For the Love of Pits

06/22/2024

For the Love of Pits receives too many calls from people rehoming their dogs because the dog growled. Growling is communication. It’s not aggression and and it’s merely communicating that the dog is not comfortable or does not like something. We must listen!

The Ten Myths of Canine Behavior
Myth #10: My dog growled at me. I need to punish the growl.
One of the most important behaviors to reinforce rather than punish in dogs is growling. Growling serves as information, signaling that a dog feels uncomfortable in a situation. It is not an act of aggression but a form of communication, and for that, we should be grateful. We can address growling constructively by identifying and avoiding the actions that triggered it. Punishing a growl risk suppressing this warning signal, potentially leading to a bite without any preceding warning.

06/13/2024

This sweet girl deserves a forever home.

So many dogs do. Please only bring home a dog if you're able to commit, provide time, love, and necessities, and be a responsible owner for the dog's lifetime. Too many dogs are being passed from owner-to-owner, abandoned, and surrendered to shelters and rescues.

Little Miss Mary has had a really rough life to date. Last July she was found tied to a tree in someone’s yard. It is unknown who put her there. The owners of the property brought her in to us and she has been here ever since.
Mary has been here for 11 months. During this time she has had literally no one apply to meet her. A few months into her stay here a family came in stating that she was possibly their’s. We brought her out to see them and they couldn’t say if she was or not. She is friendly with everyone so she didn’t react. They were unsure and couldn’t produce a picture that convinced us or them that she was. We never heard from them again.
A few months after that she was out on a walk with a volunteer and was attacked by two dogs who had run out of their yard and into the street. Thankfully the volunteer was calm and quick thinking. Also a utility worker and a few neighbors ran over to help. Mary was immediately rushed to emergency where she received multiple staples and stitches in her head and neck. It was a nightmare.
Fast forward to today. She is a survivor. She doesn’t show obvious signs of heartbreak or trauma. Surely it is in there somewhere but she is a strong little lady. She keeps on keeping on.
Mary is on the smaller side for a pit bull mix. She loves going for walks, playing with toys and one on one time. She is dog friendly but does better around males. Kids and cats unknown. She is approx 3 yrs old.

Many dogs have come and gone while this little girl has been waiting. Every day more dogs arrive forcing her to be farther and farther from finding a forever home.

Please share her. She deserves a chance!

❗️ ❗️❗️With the amount of dogs in our care we are not always able to read comments under our posts. We post to get the dogs pictures and info out there to find them homes but can not follow up with communication under the posts on this page. There are just too many comments. If you have a question please private message this page or send us an email. Please follow the directions below ❗️❗️❗️

If you are interested in meeting one of our dogs please email [email protected] to request an application. Once approved we will call you to set up a meet and greet. If you do not hear from us within 2-3 days please call the office to follow up on the status of your application.

❗️To speed up the process please fill out the application completely.
*First and last name of applicant.
*phone number
*Address-City, State and Zip code
*Landlord’s contact information ❗️

🐶Friends of Fido will cover the costs of training classes to an approved adopter.🐶

Mahoning County Dog Warden
1230 N Meridian Rd
Youngstown, Ohio 44509

330-740-2205

Office hours:
M-W-F 8:00-4:30
T-TH 8:00-5:30
Sat 9:00-noon

06/05/2024

The Ten Myths of Canine Behavior
Myth 8: Shock collars and prong collars don't hurt if you use them properly.
Some trainers advocate using "all the tools in your toolbox", suggesting that you need to "correct" your dog when they make mistakes to teach them what they did was wrong. While it is true that these tools can be effective in the right hands, they are not necessary. The potential for negative side effects often outweighs the benefits. Research has shown that dogs can learn just as quickly, if not faster, through positive reinforcement techniques rather than positive punishment and using aversive tools. Positive punishment involves adding something undesirable (like shock or pain) to stop a behavior.

05/18/2024

“Are we there yet?”

Louie loves going for car rides. Or maybe he knows that he’s going to the cabin for the weekend! 🤔

05/04/2024

Louie says: Saturdays are for sleeping in!

04/26/2024

Agreed.

Pet expert Steve Dale the most effective/humane dog training methods for all dogs are positive reinforcement techniques, not shocking dogs

04/24/2024

This is what turkey season at the cabin looks like for Louie! 🦃 🌲🐾

04/20/2024

Remember Louie (formally known as Leo)? He came to us from a less than ideal place and he’s been spending the winter months staying warm and brushing up on his manners. Louie can’t wait for summer weather and possibly making it to a few For the Love of Pits events! We can’t wait for you to meet him!

04/20/2024

Dog training methods matter a great deal. Aggressive dogs generally are fearful and anxiety and punishment methods only add to their fear

03/26/2024

Anyone else have a dog that won't jump in the car without help but LOVES the car more than anything? Jojo seems to be one of those pups.

02/14/2024

Missing this amazing boy. For the Love of Pits' logo dog, Jake.

02/06/2024

What a handsome little guy Porto is! He sounds awesome!

01/16/2024

UPDATE: REUNITED!! Siku is home safe & sound after 11 hours, 26 minutes :)

Please spread the word! Siku was LOST on January 15, 2024 in Cleveland Heights, OH 44112 near Noble Rd and Greyton

Description: Small husky, black and white, blue eyes

For more info or to contact Siku's owner, click here: https://www.pawboost.com/p/69926642

Lost or found a pet? Report it to PawBoost here: https://pbrs.io/l/rpl

01/16/2024

Yes, Louie, we feel the same way about that Browns game. 😣

01/11/2024

Some reasons your dog may not be eating:

(1) Dental disease, including broken teeth and infected gums, may cause pain when eating.
(2) Ear infections are another source of pain that can lead to reluctance to eat, especially hard food.
(3) Other forms of pain can cause a dog to stop eating. PANTING, TREMBLING, WALKING HUNCHED OVER, SLEEPING MORE THAN USUAL, RELUCTANCE TO RUN OR JUMP, AND IRRITABILITY CAN ALL BE SIGNS OF PAIN.
(4) Dogs who are sick, including dogs with cancer and those undergoing chemotherapy, are often reluctant to eat. Kidney disease, for example, can cause nausea and gastric ulceration due to excess acidity.
(5) If you recently opened a new bag of your dog’s regular food and he turns up his nose at it, pay attention; this could be a sign that the food is spoiled or moldy, and possibly dangerous. DO NOT ADD FLAVOR ENHANCERS OR HUMAN MEAL LEFTOVERS TO TEMPT HIM INTO EATING THE FOOD HE REJECTED, because if it turns out that the food is dangerous, he may be harmed by eating it! Even if only one dog in your household doesn’t want to eat and the rest are fine with the food, it would be safer to get a new bag and see if that solves the problem. If your dog eagerly accepts the new food, take the rejected food back to the store!
(6) Many medications list nausea and anorexia as potential side effects. If your dog is on medication and becomes reluctant to eat, talk to your vet to see if a substitute is available, or if there is a way to make the pills easier on your dog’s stomach. For example, some meds that are normally given away from meals can be given with food instead to help with stomach upset.

WARNING: In some cases, loss of appetite can be a symptom that the medication you are giving is dangerous. This is especially true in the case of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Rimadyl, Deramaxx, and even aspirin. Corticosteroids such as prednisone can cause gastrointestinal ulceration and associated inappetence.

TO READ MORE, VISIT

If your dog is sniffing food but not eating they may just be a picky eater, or they may have a health issue that's stopping them.

01/04/2024

Apparently, Louie enjoys Game of Thrones on the big screen! 📺 🍿

Thank you to everyone who has helped us rescue this boy. His foster dad has been working hard to familiarize him with vet visits, baths and ear drops! 😣

It’s been so fun getting to know him. We will keep you posted on his progress.

01/03/2024

Thank you for your service Loki. It was an honor to know you.

12/31/2023

Missing from Mentor, OH (near Great Lakes Mall). Her family is desperately looking for her. If you see Little Girl, please call.

12/29/2023

Louie update!
He is all healed up from his “snip, snip” and ear infections. We are now researching the best food options to keep his gorgeous coat less itchy.
What do you feed your allergy prone pup?

12/18/2023

This enormous feat highlights the power of no force training. This training method is successfully deployed in zoos and with wild animals. If it works in those situations, think of what animal owners can do with their companion animals!

SCALING NEW HEIGHTS IN OUR CROCODILE CARE: After almost three years of hard work, our reptile team has been able to successfully weigh our Nile crocodiles, Monster and Delilah, for the first time since their arrival over 20 years ago!

Starting in January 2021, the reptile team embarked on a mission to overcome some of the unique obstacles in the Nile crocodile habitat. The original design of the shift lane within the habitat, designed to get the crocs in and out, featured a curve in the lane. While it was easy enough for the crocs to navigate, it did not easily allow for the team to get a scale in place to weigh the crocs. So, the team spent countless hours planning and reworking areas in the habitat to fit a scale for weight monitoring, as well as training the crocs to step on the scale voluntarily. Just recently, the team celebrated a significant breakthrough as both crocs were successfully weighed for the first time! Monster weighed in at a whopping 712 pounds, and Delilah at 490 pounds.

Working with these majestic giants poses challenges, and with this training milestone achieved, we can now conduct more regular preventative healthcare, including annual physical exams, bloodwork, ultrasounds, and more, all while ensuring the safety of our team and our crocs!

12/13/2023

Slip leads. French collars. Grot collars. Prong collars. Figure of 8 collars. Electric (shock) collars. Compressed air sprays. Water sprays. Rattle cans. Alpha rolls. Heel kicks to the abdomen.

Your dog deserves better than that. Every dog deserves better than that.

None of these things are necessary to teach dogs. Their use is an active choice to use force, fear, discomfort, pain, or the threat of these things, to teach. Don't accept that for your dog. They don't deserve it.

12/02/2023

The dog days of summer may be over, but the lazy days of winter have just begun. Louie (fka Leo) is living his best life in his foster home and mastering the art of relaxation! We just love this hunk!

11/29/2023

Please share!!!!

On August 5, 2022 “Giovani” was picked up near E Philadelphia and Erie on the Southside of Youngstown. He was clean and healthy and looked good compared to the majority of the strays that come into our building. We assumed at first that someone would claim him. We were wrong.
Gio was a young dog. Probably under a year old when he arrived. To date he has lived over half of his life in a kennel.
In all of this time he has only received one application and that did not end with him being adopted.
Gio has somehow survived over 15 months of stressful noise and confinement. He has anxiously waited his turn for outside time and has watched many dogs come and go while he waits seemingly invisible to potential adopters.
Giovani is strong and he is working on his leash manners. Walks are something he really enjoys but not everyone is strong enough to handle him. Some days he doesn’t get to go for walks so when he does….he is off to the races. He needs more one on one time and training to work on manners and keep his mind occupied.
Dogs can deteriorate in a kennel environment. For some it happens quickly and for others it takes some time. We fear one day soon he will have had enough and we won’t be able to undo the damage that kennel life has caused.
Giovani is approx 2 yrs old. He is a pit bull type mix. Dog friendly. Energetic. Very strong. Playful. Always happy! Needs training. Needs lots of exercise both mental and physical. Has lived in a kennel for 15+ months. Will need an abundance of decompression time. Will need patience as well.

Please share him. He deserves so much better than this. We are at maximum capacity and need to find homes for 70 + pit bulls on any given day. He is just one of the countless homeless dogs in our county.

Please spay and neuter
Please put identified on your dogs
Please consider all that goes into dog ownership before making the commitment and then please keep it.

We are in a crisis situation.

❗️ ❗️❗️With the amount of dogs in our care we are not always able to read comments under our posts. We post to get the dogs pictures and info out there to find them homes but can not follow up with communication under the posts on this page. There are just too many comments. If you have a question please private message this page or send us an email. Please follow the directions below ❗️❗️❗️

If you are interested in meeting one of our dogs please email [email protected] to request an application. Once approved we will call you to set up a meet and greet. If you do not hear from us within 2-3 days please call the office to follow up on the status of your application.

❗️To speed up the process please fill out the application completely.
*First and last name of applicant.
*phone number
*Address-City, State and Zip code
*Landlord’s contact information ❗️

🐶Friends of Fido will cover the costs of training classes to an approved adopter.🐶

Mahoning County Dog Warden
1230 N Meridian Rd
Youngstown, Ohio 44509

330-740-2205

Office hours:
M-W-F 8:00-4:30
T-TH 8:00-5:30
Sat 9:00-noon