volunteering at a pit bull rescue

[SessyRocks]

I have always loved dogs. One of my favorite breeds are pit bulls, despite the fact that I can't have one because I have an aggressive/territorial chihuahua mix. Most of my interaction with pit bulls has either came from the pit bull my brother-in-law used to have (wonderful dog that, sadly, he kept chained up outside) or from the few that I found as strays and brought home. Of course, I never kept any of them, my mom never understood the breed until recently so she usually ended up calling SPCA to come pick up the dog after a few days. But anyhow, after these few interactions I learned the truth about these dogs and learned to love them. Now I have the opportunity to work with them and help take care of about 30 lucky ones that because of this rescue were not put down at the city shelter or simply left out on the street. I have only gone out to volunteer once so far, but I will be going out again tomorrow. I love knowing I'm doing something good with my time instead of just wasting it. I also love getting to learn more about this breed. I also enjoy spending time with people who love dogs as much as I do. I just love volunteering! It's hard work, and I'm not even allowed in the kennels yet! When I went my first time I simply carried cleaning supplies, fresh water, and food to each kennel. But I'm not allowed inside the kennels, yet. I don't know when I'll be able to go inside the kennels, I guess not until the dogs are really used to me. But I look forward to being able to give these great dogs some individual love and attention. I also can't wait to take one for a walk! I hope one day I can adopt a pit bull or pit bull mix either from a rescue or the city shelter. Anyways, the point of my post is simply that I love doing this. Does anyone else on here volunteer? And if you do, where and what do you do?

[failuretosucceed]

I don't volunteer at a shelter but I wanted to commend you for volunteering your time for a good cause. Whether or not you realize it, you are making a diffrence in those dogs lives, many of them, i'm sure have not had much love in their lives.. and i'm sure when you are allowed to handle them, you will show them that their is good in this world!.. my dog came from a shelter he was badly abused..and he is just wonderful now, I am so happy we were able to give him a chance at life ( the day we decided we wanted him, was the day that he was going to be put down!)

Pitbulls do have a bad rep, but honestly pitbulls in my eyes are for the more experienced dog handler, it is never the dogs fault-- it is the handlers, bad training/ no training at all which causes behavior problems, dogs like children need structure and boundaries-- there are many pitbulls out there that are absolute sweet hearts-- but they have come from experienced dog handlers who know how to train. When you hear about pitbull fighting, which is absolutly horrid-- those puppys were trained to do that, honestly if someone took a labrador puppy and trained it to fight-- it would act just as a pitbull would in my eyes. I do not in any shape or form support dog fighting, I was just trying to get my point across. Pitbulls only have a bad rep because of humans.. Good/Positive training= a good dog.

Sorry for rambling!! KUDOS to you for making a diffrence! We need more people like you in this world!

Has anyone ever noticed that if you spell dog backwards, it spells god?
Maybe thats why dogs are so special!

[SessyRocks]

Yes, the only reason these dogs have a bad rap is because some of them belong to bad owners. I finally got to give some love to these dogs individualy! When I went to volunteer yesterday I got to walk dogs! I was there for only 3 hours but I walked 5 dogs. My favorite dog is this one boy named Buster. He's an English bulldog/Staffordshire terrier mix. He's short, bowlegged, and has the squashed in face of a bulldog! When I took him out for his walk we had just passed the front of the rescue and he just laid down. He wouldn't walk! So I spent 20 minutes with him just petting him, talking to him, and rubbing his belly. He loved it! And I fell in love with him. If I could I'd adopt him. I can't wait to go again next Sunday!

[TheLittleNinja]

Heey =]

I used to volunteer - I used to walk dogs =] I love staffies =] Have you noticed that there is a common pattern in the breeds of dogs in the Kennels yet?? lol

Have Fun, Your doing a Great thing =]

[Imagine]

your doing such a good thing
the only volunteering i've ever done was at like preschools.
xD

[SessyRocks]

Originally Posted by QuackerJackWoop

Have you noticed that there is a common pattern in the breeds of dogs in the Kennels yet?? lol

Yes, when I go to the local SPCA here there are a lot of pit bull/pit bull mixes and always A LOT of chihuahua mixes. In the future, when I have my own place and the two dogs I have now have passed on, I'd like to adopt both a pit bull and a chihuahua mix.

[losing touch.]

i think pit bulls are illegal to keep here..

but anyhow.. good for you for volunteering your time. :]

[Tynan]

i volunteer at my local animal shelter. and i do a lot of stuff. i feed the animals, take the dogs for walks, bath the dogs, and play with the cats. its all fun.
but where i live its illegal to license pit bulls. and i think thats bs. because pit bulls area nice and awesome dog. they only get a bad wrap becasue they attacked people. but if you train them right they are an awesome dog.

[Nutty Nat]

i volunteer at my local rescue charity which has dogs and cats,most of the dogs there are staffies,theres this really nice rottweiler aswell couple of puppies there aswell,i socialise the kittens,walk the dogs,stroke the dogs,feed some of them if its busy.