Rebel Blog

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.

One of our favorite dog magazines has to be Pawsh. Every month their incredible photography and witty content captivates us in page after page of dog-gone-goodness. They manage to capture the very pawsh life of pets in readable form, and offer their readers tips, touching stories, favorite things, and of course, beautiful pictures of dogs.

We are absolutely thrilled to be a part of their holiday giveaway series. Today they are giving away a custom dog portrait from, yours truly, Crazy Rebels. You can enter to win over on their website by tweeting, posting, and/or commenting! 

Go enter to win, we'd love to paint for you!