Blogma

In most cases, movie sequels are lame versions of the beloved originals made just to generate money. However, there are the rare occasions when a sequel will knock the original out of the park:

– The Empire Strikes Back was far superior to Star Wars;

– Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan blew Star Trek away with a photon torpedo; and

– Aliens made Alien look like Sunday in the Park with George.

I do not want to get into a blogosphere war, but a lot of people believe that The Godfather II was just a smidge better than The Godfather. I am not sayin’ I am one of those people, I’m just sayin’.

(there are a lot of sci-fi references here … but I don’t think Ann-Marie reads this anyway, so I am probably ok… >;) ))

I have had Italian Greyhound brothers called The Blues Brothers before, and when I picked up a pair of IG/Basenji mixes from Hillsborough County Animal Services a couple of weeks ago, I just knew I had a sequel on my hands! These are soulful brothers who inspire us to sing and dance, who actually dance themselves and who were in dire need of a good time. They are also inspirational in making us laugh – nothing is funnier than watching The Blues Brothers II play! And, like the original Dogma Blues Brothers, they are on a mission from God … to find a Forever Home.

Jake Blues II is the more outgoing brother, loves everyone he meets, is wiggly and dancy and kissy and is out to have a good time.

Elwood Blues II is more reserve. Clearly, he has not been treated well in the past. The best part of dog rescue is seeing a broken dog like Elwood do a 180 in only a week’s time, to trust people, to love people, to give kisses instead of cowering.

We will be sad to see The Blues Brothers II go, but they deserve homes where they will be the center of attention. They can be adopted together or a part.

We hear that some rescues will take in a litter of puppies, but will leave Momma behind. To us at Dogma, this is incomprehensible. We feel that Momma gave birth to beautiful babies, and she deserves a fabulous Forever Home just like her babies do. This is the sweet dog that gave birth to the New Pups On the Block. She is only 8-9 months old, just a puppy herself. She is a pocket pit and only weighs 35 lbs! Even though she was a baby having babies, she was an excellent Momma to the New Pups. She will be spayed on April 13 and then ready for adoption!

Artemis was chosen to be Dogma’s Dog O’ the Month because as a pit bull, she is an Ambassador of her Breed! Arti is friendly, happy and wiggly to everybody she meets, and she LOVES playing with other dogs! Arti also has impeccable house manners and she is house broken and crate trained! She walks great on a leash and loves to go for walks! Pitties get such a bad reputation, and not only is Dogma thrilled to have such a good girl in their care, but we are delighted to shine the spotlight on our dear Arti.

Arti’s foster mom’s love her, but our dream for all of our dogs is a Forever Home of their own, where they get their own bowls and beds, toys, and a family of their very own. Arti would be a fabulous sister to another doggie boy or girl. Please email All@DogmaRescue.org for any information about this spectacular dog!

A super guy was forwarded our Facebook page pleading for a foster or forever home for Big Blue. Caryl, Blue’s Angel, met Chris and his dog at the vet’s office that was boarding Blue and it was love at first sight! Chris has since said that “Blue is better than we could have expected.” Congratulations, Big Blue! Every dog should be so lucky!!

One of the hardest things we do in rescue is turn away good dogs. And at the same time, turn away good people who are trying to help good dogs. Our sad reality is we have our limits, which we continue to test and push because none of us got into dog rescue to say “no.”

Caryl and Big Blue are the perfect example of this. Caryl found Big Blue wandering (like intact male dogs tend to do) and instead of continuing on with her happy life like most people would, she stopped and picked him up, took him to her vet, got him neutered, vaccinated and even evaluated by a professional and credentialed dog trainer. Weighing in at 92-lbs, this is not a dog that Caryl and her own 3 rescue dogs can take in, so she is paying her vet to board Big Blue until either a foster home or a forever home is found for the big guy. If everybody who found a stray dog was as responsible and stepped up to the plate like Caryl did, our jobs in rescue would be easier and the world would be a better place.

Dogma is pulling out all of the stops to find a foster or forever home for Big Blue. Our handful of foster homes are maxed out and his size presents a challenge for us. We are helping Caryl screen people interested in adopting Big Blue and we would love to talk to anyone interested in fostering or adopting him. Please let us know if you have any questions and feel free to spread the word about Big Blue!

Incidentally, when Caryl picked up Big Blue, she knew nothing about pit bulls except what she read in the media. Caryl is also … she will probably not like me posting this … but Caryl is 75 years old! I hope and pray that when I am 75 that my dog rescue-spirit is still intact, that I will still be picking up strays off the side of the road and, most importantly, that I will be as open to learning and changing my way of thinking as Caryl is!

Peyton and Eli are ready to make their debut! We will have them at the South Tampa Petsmart today from noon-3:00! Come get your puppy-breath fix!!

Thanks everybody: The interest and outrage over Angelina Ballerina has been overwhelming. We just want to assure everyone that Ballerina is fine and is very loved in her foster home. She is doing extremely well and is loved by her foster mom, foster dad and foster (doggie) brother, Meyer (adopted when he was just a pittie-baby a couple of years ago). Ballerina is sweet and loving, and so glad to be loved on. Like all rescue dogs, Ballerina exudes gratitude. This is the magic of dog rescue … these beautiful spirits which can’t be broken and which say “thank you” with every wet, sloppy, pittie-kiss.

We tried to get a New Year’s Newsletter out, but it just didn’t happen. Maybe next year! We did want to thank everybody who contributed to our success and happiness in 2011 and say how much we are looking forward to a fantastic 2012!

Thanks to the Gray Family and the Kornfeld Family for sharing New Years pictures of two of our favorite dogs – Bandit and Brooks (formerly Pip!)!

While we at Dogma take the care of our dogs and the placement of our dogs very seriously, everything else we approach tongue-in-cheek.


This is especially true when it comes to the names we give our dogs. Some notables have been:

Ricky Bobby
The Professor
The “My Name is Earl” Litter – Earl, Randy and Joy
Princess Buttercup
Polly Prissypants (an homage to South Park)
The Chug
Beaglemania
Little Jerry Seinfeld
and my personal favorite, [The Dog Formerly Known as] Prince.


And now, courtesy of Ann-Marie, Dogma is pleased to introduce you to LaFonda for all of you Napoleon Dynamite fans! We hope you all are as amused with us as we are!

People always say to us, “How do you foster? How do you give them up? Don’t you get attached to them?”

The answer is YES!!! YES YES YES, WE GET VERY, VERY ATTACHED TO OUR FOSTER DOGS!!!

But the magic of fostering, as I touched on in my last blog, is the adoption … seeing a dog who went from nothing, who had nowhere else to go, who may have even been a day away from death, adopted to a wonderful family where that dog will be the Center of their Universe!

Today, we had our first Santa Pictures Day at Petsmart, and we saw Scout (n/k/a Wrigley), Cubbie Bear (n/k/a Axel), Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Moppet all looking completely transformed. (Well, Jumpin’ Jack Flash still pretty much looked and acted the same, but what can you expect from a dog who was so aptly named Jumpin’ Jack Flash that his new owners, although they tried, could not rename him??? ;D )) The other dogs, Wrigley, Axel and Moppet were so well-behaved, well-adjusted and so well trained that it brought tears to our eyes. I could have hugged Moppet all day today, honestly, and I don’t think she remembered me at all. Which is also good, that she is so in love with her mum and dad and content with them that she may not even remember her time in foster care when she was my favorite dog. That she sees the sun rise and set with Rich and Nicole is all that matters. I remember her, and I know exactly how lucky Moppet is.

And that is the reason we can give them up … because our dogs are not going to just anybody … our dogs go to the people we dream every good, deserving dog should have as a Forever Home. And often, we are very jealous of the lives our dogs get to have. This is the best feeling in the world.