Dencio's pitbull

Foods you should not give to your Dog

longbackers@gmail.com (dencio) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:35:00 +0000

You may not be aware of it, but some treats that we give to our dogs might be toxic either in small or large amounts. These foods should be avoided at all cost if we want our bestfriends to live a long and happy life.

Here they are:

1. First and foremost, do not give cooked bones to your pet. Cooked bones splinters and could destroy the intestinal tract of the dog's digestive system.

2. Chocolates,coffee,tea and other caffeinated drinks are also bad. It disrupts the heart and nervous system of dogs.

3. Avoid giving your dogs grapes and raisins. They contain unknown toxins that damages the kidney.

4. Large amounts of cooked liver causes Vitamin A toxicity which impacts muscles and bones.

5. Keep your dog away from nuts it might choke your pet because fo their small size. Keep them also from mushrooms, onions and garlic.

6. Bread is also bad for dogs. It could cause bloating which is a very serious medical case for dogs. It could kill them in a matter of hours.

If you think your dogs ingested some of these toxic food, call your vet for immediate assistance as soon as possible.

How I got my first pitbull

longbackers@gmail.com (dencio) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:21:00 +0000

Itachi, the first time I got him at 2 and a half months

Itachi at 4 months

It never crossed to my mind that I would be owning a pit bull since it had a bad reputation as a mean and vicious killing machine as what the media would portray. I was planning to choose from several breeds that are known to be child-friendly (though we don't have a kid yet in the family). These are the Labrador retriever, the Golden retriever, and the Jack Russel terrier. After months of research, I've decided to buy a Labrador retriever. I've made a reservation last October, 2008 from a neighbor who is currently breeding Labradors. I said I would need a male pup. His female Lab had just been mated on the first week of October. Since it will take 60-63 days for a dog's gestation period before giving birth, I expected to have a Lab pup by the end of the year.

But my mother had knowledge about my plans to buy a Lab pup, she asked me if I was serious about it. I said yes. She told me all the advantages of owning a Lab, from grooming, to food (they're eating machines,they could probably consume 15kg of dog food in just a few weeks.), for being a heavy chewer and excessive barkers. But I insisted since I've already made a reservation.

During the last week of October of last year. My mother suggested an idea to buy a pit bull pup. I was stunned of what she said. "Are you serious?" I told my mother,"Haven't you heard the news that these dogs are man-eaters?". I know my mother, she gets what she wants, I thought she was just joking about getting a pit bull pup and she was not. She invited me to come to her student's house (she worked as a pre-school teacher at that time,now she's retired) to take a look at a litter of pit bull pups. The student's father is a breeder of show-bred pitbull pups. I surfed the Internet to find out what more about pit bulls. After serious consideration I've decided to take a look at them.

When I got to see the pups,I find them so cute and adorable. They're a litter of 8. They're two and a half months old. I immediately noticed this black-eyed spotted puppy eagerly looking at me with the rest of it's littermate. He's different from the other pups. This male pup reminded me of the dog who starred in the Little Rascals movie and Wishbone TV series. I never got see their mother but I saw their father on the other cage, and what a monster! His head is so huge around 25-30 inches in diameter,and he got ripped muscles too.

So finally,I decided to take this puppy home. The daughter of the owner, took him out of the cage and gave it to me. I took him by my arms and he immediately licked my face as if telling me that he also like me and he's willing to go with me wherever I go. So that's how I got Itachi..... :)

Traveling with my pet, Itachi

longbackers@gmail.com (dencio) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:32:00 +0000

Traveling with my pet is a little troublesome for me,. People here in the Philippines also view pitbulls as vicious animals. But I believe the contrary,they are one of the sweetest animals I have ever known. You'll know what I'm talking about until you own one. But pitbulls are not for everybody,these dogs are for responsible owners only. The reason why these animals have a bad rap because of irresponsible pet owners. The some media people exploit news of reported bites to sell their news and create public scare against these animals. Pitbulls don't snap for no reason. They could have experienced maltreatment from their bad owners or simply mishandled by ignorant owners who doesn't know this breed very well.

Before buying or adopting any dog breed, one must do his homework by researching about the breed of your choice. There are many things to consider before getting a new puppy or a rescued adult dog. First, does this breed fits your lifestyle? If you want an athletic type of dog like a pitbull or a dalmatian,be sure you have an active lifestyle. If not, get a toy dog breed which only requires minimal activity. If you get a dog that doesn't match your 'way of living', expect the worst to come. If you could not provide large and athletic dog breeds enough exercise, they would resort to do unwanted behaviours which of course are what we do not want to happen at home.

In my case, I make sure that my pet would get the necessary exercise he needs but I don't overdo to it since he's just a 6 month old puppy (he already weighs as much as 15-20 kgs, whew!). We take a walk for a few meters and play fetch afterwards. I also devote 10-15 minutes a day for basic dog obedience training.

Another thing to consider in buying a dog is your medical condition. If you are allergic to dog furs, you can't get a shi tzu or a chow chow even if they are so adorable and huggable,. Consider short-coated and easy to groom dogs like Jack Russel terrier or the Chinese-crested hairless dog. Or you can also consider dogs that are found to be hypoallergenic such as poodles,maltese, or a pomeranian.

Also, consider how large your house is. If you just have a small apartment or studio type rooms choose small breed dogs like chuhuahuas,shi tzu or mini-pinschers. But if you insist on buying bigger dogs, I'd recommend medium sized dogs such as beagles, Jack Russel terrier, bassett hounds, or a pitbull! Just make sure you provide them enough exercise and proper obedience training as these dogs are very active.

Lastly, look into your budget and ask yourself; "Can I afford to buy a dog and provide them the quality life that they need?". If yes, go and adopt one, if not, buy another specie of animal that won't eat up a lot of space and cost a lot of money.

As for my pitbull Itachi (I got his name from one of the characters of my favorite animation series Naruto) I make sure he gets a lot of exercise,training and TLC (tender loving care). Before I got Itachi, I really did a lot of research. I weigh down the advantages and disadvantages. To make the long story short....I've decided to keep him and be a part of our family and I tell you, he may look mean and scary (at just six months,wait until he matures) but he's so loveable and sweet. Their nature is to please their masters at all cost.

Jeepney and taxi drivers are relunctant to give us a ride when we travel to dog parks. They thought pitbulls are human aggressive by nature but contrary to public belief, pitbulls are not, they maybe dog aggressive but it is not their nature to attack humans. They even extremely friendly to strangers that is why pitbulls are not suitable to be employed as guard dogs. But drivers who are familiar with pitbulls would be very glad to give us a ride. With regards to passengers, some would be afraid while some would take my dog to pose for some pictures. Because he's sweet-natured, he is easily adored by many of the passengers we ride with. In this way, I was able to show to the people that pitbulls are not be afraid of.

You cannot probably understand what is like to have a pitbull until you own one...........

American bullies vs American Pitbull Terriers

longbackers@gmail.com (dencio) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Last Sunday, 2pm Philippine time, at Tiendesitas, Pasig City. I brought along my pet pitbull to watch a local dog show for APBTs. However,I noticed a majority of American bullies in the event. There are three main categories for the conformation competition,the ADBA division where the gamebred pitbulls are showcased, the UKC division,where the showlines are displayed like beauty contestants and the Philippine Bully Kennel Club division where American bullies are showcased. Each division have their corresponding breed standards as criteria for judging. However I noticed that in the UKC division, some American bullies were put in there as official entries which I think is a misjudgement since they are not the type of pitbulls that the UKC prescribes in their proper breed standard. Dog show officials should look into this matter. American bullies are too massive to join the UKC division. Their body type alone serves as disqualification for the said event.

an example of the breed standard for the American Bully

Example of the UKC standard for the APBT

Example of the ADBA standard

Welcome to my kennel

longbackers@gmail.com (dencio) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:11:00 +0000

Hello! My name's Dennis,I'm 30 years old :( but very young at heart....:)). I'm a newbie here in the world of blogging. I'm currently working as an online English teacher, though I never took English as my major, because of my family's economic woes, I need to look for a job that will help us augment our daily budget,even if the field I have chosen is not within the scope of my major I took in college. I wasn't even able to finish my major. I stopped schooling by the summer of 2000, my supposed year of graduation.

Many people and close friends were somehow feel sorry that I was'nt able to finish my degree in UP Manila.
My reasons for dropping out of school is still kept as a secret. It will take an eternity to explain why I chose to drop out of college. Maybe I was inspired by the likes of Bill Gates,Lebron James, people who became multi-millionaires who dropped out of school. I dreamt of becoming like them someday, though that's a long shot for me since opportunity is a scarce resource.

I almost got a shot at being a contestant at 'Who Wants Top be A Millionaire" when one of their representatives called me up to be a studio contestant. Unfortunately, I was at my ex-gf's house when they tried to call me up. So I passed on a golden opportunity to become an instant millionaire.

Right now,I'm well settled with my current job at a Korean online education company. I'm already on my 5th month hoping to be regularized before the end of my probationary contract. I've been actually teaching for two and a half years already for three Korean companies. The first one is a man-to-man tutorial school,and the next two are online schools.

Anyway,I signed up to start this blog just to share my views about life in general,to relieve myself of my boredom in office during my vacant time since I can't browse all websites because my company has utilized firewalls and filters to block popular websites that affects bandwidth space.

I'll be posting pieces of information that might be of good use to all of us. Good bye and God bless!!