I'll Tell You A Story Productions*

By

Lisa Manfrede Smith

Publishing books for children

of All ages.

The Life And Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown

Faithful Devotion

lisa9940@yahoo.com

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*Inspired By Amelia Hill

Does your child, or a child you know dream about being  a published author? Has he or she started writing and drawing, putting stories together? And do they just need help with proper grammar/spelling/organizing the story and pictures?

If a child has a passion for writing/drawing that is a gift they have for expression. Ex-pression is the opposite of De-pression.  Don’t let their passion die; encourage it, and your child will flourish!

If you’ve answered Yes, to these, or just the first question, let me be the one to get your gifted child’s, gifts published!

As a four-time published author, I am Passionate about your child’s writing passion.  Even if they only write, and do not draw, I am working with a very talented artist who can provide quality drawings as needed for stories.

I publish e-books on Kindle and paper back books on CreateSpace, as well as for Amazon.com

Normally, my fee for publishing and editing other authors’ works , is 20% of all royalties. This includes, but is not limited to movie productions made of the books.

However! I am offering a Christmas Special Contest! For anyone who would like to have their child’s completed manuscript published for them as a Christmas Gift, I am offering publishing on all media mentioned above, for only 10% of royalties for the the first year.

To see your child’s book published by Christmas morning, all entries must be submitted and received electronically by December 18, 2014, via email: lisa9940@yahoo.com

I will pick one lucky child’s book.

All entries for this contest will receive the gift of 15% paid of royalties for one year!

***************Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas Everyone!****************

Amelia 

 

Jake

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Is there a connection between un neutered/spayed d...

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Is there a connection between un neutered/spayed d...: Dear Readers, Last week, I wrote about two dog fights I had been witness to in the past couple of years. In both cases, a female bitch/un...

Is there a connection between un neutered/spayed dogs and dog fights?

Dear Readers,

Last week, I wrote about two dog fights I had been witness to in the past couple of years. In both cases, a female bitch/un-spayed dog was involved.

I have seen my own spayed female, put her front paws on an un-spayed girl, as if to show her dominance. This made me uncomfortable, and when we separated the dogs, they both began growling and barking at each other. I would need Cesar Millan to work this one out, so needless to say, we could never let those two girls together again.

Also, I've had a neighbor who's male husky was not neutered, and the owner said he was aggressive with other male dogs that are not "fixed."

Plus, I know of another un-neutered male who would not get along with any other male dog who was intact, but was fine with one was not not.

Soooo, what do you think? What are the pros and cons of neutering and spaying? Veterinarians will tell you clearly, that "fixing" a dog will calm a dog down, and decrease its risk of getting cancer. So what is the benefit of Not "fixing" a dog? Breeding; and that, my friends, is really no benefit at all.

Just look at your local pet rescues. Most are constantly over-flowing with dogs of all breeds that need homes. And there are even more dogs at county shelters being put-down on a weekly, if not daily basis.

It would be interesting how many of these dogs that are abandoned for one reason or another, are not "fixed." Now that would be an interesting study for sure...  

Leroy Brown - I'm "fixed" and I'm Happy!

P.S. Providing your dog with plenty of exercise will always decrease its tendency toward aggressive or undesirable behavior 

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Kindle Countdown Deal - starting at .99

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Kindle Countdown Deal - starting at .99: Yes, that's right! Leroy's story is on a Kindle Countdown Deal for the rest of the week! E-books are also available for download of...

Kindle Countdown Deal - starting at .99

Yes, that's right! Leroy's story is on a Kindle Countdown Deal for the rest of the week! E-books are also available for download off Amazon, even if you do not own a Kindle reader. Check it out!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: I'll Tell You A Story Productions - Inspired by a ...

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: I'll Tell You A Story Productions - Inspired by a ...: Dear Readers, Today I am announcing a new dimension to my writing, publishing works. I am branching out, and now offering writing, artist...

I'll Tell You A Story Productions - Inspired by a child

Dear Readers,

Today I am announcing a new dimension to my writing, publishing works. I am branching out, and now offering writing, artistic, publication services.

This idea was sparked by the desire to help my friend's seven year old daughter with her creative, passion for writing.

Although Amelia is only seven years old, her writing talent is just bursting at the seams to be published. 
However, I offer my services to ALL writers of any age.
Feel free to ask any questions or comments below.

Thank You!

Lisa Manfrede Smith

*Copyrighted November 29, 2014
   

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: How Not to break up a dog fight!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: How Not to break up a dog fight!: Hello Dear Readers, It's an unfortunate thing, but at times, dogs may get into fights. In the past couple of years, I've seen two...

How Not to break up a dog fight!

Hello Dear Readers,

It's an unfortunate thing, but at times, dogs may get into fights. In the past couple of years, I've seen two dog fights, and if I never see that again, I will be real happy. The first time, it was in my own home. A friend brought over his female bitch in heat, and my two male, neutered dogs got into a fight over her.

I saw the bigger, aggressor, Charlie, go after my little Leroy Brown, and reacted like a mother trying to protect her child. I put my arms around Charlie's neck, to pull him off. Unfortunately, at that moment, Leroy sat up, and went for Charlie's neck, and I, unwittingly, put my hand right in his mouth.

Yep, that's right, I got bit by my own, Non-aggressive, Pit Bull, whom I love so dearly.

This was the fourth, and last time Charlie attacked Leroy Brown. The other three times were over food, as Charlie who was rescued off the streets, had "food aggression." Other than that, he was a wonderful dog, so I worked with him on that, and in the year and a half that I had him, saw some progress.

However, the female bitch totally caught me off guard.

The dog fight I saw just recently involved two females, one of which was not spayed. The "un-spayed" dog got out of her yard, and came to the other dog's yard, apparently to"pick a fight." Fortunately the other, spayed dog was small enough that the owner could pick her up and carry her away, before either was seriously hurt.

Since my incident of being bit, I learned of all different ways to break up a fight, such as taking a towel and wrap it around one dog, throwing water on the dogs, and other ways. However, when one having an adrenalin rush, none of these ways are practical.

As difficult as it may be, the best thing one can do to help break up a dog fight, is remain as calm as possible. Let me tell you, that is easier said than done. At any rate, the one thing NOT to do, is put your hand between the dogs! Ouch!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: 5 tips to help dog separation anxiety | Cesar Mill...

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: 5 tips to help dog separation anxiety | Cesar Mill...: Today there is a scared, barking, beautiful white Pit Bull who got outside its yard. His people are out, and there is a community yard sale...

5 tips to help dog separation anxiety | Cesar Millan

Today there is a scared, barking, beautiful white Pit Bull who got outside its yard. His people are out, and there is a community yard sale going on, so he has plenty to bark at. I tried talking, communicating with him in different ways.

Finally, something worked! I started playing some nice, peaceful, meditative music and opened my window so he could here it. Within minutes he stopped!

All is peaceful, again.

This was the second time separation came up this week. The question has come up, if a dog has separation anxiety, does having a pet sitter come in help or hinder the anxiety? What do you think? This question lead me to search for advice on separation anxiety in dogs.

After reading two wonderful articles on the subject from my hero, Cesar Millan, I still have not found an answer. However, I can say, that from my experience with my own dogs, as well as dogs I've observed in shelters, those suffering with separation anxiety, are fine as long as a pack leader is present.  

It could be a human or canine pack leader for dogs. They are used to being with a pack, and they are not comfortable when they are left, or feel alone.

However, sometime we humans are unwittingly reinforcing the dogs anxiety. For example, if I am concerned or worried about leaving my dog home alone, they will certainly pick that up, and thus become uncomfortable about my leaving.

Here is an excerpt of one of Cesar's articles on separation anxiety, as well as his tips for dealing with it.

In my experience there is true separation anxiety and what I term “simulated” separation anxiety, where the behavior appears to be separation anxiety but is in fact a learned behavior. This means the dog lacks leadership as well as self-control. For true separation anxiety, the dog does experience real stress at the owner leaving. In simulated separation anxiety, the dog knows that he will get attention if he acts badly. For some dogs, even being verbally reprimanded for such behavior is rewarding because he feels he was noticed. Negative attention can be a reward in many cases where the owner is unaware that certain needs of his dog are not being met. In this instance there is little real stress involved– just misbehavior. In many instances I find this fairly easy to overcome with a gradual approach, slowly increasing the amount of time spent in a crate (when you are at home as well as away), good obedience, proper amounts of exercise and strong leadership. With severe cases of true separation anxiety, modification becomes a more difficult task.

However separation anxiety manifests itself, there is no doubt that it is often unknowingly encouraged by the owners. We make a big fuss when we leave or come home and in doing so we reward the concern, and the stress increases at the time of leaving. We like our dogs to be with us and when they are puppies, we take them everywhere for socialization. Then we have to leave them alone and they have reached an age where they now not only want, but also feel the need to be with us – we are their confidence, their security and their pack.

5 tips to help dog separation anxiety | Cesar Millan


And, as in the case of my neighbor's dog, sometimes just leaving on some nice music or even the TV for the dog, will help ease their anxiety.

My beautiful boy, resting his head at my feet. I love him so much!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: The Photo of the Week!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: The Photo of the Week!: This is the photo that was inadvertently left out of Leroy's book. We were taking pictures of the dogs this day, as I'd just gotte...

The Photo of the Week!

This is the photo that was inadvertently left out of Leroy's book. We were taking pictures of the dogs this day, as I'd just gotten them the new bed. I got the soon after realizing that Sunny felt a little "miss-placed" by his "space" in the living room, with a new dog there. So, the bed for Sunny. And once he had it, all the dogs used it interchangeably, and sometimes together. But, at this point, Leroy was still showing his respect for his older brothers/pack leaders, and would not get up on the bed for photos.     

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Friday's Photo Feature

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Friday's Photo Feature: Hello Dear Readers, Today is the start of a new weekly feature, where I will discuss a photo of Leroy Brown's, and other dog's...

Friday's Photo Feature

Hello Dear Readers,

Today is the start of a new weekly feature, where I will discuss a photo of Leroy Brown's, and other dog's lives.

Here we see the famed, Helen Keller with a Pit Bull "service" dog. What a beautiful dog it is; does not look too different than Leroy Brown.

It is a little known fact, that Pit Bulls 100 years ago, were considered the "nanny dogs" as they were so good with children.


With Love and Light,

Lisa

TBT photo not in the book!

I just found this picture on Blogger.com. It was not included in Leroy's book, as it was not in with my regular photo files. I am happy to share it now! April, 2007. There is another photo taken this same day in the book, however, Leroy was not in it; as you can see, he was off the doggie bed!

With Light and Love,

Lisa 

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: My Favorite Photo

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: My Favorite Photo: What words come to mind when you look at this photo? If you had to describe this photo in just two words, what would they be? Feel free ...

My Favorite Photo

What words come to mind when you look at this photo? If you had to describe this photo in just two words, what would they be? Feel free to leave your comments below. 

Thank You!

Lisa

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: The importance of a walk for dogs

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: The importance of a walk for dogs: Take your dog for a walk every day. Unless your dog is very old, and refuses to go out for walks, even old dogs enjoy and benefit from a da...

The importance of a walk for dogs

Take your dog for a walk every day. Unless your dog is very old, and refuses to go out for walks, even old dogs enjoy and benefit from a daily walk. Younger dogs may need several walks a day, depending on the size of their yard.

As an example, by own dog, Chloe, used to have nearly an acre of a yard, and was happy with one long walk and a few short ones/strolls a day. Since we have moved to a home with a very small yard, she now requires five long walks a day.

Speaking of Chloe, as you can see, she has some scars. This often made me feel a need to tell, briefly, her "story" as I knew it. However, I have started calling them "tattoos!" Truthfully, there is one scar that looks like a quarter moon, and another that looks like a heart. The best thing is, she doesn't have to hear any of her "story" any more!

Forget your pet's "story," so they can forget it too, and Enjoy Life!

Thank You!
Lisa

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Now available in paperback!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Now available in paperback!: Just published on CreateSpace! I love this self publishing! The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown Enjoy! With Light...

Now available in paperback!

Just published on CreateSpace! I love this self-publishing!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown

Enjoy!

With Light and Love,

Lisa

Leroy getting some family love!

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Book Published on Amazon Kindle and CreateSpace to...

The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown: Book Published on Amazon Kindle and CreateSpace to...: Hello Dear Readers, I am happy to announce that my book about a real life dog, Leroy Brown, has been published and is available in both e...

Book Published on Amazon Kindle and CreateSpace today!

Hello Dear Readers,

I am happy to announce that my book about a real life dog, Leroy Brown, has been published and is available in both e-book and paperback, today! Take a look inside, The Life and Adventures of a Pit Bull Named Leroy Brown.

The story will take you through the trials and tribulations of an owner learning to treat dogs with the love and respect required for happy, well-balanced lives.

As a post script to the story, that for some reason I left out of the book, Leroy used to be petrified of lightening and thunder storms. I know the reason was due to his old history, and perhaps that's why I did not bring it up.Anyway, in his last few years, he was no longer afraid of the many storms we've had in Florida. This was because he could no longer hear very well. In fact, Leroy was quite deaf at the end.

Enjoy!

With Love,

Lisa