A PITTI-FULL THING COMES FULL CIRCLE

       What a year 2016 has been, I can't say it was good, but then again, I can't say it was all bad either. I'm sure you can all agree, that it really sucks when you lose a job, through basically no fault of your own. You do everything you can to possibly avoid an accident, but some crazy Somalian out there decided to tangle with a fully loaded B-Train of livestock.So what can you do, well you sure don't wallow in depression, that's for sure. Besides the "Truck Gods" have other plans for me. I can tell you one thing, dumping waste at a landfill sure ain't one of them. Nonetheless, we should be talking about everyone's favorite bully breed, the pitbull, or the Staffie, Staffordshire bull terrier and the American Bull Terrier.
        When January of 2016 came around, Pitbull Trucking was still just a site where lonely truckers came to view and post pictures of their Pitbulls that they had either seen at various truckstops or owned themselves
         My wife Teryl and I had started Pitbull Trucking in honor of our beloved Sampson who passed away Jan 23,2014 from kidney failure. In fact, we get comments of why we are called "Pitbull Trucking" when truly, we really don't have much to do with the trucking field as such. Oh sure, I am a truckdriver and have been one for almost 15 years now, but that's not why we call it that.
         Our boy Sampson was a red-nosed merle purebred Pitbull that traveled Canada and most of the United States of America in his big rig home. Teryl and I met so many Truckdriver who had companions for Pitbulls and there wasn't one of them, that Sampson didn't meet and interact with either.
          What we started as a basic site as just trucking pictures with our fellow truckdriver's became something for Sampson's new found "pitty friends" Then as I left the long haul trucking field in 2013, our site kind of took a back seat, for awhile and pretty much remained dormant. After Sampson passed away, early in 2014, my wife grieved for two years on his loss, and I continued with mainstream trucking life. I was into hauling recycling, dabbling in the Oilpatch, hauling cement to rig sites, and most recently hauling chickens for the last year and a half.
          After Sampson, passed away, I started writing my life story again, as I knew after the last six years of  toiling away, 500,000 words later, something had to give and it did.Not only did I write a book on my life, but I discovered that to my ultimate surprise, I wrote five books, broken into various stages of my life. Most notably books three, four and the fifth and final one involve stories of our dogs, including pitbull mixes like Shadow, who really started the whole pitbull thing for us. However, Sampson and his sister Brodi were a very large portion of the last 14 years of our lives, so yes there are stories of them as well. I should mention Brodi is a brindle pitbull that had sired two litters of puppies, and still is very much alive, living with my stepdaughter Teal in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. So what changed everything, you ask, why is Pitbull Trucking becoming such a strong entity now on facebook.
          Well to answer that question, it basically came about with the arrival of two rescue bully bred dogs. There was my rescue Pitbull/Whippet mix female six-year-old dog Oklahoma, or Okee as we now call her, and we can't forget our newest member of the family, Julips or just Jewel. Ironically both dogs were rescued from Ardmore Oklahoma and Sacremento California in the USA.
          In the last six months or so, Pitbull Trucking has acquired almost 1,200 true followers.We have seen over 6,000 views come through our site alone, and we presently enjoy a stellar rating of 4.5 or better. In early summer, we were one of the lucky people that were recently interviewed for the documentary filmed by Brian Barnhart called BSL Montreal. We are strong advocates and fully support rescue societies like "Lauri Restad and Just One more Animal Rescue and Recovery of Swan Hills, Alberta, or Brian Ferreira of Rescue Foodie in Ontario.Recently we started our first home visit in helping people like Lauri, in the interview process of rehoming a rescue or shelter dog, most notably a pitbull breed.
          This site has become a labor of love for my wife Teryl and I and I definitely could not do it without her constant awareness and various postings of bully breed paraphernalia. Our aim is to make people aware of what is going on with the plight of this wonderful breed of dog. They are one of the most humanistic, tactile dogs you will ever own.Unfortunately, the media has almost destroyed the bully breeds reputation, to the point where people like Mayor Dennis Coderre of Montreal has instituted a complete ban on not only Pitbulls but any dog over 30 kilograms. It is ignorant, uneducated assholes like him, and others out there, that our aim is to bring the awareness of BSL (breed specific legislation) that it does not work. In fact, if you look at all the scientific data that supports this, it will never work. Yet many provinces, such as Ontario, Manitoba and soon to be Quebec enact it, thinking they are doing the right thing. Not to mention, countless cities and states of the USA that have the same stupid ineffective BSL laws, sentencing thousands of pitbulls to a needless death.
           That's where sites like ours come into the picture, to bring awareness and educate the ignorant and truly not knowing out there in internet land that really don't have a clue what a Pitbull is. I maintain until you have owned one, you cannot possibly make an informed educated opinion on this breed.
           Our plans for the future include merchandising things like calendars, tee-shirts, coffee mugs etc, with our new upcoming logo on them. I will be marketing my books I have written, plus hopefully getting more involved in home visits to know we are making a difference in a Pitbull's life someway, somehow. You can better believe, we will also be giving back, by donating funds to rescue centers, and societies as well. Maybe if we win the lottery or the book sales become a success as I hope, we too can start our own rescue society. I don't know where the future will take us, but I do know that Pitbull Trucking will continue to be a voice for this breed, to support Sampson in his memory, we will keep on trucking against canine profiling and BSL. Sampson did not leave this world for nothing, for us he will live on through our Pitbull Trucking site!
           Once again I will post an excerpt of my book for your reading enjoyment and we wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a joyous New Year. Here's hoping 2017 will be your year full of love and happiness. This was taken from Book 4 titled "Road History"
       The dawn’s fingers were fumbling into a spectacular Texas Sunrise, so I left there after my “short-lived camel adventure” and headed down the highway. Nevertheless, I was free for the rest of the day so I came across an idea that day when I was listening to my satellite radio. It seemed the Anaheim Ducks were in Dallas to play my favourite team, the Dallas Stars, as it was game 6 of the conference finals. Afterall it was April 20, 2008 and I had an opportunity to get a ticket to watch the Stars take the ducks out of the playoffs, so why not.

        About 3 hours later, I dropped off the trailer in Cleburne and bobtailed my way to American Airlines Arena where the Dallas Stars play there. I was surprised to find I could even still get a ticket at that, but it only cost me $80.00 to go to a playoff game here. I was pleased to find the temperature in Dallas that day wasn’t too bad, only 78 degrees Fahrenheit, which would be about 26 degrees Celsius. Well that much I was happy with, as it was my main concern for Sampson, leaving him parked in the truck, while I would be watching the game later that evening. Well I could idol the truck at least and keep the air conditioning on so he would be more than fine. However, when I got to the game which was a couple of hours away, the parking lot attendant told me that I could not idol the truck. So once again, my plan was side-tracked, so I came up with another ingenious idea. I decided to take Sam on a good long walk, hoping I would find some water fountains for him to cool off in. I parked “Barney” in a double-parking lot, paid twice the fee, and began to walk Sampson around downtown Dallas, where we were situated at. It was probably one of the best walks Sam had ever had, as he did indeed locate some tall cascading water fountain at a large office building near the Arena. I took off his collar and leash, sat down on a city bench and watch the dog play and frolic in the water. He especially liked moving the rocks and pebbles around with his front paws, while a showery mist of water cascaded down the wall. Sampson was jumping back and forth, and would shake the water off him literally every 3 minutes, as he was having one whale of a time. He must have been in those water fountains for a good hour until I realized I had to get him back into the truck. I made sure he was still a bit damp, when he got back into the truck, as the Wabasto stationary AC was working okay, but I still didn’t trust it. I made the decision to run all the ways back to the truck after every period to check up on Sam, despite the fact I would have preferred to stay for the whole game, including intermissions, but that’s the kind of pet owner I am. I pretty much will do anything for the care and comfort of my dog, that’s just the way I was raised, I guess.

       So, I finally get into the American Airlines Arena, and it is without a doubt, the largest indoor arena, I have ever been to. Nothing compares to it, not even the Saddledome back in Calgary which I had been in a few times to watch my Stars play the Flames. As I was reading the program, I had specifically purchased for the game, I came across a section on the American Airlines Center. It stated that this place was in Victory Park which I knew was near downtown Dallas. This venue also serves as the home for the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA and of course the Dallas Stars of the NHL. This arena is also used for Rock Concerts with the Eagles being their very first concert here back in July 28,2001. In point of truth, this facility opened on July 27, 2001, with the largest ribbon cutting ceremony ever performed. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it set a record just for that. It cost just about 420 million dollars to pay for this center, with the American Airlines Corporation acquiring its naming rights at a cost of 195 million dollars. I could not believe the seat I had purchased as it gave me a good view of center ice as well as both end zones. I just couldn’t believe I was finally here in Dallas of all places about to watch my Stars take on the Ducks. Not only that, they had a chance to go on and meet the Detroit Red Wings, should they win this game tonight, so a double whammy in store for me, I thought to myself. As it was by the first period the teams were both scoreless, so I rushed my ass back to the truck where Sampson was sitting in the passenger seat pining for me to return. I quickly let him out to go the bathroom, returned him back into the truck, and checked on the AC back in the sleeper. It was all okay, so I locked up the truck and headed back to the game. By the time, I got there they had already started the second period, in fact, I probably missed about five minutes of it, if I can recall. All I know was the Ducks were leading one to nothing and for the rest of that period, there was no more scoring by any of the teams. So again, I quickly exited out of the building to get back to Sampson at the truck, to make sure, he was okay. Just as I suspected, he was asleep, when I woke him up, but now it didn’t really much matter as the sun had gone down and it was dark outside. However, it was still warm out, so I opened a good many of the windows for him.  I gave him an Alpo dog treat, which he just loved, and assured him, I would be back in about another hour. When I had got back Dallas had scored to tie the game, along with another minute when I had just sat down, they scored again to go ahead in the game 2-1. By the last 3 minutes of the game Dallas had scored two more goals with a commanding 4-1 lead, thus winning the game and the series. I cannot say enough of my evening that night. Just watching all the celebrations from all the Stars fans was so exhilarating for me and you can better believe I took as much camera and video footage as possible. When I got back to the truck, I pretty much let Sam have all his head out the passenger window.  I just blared on that air horn, leaving the arena to many Dallas Stars fans delightsome things happen in your life and that night was no exception for me, as I would never forget it.

A PITBULL RESCUER POEM

A Pitbull is your forever dog
They will walk through rain, snow, ice & fog.
This breed is so often misunderstood
Its because of idiots who use them to fight, the "Boys in the Hood!"
This is a dog that is even more human
and they sure ain't like Seinfeld's Neuman.
A Pitbull will get right into your heart and soul
When they eat, they tip the water and their food bowl.
They will lay on the floor, the rug, couch, and even your bed
Pitbulls come in all sizes and colors, browns, golds and red.
They will knock you down and lick your face
Our dog runs out the porch door, jumps in the air, like its a race.
They generally don't attack and their jaws do not lock
You might even find them jumping over the ocean's waves or even by the dock
They are named bullies, terriers, and even a staffy
You can feed them apples, pears and maybe some salt-water taffy
I have heard them called Sampson, Brodi, Okee and Copper
When you come home, they knock you down but make a great short stopper.
They chew on furniture, socks but their favorite is a stuffy
Their fur can feel like velvet, and smooth, it sure ain't fluffy.
They will dance, jump and run around your yard like it's the first time
I hope you like this poem on them as it seems to rhyme.
A Pitbull will look at you in awe and affection
They will jump and crawl over you, so you need to use your arms in deflection.
They love walks, the outside, and even rides in your car.
You must walk them on a leash at all times so they don't get too far.
There is no more love in this world that a dog like this can give
They will always be your buddy as they sure know how to live.
They drink lots of water, love treats but are sloppy eaters
However when the door bells rings, sometimes they aren't the best door greeters.
They will watch in the window and wait until their master comes home
When they see you, they'll jump on you, messing your hair, so you'll need a brush or a comb
Why they are banned in so many cities and towns I do not know
 It's sad to see so many in shelters row upon row.
 For certain reasons they have become such a hated breed
Buts its not the Pitbull, but mostly it's owner that does the bad deed
So yes, you could say I am biased but not all these dogs are good
It's the lonely, deprived unsociable ones that are often misunderstood
In fact, I have owned many of these wonderful dogs
Some were black and white,with brown spots that could have resembled hogs
It really doesn't matter what they look like, this bully breed has something for you
They can make your bad day go away, so your not so blue.
They will cuddle with you, lie beside and even fight for you until their dying breath!
They have names, like Jack Sparrow, Dancer, Fire, and even Beth
Sadly, their life expectancy is around 8 to 15 years.
So let's raise a glass to the Pitbull, they deserve our cheers.
They come in all sizes and shapes, and yes they have a loud bark
They love to hide under your covers, as some are scared of the dark.
They have big heads, and a large furry body.
They look colorful, in their golden hues and browns, this dog is such a hotty.
So nothing more about this wonderful breed needs to be said.
In fact, my dogs just went to sleep on my bed
I so needed to write these things about this wonderful Pitbull, dog
If you ever own one, you'll thank me for this blog.
Some of you have been asking about my upcoming book "Sidewinder" so in that spirit, I have taken another excerpt out of this book. This was when we first got out Pitbulls Sampson and Brodi.
         In the meantime, I was reduced to the role of “Mr. Mom” at home, which was also good for my step kids. I was also missing my dog Taro so much too, that it was suggested to me to go to this place called “Klassic Kennels” just outside of Red Deer to look at some dogs. Reluctantly I did this on my own and came home with what I thought, was my new friend.

        Her name was Tasha, a beautiful white Sheppard, a bit shy but I thought she had potential, to be a good pet for me. However, after that winter we had, it was quite apparent that Tasha was no Taro, so we weren’t bonding that well either. I mean she wasn’t vicious or anything like that, she just liked being outside all the time. I mean I had tried to spend time with her but due to my ongoing job search, I was so immersed in finding employment once again.

         Now also in that period, unbeknownst to both Carol and I, that Skyler had been searching for dogs on the internet on our home computer. Not just any breed of dog but the breed of dog commonly hated by the media, at that time, known as Pitbulls!

         I sure don’t need to get into the semantics of what a Pitbull Breed Dog is, as we have all heard through the media as to the temperament of these dogs. In additions to that very thing law enforcement agencies had reported these dogs were being used for nefarious purposes in the past. This activity included guarding illegal narcotic operations which were being used against the police, as well as drug enforcement agencies. I truly believe when a great number of these attacks started in different states, back in 1979 to 1988 there was more media scrutiny to corroborate this.

         First of all, I would like to say most of the negative stuff you hear about these wonderful dogs is pure “Bull Shit!” They are without a doubt, one of the most tactile dogs you could ever own, and mainly I say this from experience having owned these wonderful animals. Their jaws do not lock up like you have heard, it is just that they can exhibit a bite, hold or “shake behavior” and yes even at times refuse to release whatever is in its jaws. These animals have wide skulls, where the brain has room to develop with complete space, well-developed muscle and of course very strong jaws.

         In point of truth, when you hear of a “Pitbull Attack” for no apparent reason it is usually those of a “Mixed Breed” In other words, as their skulls develop this usually puts pressure on their brains, causing enormous discomfort and even pain. You have all heard the phrase “the dog just attacked that person and went mad!” That is what is meant by that but more importantly and I cannot stress this enough, it is how they are raised from birth! All you must do is show an animal, no matter what breed it is, complete love, nurturing and respect!  Now as they grow up to from puppy to an adult dog, they most likely will act that very way. There’s an old saying, “Punish the deed, not the breed!” You can’t tell me there are not German Shepherds, or Akita, maybe Rottweiler or even Black Lab attacks going on in this world we live in. It is more often the owners who train these dogs to be aggressive and non-responsive to human kindness. Naturally, if any dog is placed in a situation where it must fight to survive, it’s their very nature to fight if it’s cornered or threatened?  Today in the day and age, tell me why Pitbulls are now filling roles as companion dogs for the elderly. They also make great police dogs, along with therapy dogs for the blind or those with other health issues. That’s kind of my rant and rave on this subject for now. We got off topic there for a bit but now back to my story at hand.

        So now October of this same terrible year rolls around and my stepdaughter Skyler had decided to purchase two Pitbull Puppies from a breeder in Mackenzie British Columbia. The problem was she didn’t have any money so she came to me with her baby blue eyes and pleaded her case. I was to send $200.00 to someone I don’t even know on the internet for the purchase of two puppies, I mean we might as well black and white it right? Did I fall for the presumed scam, or did I deny Skyler the opportunity to own this controversial breed of animal? Well, on a whim and a prayer I sent the money to the breeder, on my stepdaughter’s belief that everything would work out fine. After a week went by, I became a bit worried as I felt maybe we had been ripped off! My fears regarding that were overcome when the following week, I received a phone call from security at the Edmonton International Airport. They stated on the phone we had a package that arrived from Mackenzie BC in the form of two small puppies. So the kid's Dad, Hank travelled out to Edmonton and brought home for us, two additions to our family. Skyler named the small brindle brown and white “Pitbull-Pup Brodi” after a punk rock chick in a rock band she liked. She was white with brown spotted markings and very petite and lady-like. The other pup that was a bit larger but had really cool markings too, including mostly white fur to start off with.

     However, he did have brown markings in spots on his rear end even browner spots on the right side. The larger pup also had a larger brown patch that wrapped around behind his neck and down to his left paw. The right side of the pup’s face was darker brown patched as well as around his right eye, a remarkable array of markings! Skyler named him mighty Sampson or just Sampson for short, but later we ended up calling him Sam. The funny thing was that because I had Tasha now, Carol had decided it best to give Sampson up to one of Jack’s best friend Canton. Ironically, this kid had a very sordid past of drugs, booze, plus his Dad and Mom weren’t any better at the time either. Obviously, we both had grave concerns about giving Sampson to Jack’s friend Canton.
      Furthermore, Tasha seemed to enjoy the new pup’s company. I mean she wasn’t playing with them that much, but she wasn’t hurting them at all. I don’t know what it was, but Tasha changed her attitude towards our family, as she became more reserved, plus she always wanted to spend time outside. She sure wasn’t an indoor dog, probably more suited to live out on a farm somewhere. Moreover, we still had to see if Canton was going to take Sampson and give us the hundred bucks for him. After a couple of weeks went by, Carol seemed to get quite attached to Sampson and I as well. When Canton decided he couldn’t take Sampson, we both made a decision to keep him but take Tasha back to “Classic Kennel” where I had got her from. The story did end well for Tasha, too though as she got what she wanted, a new farm setting, just outside of Sylvan Lake. 

TWO MORE GREAT PITBULL STORIES

                   ANOTHER PITBULL RESCUER SPEAKS FROM THE HEART
     This week we revisit another wonderful "Pitbull Rescuer Families" who opened up their heart to give a forever home to one of our own, the pitbull known as Hooch. Just recently they moved from the unfriendly BSL state of Kentucky to the recently denounced anti Non-BSL state of Arizona to the friendly confines of the great city of Phoenix.
      Hooch was born December 10, 2009 and came to Brenda in the form of a cute adorable puppy in her daughter's Stacy's purse. It was on Valentine's day of that year of all dates that this loveable guy, wiggled his tail into their hearts and his new home.
       As any bully breed owner will tell you, it was love at first site, according to Brenda as the tiny pooch cuddled with her on the couch while watching TV, as the kids attended a church function. Hooch the pitty puppy was very rambunctious at first, destroying Brenda's almost new livingroom suite, the kids's Michael Jordon Nike Sneakers, as well as a pillow-top mattress on her bed.
       He was a bit of a klutz too, tumbling down the stairs on his way to greet her kids, when they came home that evening. Brenda says "he is the greatest love of her life", next to her kids of course.
       She also goes on to tell me that she wouldn't own any other breed as she feels safe with this dog in her kids sites. Not only that, she feels quite safe with Hooch, knowing this protective dog will not let anyone harm her family.
       He has taught me to love again in a different way, she quotes. Also a more and better positive way, he has also taught me many things about myself. They deserve to be recognized for what they are, not all the rumors and negative innuendo that stereotypes them as bad attack dogs, she finishes telling me. Brenda Withrow, like all new pitbull/bully breed owners, have once again, discovered the unconditional love and affection that a pitty can bring into a family.

    PITBULLS FROM SHELTERS AND POUNDS NOW BEING TRAINED AS POLICE DOGS

       After 9/11 there was quite a shortage of qualified detection dog prospects in America. So Europe became involved with very expensive bred 10 to 15,000 dollar police dogs, trying to fill that very important policing void. Nonetheless, these dogs proved themselves to be washed-out and harder to train.
       Next came an effort from the Animal Farm Foundation from Bangall New York with help from the Austin Pets Alive Shelter out of Austin Texas. The idea was to introduce and train North America's first dog detection handler. In fact, these dogs were selected because of their sheer intensity,  and their ability to be rewarded for a job done right, such as a stuffy or Kong toy. The American Pitbull is of a medium size, doesn't shed or drool like their former German Sheppard and Belgian Malinois Police Dog counterparts. These "pitbull type dogs" now serve as narcotics and explosive detection dogs. They are seen at US Ports of entry, the Washington State Ferry System, Washington State Patrol, along with other county K9 detection units.
       Training shelter dogs to perform police work is a cost effective measure. Police Department in North America will no longer have to spend excessive amounts of money purchasing their 4-legged furry officers. Although money is the major issue here, it is very important to note how many hundreds of "Pitbull Dogs" will be saved from euthanization in shelters due to overcrowding and breed stereotyping.
       The Pitbull as a police dog is tough, able to withstand extreme cold and warmer temperatures in various parts of the United States. They are fearless, where they won't back down from someone with a gun or a knife. They are loyal to the death if need be, to protect an officer in harm or a dangerous situation. They are smart, where they actually scored as smarter than other former police dogs used in bomb detection, missing children, and even adults.
       These shelter Pitbull type dogs are getting a second chance at life where normally a great many of them would be spared the "death needle
       Shaka is another "Pitbull Hero" who was rescued by an advocate being found in a city pound in New York. When her rescuer found Shaka, she had a great deal of determination. This advocate contacted the Washington Patrol Academy and thus began 18 weeks of training for this amazing dog.
        Shaka began serving on the force in the Washougal Police Department. She was only there for 4 years before transferring to another Police Agency in Oregon. Now her handler encourages people to come up and pet her when she isn't working, such as elementary schools. This way they can get to know and understand what Pitbulls are truly like.

Another impressive Pitbull Police K9 is Libby. She was also a graduate of the "Universal K9 Program." This dog was only days away from being euthanized at a high kill shelter when she was rescued. Libby made headlines in 2015,upon investigating a drug house. There she found 3 mason jars, a food bag full of marijuana, steroids and painkillers.    
Ruby is yet another pitbull who was found by Animal Farm Foundations efforts. She was picked up as as a stray dog from the streets of Austin,Texas. Prior to that, she spent 220 days in a shelter before she was finally accepted by the "Universal K9 Program." Ruby is now a member of the Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia Police Department. On her first night on patrol, she sniffed out about half a pound of marijuana, 8 grams of Meth, and numerous percocet pills.

 So there you have it, words from a true Pitbull Rescuer, thanks, Brenda Withrow for your story and now Pitbulls being used a fantastic police K9 officers. If you have a great story about your Pitbull, Staffy or Bully Breed, I want to hear about it. Send it to me on messenger or email me at bws_bearholdings@yahoo.ca  Remember, some bad things happen for a reason, although we don't understand it at the time, the answer will appear to us soon. Have a great week!

THE BEAR'S BLOG: THE RAMIFICATIONS OF BSL (BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATI...

THE BEAR'S BLOG: THE RAMIFICATIONS OF BSL (BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATI...:        It is only now that experts can prove that Breed Specific Legislation doesn't make communities safer for people or pets. It is co...

THE RAMIFICATIONS OF BSL (BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATION)

       It is only now that experts can prove that Breed Specific Legislation doesn't make communities safer for people or pets. It is costly, ineffective which undermines the human-dog bond. It is also a waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.There are way more important concerns to a community than enforcing BSL which takes away from other precious resources.
        I mean every citizen deserves to be protected from ALL reckless dog owners and everyone needs to be held accountable too. For those families involved, BSL discriminates against certain members of the dog community based on the type of breed of pet they own. Not only that BSL forces families to relocate to other areas of the country in order to keep their beloved pets safe making it difficult to stay connected with other family members. In addition to that BSL discriminates against families on fixed incomes,children, senior citizens, and people with disabilities. Relocation may not be an option for these families, thus a complete healthy loved pet is euthanized, simply because of its breed!
        As for most respectable animal shelters, BSL is a huge financial burden for them. There are increases in owner surrenders, which creates even more work for a shelter.There is more euthanasia which means more care for euthanized surrendered dogs. It hinders adoptions which increases the length of stay by restricting dogs which could have been placed in loving, caring homes. This in turn, limits the pool of adopters and generates fear in all shelter animals. Even if your dog is not currently targeted, BSL is a very terrible alternative, as your dog could be the next target.
        BSL lowers the value of dogs and dog ownership by generating hysteria based on false and misleading claims about dog behavior. It alienates dog owners from each other in the community in which they live. Neighbors turn on each other, simply because of the breed of dog they own.
        As far as the politics of BSL are concerned it has never been effective in reducing dog bites and enhancing public safety. It will definitely not have the results that are promised to constituents. It wastes tax payer dollars that could have been used to fund better projects such as education and road repair. All reckless dog owners need to be held accountable for their actions and their dogs, regardless of breed.
        When it comes to Animal Control Officers, BSL is expensive, time-consuming and nearly impossible to enforce. This takes real resources away from protecting a community from truly dangerous animals, including dangerous dogs not belonging to the targeted breeds. BSL makes animal control officers hated as the enemies of the community by forcing them to seize and destroy well-behaved family pets.
        Why is there not any scientific study or data that supports BSL, reducing dog bites?
         A perfect example was in June 2008, the Netherlands repealed its 15-year-old ban on "pitbull type dogs" because it had not resulted in a decrease in dog bites. The flip side of that was Denver Colorado enacted a breed ban in 1989. The citizens of Denver continued to suffer even a higher rate of hospitalization from dog-related injuries after the BSL ban was put in place. Ironically, the people that lived in breed-neutral areas of Denver had less dog bites. Again, what does that say to these uneducated politicians who want BSL, not very much right?
         The conclusion is laws that deem dogs dangerous based on breed or appearances, rather than behavior, fail to protect people from truly dangerous dogs. BSL fails to reach reckless dog owners as they disregard public safety laws anyway. All dog owners should be held to the same standards of human care, custody, and control of their dogs, regardless of breed or appearance.
         So why do these adol-minded politicians such as Mayor Dennis Coderre of Montreal, Quebec try and enforce such ludicrous legislation, when I am sure they are dense enough to realize it doesn't work. One word, here it comes, you guessed it, money and a great deal of it, in their pockets and into the community as a whole, on the deaths of innocent victims, such as the "Bully Breeds!"
         Don't kid yourself, Coderre and his corrupt style of goverment will make hundreds of thousands of dollars, putting this BS ban in place. About $700.00 per family will be squeezed out of each one, just in proper licensing, spay/neuter, micro-chipping, registrations, and even those "Silence of the Lambs" muzzles. Not to mention the killing shelter, Berger Blanc will make even more money murdering innocent well-behaved large breed dogs. I won't get into this, as you'll have to wait for my next blog on this inhumane, business of killing healthy animals for profit. YOu sure don't want to miss that, but to end this, I will once again, include an excerpt from my second upcoming book "Sidewinder" Have a great week, I know I will!
      That following winter, we acquired a new addition to our family in the form of another dog. Actually, it was the kid's father Hank who managed to get Skyler this cute little puppy. One, she could tell everyone would be her very own; in addition to that, she even picked the little girl out. Thus a Black Lab and Pit Bull mix, named Shadow arrived at our little home in the woods. It was also on December 30^th of that same year that Victoria got hit with unbelievable borage of snow. Now for those of you who don’t know, Victoria is well known for their temperate winters, with virtually none of the white stuff, whatsoever. Carol, the kids and I had just returned from Nanaimo, where we had spent that Christmas with Hank, his girlfriend and her whiny kid Stefan. We had been tracking the snow storm that was coming in from the state of Oregon when we were watching it on TV up at Hank’s house.

      Carol suggested that we leave that morning so we packed up the kids and got an early start. It wasn’t too bad for driving conditions until we arrived in Victoria when it started to snow. However, that was nothing compared to the snow covered roads, on our way through Metchosin, out towards Sooke, where our new little home was situated. When we arrived at the cabin, you could barely see the driveway, let alone our small bungalow. Carol and I quickly got the kids into our snow covered chalet, pulled out all the winter clothing and had everyone put them on. She turned on the TV, where we could see that there were power outages as well as collapsed roofs from the heavy snow all over parts of Victoria and surrounding areas. In fact, there must have been a good five feet of snow on that delicate roof of ours, therefore I knew someone had to go up there the next day and take care of it.

      In the meantime, we had introduced Skyler’s puppy Shadow to my dog Taro, but he really didn`t seem too enthused with the newest arrival to our family. That evening we were all dressed in toques, our long johns and sweaters as we went to bed with a cold howling wind whipping the cabin from all sides. The next day I knew we had to get an enormous amount of snow off the roof, for fear it could cave in on us. I was quickly voted unanimously to do it by the other three members of my family.

     While the kids were getting warm inside, and Carol was fixing up one of her infamous coffees, I ventured where no man had gone before. Well, I was definitely some good entertainment for the kids that afternoon as I decided to do a header right off that snow blanket of a roof. You couldn't have pictured it better, as out your kitchen window, you see your guy fall off the crown of the cabin into the snow head first.

     I guess it must have looked pretty comical, as Jack and Skyler reminded me how funny it was. One thing’s for certain, there was never a dull moment with me in the house. It took a good week for all that amount of snow to melt, but eventually life returned to normal.

    It was now the spring of 1997 and tragedy had befallen my stepson’s much-loved pet cockatiel, Maverick. Unfortunately Jack’s little friend had caught a cold from the damp winter we had, and it ended his life. It tore me apart, to see that little guy, so distraught over the passing of his beloved friend. He ended up burying Maverick under a tree, near the house, and for a time thereafter, Jack would sit under that tree quite regularly after school.

     There wasn’t much I could do to comfort his grief, so on the weekends, I would play in the river with Jack, we had out in the backyard. That seemed to console him, some but it was obvious that he truly missed his little buddy Maverick.

     Skyler was completely wrapped up with her new buddy Shadow; plus they would even fish together in the stream quite a bit in those days. Taro had moved out into the garage, as Shadow seemed to be crowding his space. That’s where he spent most of his time in the day, but we still brought him in at nights when we went to bed. Carol had let her good friend Dody know of Maverick’s passing, so she came up with a new pet Cockatiel for Jack. She had told Jack this one’s name was Apache, and at first, he seemed overjoyed with his new found friend. Still, after about a month of trying to teach the bird all the tricks that Maverick had known, he had given up on Apache. Dody ended up taking him back, and Jack didn’t seem so stressed out anymore.

        In the month of May, I was keeping very busy with the usual Spring Tradeshows, at various arenas throughout Victoria. It was there you would find me with the “Cookware Gang“ of would be sales associates. Usually,the group was led by our fearless leader JD, along with his gal Raelene, Shane and his girlfriend, Saul, my recruit Freda and some other of our new hired cooks. We had a booth and table showcasing our shiny Cookware, plus of course that Food Processer. All of us would be wearing white colorful aprons with the Pacific Health Systems Logo on them and whatnot. JD would be reeling in the “would be customers” with free coleslaw salads he had just made with the Food Processor. Mostly everyone that sampled the salad would put their name in the draw for a free food processor or whatever JD wanted to give away at the time. After the trade show had finished, we would call up the qualified leads that had the most pertinent information on the draw slips. I mean if they divulged their occupation, the number in their family they were cooking for as well plus their household income, then of course, we called them first. We would tell them they hadn’t won the food processor but had one a free dinner-show instead. It was a slam dunk, which mostly everyone said yes to that, and we would ask them to invite two other couples as well. Afterall, JD knew that one out of every three couples were purchasing our cookware after the dinner show was over. We stayed busy for a good three to four months of putting on dinner shows, well after a trade show had ended too.

          It was around the following month of April tragedy again visited our household, this time, it was our dog Shadow! Skyler had been walking her little buddy with Carol to go out to get the latest mail. They were walking together by the side of the road when some guy had intentionally gone out of his lane to hit the dog with his van. He didn’t even stop and kept on going, as it was quite obvious that he had some sort of deranged mind to do such a mindless act.

         Nonetheless, the damage had been done, and little Shadow’s right back leg, hip as well as most of her back end had been shattered in many places. Shadow was still a six-month-old pup when she got hit by some uncaring individual driving that vehicle and her injuries were going to be very expensive. When it happened, Carol and I certainly did not have the financial means to pay for Shadow’s operation to have her hip reconstructed. I knew we would have been forced to put Shadow down, but my Skyler pleaded with me with tears in her eyes to save Shadow that evening. What could I do, but try and find a way to financially pay for her dog’s operation? So I went to a source of income I knew would be able to help me and that was my boss and good friend JD Cantry.

           I told him my dilemma; furthermore, I told him I would work it off , selling sets of cookware in the coming months. JD was no dummy! It was a simple plain fact this young man knew that he could keep his number one cookware salesman working for him, for quite some time. All he had to was to lend me the money for Shadow’s operation because he knew he was getting paid back in more than just money.

           So to save and prolong Skyler’s dog’s life, I put myself in the hole for about $2,000.00 and you’re probably saying to yourself “I would never do that” right?

           I would agree with you somewhat, but until a member of your family has to go through such an ordeal; I still say you would have done what I did. Just think about it, what would you do if your son or daughter came to you with tears in their eyes asking you to save their beloved pet?

          You bet your ass, you would save that pet, no questions asked, so that’s why I did it. Now, I was doing more dinner shows that even thought possible to whittle down some of the $2000.00 debt I owed to JD. I kind of went into a bit of a depression due to the new huge debt that had been forced upon me somewhat. Instead of talking this over with Carol whom I should have done instead, I got back to my computer. You guessed it, I continued playing my NHL 2000 Video game and again till about 5am the next morning. I was becoming more and more moody in the coming weeks, as I wasn’t getting the proper amount of sleep due to playing that dam game! Despite this alarming fact though I was now performing breakfast, dinner and supper shows on some days even, just for the opportunity to sell even more cookware.

          At one point Carol had joked that I was feeding most of Victoria on occasion. It may sound crazy but she wasn’t too far off in her assumption, as I was spending an enormous amount of money to feed the “well to do” of Victoria’s society.

          Shadow had arrived home the next week with the back part of her right and left hip all shaven, where her operation had taken place. Her right back leg was completely bandaged in a red covering, as well as she had medication for some of her pain and discomfort.

          Skyler was never more grateful to see her Shadow come home and even relished the idea of playing nurse maid to her pet. 

       














     
     

THE BEAR'S BLOG: ...

THE BEAR'S BLOG:                                                   ...:                                                     A PITBULL RESCUERS STORY       Well, I thought it was time to focus on all my Pitbull R...

                                                    A PITBULL RESCUERS STORY
      Well, I thought it was time to focus on all my Pitbull Rescuers out there and how they obtained their pitties. We could call them Staffordshire Terriers, Bully Mixes, Pibbles, Bull Terriers, whatever you want to call them, I like to sum them up as that dreaded word that strikes fear into uneducated pet owners out there, the Pitbull. So why am I doing this, perhaps to let my reader know of the plight of these wonderful animals and even their fight to truly survive!
       I was chatting on messenger to Patricia Legris of Montreal the other day and was fascinated with her story of her two rescue pittys.
       Her oldest Luna who is now around 15 and a half years old was the product of backyard breeding in Florida. I guess, the way she tells it, Patricia had very little knowledge of these bully bred dogs at the time. Her ex-husband was the one originally, who adopted Luna but after only a month passed, it seemed he wanted to get rid of her because of her disability. Tragically, she was deaf but Patricia, being a caring human being as she is, decided to work around that and give her a forever home. As I chatted with her, she told me that it had become quite a learning curve,to say the least.
      "So glad I kept her, she has lived the life of a queen," she adds.
        Patricia's other rescue pit bull is China who was found abandoned with deformed pups out in a parking lot one day. Her educated guess is she puts China at around five years old now. Unfortunately, she has severe anxiety issues, but she has been working on it. All the pups were eventually okay and adopted into really great caring families as well. Both dogs get along wonderfully and are best of friends.
        A great many of you probably do not know, that I too rescued a whippet/pitbull mix about 4 years ago in the early winter of February of 2012.
        I will never forget that day, as long as I live either. I was parked in Ardmore, Oklahoma at a Love's Truckstop. That morning, I decided to go for one of my many long walks. I had done previously as I liked to stay in shape. I never wanted to be one of those out of shape long haul truck drivers you see with half their belly hanging over the steering wheel. Nevertheless, as I was out and about walking around the truck stop, I came up upon a peculiar sight, as I noticed a broken down horse trailer out in the back of a field, just  behind a large hotel. Not only did that peak my curiosity but as I ventured further to investigate the situation further, I then noticed a broken down, pet carrier sitting on the floor of it. There were wet nasty colored rags that had been thrown all over the top of it, as it appeared there was no roof to the carrier. Then I noticed two empty steel bowls, but what really caught my eye was a weird looking red long leash-like chain that was leading into what was in the pet carrier. As I peered through the rags draped over the front of the pet carrier, there inside was a small, very shy, very scared medium sized dog. I tried to get her out, but she wouldn't come out, so I lightly started tugging the chained leash out. As she slowly entered the daylight, I could see she was dehydrated and a bit thin to begin with. So I undid her, from the red coated chain and began to walk her towards the hotel. When I made my way to the building, I chained the dog, back up to a nearby light post and went in.
        I told the front desk clerk what I found there, and they then called the Hotel Manager who then called a local animal shelter. I was proud of myself and figured I had a least made it available where this pitbull type dog would at least get a good home. Little did I realize, that at the time, the state of Oklahoma, put stray pitbull mix dogs immediately to death! This was because of the fear of over a dozen fatal dog attacks in the state alone going back to 1907.\
        When an older woman told me this, as I had gone outside to check on the dog, I realized I had just sealed her fate, so I decided what to do. I merely walked back in the hotel, as they had called a local animal bylaw officer to come and pick her up. So I told them I was taking the dog for a walk around the hotel to do its business. Needless to say, I never came back to that hotel, proceeded to pick up the dog and place her in the sleeper cab of my truck.
         Her first meal ironically,was all I had in my truck at the time, microwave popcorn, which she absolutely loved, and still does to this very day. Well, I managed to get Okee (Oklahoma) to Colby Kansas,where it was apparent she wasn't doing that good. The local vet there had given her all the necessary shots, given her vitamin shots, deworming, anything that was necessary to save her life. As it was the next 48 hours were critical, as Okee would either deteriorate or bounce back in her plight to live. I also discovered she had been pregnant most of her life, and was pretty much used as a puppy mill dog. In fact, when I got her, the lady vet had presumed she had recently given birth to a what she believed to be her fourth litter. She was spotting blood quite a bit, so I had to go the local Walmart to get some puppy diapers for her. That was a real experience, having to put them on her and take her out for her nightly walks too. After two days had passed it was apparent Okee had bounced back in a big way, as well she was enjoying riding up the front with me. Once I got back to Alberta, I took her in to get fixed permanently, so she wouldn't ever have any issues like that again.
         It's been four years now, and I don't regret one second of taking her away from that horrible existence back in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Not only has she become one of my most cared for pets, but she has interacted with our previous dog,her late big brother Sampson. In fact, they even trucked together for a month or so. She had a big sister Brodie, my stepdaughter's brindle pitbull who moved to BC and was lonely for a good year after Sam passed away, but now she has her younger sister Julip (Jewel) to play and cuddle with.
         Once again, have a great week, and in our case in Alberta, try to stay out of the snow, enjoy another great excerpt from my fourth book Road History,enjoy
As I made my way into Spokane, I stopped at a rest stop near Sprague that was about an hour out of Spokane. As Carol and I got out of the truck, we both noticed this sad looking black pit bull, female dog that was sitting just outside a woman’s washroom.

       “It was as if, she was waiting for somebody to come out from there to rejoin their walk they were having,” I thought to myself.

         When I got back to the truck, I told Carol about the dog, which she said she noticed as well. We both waited, sitting in the front seats of the truck for another 15 minutes or so and came to a decision. There was nobody coming for this dog, so we both got out of the truck and walked up to her.Unfortunately, this was the same stop area, where a good number of young women had suddenly vanished and later been found murdered! We both knew of this, as we had previously heard of what had been happening here, by listening to Washington newscasts on CNN.This dog had been wearing a feminine looking rhinestone collar, so we assumed the owner of the pooch had been a woman at one time. As I tried to pet the mongrel, she stood up and started walking towards the back area of the rest stop. I followed her but the dog went out further into the back of a field into the dark. It was quite a desolate looking field too, as I stood by this long line of fencing, motioning her to come back to where I was standing. Next thing, Carol was walking behind me, and started to follow the dog to where it was standing but she didn’t find anything at all. When the dog came back walking beside both of us, it appeared to be hungry, so I told Carol to go grab some wieners we had bought that were sitting in the cooler in the sleeper of the truck. About three minutes later, out she walked up to the dog, where I had been sitting on the cement petting it, and reassuring it that everything would be fine. That dog wolfed down those wieners like they were her last meal, plus Carol had brought her some water which she slurped up as well. We both came to the conclusion that maybe the dogs female owner had something very bad happen to her and could have been buried somewhere out back behind the rest stop there. Now our problem was what to do with this dog. We both agreed that we couldn’t just leave her there as the temperature was dipping below freezing on this particular evening. At that point, I didn’t feel the dog was going to bite me, so I picked it up, and placed her in our truck, ever so gently. Carol motioned it to jump up on the bed, and she soon followed her doing just that. Next thing as soon as we left that dreaded area; I was on the CB telling all the truckers out there, what we had just experienced. Nobody in “CB Radio Land” knew anything about the dog, but it was suggested to me, for us to drive to the nearest truck stop. The idea was to see if we could find the dog a good new home with some other trucker on the road, who maybe wanted a road companion. Next thing I did was travel to a Petro Truckstop, which was just minutes from Spokane and tried to find a good home for this fury fella. The real problem here was that I was driving a “Dial Truck” and they had a very strict zero tolerance policy on having any animals in their trucks, so I had to do something fast, before another “Dial Driver” saw me with this dog. I started driving down row upon row of parked trucks along with trailers there that night; meanwhile Carol was telling every trucker on the CB listening if they wanted this dog. Finally after being given cans of dog food, even money along with some snacks from various truckers we came across the ideal guy for this dog. I saw this “Vandecamp Trucking Company Truck” so I walked up to it and knocked on the door. A truck driver by the name of Robert Argo from Iowa opened his door, and I told him the story of the dog, alas he was interested in meeting her, plus taking the dog home with him, if he liked the pooch. After a brief meeting in the sleeper of our truck, it seemed that Robert had bonded with his new found friend. Both Carol and I were absolutely elated that this dog would now be going somewhere else and having a new found life. It was a very touching moment because if it were not for this guy, I don’t know where the dog would have ended up that night. When we walked into the truckstop, I guess quite a lot of truckers had heard of our plight to save the dog on the CB. In fact the lady at the fuel counter had thanked me, for what I had done. It really left me with that warm fuzzy feeling to know that something good had come out of what appeared at first to be a very tragic situation.

         As I left in the morning, heading for the Idaho/BC border I run right smack dab into a massive snowstorm in Sandpoint Idaho. The amount of snow that they had experienced here in the last week was unbelievable. I mean there was white crap everywhere. In one place I drove by the snow was piled as high to about half the height of the “Safeway Grocery Store Building” there. There was an insane amount of the white stuff here, about 20 feet of it, and it had piled so high, that there was literally nowhere else to put it. It was obvious, that during our week down in California, that winter had come early in the northern parts of Idaho as well as British Columbia.

         Sure enough, as soon as I hit the Kingsgate BC border, the snow hadn’t let up, plus the roads were even more treacherous in the pass on the way to Cranbrook. It is like night and day, to the way that the highway crews keep the roads clean and maintained from snow, sleet and ice in both states. Sadly, I have to say that Eastport Idaho wins hands down, in at least keeping their roads “drive-snow” free. On the other hand, when I was driving through to Cranbrook, well that was another idea totally different. We both could see, vehicles spinning their tires in front of us, along with wildlife such as deer and Rocky Mountain Goats were seen on opposite sides of the road. That was kind of special, but as soon as I drove up by them, they scurried away back up the sides of the mountains. It had taken me almost another hour to drive into the town of Cranbrook, due to the atrocious road conditions. By the time I hit Calgary, it had taken me another seven hours to arrive there, which normally it would have taken about four and a half. I dropped the load of waffles at “Western Grocers” and later headed back to the “Dial” yard to get my pickup and head back to Lacombe.

         As the next  few months went by, I found myself driving past the “Bonneville Salt Flats” in Utah, down to Dinuba California to pick up a load of oranges, going past Sacramento, stopping in Vegas, and back into parts of Idaho and Montana. I drove through many a snowstorm, rain, sleet, hail and blistering hot sunshine. Only a “Long Haul Truck Driver” can experience such extreme weather patterns in such a short time.

This is Okee, on the day I first saw her, and she is also seen having fun in the truck

This is Patricia Legris, pitbull Luna, along with her other rescue pitty China

 This is the dog my wife Teryl and I rescued, referring to the story of the dog we found at that rest stop in Washington, when I was long hauling. The gentleman in the picture was the one that rescued the dog and gave her a forever home

THE BEAR'S BLOG: AN EMAIL LETTER TO MAYOR DENNIS CODERRE

THE BEAR'S BLOG: AN EMAIL LETTER TO MAYOR DENNIS CODERRE:          This week I decided to restart my Pitbull related blogs. This was after last weeks uneducated, ill-advised decision in Montreal&#39...

AN EMAIL LETTER TO MAYOR DENNIS CODERRE

         This week I decided to restart my Pitbull related blogs. This was after last weeks uneducated, ill-advised decision in Montreal's decision to ban all large dog breeds specifically centering on "Pitbulls." So if I was standing in front of Mayor Dennis Codere this is what I would ask him.
        So Mr.Coderre you were elected in 2013 as Mayor of Montreal right? Why then did you not look at the first dire situation of your dog bylaw. It was extremely apparent at that time only 14 per cent of Montreal's population had dogs registered.Why did you not immediately, change that situation by getting your animal control officers to enforce the bylaw better. Why did you not hire extra bylaw officers to get a hold of this dire situation?
        When that boxer/lab that attacked and killed Christine Vadnais, you knew that the owner had a criminal record, plus that specific dog had bit 2 other people as well. Why was that owner not fined and why on the second dog bite did that dog not be quarantined and put down for aggressive behavior.  This should have been on Montreal Animal Control's radar. Surely there should have been some intervention before this escalated into such a terrible tragedy.You failed the people of Montreal Mr. Coderre because nothing was done!
        If you actually visited the joke of any resemblance of a fence, that was in place to secure such an aggressive, unsociable dog, again you would have had your bylaw officers do something about it.
        Why Dennis Coderre, did you not thoroughly research other places in the world that had instituted BSL, when study after study, specifically proved it doesn't work!
         Areas of the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy,Germany and Spain have all come to the conclusion that they were wrong in BSL. It does not make communities safer because other dogs are still biting people there too.
         So instead you followed a failed BSL system in Ontario. What a complete idiot you are to have done that. Do you not know that over a decade later Toronto's dog bites are actually higher than before BSL was in place.
          In 2013, 1,400 registered Pitbull owners licensed their dogs there, and only about 300 are now registered in  a city of millions of people. Moreover, in 2004, there were 576 dog bites reported, but in 2014 a whopping 767 bites. What does that tell you Mayor Coderre, when BSL was in place, maybe Pitbulls were not the ones originally to blame right? I repeat to you Dennis Coderre, BSL bans do not work and never will!
          In point of truth, in the USA over 164 towns and cities have repealed breed based laws. Over 20 states have state-wide exemptions on these type of archaic laws now too.
          So why Mayor Coderre did you not follow a successful model like Calgary, Alberta, Canada has in place. They instilled a responsible ownership bylaw because in 2014 they realized they had a real Pitbull problem. They figured out it was those problematic, uneducated owners that made an increase in dog bites, and if you focused your attention on them, then the problem simply decreased.
          Why did you not consult our Mayor Nenshi on how he fixed that specific issue, instead of steamrolling your BSL immediately after the death of a woman not attacked by a Pitbull. In fact, no DNA was ever found to be in that hound of hell, that did the fatal damage.
           The only conclusion I can come to is that thing called money! Your city stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars by bleeding about $700.00 out of each family or person that owns a large breed dog, including the Pitbull. I mean they have to have the dog spayed or neutered, a special license, a "Silence of the Lambs" type muzzle that does not allow them to drink water, very easily. Another huge factor is putting up a fence that's over 7 feet tall. Not to mention the money a certain kill shelter, we will not mention any names, stands to make thousands of dollars on the deaths of unadoptable or surrendered Pitbulls. Also let's not forget, the ones that own the large breed dog, ie Pitbull have to also have a criminal background check done now too. If they do have a criminal record,no matter what it is, their large breed dog will have to be surrended to an animal shelter to be put down. Hmm, I recall Adolf Hitler did something about that in the genocide of thousands of Jews.
           You, Mayor Coderre, are an absolute disgrace to your office, and have you no conscience, your responsibility is to the Montreal Citizens? What a joke, maybe a responsibility to your pocket book, your pension and oh yes, your grand stand of getting the title "World Mayor".Well, I give you this, you will go down as World Mayor allright, World Mayor of the death of innocent loving dogs, including my beloved breed a Pitbull. Think about that Dennis Coderre as you sleep on your silk pillows tonite?
          Wow, to lighten up the mood, as I spit the venom from my mouth eluding from that idiot, I leave you with an excerpt from my third book, "Road History" from a happier time with our deceased Pitbull Sampson. Enjoy your week.
On that following weekend before my next big long hauling adventure, with the new company, I made a call to a local vet in Lacombe and set up an appointment for Sampson. If we were going to be traveling with him, Carol told me, we needed to get all his shots up to date. We accomplished that, plus Sampson now had his very own passport made there, with a photo of him on it, along with all his vital statistics. So now the three of us were ready to go trucking on some new adventures.

        As it turned out, our load wasn’t going to be ready until later that Monday afternoon, so we headed up early to put our stuff in the new truck. Actually, I had my satellite radio to install with the antenna and whatnot, plus we had our microwave oven, TV, DVD, and cooler with us as well. Apparently, it was going to be a larger double-bunk Volvo that was coming from Toronto, but when we got to their yard, it was nowhere to be found. My new boss Abe, had given me some bullshit story that the truck wasn’t there because it was held up in Toronto for some reason; that should have been our first clue to bail out!

        Next, I met the yard person Leroy, who went around looking for the keys to a temporary unit for us. Now before I met this guy, Abe had told me he was in his trailer in the yard, so I went to go look for him. Well, I knocked on the door of this beat up old “Winnebago” Motor Home parked in the back of the yard, sandwiched between two broken down 53-foot trailers. When this older fellow, invited me in, to meet him, well there parked in the front of the cab, was half of a diesel engine, strewn all over in dirty, greasy truck parts! I think most of you reading this probably would have turned tail and got out of there as fast as possible and looking back on it now, I probably should have, but I didn’t.

         If truth be told I really didn’t have any other job, I could fall back on and besides, this was all for Sampson.  Now if that wasn’t bad enough, despite the atrocious housekeeping, this fat, greasy looking guy , gets up from some nasty torn mattress in his underwear! Needless to say, they weren’t clean or even in one piece either. Well, this guy apologizes to me for the way he looks, as he tells me it's his only day off, nor was he aware I was going to be here today, to pick up a load. So he tells me his name is Leroy, and reluctantly, I shake his dirty greasy stained right hand. He starts to boast to me that nothing leaves “his” yard unless he says so. First, he says that we need to find me a truck to use for this load going to Missouri, so out the trailerI go, following this “God of the Right Speed Yard!”

         Well, he finally locates this old relic of a blue Kenworth tractor parked at an area of the yard that you can only guess why it was sitting there in the first place. It was a 2005 model, and talk about a small sleeper berth, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Seriously I think it was called a super-sized single, which is just a more fancy term for a 7-foot long bed that only fits in college campus dorm rooms and of course tractors used in  shitty trucking companies such as this one. Luckily it did have a top bunk, so we used the top portion of the bed to put all our boxes that contained our clothes, office supplies, food, weather related items, and whatnot that were essential when we went trucking.

         Next thing Leroy does is he has me pop the hood, because he needs to show me something very important.

        “This old girl has a problem starting sometimes” he adds.

        “Oh okay “I reply back to him, thinking that maybe this wasn’t such a hot shit idea to begin with.

        “If she won’t turn over in the mornings, take a quarter with a flat head screwdriver and just insert it here “he shows me.

          Whatever the hell, he was explaining to me appeared to be a faulty solenoid that was connected to the starter system that was acting up and needed to be replaced. However, because I was about to embark on this load, they did not have the time to get this truck repaired, nor did they have any other available truck for me to use. Maybe that should have been another warning sign that I should just walk away from this company, but stupidly, I did not. In fact, I think if you had to decipher Leroy’s message it would be something like this.

         “We really don’t give a shit about what you’re driving, take the fricken truck with the meat load, get it to Missouri, so we can make enough money to fix the damn thing when you get back!”

        “We need you to do this so we can get some other East Indian Schmuck to drive this, that way when you get the white truck coming back from Toronto you’ll be a happy camper!”

        “That about sums it up, right?”

          Things got progressively worse when this truck wouldn’t start so good ole Leroy had to go grab the yard truck to give a boost. Previous to what I had just witnessed, a normal person probably would have changed his mind. Keep in mind we are talking about a really different trucking company here, and I kept reminding myself, that I was doing this for Sam! Nonetheless, I can remember that Carol said that we had to film our first trip in this truck with the “Jazz Camcorder” as this was going to be a memorable one, we would never forget. You know what; she couldn’t have been more accurate to what was going to transpire with just one trip. Now to my surprise we managed to cross the Coutts/Sweetgrass Mt border all right, and meat inspection seemed to be a breeze.

          Sampson’s first trip into the USA was pretty much easy with the one border inspector even giving him a “Milk Bone” dog biscuit treat at the guard shack. That good boy was now sitting on the bed of the sleeper while Carol and I were in the front of the cab doing our thing. Carol pulled out the Camcorder and started filming our little adventure. So she starts filming the front of where I am driving, the usual introductions of where we are, and where we are going and whatnot.

        “We are actually waiting to get a truck” she speaks into the tiny camcorder microphone.

        “This one sucks! Look at the size of this sleeper? I mean really” as she now aims the camcorder at the back of the sleeper with Sam just sitting there looking into the camcorder.

         “She’s pretty tiny, and she’s quite the pig!”

         “And how many miles does it say Bri?”Carol now questions me.

         “Let’s see” I pause.

         “Just over a million miles!” is my reply to Carol’s question now.

           Carol then lets everyone now in camcorder-land that she has had only about three and one-half hours of sleep but that she’s got her big cup of coffee to help her cope for the day.

          “It would be nice to get a truck” she reiterates.

           “This is not a truck, it is a lumber wagon” she adds.

  So that brief explanation, pretty much sums it up, how this trip is going to go, but it was more horrible that both of us could ever have imagined. I managed to make it all the way to Hardin, Montana, and fuel up there as well. Next thing I did was to park for the night at a really small “Flying J” truck stop.

  Carol went over to the local McDonald’s there to get us some food, as we couldn’t possibly cook in this truck as there were no electrical outlets in it. Meanwhile, I went to take Sampson out for his nightly business, as he was enjoying sniffing all the unusual smells in the area. After we ate our Big Macs and all, we both tried to get some sleep on a stupid undersized single bed for two. Needless to say, it was not an easy task, so Carol pretty much sat up most of the night, sitting in the passenger seat. She knew it was vital for me to get my sleep to drive safely in the morning, so she had placed Sampson down at the foot of the bed as well. That’s my Carol, always thinking of the other person; even it meant further depriving her of sleep.

   In the morning around 7am, I knew we needed to get an early start on the day, but that never materialized either. When I went to start that pig, the damn thing wouldn’t turn over as previously mentioned by Leroy, so I followed his procedure he had taught me. Needless to say, that didn’t work, so now I had to make a call to “Right Speed” dispatch and see what they could do about getting somebody out here to fix this situation. Now even more bad luck was to follow when I couldn’t even get hold of their dispatch as they shut the phone off till nine-am, according to a prerecorded voicemail message. This time, I quickly got an epiphany of the true fact I had made a huge mistake working for this company.

   Finally at nine-am that morning, I got a hold of dispatch, but after another hour of a complete runaround, I got in touch with the Operations Manager, Abe that could make such a vital decision. That decision being, whether he could authorize a mechanic to drive out from Billings Montana to fix the dam thing! This guy even had the audacity that he wanted me to pay for this, as he couldn’t get it authorized by the “President of Right Speed Trucking.” He said that he would pay me time while waiting for the guy to get here, and maybe some hourly wage he would discuss with me when I got back. I relayed Carol this information and she told me to tell him a flat out No!  He needed to get somebody from his end to arrange to fix this. Well, he said, to call him back in an hour and that he would try to get hold of a mechanic to come out from Billings to help me out.

“This is quickly becoming an adventure in futility!”, I thought to myself. 













          The blame should be put on the owner and not the dog. It comes down to breed practices and proper education.
     
  

THE BEAR'S BLOG: ...

THE BEAR'S BLOG:                                                   ...:                                                          THE BREED OR THE DEED      Last Saturday, we talked about how the general public a...

                                                         THE BREED OR THE DEED
     Last Saturday, we talked about how the general public are now seeing the pitbulls in a racist kind of way.Nonetheless my blog this week, focuses on the cause of most pitbull attacks and your either going to agree with me or disagree on this, but it's about 99 per cent of the time, the owner. I say that because, let's face the truth, there are bad pitbulls out there, no matter how you try to reform them.So where does all this panic, and turmoil for a pretty wonderful breed come from? Yes, it starts with the owner and the type of people or persons they are. So to start with, what is a bad owner or an irresponsible owner? I know what your saying, "its not me, that's for sure," but let's research those thoughts for a minute.
     Owners who don't take or understand the responsibility of owning such a powerful dog would constitute a bad owner.
      Owners who have to do the fighting for their dogs by making them appear tougher wearing spiked collars, cropped ears and tails, would mean a bad owner.
      People who do not research the traits of pitbulls before owning them are also the culprits.
      Owners who leave their pitbulls outside all the time, thus not allowing them to socialize with other people or animals in their home are ticking time bombs. I mean think about it, if you were left outside all the time, wouldn't you have a tendency to snap or be pissed off?
      Owners who yell at or demean their pitbull dogs in public or in their households on a regular basis.
      People who physically discipline their dogs and beat them as a way of controlling them regularly are bad owners!
      People that have low self-esteem get pitbulls for a status thing to say "Hey look at me, I own a pitbull, don't mess with me, I am a bad ass!" another definite attitude of a bad owner!
      Owners who get a pitbull, and then let them run around in yards with small, lower footage fences are bad owners!
      People who walk their pitbulls on just a leash attached to a collar is unacceptable, another bad owner! A pitbull being as intelligent as it is, can easily slip its head through a collar and then you'll have a real problem!.A harness is more effective and restrains the dog better, which puts the owner in control.
      Another thing, although this might be up for debate, is people usually get pitbulls 2 or 3 years old, but these dogs are usually set in their ways, especially if there was no prior training with them.
      Irresponsible Owners such as the "Michael Vicks" out there who train these dogs to attack or fight for their own selfish financial needs. Any dog can be trained to kill or fight, regardless of the breed.
      Inbreeding cause bad pitbulls most of the times as they are interbred with Rottweillers, Labs, Sheppards and even Whippets. I know this to be true as my other rescue dog Okee, is in fact, a Whippet/Pitbull Mix, but not a more sweeter dog could you find in her.
      Generally, these dogs are not genetically sound in their brains, which can lead to madness as it puts pressure on their brains, in certain circumstances. Keep in mind, these are the types, you do have to be careful more so with and on your guard more often when people or other animals are around them.
      You have to socialize these dogs usually at younger ages and get them around people and other dogs.Then more than likely they will turn out just fine. Pitbulls by their very nature are protective animals. If you socialize your dogs, generally they won't be aggressive and another very important thing is to have them spayed or neutered as soon as possible. If people take time with their pitty's showing love, affection, understanding, and training, then their pitbull pet dog will give back the same to them.
       While it is understandable that seeing pitbull attack reporting on the news gets viewers all scared and riled up, hating the breed, it is wrong! Think about it, when was the last time you saw a newscast on a border collie attack, poodle or even a chihuahua? No, because, that is not what the newscasters want their viewers to see, and besides it does nothing for ratings. Everyone knows that the media tells us what we want to see whether it's fully researched or reported right?
       The fact that pitbulls have stronger jaws than most dogs doesn't mean they are going to use them.
       The only thing I worry about with our new rescue 2-year-old  pitbull Jewel about using her jaws on our blankets, pillows and recently my blue tooth headset which she decided was a chew toy. She loved the sponge earpiece especially which was to her liking.
        We find that our rescue pitty Jewel sees feels and reacts to things that Teryl and I are sometimes oblivious to or slow to notice. She is completely aware of her surroundings and in tune to such small things as a dog barking on our TV or even a video on our cell phone of wolves howling.
        It is the dog's owner's responsibility to implement psychological and physical boundaries for all their pets. This is for both to protect potential harm to others and to protect their pitbull dog. Every dog, regardless of the breed is unpredictable. No more than a factory worker who suddenly loses his job, picks up a rifle and shoots a store clerk for not having his brand of cigarettes.In conclusion, the only thing I can leave you with is please try to see your pitbull dog for what he or she is, not for what you want them to be.
        Once again, I leave you with another excerpt from one my 3rd book "Road History, when we actually did own a pitbull Sampson that was involved in an attack. As you read on, you will find out that things were not as they appeared to be. Have a great week and go get yourself a pitty as a pet.
The next day I picked up a load of flowers from a nursery in Chilliwack, destined for the “Western Grocers” company, that’s right, the same people that own Loblaw’s. When we arrived in Calgary, the next day I dropped that load off at the appropriate destination. As usual, it was time to reset my hours, so that meant we would get to see our buddy, Sam, once again. I picked him up, as usual, whereby he was rip-snorting and panting when he saw us, just all too happy to see his Mom and Dad once more. This time, I had proposed to Carol to rent a hotel room for the 48 hours, with just our little family and she agreed to that as well. Sam was so happy to spend time with us, and as usual Carol had bought him another stuffy which he absolutely loved. It was a wonderful two days, with ordering in take-out food, spending time with our Sam, watching some TV, and just generally relaxing for a change. When you drive up to 10,000 miles a month like I did, it sure took a lot out of me mentally and physically. As for Sampson, he would now get to spend that time with Carol and the family, so that was nice. Moreover, I just hated taking him back to that kennel, but this time, it might be different when we arrived back there.

         The dogcatcher, Tim had arranged to have the mother of the 14-year-old girl, meet with us as well as our dog Sampson. Was something up? or had the judge finally made a decision on Sam’s fate? Carol and I had both reluctantly agreed to finally face the consequences as towards Sampson’s actions regarding the attack. Nonetheless, I pulled up the driveway of the kennel that morning, not really knowing if we were ever going to see our Sampson again. We introduced ourselves to the young woman, along with showed her, as to one of the perpetrators on her 14-year-old daughter which was our dog Sam. What we found out that morning astounded all us, even shocked the dogcatcher, Tim, I might add. When the lady started to explain to us the story from her daughter towards the attack, I must say we were stunned, but extremely relieved. It seems that on that day when both dogs had gotten out of our back fence, they were running wild. When “Big Sexy” Sandi’s former dog had come upon the 14-year-old girl walking down the sidewalk that afternoon, he lunged at her. Sampson was thinking that they were having fun, so he pounced on the poor girl, but that’s where it all changed.

         Big Sexy, started to bite and attack the girl, but when Sampson realized his nephew was not fooling around, well things changed fast. Sampson was actually trying to pull his nephew away from the attack and in so doing, ended up scratching the girl across the stomach. However our dog, Sampson did not continue the assault on the girl, nor did he bite her in any way shape or form either. I asked the young lady how she knew of this, and she told me those were the words spoken from her very own daughter! I can’t begin to tell you how Carol and I were relieved to hear this startling information, as it most certainly would assure of Sampson’s life to be spared or so we hoped. 

         Tim, let us know that he would immediately resubmit new court documents, so hopefully now, Sampson’s life would be spared. It ripped my heart apart to place my dog behind bars that morning before we left, but I now had some hope for Sam’s survival at least. Unfortunately, we had to head to Calgary to get back on the truck, but this time, we were definitely in a better mood about it. Therefore, I grabbed another load from High River this time and headed south down to the United States with it. Our next load was heading for somewhere in Washington, I can’t seem to recall exactly where at the moment. I mean I can’t tell you how many times Carol and I would be driving on the I-90 West route on our way to Vancouver. There we would be driving over the legendary Columbia River while gazing at fire-red sunsets while traveling down the open road. We would also see large tugboats pushing these gargantuan barges with “god knows what containers” floating down that mighty river. This time, it was nice to travel a different way and see some truly really different sights for a change. When we arrived in Seattle there were always crazy sights I passed by such as a giant inflatable sun wearing enormous black sunglasses near a K-Mart.

         One time when we were getting fuel at a Flying-J Truckstop in Washington we saw the oddest thing. There were these Barbie and Ken dolls tied to the roof rack of an SUV just leaving the parking lot, as I pumped the diesel into “Beauty” that day. Chalk it up to just a few of the odd things you see on the open road trucking. We were well into the fall of 2007, and the trips with Dial were starting to get a bit more varied in where I was going now.

         I remember we had more freight of beef going to Nebraska at first, but we picked up a trip from there by heading right back to the Dial yard in Akron Iowa. That load was going to Brampton, Ontario so once again I would get to stop in on my brother Chuck and his family. I would probably catch my Dad and his new wife too, as well as my Mom, there always seemed to be at least one day to do this with on these trips.

         Well as it was, I did see a good portion of my family, only, this time, it was a bit different when we unloaded at the drop point in Brampton. We picked up another empty trailer when we switched out a trailer with another driver at a Husky Truckstop in Mississauga this time round. This new trip was quite the opposite, as we were heading to New Jersey of all things. As it was I had to drive passed the Welland Canal on our trip through to Buffalo, so we made a half day tour out of the canals there.