Husky Community Rebate Program
Call or email us for your Husky card, 2% of all purchases goes directly to helping unwanted
pit bulls.

For more information on the program click here.

Thank you for helping us save one pit bull at a time.
pbflcanada@yahoo.ca
Box 3608, Spruce Grove, AB T7X 3A8
NEW AND EVENTS

Please come visit our booth at the 2010 Pet Expos of Alberta

Edmonton Pet Expo
January 23 – 24, 2010
http://www.canacal.com/petexpo/index.cfm

Red Deer Pet Expo
Postponed until October 2010
http://rdp.albertashows.com/

Calgary Pet Expo
March 27 – 28, 2010
http://canwestshows.com/petshow/calgaryShow.html
I will never forget the day my youngest son, he was seventeen at the time, walked into the house with a little 5 week old
puppy in his arms.   I was shocked when I first looked at the puppy recognizing the race of the dog…….you guessed it, it
was a pit bull.   My first reaction wasn’t great.  I said to my son “good grieve, what is this, it looks like a pit bull puppy;
these dogs grow up to be dangerous”.  Yes, I was one of these ignorant people just like so many of us, believing all these
gruesome stories that are going around.   I made the mistake a lot of people make; I looked at the misbehaved dogs and
the terrible stories I saw on the news and read in the newspapers and not at the people that owned them and made them
that way, the real cause for this viciousness.  Let’s face it, they are powerful dogs.  I was afraid it would eventually eat my
cat and chinchilla.  My son begged me to let him keep this puppy; he said his friend’s parents had to get rid of this litter as
they are going on holidays and don’t have time to hang on to them any longer.  I gave in and we took the “risk” and kept
her.  I had to admit she was an adorable looking little girl and this was the beginning of the best 11 years of my life.

My son’s best friend also took one of the puppies home, another wonderful little girl.  The boys decided to name them
after the hip hop singers Capone and Noreaga; ours was Noreaga.    We realized that we needed a puppy sitter for at
least the first 6 months so I dropped Noreaga off at her sister’s place on the way to work; they agreed to watch her
during the day.   I quickly learned that these bully breeds are very smart and people pleasing.  They learn very fast for just
a little affection.   We built her a bathroom which was a gravel run between the fence and the garage and every time she
needed to go out, which was every 3 hours for the first 3 to 4 months, I took her straight to the run.  After a short time
she caught on and knew she was not to go on the grass or anywhere else in the yard for that matter, only in her run.  All it
took were lots of praises, hugs, cuddles and consistency.  She couldn’t be bribed with treats, she liked the affection more.  
I was very impressed so far and she didn’t even attempt to take a bite out of my cat or chinchilla.  I worked very hard to
teach her to be gentle when she was playing with us or the cat, not biting anybody, only toys.   Again, she caught on very
quickly; when we were playing and she felt there was my hand or finger caught in her mouth, she let go immediately, not
even leaving a tooth print except for my son.  He played rough with her but she never left a scratch on him.   She even
was gentle with the other animals in the house.  She started to play with the cat; they were chasing each other up and
down the stairs and when Kramer the cat put the brakes on and mewed, she would stop chasing him immediately.  She
even was very gentle with Buddy the chinchilla.  She would play with him without hurting him once.  The training on where
and how to use her teeth was successful, teaching her the difference between her toys and our shoes, however, not so
much.  We must have lost about 10 pairs of shoes before she turned one year old.  But who is counting, I couldn’t stay
mad at her even if I tried.

On the off-leash, Noreaga had her special friends she’d play with.  She became very popular with all the regulars, people
and puppies alike, doing the funniest things, running in circles, getting all the others going.  One time she tried to run
through someone’s legs; unfortunately he moved the wrong way and she ran right into his legs instead, dropping this 6”4’
man right to his knees.  Everybody started laughing so hard, we had tears running down our cheeks.   She loved rolling on
the ground in the grass so one day at the off leash, she did her rolling around again and all of a sudden I heard squeaking.  
Noreaga jumped up immediately and she checked around what that noise was.  I ran towards her to check it out.  She
accidentally rolled over a baby prairie chicken.  The gentle sole she was, she felt so bad, starting to kiss it and gently
touching it with her nose.  I pulled her away and tried to pick up this poor little thing to take it to the vet but it died in my
hands.  Needless to say, for the rest of the way home Noreaga was not running and rolling around anymore.   

Her passion was running and chasing.  She loved running after rabbits, deer, cats and squirrels.   One day, we were going
for a walk at the Nose Hill Park; she spotted a baby deer and started running after it.  The baby deer took off running and
my Nore right behind it until they both disappeared in the tall grass.   This worried me a lot because they both were out of
sight; after all she is still a pit bull and can strike at any time.  I ran after them in panic expecting the worst.  I finally found
them both………..sitting beside each other, catching their breath.  Nore again kissing the little deer on the nose and then
we went back to the pathway and finished our walk.  You didn’t really think I was panicking, did you?   This dog couldn’t
hurt a fly.  We are talking about a dog that made friends with the mouse living underneath our outside steps.  After all, I
was the one who raised her and knew her so well.  This was such a very precious moment to remember.

There are a few important points to know about bully breeds, they are very much people dogs; they love people and they
are very protective of their whole family.  My granddaughter was visiting for the first time; she was only three months
old.  Nore knew she was a baby and was very protective of her when we were out for walks. People could look but could
not touch; she would make little woofing noises to let them know “look only but don’t touch”.    She also protected me
from an abusive jogger; while he was passing by, she sniffed his hand and he started yelling and screaming at me, saying
that this park is there for everyone, not only for people with stupid dogs.  She went after him barking.  He froze in fear,
leaning against a light pole.  You didn’t really think again that she attacked him and ripped his legs off, did you?  I laughed
because I knew she would never touch him but of course he didn’t know.  She stood between the jogger and me and
barked. I have to admit, she sounded scary and if I wouldn’t know her so well I would be worried.  She kept barking down
his feet every time he moved them.  Now with a much quieter voice, he begged me to call her off.  Of course I took my
time.  I told him if he would stop yelling at me I might consider calling her off but only if he wouldn’t come back that way
because I couldn’t guarantee his safety.  He agreed and I called her off; he jogged away and never came back this way.  

Maybe you ask yourself, what if somebody or an animal doesn’t let her stop them.  Well, besides just knowing that she
never would because I trained her, I have an examples.  A Jack Russell Terrier was right on her butt constantly and barking
non-stop.  He didn’t want to play; he just ran up behind her and barked hysterically the whole time.  We asked the lady to
call off her dog as Nore was starting to get a little stressed.  She just laughed and went her marry way talking to her
friend, not paying attention to us or her dog.  After a while Nore had enough; she swirled around, pushed him down on
the ground, rolled him in the dirt with her paws and pinned him down to the ground with her mouth around his neck.  Now
this time I was even surprised.  I have never seen a dog roll another dog around in the dirt.  I was just watching them
closely, not worried at all.   The Jack Russell was lying on his back on the ground, not moving a muscle anymore.  Finally
we got his owner’s attention.  She was too scared to come closer.  All she did was yelling hysterically from across the field
to get her dog out from under Nore.  Again, I took my time walking over to the dogs and told Nore to let go of the poor
thing.  The dog ran to his owner like a bat out of hell.  Then I turned to the lady and told her to try and keep her dog more
under control because another big dog might not be so gentle with him.  She picked her dog up and examined him
thoroughly of any scratches he might have sustained in this ordeal.  What is your guess the damage was….....none of
course.  It was a different story with large dogs.  She was attacked by big dogs, with obviously irresponsible owners, quite
a few times and had to fight for her life.   Mostly every time I had to break up the fight as the owners watched.  She
developed distrust against some big dogs.  

These previous bad experiences caused some difficult times; she was about 3 years old when she started fighting back
and showing aggression against some larger breed dogs, not all of them I should add, just certain ones.   She recognized
the friendly ones.   Immediately, I took her to obedience classes where she was doing very well.   I went back to these
classes when I felt I needed help with handling her aggression.  I learned that you have to be kind and loving with them
but at the same time stay very firm when it comes to discipline.  Since this breed has such a bad name, I started panicking
easily when a big dog came our way and this was the biggest mistake.  She was over her aggression and I promoted it
again.  I found out that it was my doing when I visited the website of the “dog whisperer” to read up on it.  I learned a lot
about this breed.  They sense your tension and they think you are in danger.  I learned to keep calm, taught her to turn
around and sit when a dog behind the fence went crazy.  Eventually they calm down as well.  She didn’t react with
aggression anymore.  She learned to ignore these big dogs she didn’t feel comfortable with by keeping her distance.   Of
course this doesn’t change overnight.  It requires time and patience.  I learned the hard way that it was me who brought
on the aggression the second time around.

My most favorite little girl and best friend Noreaga passed away of Thyroid cancer on April 4, 2009.  I miss her terribly
every day and whenever I am ready to have another fur person in my life some day, it will be another pit bull.  Only next
time I will be smarter and more educated.  

In my opinion, it should be mandatory for people who want to have bully breeds, in fact, any large breeds, to educate
themselves before they actually own one and they should be committed to take them to obedience classes regularly; in
fact that should be the law to have a license to own them.  Also, hopefully people who abuse them to make them
aggressive and mean, will not be allowed to own these wonderful dogs anymore.  


What I miss the most...……

She would be sitting by the window every night, move the curtains aside with her little nose to peak out just around the
time I come home from work.  Somehow she knew exactly what time that would be.

When I would tell her “it’s time for our walk”, she would actually have a smile on her face.  Every time she felt happy, or
see me laugh and smile when we were playing, she also would look at me and smile.  When she was sad, her lips would
droop.   She had unbelievable facial expressions.

When I was sitting on the stairs, she would come and sit behind me, put her head on my shoulder to cuddle.

When I come home, her gentle little puppy kisses would tell me how happy she was to see me.  

When somebody would come to the house, she would always place herself in front of me and bark until I said, it’s ok
Nore, he/she is ok to come in; shortly after, once she felt that this person is “save”, she would try to give them doggy
kisses.  If she didn’t trust the person, she would closely watch him/her until they left again.

Long weekends in Fairmont Hot springs.  We would rent a cabin, go for long walks and play catch with her favorite
Frisbee, watching a movie and just have some quality time together.

Or just simply hang out on the couch together and fall to sleep.

Pitt Bulls – many people love them, ignorant people fear them but most everybody respects them.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF NOREAGA JUNE 5, 1998 TO APRIL 4, 2009

By Eva Maria Saller
The life story of a very special pit bull
(June 5, 1998 to April 4, 2009)