Around town with HugABull

Well summer is finally here and even though Mother Nature was a little slow getting us started we at HugABull are just happy to see the sun and we know the dogs are happy too. With great weather comes great events and the HugABull team has been very busy over the last few months planning some fun summer events that are definitely worth checking out.

It was with great excitement that we announced our Pit Ed Classes were now in session. Pit Ed was originally created by the founders of BAD RAP (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls) and eventually turned into a successful and well respected program in the California area. The classes aimed to teach dog owners how to handle their reactive dogs in every day situations, with positive reinforcement, easy to understand and learn training techniques and the environment to do so free of judgment. After seeing the results of these classes with our own eyes while attending the 2006 BAD RAP Conference in California, we at HugABull realized that there was a definite need for a class like this back home. Taking BAP RAPs lead we finally were able to get this class in motion here in the Lower Mainland, and with two successful classes under our belts we are excited to continue on and see how our program will progress. To sign up for our Pit Ed classes please email info@hugabull.com


This summer will also mark more firsts for HugABull, as we have been invited to participate on Sunday August 5th in the 29th Annual Vancouver Pride Parade. Starting on Denman Street the Pride Parade makes it way through the heart of Vancouver celebrating the vibrant life and the diversity of the Vancouver queer community. The HugABull team along with volunteers and of course dogs will walk with the parade handing out HugABull tattoos and advocacy material, all the while marching our dogs with PRIDE. For more information please check out http://www.vancouverpride.ca/vancouverpride.ca/

Tickets are also on sale through our website for our 2nd Annual Fundraiser, located this year at the Firefighters Club in Burnaby on Tuesday August 21st http://www.firefightersclub.com/ What makes this fundraiser like no other is that we are pleased to welcome Chris Cory Director & Producer of “Diva Dog” – Pit Bull on Wheels The Movie. Chris has been touring all over the states promoting his movie and will be joining us and our guests at the event to premier for the first time in BC his touching documentary about his dog Coral. Coral was his beloved Pit Bull, who was hit by a car and left paralyzed. Though Coral’s legs had been broken her spirit had not and Coral along with Chris’s help went on to inspire many with her charm and determination to live. We will also be joined by the Playful Puppy Place who will be putting on a doggy fashion show and DJ Standard, who will be mixing up the tracks all night long, for those who like to get up and dance.

Back by popular demand will be our 4th Annual Pits in the Park. Stay tuned as the date and location are still to be determined.

Hope to see you there

Kristen
Promotions/Fundraising Coordinator
kristen@hugabull.com

For more inforamation on these and other up coming HugABull Events please go to our website http://www.hugabull.com/

Where does the time go?

Wow, I've been meaning to update this, and just haven't had a chance. Much has been going on with HugABull, between the ongoing care of the mange girls, starting to organize all our summer events, and, biggest of all, launching our new Pit Ed classes! I've only got a few moments, so I'll leave the Pit Ed updates and Summer Events stuff either to the other gals, or a later time. For now, here's the scoop on George, Bree, and Jolie.

The girls are all doing very well. Bree is still with Tasha and Allan, George just moved into a new foster home (since Stephanie's dog Zoe is having cruciate surgery and needs to rest, not play with a lummox like Georgie), and Jolie is being fostered in her happy forever home by Amba and Travis. Bree and George have recently started attending our new Pit Ed classes, where we hope to see Bree develop a bit more confidence (she's more timid than we'd like) and for George to learn to mind her manners and not always be such a loudmouth.

George saw Dr. Mann out at Menzies Pet Hospital yesterday, for a general re-check (he wanted to see at least one of the girls back to see how they're doing), and because we had some concerns about some redness in her skin. George has been put on two weeks worth of Clavamox, to knock out a minor residual bacterial skin infection, which probably flared up due to her being in heat recently (huge kudos to Stephanie for putting up with that - yech!). While she's still obviously got Demodex, her fur is coming back, and she's showing a lot of improvement, as are all three girls. George has a couple of mammary lumps. They may be lingering infection, but it's also quite possible that they're mammary tumors, which are very common, particularly in intact females. We're hoping that if they are tumors, they don't change over the next couple of weeks, and we can wait until George's mange clears up before spaying her and removing them. There's a possibility however, that we will need to take those out right away, thus delaying George's recovery from the mange.

To date, the girls' costs, for vet care, medication, shampoos and supplements (not including food) total about $1200. They all still need to be scraped at least twice (need two clear scrapings before they are "cured"), spayed, and vaccinated, and George will likely need those mammary tumours removed, so we're looking at probably another $500 or so in vet costs for these girls.
So far, we've raised about $450-$500 in donations towards the girls' expenses via direct donation and donation through The Lovely Fund. Our most sincere appreciation to everyone who's donated towards these girls' care!

We are so very grateful to Cora, who has generously offered to support the girls through sale of her Care Collars. You can't lose with this offer - get a beautiful, custom, high-quality collar for your pooch, and 100% of the proceeds go towards helping pay for George, Bree, and Jolie's care. You can visit Cora's website at http://www.carecollars.com/.

Anyhow, here are what everyone no doubt is wanting - pics! Just some of George for now, as I haven't any new ones of Bree or Jolie.