Dogtown

Our town of Eaton (pop. 4,000) has a very nice, but small, library. The best thing that I discovered this past year was the fact that books can be ordered on line and because our library belongs to the High Plains Library district books are shared between libraries. I am sure I am the last person to discover this great service. An automated phone call lets me know when the books have arrived and I make a short trip to pick them up. I usually look at the 'newly arrived' books and found a great one last week. The title is "Dogtown-- tales of rescue, rehabilitation, and redemption" by Stefan Bechtel and a foreword by Mickey Rourke. ( I know the title of the book should be underlined but have not figured out how to do that on this blog-when I see Megan next week we will need to have a lesson)

There is a show on the National Geographic Channel with the same name -Dogtown-with stories about some of the dogs. Dogtown is part of the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, the largest no-kill animal shelter in the world. The dogs from Michael Vick's dogfighting operation were originally going to be euthanized and Best Friends and other groups were able to convince a judge to send these dogs to various rescue organizations and Dogtown received 22 of the most difficult dogs. One chapter in this book describes the process of retraining Georgia, who has since become a leading spokesdog for the rehabilitation potential of pit bulls and other bully breeds. This shelter is a place where dogs who have run out of options elsewhere have a second chance. Each chapter tells an inspiring story about a dog who eventually either finds an adoptive family or is able to live out his or her life with love and compassion at Dogtown. Go to bestfriends.org to read about an awesome place for animals.

As for Barkley, we have had very good morning walks using the pinch collar. He still will pull if we happen to meet someone on the walk but we are working on that. He gets an A+ for the sit command.