When my beloved orange tabby, Steven, passed away last July, I decided to adopt a dog; not just any dog – a pit bull or a pit bull mix. “Pitties” have always been my favorite breed for numerous reasons, all of which will appear in this column in the coming months. We had a pit/collie […]
I first met Blue at her foster home in Hayward. On a warm Saturday late in July of 2006, a friend and I settled into the big backyard of Friends of the Fairmont Animal Shelter volunteer Paige Bennett and waited as she unleashed the hounds. I took a swinging bench in the gazebo and watched […]
When I was a kid – the last time I had a dog – exercising your dog meant playing in the backyard or a walk in the park. After adopting Jasmine, I found out that things had changed. Big time. As I walked Jazzy through the neighborhood, other dog owners began telling me about local […]
Saturday morning in the dog park is sort of like Saturday morning at the playground – the parents get together, sip coffee and talk about the antics of their kids. Being a new dog owner, I didn’t realize that my first name was irrelevant; I was “Jasmine’s Mom.” When I was growing up, our pit […]
It goes without saying that a spoiled pit bull gets extra spoiled this time of year, but when it comes to gift ideas for Jasmine Blue, she and I have very different tastes. I favor sparkly collars and snazzy sweaters to keep my pittie in pink. Jasmine needs all the help she can get in […]
Shortly after adopting Jasmine, we started working on the 2007 April cover story, “Where to shop, stay, play and dine with your dog.” In her first six months with me, Jazzy stayed in nearly two-dozen four-star hotels as part of our research. Most everyone we met wanted to stop and say hello, commenting on how […]
It was after a trip to Fort Funston that I first noticed Jasmine Blue favoring her right hind leg. My friend Johnny and his dog, Abe, had come to visit for the weekend. Abe and Jasmine are old buddies, and they love to play hard. Not to mention Abe is a pit bull-greyhound mix, and […]