Kim and Jill....

Holy Cow.... this. is. hard.

This is Kim and Jill!  They were two of the babies we rescued last summer along with 9 other babies and their momma, Duchess.

This was the first litter rescue for us.  It was the beginning of this entire story.  Our inspiration to make this "rescuing thing" into JPW Rescue Ranch!   It was an education we didn't know we needed.  It was hard, it was sad, it was exhausting.... it changed everything.


My friend Dawn posted the picture of Duchess and her babies and I found out that they were rescued from a horrible breeder only to be brought to the shelter in Galveston to be put down.  The reason they were going to be put down?  The simple fact that they were Pitbulls.

I had never had a Pitbull before.  I had never really got sucked into the hype of the breed, but BOY did that change, and fast.   Duchess had been abused her entire life.  She had been locked up in a crate, hiden under a tarp, and bread over and over again.  But when we showed up to get her the heck out of that shelter, what I saw was a brave, grateful, Mother.  She was a sweet as she could possibly be and so, so incredibly loving to her babies.  When we got home, I started the rescue page on Facebook and set out to find all of these sweet babies homes.

Most of you know that story, but there is a part of the story that I didn't share.  I'm going to now.

I was nervous how to put this out there.  How to explain how extremely mad and sad it makes me without coming across as judgmental, stereotypical, or even racist.   If you know me at all you know that those words, honestly and truly, could not be farther from the truth.  I choose love.  Always.  I do not judge and I try to find the good in people at all times.  I believe with ALL MY HEART that you can love the "bad" out of anyone or anything!  I've always tried to set this example for my children.  We do not judge a book by the cover.  We live in Austin for crying out loud!  The city where the soccer moms, the punks, the hippies, the bikers, the thugs, and even the famous; get together as one community all the time!  

But then something happened that tested my faith in humanity. 

Did you know that Pitbull puppies are used as bait for fighting dogs?  Did you know that they are used as fishing bait for big game fishing off the coast?  Did you know that the Pitbull is the BREED OF CHOICE for criminals??


The FB page that I created to find these precious animals homes was suddenly BOMBARDED with messages.  I got, and I am not exaggerating, 10-20 messages or emails a day from people interested in the puppies.  The problem was.... I was literally AFRAID of these people.   Nearly every single one of them.   The way they worded their emails.  The pictures and posts on their FB pages.  These were people I didn't trust, I didn't want to talk to, and I certainly was NOT going to give them any of my puppies. 
Some of them would say "I'm coming to get three of those pits", "Give me the biggest one you got", or even "whats your address?  I am going to come take a look at those Pits and see if any of them will work for me"...... Ummmmmmm, HELLZ NO!!!  

We just had another liter of puppies at our house.  A beautiful liter of lab/catahoula mixed puppies.   Do you know how many emails and messages I got?  About 1-3 a week.  Every single one of them from sweet, generous, grateful, loving families.  Not one single sketchy email.  NOT ONE. 

I just want to scream- "It's not the breed.  It's the PEOPLE"!!!!!!!!! 

This lesson was heartbreaking.  Pitbulls are truly Amazing dogs.  They are loyal, sweet, and Incredible with children!  They've had a reputation as "the nanny" dog for a reason!  Do you know what happens when someone comes to the door at our house?  About fifty million dogs go running to the door barking and acting crazy.... all but one.  Duchess, the victim of so much heartbreaking abuse, a supposedly mean and vicious pitbull that the great city of Galveston deemed too dangerous to live, RUNS to my kids.  Wherever they are in the house, she runs and jumps in front of them.  She is their protector.  She is AMAZING! She is a Pitbull.

 

We ended up finding wonderful homes for all but two of the pitbull puppies.  Kim and Jill were the two all black pits that we had not found forever families for and quite honestly, I couldn't handle searching any longer.  It was emotionally exhausting to deal with these people.  The fear of one of my babies ending up in a fighting ring, or abused haunted me.  The stories I heard, the people that contacted me.... I was done.   I was ecstatic for the puppies that were now in amazing perfect families, and decided to announce that Kim and Jill were not adoptable.  That I had no more pitbull puppies available.   Kim and Jill would live with us.  The emails stopped.

That was one year ago.  Kim and Jill are big beautiful girls now, but still love thier momma very much (as you can see above)!  They are strong, sweet, loving Pitbulls.  They helped us so much during our last litter of puppies when the momma needed a break.  They were gentle and playful.  They were our puppy sitters.  We all love and adore them, but it's become clear that we are no longer the best place for these sweet girls to be. 
I'm literally sobbing while typing this.

 

I think it's been obvious for a while, but we just kept convincing ourselves that they were better here with us.  We have many animals here at our home.  We have a heart for the ones that have no other place to go.   Our silly goat Prancer only has one ear and thinks she is a dog.  Sunshine, is a pit rescue who is only a couple years old, but can barely walk from the abuse and neglect she endured.  Sisco is a little rescue that is afraid of his own shadow.  Cameron is a fourteen year old lab mix that was thrown into a creek and left to die as a puppy. 

We have a heart for these animals and we want to be able to care for and bring in the ones that need us the most!   We love Kim and Jill so much, but they don't "NEED" us.  They are young and healthy and the more animals we rescue the less time we have for them.  The sick and hurting animals tend to come first, there is just no way around that.   We realized that we spend most of our time healing the wounded and training the young, and Kim and Jill are not getting the attention they deserve.   They Deserve families that will snuggle with them for hours a day.  Families that can take them on walks, to the dog park and on camping trips.  Families where they can get constant attention, training, and love. 
They deserve more than what we are able to give them here, and that is so so hard for me to say. 

It's with an extremely heavy heart that I share our story, and that of Kim and Jill, and ask that you pass it along so we can find these sweet girls their "real" forever families.

How we do SCHOOL!!

Before I share the BIG NEWS, I'll remind you why we decided to look into alternative schooling!  We went to public school and really never had any other thoughts regarding where we would send the kids!  That was until Jackson started reading at three and more of his Asperger symptoms became clear!  The more I read, the more I learned how many people with special needs, especially people with Aspergers Syndrome, struggled in a public school setting.  I was also discouraged with what I was learning for friends who had been teachers in the public school setting.  I set out to find an affordable alternative!  The idea of homeschooling Scared Me To DEATH!!  I don't think there is any reason to hide that school was not really my "thing", and figuring out how to teach my kids everything they needed to know just seemed impossible!!

I instantly fell in love with the UMS model (University Model School)!  The name gives away the idea; is like college!  The kids go to a classroom (or "school") a couple of days a week, and the rest of their studies is done at home.  The kids are put into classrooms based on their abilities instead of age and all of their lessons are laid out very clearly for us to follow!

We have been attending an AMAZING UMS school for the past four years!   We have all learned so much!  Jackson was able to start school at age four and has done wonderfully!  I am constantly impressed by how much the kids are able to learn with the smaller class sizes and one on one attention!  It's awesome to be a part of their education and witness it first hand!  Because UMS is a part time school, the cost associated with it is a fraction of what private school would be and the bonus is all the extra time we get to spend together, the extracurricular activities they get a chance to do, and more time we have to take advantage of all the cool things Austin has to offer!

OK!!  Here is where the BIG announcement comes in!!!

We are opening a NEW UMS SCHOOL- 

  When I say "we", I absolutely positively do not mean ME!!  I mean several amazing men and woman that are so much smarter than I am, are coming together to form something new and innovative in the way of a UMS style school, and I will be crashing the meetings! ;)

      This new school is completely different then any other UMS school in the area!   This school will not have a specific religious association.  Three Oaks will be an All INCLUSIVE school for everyone that is interested!   Our goal is to educate children so that they can be "of the world, not just in the world"!  We want to see families of all backgrounds, of all types, of all religious beliefs, and of all ethnicities!  We want to explore and share the beliefs and values from all over the world so that our children will be armed and able to make educated decisions, not to mention be ready to face real world problems and controversies with confidence and a strong foundation of knowledge!

The school itself will combine the best parts of all the instructive methods instead of being trapped in one particular way of teaching!   We want to stay on the cutting edge of educational research and allow flexibility for our children who each have very different learning styles.  We want the focus to be on each child as an individual; their strengths, their weakness, and their personal way of learning.  We want to provide an unparalleled education, while focusing on teaching our children how to really "Love to Learn"!!

Among the many things that will make this school amazing; making a difference and serving our community will be a focus at Three Oaks School-  
"To meet our mission of inspiring leadership for the public good, Three Oaks School engages in a required Service Learning program that empowers our students to experience the world in order to learn from it and to be of committed and substantive service to others. Working together, Three Oaks students and teachers learn how to serve productively with partners in Greater Austin, across the country, and around the world in settings that are often unfamiliar and challenging. While learning how to solve problems as they emerge and being exposed to complex issues, Three Oaks students expand their view of themselves and the world, build empathy, independence, resilience, and humility, and come to understand that through their individual actions they make a positive difference in the lives of others." 

At Three Oaks we hope to cultivate delight and wonder. Our goal is to challenge our students without exasperating them. While we maintain rigorous academic standards, we foster joy in learning through connecting classroom efforts with hands-on activities, real-life experiences, field trips, and special academic events. Every teacher at Three Oaks School works to inspire students to pursue truth and delight in wisdom. In short, we want our children to not only learn, but to love learning.

Do you want to join us? Three Oaks is currently looking for pioneer families who are interested in building a new and unique school serving the North Austin area.  We need families to help us finalize our school's philosophy and values; and will be looking for students, teachers, and staff that want to be apart of something new and exciting!  Let me know if you are interested in more information!  Everything is just starting to come together and we would love to see more families join us on this awesome adventure!  A great place to start would be to like the facebook page, so you can get updates and information as it becomes available!

Wish us luck, as we exclusively home-school this year while preparing for the The Oaks School launch in 2015!!

Pepper's story and training... begins!!

   Pepper and Elsa snuggled up under the heat lamp at one week old!

 What a crazy couple of months it has been!  The puppies will be nine weeks old tomorrow!

When I rescued Chloe and Sunshine I had no idea what I was getting into! (But that is Always the case when you do stuff like that!)  When I say that Chloe had nine PERFECT puppies; I am not exaggerating!   For a momma that had been fending for herself for a while, and barely looked pregnant due to lack of nourishment... it's nothing short of a miracle!  They are all healthy, happy and with their forever families now; all of them, except Pepper!
    Pepper is going to my Uncle Scott who is having surgery next week and will need some time to recover before he takes on his new puppy.  In the meantime, I have begun her training.  Some extra attention is going towards Pepper and getting her train because it is our hope that she will become a service dog!  I have no doubt that between the two of us and other professional dog trainers (plus, all the advice/help I can get from my awesome dog trainer friends!), Pepper is going to make an AMAZING and stunning Service Dog!!
    My Uncle Scott was injured in the navy and now suffers with a very painful nervous system issue in his arm.  I'm not going to pretend to know exactly what it is, but I know that if anyone touches, bumps, or even brushes against it, it is EXTREMELY painful!!  
    Eventually, our hope is that Pepper will be a service dog for Uncle Scott!  Trained to be able to go everywhere he goes and always stay at his hurt arm, preventing people from getting too close! 
    Having a service animal in our family- My son's Autism Service dog- Angel, I know first hand how they can change your life and the lives of everyone around you!  Uncle Scott and Aunt Erin are already HUGE dog people (literally, they have had a house full of NEWFOUNDLANDS!!) and I just couldn't be more excited about all of this!!

    To top it off, my Uncle Scott told me a story from when he was a boy!  I just have to share because it completely confirms that it's all meant to be!!-

                          When I was like 5. I used to go up the street from my 
                     house and take the neighbors dog. Her name was Pepper!!! 
                    And when they started calling her I would put her in our 
                    mailbox. Then they would walk down the street and say 
                    Scotty, have you seen pepper? I would say no, and then they 
                    would tell me to bring her back home when I was done 
                    playing with her!!


Here is a little snip-it from today's training session!   At only nine weeks old... she's a smart girl, I tell ya!

Puppy time!!!

Finally, here are the individual puppy pictures I have been promising for weeks!   I will continue to update this post with who is available and who has already found their forever family!
If you are interested in adopting one of these sweet puppies, please shoot me a message!  There is an "application" to fill out, and we ask for an $80 donation to the J.P.W. Rescue Ranch account at Block House Creek Animal Hospital (which can be paid with cash, debit, or credit) to help cover at least part of the vet costs for our rescues!

The puppies were born on Sunday April 13th, and should be ready to go to their new homes once they are six weeks old.  At that time, we will make sure everyone is doing great, have their first round of puppy shots done, and evaluate whether or not they are ready to leave Chloe.  Chloe is a very young mom that we picked up after her owners abandoned her.  She is also available for adoption once all the puppies are weaned and she has been spayed (her puppies are beautiful, but one litter is more than enough for her!!).  I'll be sure to get her pictures up here soon!  Chloe is a small black lab mix and it is believed that the male dogs in her area were Catahoulas, but we are not 100%!

These sweet babies are just absolutely precious!  I've never seen such a unique litter before!

Lucky - aka Chubs!  Male,  Black with white on his chest,   AVAILABLE
Lucky was the first puppy born!  We named him Lucky because of that, but Dr. Curl has since warned me that "Lucky" tends to be a very unlucky name for a dog!  Since he has gotten so sweet, furry, and chubby, we have started calling him Chubs!!  He is mostly all black like his momma with a little bit of a white stripe down his chest!  He is one of our three pups that have long, soft, snuggly hair!  He feels like a little black bear cub!  Lucky is very laid back and quiet.  He is very comfortable being held, even like a baby!   

 

Elsa -  Female, White with a small amount of black,    AVAILABLE

Elsa's is our pretty white puppy with coal black eyes!  She has the cutest little half-black, half-white booty and she LOVES to play!!  

Eeeva - Female, Black and white with a little tan!  ADOPTED by the Guajardo

Eeeva (pronounced like Wall-E's girlfriend) is the sweetest little thing!  She is the littlest puppy right now, but she may have the biggest heart!  Eeeva loves to be held and will snuggle into your neck for as long as you will let her!

Midnight - Male, black and brown!  AVAILABLE
As his name suggests, when he was born he was ALL black!  The brown coloring showed up later and made his name seem a little funny!!  When looking at all the boys, Midnight looks like the smallest, but we were surprised that he was actually the heaviest puppy at the vets office!  Midnight's colloring and build makes us suspicious that he may have a different daddy than the other puppies.  He looks like he might have some Rot or German Shepperd in him!  He is a solid little guy with lots of energy!  He is already really good friends with some of our other rescued full-grown dogs, but he doesn't seem to notice he is the size of one of their paws!!

Mouse - Female, gray and white!  ADOPTED by the Moye Family (with Rusty!!)
Mouse is our precious little gray girl with piercing blue eyes!  She is uniquely beautiful and a very playful little thing!  She is very interested in the world around her and is ready to explore and play with her new family soon!

Magic - Male, black and white and tan!  AVAILABLE
I think Magic's name fits him perfectly!!  Look at that precious, handsome, fluffy boy and those magical blue eyes!  He is like his brother Lucky and has longer fluffy soft hair, and reminds me of a tiny little bear cub!

Pepper- Female, black and white and tan!  ADOPTED by the Ridenour Family!!
Sweet little Pepper was the last puppy to be born! We thought Chloe was all finished when out popped Pepper.  She almost looked like a dalmatian when she was born!  Her black and white markings are definitely more like spots, and she is absolutely beautiful with her sweet face and one dark eye and one crystal blue eye! 

Rusty - Male, white and tan! ADOPTED by the Moye Family! (with Mouse!!)
Rusty is a very unique little boy!  His eyes are two very different shades of blue!  I can't wait to see what he looks like full grown!  His uniquely light brownish coloring combined with his bright blue eyes are going to get him a LOT of attention!!

Little Foot - Female, black,white and tan!   ADOPTED by the Puterbaugh family!
Sweet little foot is our "in the middle" puppy!  She is not the smallest and not the biggest!  She doesn't have the short hair that some of the puppies have or the really furry longer hair that her two brothers have!  She's not the quietest puppy or the loudest puppy!  She is as sweet as she can be, and it's no surprise she was born right in the middle of all nine puppies!

 Didn't get enough pics of everyone, but don't worry, more to come!!