Team D

Dante!

When we were searching for a dog we had several things in mind and knew exactly what we were looking for:

1. Had to be cat and dog friendly.
2. Med to High energy - a dog that could keep up with my wild adventuring. We love being active and wanted a dog that would enjoy it too.
3. Young - but not a puppy. Puppies are hard work, and we just didn't have the time to dedicate to such a young animal.
4. Large to X-Large breed - We love large dogs and can afford to feed one. I also wanted a dog that was big enough to discourage people from bothering me while out hiking. Not a protection dog, just one that bad guys would think twice about before messing with me.
5. A bully breed - we enjoy the challenge of training these wonderful and yet stubborn dogs, its a very rewarding experience for us. We are a good fit for a bully breed because we are strong pack leaders and are dedicated to the health, well-being, and exercise of our animals.
6. A rescue - we wanted to save a life.

We acquired Dante right before his first birthday, we were his third home before he was a year old not because he was bad but because no one could handle his mass amounts of energy. He also has a strong personality and needs a strong pack leader and consistency. Exercise, Discipline, Affection as Cesar Millan says!  

Dante is a gorgeous brindle bully, as far as his breed goes he fits the breed description of an American Staffordshire Terrier, but its been rumored that he is half boxer.   He has a ton of energy and is always ready to play. When we were looking for a new dog to add to our happy little family we wanted a buddy who could keep up with our active lifestyle. A dog who could carry a pack for hiking, snow shoeing, maybe get into ski-joring (I'll explain that in a different post), a dog who is smart and looking for challenges that I could take anywhere and feel perfectly safe with, and preferably large in size (I've always loved big dogs).  

I've grown up around bully breeds; my grandma always had an American Pit bull Terrier or mix of some kind and they are wonderful dogs. They are also extreme athletes and not for the average dog owner, they require lots of socialization, training, and exercise or they can drive you crazy! 

So when we contacted the rescue group and described our personalities and lifestyle they told us about Dante and felt that he would be our perfect match! And we couldn't agree more! He's really smart: we had him "heeling" and walking perfectly on a leash within 2 days, and off-leash "heeling" in a week!

Snowshoeing

He was a great snow shoe buddy! We had a jacket and shoes for him to wear, and he carried the water for us. His pack weighed at the beginning of the trip 3 pounds and he did great! Keep in mind it got lighter as we went being that it was just water. We did a total round trip of 6 miles it was an all day hike but it was a ton of fun! We were so tired when we got back to the car that we had to lift him in.

Since this experience he has joined us for many hikes, and I lend him out to family members as a running buddy. He loves everyone and all dogs that he meets.

My name is Dante!

He loves to play tug-of-war. We attached a rope to a Kong toy and now he fetches too!

 I'm a rough and tumble lover of all! My parents adopted me from a bully rescue group in August of 2013 where I celebrated my 1st birthday and forever home. I love ropes, and tug of war is my most favorite game. Unless you bring out my harness....I love urban-joring!  My dad takes me out and I pull him on roller blades, i'm really good at it and put my whole heart into the job. I know commands such as Right, Left, Easy (slow), Whoah (Stop), Up (up on sidewalk), Down (off sidewalk) and am 100% focused on the job when pulling. Next snow season we're going to try ski-joring. My mom is kind of afraid of the roller blades, it's not that she doesn't trust me its just that she doesn't trust herself being able to stop, but we've gone out a few times.

I'm a great snuggler and a perfect gentlemen around children - last year for Halloween I was super dog! And I helped pass out candy to the neighborhood kids. Most of the kids in our area recognize me from our rollerblading expeditions. They like to come over and play in the yard with me, and always say hi when we're out walking.