HugABull has been re-homed!

HugABull has always been run by volunteers, and since 2004 our head office has been the living rooms, home offices, and laptops of our directors. But with the opening of Dizine Canine Training Centre (DCTC) in Vancouver, HugABull finally has a home.

Shelagh Begg is the owner of DCTC and a long-time director of HugABull, When she opened her new space last month, she offered to provide office space, storage and space for HugABull operations. It will be a welcoming (and rain-proof) site for Pit-Ed classes, and we're looking forward to hosting information sessions, adoption days and so much more.

We're celebrating our new home on December 13 with a holiday open house. Join us to see visit the centre, visit with other HugABullers, and have Christmas photos taken with your canine family members. Off-Leash Photography will be lending their amazing photography talents in exchange for donations to HugABull.

Come by with your leashed, well-behaved dogs for fun, celebration, and a tour of the new space we're proud to call home. We're also collecting cash, new and gently used donations for Loki's Christmas Wish Fund, so clean out your closets before you come!

2010 HugABull Calendars

Our 2010 calendars are now available for sale through our online store (hint: they make excellent Christmas gifts!). http://www.hugabull.biz/

We would like to extend a huge thank you to the photographers that worked so hard on this project: Eric Milner from Eric Milner Photography and Melissa McCabe from Unleashed! pet portraits.

We appreciate all that they put into this task: scheduling photo shoots, editing the images and many miles of driving to meet featured dogs and families. We could not have done it without them, and are thrilled to have been able to work with such talented artists.

Thank you also to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, for allowing us to photograph the stunning Tiger against their beautiful backdrop.

Many kudos and much appreciation goes to our brilliant graphic artist Lori West of Fawndog Design. She did an amazing job putting together this calendar and we are thrilled with the results. We think you will be too - buy one while supplies last and enjoy a rescued pit bull every month, with proceeds benefitting HugABull.

UPDATE - Kane found a saviour!

In almost every way, Kane is the perfect dog. He is social with dogs, cats, birds and farm animals. Crate-trained, obedience-trained, easy-going in the house and spectacular with children, he has charmed every family he’s lived with. However, Kane is having trouble finding a forever home because of some challenges that came up during his foster period.

Although he originally came from a wonderful family home, we don’t think he had a lot of socialization with other dogs. He’s friendly but gets extremely excited when he sees another dog and isn’t able to greet it. He loses his focus, strains on his leash, and his normally impeccable manners fall by the wayside. Kane has been attending Pit-Ed and we’ve been seeing progress, but his foster family lives in a very busy area swarming with other dogs and it’s just too much stimulation for him.

Kane's foster family loves him and considered keeping him, but he needs more structure and training than this busy family with young children can provide. This means Kane is looking for a new foster home. We already have a shortage of foster spaces, and sadly we don’t have any current homes who can give Kane the structure he needs. HugABull is willing to provide free one-on-one training, Pit Ed classes and lots of support as we know that with a month or two of “boot camp” he would come a long way.

We are looking for a two-month commitment and a solid routine with opportunities for Kane to practice calm behaviour around new dogs. It will require some dedication and handling skills, but we can tell you that Kane will be a perfect houseguest in every other way.

Kane and HugABull really need your help! If you have every considered fostering or making a profound difference in the life of a deserving dog, this is your chance. Contact hugabull@gmail.com for more information.

UPDATE -----
After canvassing far and wide, we had a wonderful, breed-experienced foster home offer to house and train Kane, helping him to become the stellar dog he was born to be. Watch for his triumphant return to our Adoptables page soon!