Freshen Up Your Spring Wardrobe!

Show your support for PBRC with mugs, t-shirts, stickers, sweatshirts, and more! Visit our CafePress store today!

Three Ways to Celebrate Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day With Your Pit Bull

Today is one of your dog's favorite holidays: International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day.

Dogs love their biscuits, and since we love our dogs, Pit Bull Rescue Central is celebrating, too!

Here are some great ways to celebrate with the pit bulls in your life:

1) Treat Your Dog and Help Homeless Pit Bulls!

Check out some of the yummy options at our Poppy Shop:

• Furry Partners
• Helping Udders
• US Bones
• Best Bullys

When you purchase delicious treats for your puppy pals through these partners, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to help PBRC!

2) Bake with Poppy: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Biscuits

Feeling creative? Whip up a batch of homemade dog biscuits. There are lots of simple recipes that are easy to make, inexpensive to create and can be tailored to suit any special dietary needs. Here's one of Poppy's favorites:

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuit Recipe with Oatmeal

This peanut butter dog biscuit recipe is what you're looking for if you want an easy dog treat. With only four ingredients, one of which is water, even novice chefs can treat their pups to homemade cookies!

Ingredients:

* 2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use another type of flour if your dog is sensitive to wheat)

* 1 cup rolled oats

* 1/3 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth

* 1 1/4 cups hot water

Additional flour for rolling

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F

2. Mix dry ingredients together.

3. Mix in the peanut butter and hot water. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky.

4. Knead the dough well.

5. Roll out the dough into 1/4" thickness and cut into shapes with dog cookie cutters.

6. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 40 minutes.

Turn off the oven and let them cool overnight.

After cooling, the cookies get very hard, just the way dogs like them!

Storing: This peanut butter dog biscuit recipe makes biscuits that will last in a sealed air-tight container at room temperature for one week. You can store them in the refrigerator for 3 weeks and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
(from the Dog Treat Kitchen)

3) Join Our Dog Biscuit Celebration on Facebook

The International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day celebration idea with the most “likes” by 10pm EST on Feb. 23 will win a prize package (including dog biscuits, of course). Visit our Facebook wall to "like" your favorite ideas or share your own!

Where did Dog Biscuits Originate?
Back in the 1800s, a London butcher was seeking to expand his business. He decided that he would bake biscuits to sell along with his meats. He baked up a batch of his concoction; however, when he tasted them, he decided they tasted horrible and gave them to his dog. His dog thought otherwise and gobbled up the biscuits eagerly. The butcher watched and, being the innovative businessman that he was, continued to make the biscuits designed for dogs. (Source: Scampering Paws)

In 1908, an American businessman bought the recipe and the F.H. Bennett Biscuit Company was established. The name of the new dog biscuit was Malatod. In 1911, the recipe for the original biscuit was patented and, in 1915, the name was changed to Milk Bone.

Later, others started making biscuits for the puppy palate and today there are options that range from standard fair to organic to hypoallergenic. Dog biscuits not only communicate our love to our dogs in a language that they understand, but they can be a useful tool in training and a meaningful reward for a job well done.

Happy International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day!

Photo credit: stephpowell

Help dreams come true for the shelter dogs of Animal Care & Control of New York City

This spring, help the dogs of AC&C by donating a Kong by March 31, 2011.

AC&C of NYC is a private 501c3 non-profit organization that contracts with New York City for animal control services. Each year, AC&C takes in thousands of dogs. Those not adopted are simply euthanized, sometimes within a matter of days.

Dogs residing at AC&C experience stress from many things including social isolation, barren environments, large numbers of other animals, noise, lack of exercise and boredom.

Your gift of a Kong will help:

• Reduce anxiety and stress.
• Stimulate the mind while providing a tasty distraction
• Provide a durable toy/treat dispenser
• Deter destructive behavior

The presence of toys in kennels has shown to increase adoption rates.

Mail Kongs to:

Miriam Bouchma
3 Times Square
11th Floor
New York, NY 10036

For more information and to stay updated via the Donate A Kong to AC&C Facebook page. Click here.

PBRC's First Annual Valentine’s Day Kissing Contest!

Does your Valentine have a wet nose and a tail? Do you think your pit bull could be the star of a kissing booth on Valentine’s Day? Pit bulls are such loving dogs that we at PBRC thought it fitting that this Valentine’s Day is going to the dogs! To celebrate, we are having a special kissing booth contest. The winner receives bragging rights as best kisser along with a great prize.

PBRC invites you to send your “kiss-a-bull” photos to our 1st Annual Valentine’s Day Kissing Contest!

Please submit photos no later than Sunday, February 13, 2011, 11:59 pm.

Voting begins Monday, February 14, 2011.
We will announce the winners on February 15, 2011

Contest rules:

• One photo per dog
• Include your name, dog’s name and email address
• Contest is limited to pit bulls
• Photos MUST be submitted before Sunday, February 13th, 11:59 pm
• Only one vote allowed per person

Please send photos to: pbrccontest@gmail.com

Tails in the 'Hood Super Bowl Sunday Edition

Hey Everyone,

Busy Weekend. Friday night Victoria Stillwell from "It's Me or The Dog" was presenting at a Pit Bull Talk in Gwinnett County. Very informative! I gain more respect for Victoria every time I see her. She has a passion for the pits. Ami's dog, Lenox, was showcased as well as Brandee's dog, Apollo. Saturday Ami had to help transport a Cane Corso up to Rome, GA. Well it was supposed to be a transport to Rome and somehow she ended up driving to Alabama! One of the legs to the transport didn't bother to show up. I drove up to Rome to get some video and pictures of Baby Kyle and his counterpart, Boy. These two dogs have been living in boarding since they were seized from a raid 2.5 years ago. They are now ready for adoption. They are both very loving and very sweet. Did I mention extremely handsome as well? Baby Kyle, is a little more relaxed, whereas Boy is just a clown. He is very toy motivated!! Loves to play and loves to be loved. They are both highly adoptable dogs.

Sunday rolled around. Ami and her husband, David, had to go get some car parts for Ami's car, so I took the opportunity to follow up on some of the people we met last week in Washington Park. I dropped by the Good Dog Company to bring True some vaccines and dewormer for her pups. She is fostering Rayme, our blind pitbull. Our other friend, Robin, is fostering Byron, the dog we took in last week while on a Tails in the Hood mission. Byron is doing great, He loves Robin's other dogs. Robin is also fostering Little Veronica, the emaciated girl we took in on our first Tails in the 'Hood mission. Byron is house broken, good with dogs, cats and people. Thanks True and Robin, we appreciate you very much!!

Next stop, Tymeco's house. He was on the way out when I called, but was willing to meet with me. We had a great conversation at Washington Park and I thought we may have gotten through to him and we did. We vaccinated and dewormed his beautiful 1.5 year pitbull named Redd. We also provided him with heartworm and flea prevention for the next 6 months. Tymeco agreed to let us get Redd neutered. His grandmother and brother also have a 1 year old brindle male named Cash. We vaccinated Cash and dewormed him as well as provided him with a 6 month supply of heartworm and flea prevention. We also gave them 2 bags of food. Tymeco is working on his brother to let us fix Cash as well. Redd is scheduled for next Monday at Lifeline in college park. They have a super team over there that are always willing to accomodate us.

Next call was to Terell. Terell is an aspiring rapper. He's very polite and very appreciative for what we are trying to do with our Tails in the Hood program. Terell is trying to schedule a day to get off early so he can have her fixed. We should be making the appointment this week. The next stop was Vine City to meet with Tim. We also met Tim at the Washington Park event. He was there with his 4 month old pit puppy, Pebbles. She was in need of some shots and dewormer. We vaccinated and dewormed little Ms Sassy Pebbles and Tim agreed that he should fix her. We are just trying to find a way to get her to and from Lifeline so we can schedule an appointment. We also provided Tim with a leash and collar for Pebbles. Every kid in that apartment complex felt the need to tell me about their pitbulls. I have a feeling we will be there again trying to reach out to these kids.

I came home and fed my dogs then headed to Liz's house. We needed to deworm Rosie JR and April. They are 2 pups that survived out of the litter of 6 that we rescued last week on our Tails in the Woods episode. These 2 are healthy and strong thanks to Village Vets and Liz and her husband, Matt, who are fostering them for us. They will be six weeks old next week and will be vaccinated then. Another busy but successful weekend. Today we had 4 more pups fixed at Lifeline. These were Spider and Demarco's dogs. 3 pits and 1 pomeranian that belonged to Spider's Mom. Thanks to Lisbeth and Marcia for the transport help. Some more good news: Peanut the Parvo pup that we treated at Village Vets has pulled through! He is home with his family and doing well. Those three dogs will be getting fixed within the next two weeks. If it wasn't for Pick having the good sense to call me, Peanut wouldn't be alive. Good Job Pick!! Tails in the Hood Rides again!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsKyNv1FHXY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tMRdq4yizA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiK7X8dyVN0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7iZblMM5Zw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILYZbSd_nGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC4hSkDk5w4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E5xWM_8wkQ

Tails in the 'Hood (continued)

November 28, 2010

I don't know if everyone knows about our project, Tails in the 'Hood, but basically Friends to the Forlorn and Atlanta Underdog Initiative went into low income areas and approached pit bull owners about responsible dog ownership. Here's a note from Jason about our latest adventures from weekend before last, and we just got the awesome news that we've been awarded a $ 5,000 grant towards our program!

Hey Everyone,

Rough weekend, as I am feeling a bit under the weather. This flu thing just grabbed a hold of me, but it cant stop us from following through on our Tails in The Hood missions. Last week we met Emerald (Pick) and GK in Decatur. We took them to Dekalb County Animal Control and showed them what it was like in the pound.( I sent the video last week) Thanks to the staff at DCAC and to Byron, from B Good Behavior Modification for taking the time to educate these two young men.

You see, these guys wanted to breed pit bulls as a source of income. They truly love their dogs, but just didn't know how bad it is out there for dogs, especially pits. Nobody ever explained to them about proper vaccines and worming or heartworm prevention. All it took was for some people to explain it to them. We just provided them with a little education. I went by today and vaccinated and dewormed their 4 pups. I gave them some heartworm preventative and we have now scheduled all three dogs to be spayed, neutered and micro-chipped as well as vaccinated for rabies. Lifeline Animal Project will be fixing them on Thursday. Now that's a great accomplishment, but it gets better. Now GK and Pick will be working with Tails in the Hood. I have a feeling you will be seeing these young men do a lot of good. We are working on getting them some fencing to get their pups off the chains. They are not allowed to have them indoors. Slowly but surely everything will work itself out.

Afterwards we went to go check on Kevin with his blue girl, Lady. We just got her spayed last week. I promised Kevin we would bring him some more food, and we needed to get the measurements to help repair his fence. We vaccinated Lady with a 5 in 1 shot and gave her a cap star for fleas. She has been inside since we gave Kevin a crate. Progress!!! We showed Kevin the video of our visit to Dekalb.

While I was driving home Ami called. It seems like Kevin and his friends want to take a day trip to the pound, too. We may reach a few more kids in the neighborhood. That’s what Tails in the 'Hood is all about, reaching out to the ones who really need to be reached. There are videos below of what we've been up to. Thanks for your support!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmSGbBdW6jo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyFajCnbkiE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icpxoj6PEsE

Now we're off on another Tails in the 'Hood mission tonight. Some neighbors found a pit/rottweiler mix they are calling Shuggie. We're taking them some food and a crate so they can bring Shuggie inside. It's too cold for him to be outside in this weather! It's supposed to be 20 degrees tonight. We're also going to get Shug signed up to get neutered at Lifeline College Park.

A New Year, A New PBRC

The change in the calendar brought some changes at Pit Bull Rescue Central. Holly Bukes and Dawn Carroll have ended their terms as President and Vice President, respectively. Holly will remain on the PBRC team, while Dawn, one of the organization’s earliest members, will be moving on to new adventures.

The new Executive Committee is looking forward to 2011 as year of exciting ideas, energetic leadership and a renewed commitment to propelling the organization forward to help more dogs than ever.

Here’s a preview of a few projects PBRC is working on in the New Year:

• Creating a PBRC Task Force to assist with large scale rescue operations.
• Even more great blog content and building our community through social media (Find us on Facebook and Twitter).
• Great new pit-friendly products and an even bigger and better PoppyMart.
• Enhanced resources for rescuers, owners and advocates.
• Recruiting to expand our volunteer base. (Interested in becoming a PBRC Volunteer? Click here to apply.)

Meet the New Officers

We are pleased to introduce PBRC’s new Executive Committee, whose long histories with PBRC, general animal welfare backgrounds and diverse skill sets not only make them excellent candidates for these positions, but also make for a dynamic leadership team:

• President: Stephanie Feldstein
  
• Co-Executive Director: Chris Cook
• Co-Executive Director: Tiffany McBee
• Vice President: Amiela Ciontos
• Continuing as Treasurer: Alexis Kelly
• Secretary: Jessica Roubitchek

Please take a minute to get to know each one of our team by reading the biographies below.

All of the nominated candidates for the officer positions were passionate volunteers, dedicated to a positive future for pit bulls. They each also had impressive backgrounds, making the choice difficult (and also making us realize how lucky we are to have such a talented team at PBRC).

With Sincere Appreciation

The executive committee would also like to express their appreciation to Holly Bukes, PBRC President from 2003-2010, and to Dawn Carroll, PBRC Vice President 2001-2010. As part of the previous leadership team, they have assisted in developing PBRC from an organization with a single volunteer and zero dollars to the successful organization it is today. Their years of dedication will have a positive impact on Pit Bulls and their people for years to come. Thank you both for your inspiration!

Biographies

Stephanie Feldstein – President: Stephanie is the editor for the Animals cause at Change.org. Previously, she worked in the non-profit field, most recently as the Development Director of the Ecology Center, an environmental advocacy organization. She served as Vice President on the Board of Directors of Earth Share of Michigan and as Secretary on the Board of Pit Bull Rescue Central. She has been part of the animal welfare and pit bull rescue community for over 10 years, as an animal shelter employee, foster home, dog trainer, behavior helpline responder, outreach/events volunteer, and rescue consultant. She also writes novels exploring animal welfare issues and the human-animal bond.

On a personal note: Stephanie lives in Michigan with a rescued menagerie of two Shepherd mixes, three Pit Bulls and two cats.

Chris Cook – Co-Executive Director: Chris has worked in the veterinary field as a Registered Veterinary Technician for almost 25 years. During that time she has worked in general practice, specialty practice, practice management and diagnostic laboratories. Chris fell in love with Pit Bulls during her early years of veterinary technician education/work and for many years operated a personal rescue effort that assisted many needy dogs and owners. Having been a volunteer with PBRC since 1999, her work has included creation and start up of the Volunteer Committee and she has served on the Adoption Application Team, Medical Fund Committee, Donor Relations Team and on the BOD as Co Chair of Volunteer Committee and PBRC Secretary.

On a personal note: Chris currently lives in Chandler, AZ with her husband Todd, rescued Staffordshire Bull Terrier Angus and assorted fish, birds, and houseplants. She enjoys photographing her dogs and has been the proud recipient of both local and national awards and calendar features.

Tiffany McBee – Co-Executive Director: Tiffany has been a PBRC volunteer since 2002, her work has included serving as the Treasurer, Chair of the Fund Committee, member of the Fundraising committee, Cafepress team and now processing adoption applications and co-chairing the newly formed PBRC Task Force committee. Tiffany is the founder of Broken Hearts, Mended Souls, a 501c3 mid-Missouri Pit Bull rescue group that features a free to low cost spay/neuter program for the residents of mid-Missouri. Most recently, she served as the President and Vice President from 2004 to 2008 for the Central Missouri Humane Society. During her tenure, the animal shelter overcame three years of deficit spending and won the national ZooToo.com shelter makeover contest valued at up to one million dollars.

On a personal note: Tiffany resides in Missouri with her husband Steve. They have two human children, Dalton and Austin, and five furry ones: Three Pit Bulls, one Cane Corso and a naughty little feline named Sugar.

Amiela Ciontos - Vice President: Ami has been involved in pit bull rescue and advocacy for the past 13 years, and has spent the last 8 years as a volunteer for Pit Bull Rescue Central. She has served on the PBRC Board of Directors as the chairperson of the Spay/Neuter Committee and was also the co-chair of the Fundraising Committee. Currently Ami serves on the PBRC Grant Committee and is the founder of the Atlanta Bully Rally, an annual event to celebrate National Pit Bull Awareness Day. She is also the founder and president of Atlanta Underdog Initiative, a pit bull and mastiff rescue group and a founding partner of Tails in the ‘Hood, an outreach program to educate pit bull owners on responsible dog ownership.

On a personal note: Ami shares her home with husband, David, and three Pit Bulls and one Pit Bull/Boxer mix. Ami and her family almost always have two or more Pit Bulls or Mastiffs in their care through foster care.

Jessica Roubitchek – Secretary: Jessica is currently the Director of Alumnae Relations and Individual Giving for the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, a council comprised of over 95,000 girls and 24,000 volunteers. She is responsible for identifying and cultivating major donors, and building an alumnae association with meaningful engagement opportunities. Jessica has been involved with the finance committee and PBRC's annual PoppyMart auction since 2009.

On a personal note: Jessica resides in Illinois with her husband and daughter. Because of PBRC and Pitbull-L, Jessica went from reluctant and uninformed Pit Bull owner in 2006 to the confident handler and breed advocate that she is today.

Alexis Kelly- Treasurer: Lex has has been involved in animal rescue for over 20 years and pit bull advocacy and rescue for the past seven years. She is the co-founder of Bmore Dog, a pit bull advocacy organization located in Baltimore, Maryland and has been a PBRC volunteer since 2006 and Treasurer since 2007. She is an accountant by trade, working in the commercial real estate development and finance industry since 1993.

On a personal note: Lex shares her home with three rescued pit bulls and several rescued kitties.