Rebel Blog

The weather is creeping into tick season, but don't freak out. Proper precaution such as monthly flea and tick medication, or tick spray before hiking, can help prevent these pesky little guys from bothering your dog. If you do find a tick on your dog with a little caution they are easily removed. Ticks live in wet, dark, brushy areas, which subsequently dogs love to run through.

We hike several times a week with our pack and we never let the threat of ticks keep us indoors, even when it’s raining. We’ve encountered and removed plenty of ticks, we just make sure to check and prevent often.

Prevention: If your dogs are on a monthly flea and tick control such as Revolution and Frontline this can help to prevent ticks. If your pet is not on a monthly preventative, there are tick sprays which you apply before hiking to help repel ticks.

Check: Be sure to do a thorough check of your dogs after hikes and outdoor playtime before getting back into the car or coming inside. Pet your dog from head to tail, paying close attention to crevices, the ears, under each leg, and between the paw pads. If you do find a tick remain calm and follow these simple steps.

How to remove a tick:

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.

2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. You want to pull the entire tick out in one try. Don't twist or wiggle the tick; this can cause the mouthpart to break off and remain in the skin.

3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area with antiseptic and wash your hands well. We suggest killing the tick by placing it in a bowl of rubbing alcohol. Before disposing of the tick keep it for a couple days, in case your pet becomes sick you can bring the tick to your veterinarian.

Things not to try: Do not try to smother the tick with alcohol or burn it out with a lighter, you risk killing the tick, which will leave its head inside the skin. Because ticks carry lots of nasty diseases using your bare hands is not a good idea, wear latex or rubber gloves when removing the tick. Do not attempt to hold the tick at gun point, they don't tend to like that either. 

Our local animal shelter, Animal Friends of the Valleys, works with it’s foster families (that's us!) to place pets that need a little extra love and care in an actual home environment until they find permanent owners. When we heard Animal Friends needed a foster family for a momma and her seven new puppies, we took one look at that sad pile of fur and instantly agreed to take them home.

It was fairly chaotic for a couple weeks, with ten dogs under one roof, but we successfully weaned Seven from her puppies and began to socialize all those little ones until they were old enough to be adopted. Seven became a part of the family. We gave her breaks from her litter and took her on walks with the rebel pack. After a little over a month living with us all eight dogs, including momma, went to a pet adoption event where to our excitement they all found forever homes.

Helping an animal, even if it's in a seemingly small way, fills the heart with so much joy and compassion. We only wish we could take in dozens more dogs all at once. For now we feel so privileged to be able to help one (or eight) dogs at a time. Aside from fostering, we like to think we change our three dog’s lives every day by giving them the best possible dog life, but who are we kidding it’s these dogs that continually change our lives with their unconditional love. 

We’d love to hear your story, how have you changed the life of a dog?

Breed-specific legislation, commonly referred to as BSL, bans certain dogs based on their appearance and characteristics classifying them as “dangerous breeds”. This wrongful stereotype, essentially canine racism, lumps all of one type of dog together and deems them dangerous based on previous incidents. When a breed ban is implemented it requires all dogs resembling the banned dog, based on appearance, be removed from that area. 

As this type of legislation is based solely on appearance and does not consider the actual dog, his behavior, or how he has been raised, it often takes perfectly safe family dogs away from their homes and either displaces them sending them to shelters in another area or eventually results in their execution.

Can you imagine if legislation was passed in your city that suddenly required you to get rid of your beloved dog? We can't even imagine! Our hearts go out to those personally affected by BSL, and we're doing our small part to stop it.

BSL is wrong for so many reasons and punishes everyone for the actions of irresponsible dog owners. There is no such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners. So let’s be the voice for the thousands of innocent dogs who have, and wil, fall victim to BSL. Let’s help fight this. 

According to Change.org:   

• BSL does not improve public safety or prevent dog bites. 
• BSL ignores the plight of victims and potential victims of non-targeted breeds.
• BSL is costly.
• BSL requires each and every dog to be identified as a breed, something that has proven impossible to do accurately and objectively.
• BSL makes targeted breeds more desirable to irresponsible and criminal owners. 
• BSL does nothing to make irresponsible dog owners accountable.
• BSL punishes responsible dog owners. 

Surprisingly there are 75 dog breeds currently banned or restricted across the US. You can help make a difference, let’s start by signing this official petition. You can help enact change in just 5 easy steps.

1. Go to petitions.whitehouse.gov.

2. Click on view petitions.

3. Search "BSL".

4. Click on find out more.

5. Sign the petition.

It's that easy! 

Our sweet rebel Malshi, Cupcake, turned 3 doggie years old so of course we made her cupcakes because well, it is after all her namesake. She celebrated her day with lots of extra cuddles, yummy treats, and an extra long play session... in the mud! Which for this little white fluff ball is quite the big deal. 

We have found that while there are dozens of recipes for canine goodies, many of the cake and cupcake variations involve some combination of peanut butter and carrot which works out well because the rebel house is always fully stocked with both. Cupcake shared her birthday pupcakes with her dog friends, but for her friend Stella who is allergic to dairy, we frosted her pupcake with peanut butter. 

We love you so miss Cupcake!

When we heard Tomo Kadono’s story from our friends at Friends Furever Pet Food we were immediately moved. Tomo was a healthy, active, dog loving 29-year-old, on September 29 he suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. With the love and support of his friends and family he continues to make progress daily, but still has a long way to go.

Kumo and Kilo are Tomo’s beloved dogs, who mean the world to him. We always do whatever we can to put a smile on someone’s face, so when we learned about Tomo’s story we knew he needed a custom portrait of his pups to hang in his hospital room. And so, Kumo and Kilo can now be with him everyday, right by his bedside to remind him how much he is loved.

Our thoughts, prayers, and love go out to you Tomo. For more information please visit his website at www.tomove.org.