baseball enthusiast, Miss Georgia

I know that's only 5 cats but Bella's last brother thinks his soul will get stolen if his picture gets taken. It's a full house but then there's also a lot of love there too.

Now why, are we going on about cats since we make dog treats? It's because we're raising money for an organization called Kitten Rescue! I got the chance to interview them, read all about it here:
 

What areas of Los Angeles are you a helper to?

We are active in the entire Los Angeles area, although we are mostly concentrated in West LA, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita and Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena.

How did Kitten Rescue get started?

Kitten Rescue began in 1997 when our founder, Sue Romaine, started intercepting week-old kittens as they were being brought into the West Valley shelter and took them home to bottle feed and adopt out rather than allow them to be put to sleep.  When people in the community saw her at pet stores with these adoptable kittens they volunteered to help, and the organization has slowly and steadily grown over the past fifteen years to where we now are able to rescue and adopt out 1,000 cats and kittens annually.

I understand that you help dogs as much as you help cats, which species is harder to help?

I can’t say that one is harder than the other; both present their own sets of challenges, both on the front end when you are rescuing and caring for them and on the back end when you are trying to find them homes. 

For instance, dogs tend to have higher medical expenses than cats and are much more resource intensive, so you can’t rescue as many of them as you can cats. On the other hand, finding a home for a purebred mini-schnauzer or golden retriever puppy is a walk in the park. Cats are usually a little easier to take care of – there’s really no comparison between a litter of kittens (who are fun and wonderful) and a litter of puppies (who will make olympic-sized messes and destroy everything) – but the supply and demand dynamic for cats is very different and so they can often be a little harder to adopt out. Although everything changes once you start talking about pit bulls – they are the most like cats, in that there are a lot of them that need homes but there aren’t so many adoptive homes for them. Which is sad, really, because by and large they are wonderful, goofy dogs.

Now a lot of people think that dogs and cats can’t get along and while it’s true that I would rather chase a stray cat then be it’s friend, I do get along with my cat brothers quite well. What’s the best way that you know to get cats and dogs to get along?

The best thing to do is to introduce them slowly, and always under strict supervision. Dogs are very good at letting their body language speak for itself and an observant owner will be able to differentiate playful and aggressive behavior. I have found that most cats will be willing to peacefully coexist, if not overtly befriend, a friendly dog.

How many cats do you currently have and how many dogs for adoption?

Our group has over 1,000 cats and about 40 dogs up for adoption.

On the FAQs page of our website, www.rosiesbarkery.com, I pose the question, “Why do cats do what they do? Can you possibly answer this for me?

I don’t think anyone can answer this question! Maybe the cats can, but they’re not talking.

These are hard times for animal friends and human friends, what are some of the challenges facing your organization today?

The two biggest ones are unquestionably the increase in animals losing their homes or being abandoned, and the decrease in private donations caused by the difficult economy. Animals don’t know good economies from bad, but the people that care for them certainly feel the pinch.

What are things that everyday people can do to improve the lives of animals in Los Angeles?

Give! Whether it’s time spent volunteering with a no-kill rescue, space in your home that you use to foster an animal in need, or money to help a rescue group save more animals, the needs of the rescue community are tremendous and every little bit helps. 

Do you serve treats at your cats and dogs and if so, what flavors? I like peanut butter but I know there are other flavors out there.

When I want to give my cats treats, I’ll get them a rotisserie chicken – it’s like the cat version of Shark Week when I do that. As for dogs, well, they’ll eat pretty much anything, and I think they get as much enjoyment out of the ceremony that comes with treat giving as they do the actual treat. So I try to stay with healthy treats; right now the favorites are dried cranberries or blueberries, and when in season, fresh mango.

Do you have any fun events coming up for party animals feeling frisky?

Why yes – In the fall we’re going to host our fifth annual Fur Ball fundraiser, though the date and location haven’t been set yet. But we will put up details on our website, www.kittenrescue.org.

Squirrels, what do your dog and cat friends of think of them?

Better than television. 

How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?

The best way is through our website at www.kittenrescue.org – they can learn about our programs and send us an email to volunteer or help us out in any way.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to answer some questions for our human friends.

And thank you for sitting, staying and reading, good human!

The review is in!

Greetings dog friends, friends of dogs and cats,

We here at Rosie's Barkery have been holding our breath for a few weeks now but, we can finally exhale! The reason? Oh no big deal, only one of the blog-o-phere's top food critique's has reviewed our treats AND, drum roll.....he loved them! Waggy tails and hi-paws, cuz he's a tough cookie to please we understand!

Indeed, Mr. Jake of the blog, Dogster.com has quite the reputation for being a dog of discerning taste with a nose that knows great from so-so. He's very dedicated to his job. As you can see here he's taking his work home with him!

I admire that kind of hard work ethic, and he's quite handsome if I do say so myself (Bella and Lily agree with big waggy tails).

Of course, don't think we told him that, wouldn't want him to think we were pandering after all. We are very excited that he liked our treats AND, bonus for you!

As a huge thanks for reviewing us we are offering a Valentine's Day Gift Basket through their site!

It'll have our sweet potato/peanut butter "Carob Bone Bone", a package of our applesauce "SweetBarks", 2 bacon/honey "Love Bites!" (Personal favorite there) and 4 cranberry "Red Rosie" cookies. Of course all our cookies are still gluten-free.

All this could be sent to you for FREE if you go to their site and participate in their contest. What an easy and delicious way to woo your pup for Valentine's Day!

Go to Dogster.com
Find your favorite question off of our site: Rosiesbarkery.com FAQS and leave a comment with your opinion about it on the Dogster.com blog under our big basket photo.

Thank you Mr. Jake for the pawsome review, you're the best you handsome devil dog, you!

My name is Lily and I have a story to tell you!

Hi,
My sister Rosie said I could introduce this month's Greet N' Sniff a Do-Gooder interview. I'm very excited to tell you that it's Animal Advocates Alliance!

Why am I so excited? Because these are the people that saved my life.

Ten months ago (that's how many months I am), the nice people from Animal Advocates Alliance found me along with my step-mom, step-brothers and sisters. See, my mom had been hit by a car when I was a baby and a near by mama took me in. Unfortunately, we all had parvo. However, thanks to AAA, we survived! It was a tough way to start out in this world but I guess it was the path I was supposed to take so I could find my forever family.

Now I have a great life. I love my forever family, they take me on fun adventures and feed me yummy treats. I will never repay the people of Animal Advocates Alliance for all their hard work, but I will always be grateful for what they did for me.

This month my big sister is supporting Animal Advocates Alliance through the sales on their website and at any event they do. Go to: rosiesbarkery.com or at the Montrose Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings to get some delicious treats and to support this amazing group of folks. Help them help more dog and cat friends!

And now read about them in this month's "Sniff N Greet An Animal Do-Gooder".

What areas of Los Angeles are you a helper to?
Animal Advocates Alliance is a Los Angeles based animal rescue & animal welfare organization. While we try to help as many animals as possible, we focus a lot of our efforts in the Baldwin Park area of Los Angeles County. We work closely with the Baldwin Park animal shelter to help the homeless animals in their care and we host a free training/education and spay/neuter program for residents of the Baldwin Park area.

How did Animal Advocates Alliance get started? 
Animal Advocates Alliance was founded in 2008. Each of the original founding board members had been independently rescuing animals for several years prior to forming the organization. This small group of animal lovers decided that they could have a much bigger impact on animal welfare if they banded together to formally organize a non-profit.

Describe a typical day at work saving lives for you?
Every day is different! A lot of planning and coordination goes into saving just one life- transportation arrangements, veterinary evaluation and treatment, finding a foster home or a place for the animal to stay and, of course, finding a “forever home” for each animal! Rescuing and caring for an animal until he/she gets adopted is very expensive, so we also spend a lot of time fundraising! A typical day for us involves lots of running around with and without animals, answering emails and phone calls, planning fundraisers, adoption events and home checks. Luckily, during all of this scrambling and commotion, we get puppy kisses and kitty snuggles!

These are hard times for animal friends and human friends, what are some of the challenges facing your organization today?
The biggest challenge we face is financial limitations. It is extremely expensive to rescue and care for animals. We save a lot of sick and broken animals that require expensive veterinary treatment and surgery. In these tough economic times we’ve seen a decrease in donations and an increase in the number of homeless animals entering the shelter or simply wandering the streets. We want to rescue more animals but without a steady flow of financial support we are limited in the number of animals that we can responsibly rescue.

I like happy tails, do you have a favorite success story?
We have so many adoption success stories! One very special success is a Chihuahua mix named Agnes. AAA was doing volunteer work at the Baldwin Park shelter a couple of years ago when Agnes arrived. Her owners dumped her at the shelter because she was old and because she was blind and diabetic! We couldn’t leave Agnes at the shelter knowing how scared she must be and how very unlikely it would be for her to get adopted. AAA was prepared to care for this elderly special needs dog for the rest of her life…. But then something incredible happened! Along came an amazing couple who wanted to adopt Agnes! They were lovely and their other little dog welcomed Agnes into the home too! Now nearly15 years old, Agnes is doing well and living happily with her family! Adopting a senior and/or special needs dog is such an incredible, kind thing to do!

Do you serve treats at your dogs and if so, what flavors? I like peanut butter but I know there are other flavors out there.
What animal doesn’t like treats?! Our supporters like to donate treats to our rescued animals so we always have a different selection of treats for the dogs and cats! We think the dogs especially like beef, liver and peanut butter flavored treats!

Do you have any fun events coming up for party animals feeling festive?
On Saturday 1/21/2012 we are having a super YUMMY fundraiser event at the Farmer’s Market “Veggie Grill” located at 110 S. Fairfax Ave. Los Angeles 90036.

Simply have a meal between 5pm-10pm on January 21st at the Veggie Grill and mention this fundraiser and 50% of your purchase will be donated to AAA! Gather your friends and family and enjoy some of the best food in LA while raising money for AAA!

What are the best ways humans can help their animal friends be safe and happy?
The kindest thing that any pet owner can do is spay or neuter their pets. Preventing unwanted/unexpected litters of puppies and kittens will help the pet overpopulation problem. Additionally, spaying and neutering is healthier for your pets as they are less likely to develop certain life threatening illnesses if they are “fixed!”

Be considerate and always choose safety first! When walking a dog please always use a leash. Even if you think your dog is perfectly trained not to run off, it only takes one mistake for a dog to be hit by a car, get into a fight with another dog, knock over a senior citizen or a small child. For off leash time please visit a dog park or toss a ball in an enclosed back yard!

Snuggle them often, kiss them frequently and always tell them how much you love them! J

How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?
The best way to reach us at AAA is by email: info@animaladvocatesalliance.org

To see our available animals, to make a donation or to read about our volunteer opportunities please visit our website at www.animaladvocatesalliance.org

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to answer some questions for our human friends.
And thanks for sitting, staying and reading, good humans!

Forgot!

Whoops, forgot to sign out!

Thanks for sitting, staying and reading, good human...whew!

Christmas is near...

and finally: Christmas Cookies are HERE!

Greetings dog friends, friends of dogs and cats,

My tail is going into over drive with the arrival of Christmas cookies, our house smells delicious. Every once in a while, a cookie drops and I get to have that one, only if it's within some kind of 3 second rule. But I don't usually care about how long it's been on the floor, the cookie is still delicious after 5 seconds even! And sometimes, I "accidentally" bump my mom while she's working at the cookie table. She gets a little mad but then I give her my best puppy eyes and well...works like a charm and I get cookie!

If you would like to purchase an "Oh Tannenbone!" Cookie or "The Barking Around the Christmas Tree" Cookie package, go to our site: www.rosiesbarkery.com A portion of the proceeds go to Karma Rescue this month. And speaking of Karma Rescue...

The second interview in our "Greet N' Sniff a local Animal Do-Gooder" is with Marnae of Karma Rescue! Read on...

What areas of Los Angeles are you a helper to?
Karma Rescue saves at-risk dogs from the high kill Los Angeles area shelters. Karma provides each dog a new beginning and finds them safe and suitable permanent homes through adoption, advocacy and education.

How did Karma Rescue get started?
Karma Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in 2003 by Rande Levine in hopes to combat the steadily growing number of animals euthanized in Los Angeles area shelters. Karma Rescue runs solely off of charitable donations and charitable donations are 100% tax deductible. To date, Karma has saved over 1800 dogs and counting!

Describe a typical day at work for you?
A typical day begins with checking our email and voicemail – this can take HOURS. We answer EVERY phone call and email inquiry. Even if we are unable to help callers by taking in an animal, we help by offering courtesy listings for animals on our site for potential adopters to see, we help match dogs with prospective adopters, and we are always willing and available to give advice. We then spend the rest of the day tending to matters having to do with our Karma Rescue dogs (we currently have 63 large breed dogs and 2 small breed dogs in our care). This can be anything from trying to network a dog for adoption, trying to find the dog a foster home, visiting a classroom to educate students on important issues surrounding animals today, or even coordinating volunteers to take a dog to the vet. Each day is different, but each day is equally important. During a given day we make and return hundreds of phone calls, send and reply to countless emails, conduct conference calls, walk dogs, train dogs, and the list goes on. It’s ALL for the dogs!

These are hard times for animal friends and human friends, what are some of the challenges facing your organization today?

This world is not a great place for homeless animals, period. Due to the down-trending economy, we are faced with two issues: More and more animals need our help, and overall we have seen a decrease in donations compared to previous years. Now more than ever, we are working very hard to network our adoptable dogs in order to find each one a forever home. When one dog is adopted, we are able to save another life. It is a beautiful cycle.

On your website there are some cool programs that you offer, one that caught my eye was Project Coco, how does that work and can you pay a visit to my neighbors with the yippy dogs down the street?
Project Coco was created to teach people how to be responsible pet guardians. Project Coco enables us to go into neighborhoods and communities and educate people about proper pet guardianship, spay/neuter, vaccinations, and the responsibility that it takes to provide a great life for our furry family members.

In January of this year, Project Coco took us to the Mojave Desert to help over 100 dogs and 25 cats that were living in the desert as a result of a human’s hoarding tendencies. The animals lived outside in uncovered runs where they braved the elements; in the day it could reach 120 degrees, and at night, it could be snowing. The first day we went to the property, it was snowing, and there the animals sat, nervous, but tails wagging, knowing that help was on its way. Weekend after weekend, Karma Rescue (along with our friends at numerous local LA rescues), headed to the site that imprisoned these animals. After much hard work, all of the animals were taken out of this living hell; they were rescued. Each animal was spayed or neutered, vaccinated, given a bath, a blanket, a collar, a leash, and for the first time, a name. Karma Rescue took in 10 dogs from the Mojave Desert, and although we still have a few that are patiently awaiting their forever homes (such as Felicity, Kelly, and Scarlet), we have placed quite a few into loving forever homes.

We were fortunate enough to catch some of our hard work from the Mojave Desert on film – please watch our video here: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/krdogs#p/c/5C3B0B6B2D126C8E/1/BNOY0_IDGUg

I like happy tails, do you have a favorite success story?
Besides the Mojave dogs, my favorite story belongs to a dog appropriately named Abigail Angel.

Abigail was a homeless pit bull living on the streets of Lancaster. She was only 7 months old when someone poured liter fluid on her and lit her on fire. A good Samaritan saw this happen and literally used the shirt off of her back to douse the flames. Miss Abigail instantly became a news story and was pictured kissing her rescuers on the news each night along with her most recent update.

After a long, hard day at work, our founder Rande Levine was watching the evening news at home and saw Abigail’s story. She instantly thought, “I want to help that dog!” and Abigail Angel was welcomed into the Karma Rescue family.

Abigail’s injuries were extensive with third degree burns over 80% of her body. She needed medical care around the clock and ended up having numerous skin grafts in order to help her heal and lead a normal, healthy life. Thanks to our generous donors and an outpouring of support from the public, Karma Rescue raised tens of thousands of dollars to pay for Abigail’s extraordinary vet bills, and I am happy to report that Abbie found an incredible home that treats her like the true angel she is.

Do you serve treats at your dogs and if so, what flavors? I like peanut butter but I know there are other flavors out there.
We love to give our dogs Bully Sticks, Nylabones and Kongs!

What are the best ways humans can help their animal friends be safe and happy? Humans can help their furry family members be safe and happy by making sure they are spayed or neutered, up to date on vaccinations, eating nutritious food, and wearing a collar, leash and ID tags at all times.

How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?
There are MANY ways to contact us! Our website, www.KarmaRescue.org, is a fantastic tool. We have information regarding volunteering, donating, adopting…you name it! If you have any questions, we are more than happy to answer if you send an email to info@karmarescue.org or volunteer@karmarescue.org

Of course, adoptions are our favorite thing! You can view our adoptable dogs at: http://www.adoptapet.com/shelter70353-pets.html

…and fill out an adoption application for one of our dogs at: http://www.karmarescue.org/dog_adoption/dog_adoption_application.php