Looking to add a pitbull into your family? Below there are 5 places you can adopt a pitbull in St. Cloud MN.

But first…
Did you know there isn’t actually a breed called a pitbull?

Pitbull is a term that get put upon bully style dogs and can include the terriers – American pit bull terrier and American Staffordshire terrier – along with American bulldogs, boxers, Staffordshire bull terriers, cane corsos and other blocky headed bully type dogs. Which makes adopting a “pitbull” a bit more of a variable as they may be full American pit bull terrier, mixed with assorted other dogs or not even have a drop of bully breed within them!

Variables aside, if you’re adopting a dog coined a pitbull, who has the look of a bully breed there are somethings you will need to know:

• They can be total buttheads and you may not click right off the bat, but once you do you’ll be besties
• They are smooshy, loveable, great snugglers, snore, and love to lounge as much as hike in the woods
• They can have a high prey drive – cat friends need slow intros
• Pitbulls can be dog reactive or dog aggressive which means no playdates & dog parks, proactive walks, no new dogs to the household
• There is a ton of stigma around them. People will move out of your way when you’re walking, put space between themselves and your pitbull and lift or move children out of range of your pitbull.

And the stigma holds throughout conversations with people. There is the belief that a pitbull will just one day snap and attack its owners (nope), that their jaws lock (also nope, but they do have a strong bite), their brains swell and it makes them go crazy (nope) and it’s unsafe to get a pitbull from a shelter or rescue because you don’t know their history (it’s totally safe to adopt a pittie).

As in adopting any dog, it will take time to get to know your pitbull and his or her personality.

Are you ready to adopt a pittie?

Here are 5 places you can adopt a pitbull in the St. Cloud MN area:

• Tri-County Humane Society
  – In St. Cloud – now in a brand new shelter! They TONS of homes for pitties and many other dogs and cats every year!
  – See the available adoptable dogs
• Ruff Start Rescue
  – based in Princeton, they are a foster rescue with each dog living with a foster family until they find a forever home
  –  See the available dogs
• MN Pitbull 
  – foster based rescue focusing on rehoming pitbulls and bully breeds, and helping other breeds too
  – see all the available dogs
• Save A Bull MN
  – based in Minneapolis, they focus on finding forever homes for pitties and bully breeds
  – here are their adoptable dogs
• Underdog Rescue
  – a foster based rescue who help not only pitties find new homes but all breeds
  – see their available pups here

Good luck finding your next pitbull family member!

Next pop over to Angela Schneider of Big White Dog Photography in Spokane, WA, and the specially abled rescue dogs of Idaho. to learn about rescue dogs in Idaho! Make it around the blog ring to see all the rescue dogs!

Colorful.

At the current moment its not found within the landscape of Minnesota as we just had a brush with S-N-O-W and the grass is merely getting into green garb. There are sprinklings of tiny blues as the very early risers – Siberian squills – are dotted in our gardens. (They have also found their way into the grass…). Otherwise there are no inklings of the vibrant summer colors to come. Cue the creative quest of finding color.

What is color?

Color the characteristic of visual perception described through color categories, with names such as red, yellow, or blue. Found in the visible spectrum of ROY G. BIV – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo & violet!

Color comes in varying hues, tones and saturation and is found everywhere there is light. (The human eye cannot see color in darkness, only when there are hints of light – cameras have the ability to “see in the dark” with long exposures, and light sensitive sensors.)

Orders of color!

Orders of color head into the days of color wheels and school aged art. There are 3 main orders: primary, secondary & tertiary

• Primary Colors: Red, yellow, and blue – these cannot be made by other colors. These are considered “pure colors”.
• Secondary Colors: A combination of any two primary colors. Purple, green & orange!
• Tertiary Colors: A combo of a primary color and secondary color. IE: blue + green = turquoise.

Some ways to use color: color schemes!

• Complimentary colors – directly across from each other on the color wheel
  * blue & orange / red & green / yellow & purple etc
• Analogous colors – colors next to each other on the color wheel, usually a set of 3
  * blue, green, yellow / yellow, red, orange / red, purple, blue etc
• Monochrome colors – not black and white, but an image with a single color tone

Let’s get colorful!

A single color (tans & browns are still colors!) Could be considered monochromatic…

We found a some colorful spots – a train car with graffiti and well placed puddle. A mural on the back of the wedge building (this mural has been there for many years). Then the tight alley with a giant butterfly.  Color all around!

Wandered around town for more color. Lots of monochromatic options for bold color. We could use some more murals around town. Or more colors of buildings! (Lots of browns and rusts from the bricks!)

And one complimentary color set! (Red & green!)

Next up visit Linda Perdue with VP Shoots Photography specializing in photographing pets and their families in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and see what she found for color! Loop through everyone until you land back to us!

Welcome back into Fridays! The snow has departed, the mud and the mid spring browns have arrived. Browns and muds usually aren’t the requested backdrops for portraits (pair them with golden hour and they are STUNNING!), so what to do instead of portraits?

Remember the details that make your dog! And to add the challenge we’re going to focus on the details that aren’t part of your dog’s face! (This fits into the weekly theme of  “No Faces”!).

Enter in butts and toes! Butts have swirls of fur and tails attached to them. Toes can be freshly covered in mud, tucked neatly in in a sit or lay or completely relaxed while your dog snoozes. Embrace the details as we wait for the leaves, grasses and flowers to emerge here in Minnesota!

Tips for photographing dog butts:

• Look for swirls and patterns in the fur
• A relaxed tail will help camouflage an anus
• Avoid making the anus a large element of your image
• The 3/4 angle will help turn the butt away from you slightly for less anus
• See if you can use the angle as a look over your dog’s shoulder as they watch squirrels (or see if you can get their attention for the suave over the should look)

Tips for photographing dog toes/feet:

• Get in close and play with different angles (looking down, ground level/eye level, looking upwards
• Can you find a pattern, texture or color that mimics your dog’s fur?
• Or can you find a pattern, texture or color that is a complete contrast?
• Take advantage of sleeping dogs to get super close “beans” images plus images of paw pads and the fur between toes

(The black dog is Axel and the brown and white dog is Bender! They will both be 10 this year!)

Other details non face details of your dog you can photograph: ears, tails, knees, grey hairs and coat colors. Get in close to give each element proper emphasis.  What other elements of your dog can you think of?

Next visit Jemma Martin of JM Photography, specialist pet photographer in Suffolk, UK who prides herself on capturing the character of your best friend, to see her take on no faces! Read through everyone until you end up back here!