Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Hyde Park Farmer's Market

Since we were bachelorettes together, Miss M and I always had a tradition of going to Farmer's Markets together. I go for the flowers; she goes for all of the attention. 

And after so many months of this, we were excited to get back out there when we heard about this new-to-us market in Hyde Park (managed by one of our very own SociaBulls members!).

We loved that this market was not overly packed, like some markets, which did make it very dog-friendly. There is also a large green space on the side where you can sit and eat some of the pre-made food; there was even a food demonstration when we were there.

We were also joined by some of our other SociaBulls friends: Vegas and Zoe. 

With the nicer weather, what types of things are you doing with your pups?

Also:
How to have a successful trip to the Farmer's Market with your pup
Feeling European
She makes these decisions

Pooches: On Dog Ambassadors and Being Well-Taken Care Of

When we were walking our pups downtown during a short Staycation, I overheard a tourist commenting to his friend "It's refreshing to see dogs so well-taken care of".

Maybe he was struck by their Burberry-esque scarfs (thanks Sirius Republic!), maybe that we were all walking together in the cold Chicago weather, or maybe that we were dutifully treating our walk like a training walk and our dogs were practicing good check-ins. 

While we have done a lot of training with our dogs, we know we are lucky that our dogs can be comfortable in a variety of noisy and crowded situations. We also know people who work 10 times harder with their dogs, but some dogs are naturally shy or fearful, and they may never feel comfortable with these types of situations. It also makes us feel bad when we hear people who think they have failed because some of the issues they're working on with their dogs don't highlight them as dog ambassadors.

Knowing we're all a work-in-progress, and thinking about what this guy said, isn't part of promoting positive ownership about putting your dog in good situations and showing that they are well-taken care of?

Also:
Have you seen how our pups are dogs-in-progress too?
Our City Dog in training?
We always love these stories (and read all the way to the bottom for the full list!)

SociaBulls: Building Confidence for Both of Us

With so many of the pups on our SociaBulls walks, we often don't realize the behind-the-scenes work that went into the dogs we see. Neko is one strikingly handsome pup who has been walking with our SociaBulls group for awhile. I would always admire his laid-back manner, and I even remember on one walk a police officer who approached the group singled him out as being an example of an exceptionally well-behaved pup. 

Though as Neko's person wrote in his story, she has been struggling with some behavior that only she has experienced with him. Here is Neko's story about working as a team with your dog and understanding all dogs are a work in progress:

I've gone back and forth about wanting to share Nekos' story  for quite awhile now. I was conflicted and embarrassed that we were struggling with the same issues we faced on day 1.  It took many months for me to understand that training is a lifelong process.  Just like people, dogs constantly need challenges and positive reinforcement.

My journey with Neko has kept me busy. I was perfectly happy with my two cats, but something was missing in my home. After seeing the photos of dogs at Animal Care and Control on Facebook,  and understanding their chance of making it out, I knew I had to  get involved and do my part. I also really missed the loyalty and companionship a dog provides. I requested to foster an older lazy dog. What I got instead was an underweight  8 month old puppy bursting with energy. When it came time to update the rescue about his personality and temper, I realized I couldn't give him up. We celebrated two years last month. 

 I can't believe baby Neko could be any cuter!

If I had known in those early days before becoming a foster failure about his medical issues (early stages of renal failure), his pension for the most expensive dog foods , and fear (expressed as aggression) toward random people or dogs I may have thought a little more about what I was getting into. Giving up wasn't an option so I decided we were going to make it work.

Neko was great  on our walks the first year or so. He always had ample amounts of energy regardless of exercise. He would play with dogs he encountered and showed no signs of aggression. When he turned two that's when things started to change. Our vet said  two was when their personality really begins to show, which made me worried. I started noticing we needed help when we would get stopped frequently on our walks in the neighborhood. People would comment and say what a "beautiful/ great/gorgeous dog."  Unfortunately, this attention was followed by Neko barking uncontrollably, quickly erasing any compliment the stranger offered. Funny thing is, our wonderful dog walkers reported this was never an issue-he only did this with me. At other times, he could see a dog walking across the street, and if there were two together he would have a complete melt down complete with whining and and pulling in an effort to go meet them.

 We did private training, group classes and Sociabulls, and it would be a rare occasion that he would act up at one of these venues. Even with this training and exposure to other dogs, this would still happen on walks with just us two in our neighborhood. He could go to daycare and be fine, but he would never be an off leash dog at the beach or dog park (we've found ways around this by going very early and having a 30ft lead always attached).  I went to a well known Chicago trainer who felt he couldn't do much to help because it was all situational.  I considered sending him away to camp, but was put off by the costs and medication wasn't an option.

Eventually it dawned on me that Neko wasn't the problem, it was me! When people would stop us or dogs would walk by, I would tense up due to past experiences which translated to Neko being overly protective. This is something of a new realization, but already I have noticed a huge difference in relaxing more on our walks and training every single walk to keep him focused. I try to praise him more enthusiastically when he is demonstrating really good behavior and acknowledge whenever he checks in with me.

Socialbulls has given us the space to work on anything and everything in a community that is non judgmental, and more importantly supportive! Sure there are still occasional instances that trigger protective behavior, but SociaBulls has been tremendous in building confidence for both of us. Every day is a learning experience and the efforts I put  forth come back ten fold in sloppy kisses and an intense bond. Neko is a goofball at heart with an endless devotion any toy that comes his way. My life revolves around my furry family, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks to Neko and his person for sharing their story!

You can also read about more SociaBulls Members: Derby (Derby has always been a flopper), Medgar (Walking with a Dog Who Won't Walk), Honor (The Gift of Learning to Relax), Maria (Not Letting Age be a Limitation), Sophie (Finding a Safe Place and Building Confidence), Torre (From Learning about Pitbulls to Developing an Ambassadog),  Estelle (Waiting to Be Noticed), Franklin (A Small Dog in a Big Dog Group), Gordon (Learning to Be Social and Have Dog Friends),  Nabi (A Shy Dog Making Sense of a "People World") Sprocket (Teaching a Dog When it's not Time to Play), Lola (Living in the City with a Dog who Fears Strangers),  Zoe (The Dog who "Loves Too Hard"),  Izzy (Being a good pitbull ambassador while working with an energetic dog) and Maize (Being social with an unsocial pup).

Plus, join our Chicago SociaBulls  Facebook page for more photos and information about group walks. And check out the Hikabulls page where we first learned about the benefits of group walking.

Pooches: Miss M and Mr. B Bring Joy to the Masses

While we love living in the city, sometimes living so closely among so, so many people can be hard.
Especially when driving.
We originally bought Doggles to keep the pups safe because Miss M loves doing this, we found they serve a second just as important purpose: the pooches bring joy to the masses:

Cars are always curious about this gremlin face hanging out of our car:

And no one has resisted a smile when they pull up beside us and peer over to see this face looking back:

We've seen a lot of fellow drivers, and many people walking by on the street, pulling out their camera phones to capture of photo of the pitbull in pink glasses with jowls blowing in the breeze:

Could the secret to eliminating road rage be dogs in glasses?

Also:

Making our pooches comfortable in dog gear.

Remember grumpy butterfly?

Stay classy Mr. B.

Pooches: Creating the Pitbull-Mobile

The Pitbull-Mobile Rides Again

I never even had a car when I first adopted Miss M. We were lucky enough to be able to walk where we needed to go and find large dog food delivery. Though once we adopted Mr. B, we ended up buying a car with the pups in mind (a 4-door car makes a huge difference!). 

Though just like many of our home details, we've learned some things to help keep our pups, and our fosters, safe and happy in the car.

Dog Seat Belts:

Ever since we've heard stories like this, we've made sure that even our dogs are buckled up when we're in the car. This has also been helpful when driving our fosters making sure they stay in the back seat and don't wander into our laps while we're driving. We wrote more about the seatbelt system we use, here.

Cars and Seat Covers:

We have learned how easy it is to take preventative measures than to try to clean up later. We found this Duragear Semi-Custom Rear Seat Cover at Petsmart, and we like that it looks nice enough that it actually blends in with our car. Plus, it's really easy to just lift up the bottom and tuck it around the back if we have human guests riding in our car.

Doggles:

We never really thought about it before, but since Miss M is prone to this (do you see the eyelid flapping along with the jowls?) we realized it is actually safer for the pups to wear protective eye gear when they hang their heads out the window. Plus, you wouldn't believe how seeing a pup driving by in pink goggles makes the roads a much happier place.

Though despite having all of our precautions in place, Miss M will spend the moment she gets in the car she spends the entire car-ride singing this (yes...it is a Homer Simpson/Usher Mash-up).

Does anyone else have a singing dog? Could it be doggie nausea? 
And what are some other things you've done to make your car pooch-friendly?

Also:
Our favorite in-car dog activity...complete with 'Crazy Eyes'
In case you missed it the first time.

Pooches: Reluctant Handlers

It is probably hard to believe since A and I write a blog and share our lives online, that we are actually quite introverted.
We did meet quite a few people when we had Miss M because of her big personality, but it was really after we adopted Mr. B and started walking with two pooches that people would stare at us, make obvious head swivels, and come over running to meet us.

Thanks to the pooches we were taken out of our comfort zone and met a lot of great people. It was pretty uncomfortable in the beginning when we would walk through the bar and restaurant areas and people would turn to stare, nudge their friends to look, then it would be a whole group of people staring at the pooches. Eventually we accepted the stares and now we welcome them, because it seems like more people have accepted our pooches and pit bulls in general as a great breed of dog, just like every breed.

We love the compliments that people give our dogs, though we don't know how to respond when they tell us that our pooches are beautiful, we usually say thanks even though we had nothing to do with their looks.

We especially love when people have questions about living with big dogs in the city or misconceptions about pit bulls. These questions were the main reason we started the blog.
We are quite grateful for the community of amazing people we have met through the pooches and though we are still quite introverted we love the opportunity to meet new people.

Also:

We still can't believe it's been like this and this.

Though it does help that Miss M is like this.

Pooches: The Never-Final Product

Sometimes it's so easy to get frustrated with our pups, we forget how far we've come.
When Miss M first came to live with me, she acted like she was raised by wolves.
She didn't know how to sit still in our apartment and she would only move by leaping like a puma.
Any attempts at bathing turned into an episode of the roadrunner and coyote.
She thought the leash was just there for her chewing pleasure to enjoy while walking.
I remember the huge sense of accomplishment I felt when she was just able to walk straight on a leash--without chewing it.

Through time and training, Miss M became a type of debutante accustomed to all types of occasions in the city.
She didn't need to be entertained every moment in the home and she would walk like a normal dog rather than a large hunting cat.
She would stand nicely in the bathtub even taking joint baths with Mr. B and standing under cold water if the hot water ran out.
Our nice leash walking turned into sitting at corner walking which turned into sitting at a corner and waving walking.
I could even set a steak dinner on the coffee table and leave her alone in the room with it for 10 minutes knowing it would be there when I returned.

Though it's amazing to think how far she's come, I always feel like there is still so much more to do.
Do you think there is ever a time when we have worked enough? Or will our pups always be a work-in-progress?

Also:
The command that changed our lives.
Impressive!
When they show off

SociaBulls: The Things we Carry

When I was thinking about all the different types of bags we prepare for our dogs, I realized we also have a bag specifically for our SociaBulls walks. 

The pups always get excited, knowing it's SociaBulls time, whenever we take out our bag. 

These are the things we carry for the entire group and ourselves:

First Aid Kit

Many of our walks are filled with broken glass, plus seeing how easily this can happen, we were so excited when Maria and Radar's people put together a first-aid kit for the group. It's comprehensive enough that it includes supplies for all types of incidents (thanks Maria and Radar's people!)

Deterrent:

Since we are a walking group in the city, we work to find places that aren't as populated where we won't run into as many other people and dogs. It seems like in many cases other people have the same idea and our secret spots are really secret off-leash dog spots. While it has never happened, in the small chance an aggressive off-leash or stray dog tries to approach any of the dogs in our group we have: a blow horn and citronella direct-stop spray. (We wrote more about it, here!)

Walkie Talkies

For some of our bigger walks where there might be street crossings where people get left back, our dogless walkers carry walkie talkies at the front and the back to make sure nobody gets left behind.

Water & Bowls

Especially since the weather was so hot during the summer, we stop halfway through our walks for a water break. We've also learned a lot about portable water bowls after seeing what many of the other members use.

High-Value Treats

The walks can be so exciting for the dogs, we ask members to bring high-value treats to keep their pups focused on them. This helps eliminate any hard stares and overall excitement for the pups as they are focusing on their people. It's also really important at the beginning and during the water breaks.

What are some other must-haves people bring on their walks?

Join our Chicago SociaBulls Facebook page for more photos and information about group walks. And check out the Hikabull page where we first learned about the benefits of group walking.

Also:

Have you seen what really happens at the water breaks?

Sometimes these things happen

A secret.

Pooches: The Roommates

Most people assume the pooches love playing with each other.

But really...they never do.

And we love that they rarely interact.

When we were first looking for a second dog, we thought that we needed a dog that would play with Miss M all day long. 

Little did we realize that all day would mean all night, all morning, all afternoon, all evening and then back to all night. 

The first dog we were considering adopting turned our life upside down during the foster-to-adopt period. Miss M and the foster would rough house at all time of the day and night. We would wake up to the dogs slamming against the bed, running up and down the hall and wrestling on the floor. After three weeks of sleepless nights, we finally decided that this was not the life for us and we had to find a dog that would tolerate but could careless about Miss M. 

Sure enough, we found the perfect dog for our lifestyle, Mr. B. Though Miss M loves to provoke Mr. B by chewing on his hind legs, shoving a tug toy into his face and even taking hostage a beloved stuffy, Mr. B will either ignore her instigation or save his stuffy and run to his safe place, his tepee. 

When needed, he is quick to oblige and become her favorite pillow and chair.

Do other people have pups that love to play? Or are happy just co-existing as roommates?

Also:

Why they make the perfect pair

Or are they more like this?

Remember when Miss M tried to play like this?

DoggyStyle: Creating a Dog-Specific Entry

People are always curious about owning dogs when you don't have a backyard and your pup depends on you for daily walks. We've realized all it really takes is a routine and a bit of (easy!) organization. We wrote before about how we budget our time for that before-work walk.

We also have an entry way set-up that makes things more manageable. 

Accessible Leashes, City Bag, and Raincoats:

We bought some hooks to help us organize our dogwalking supplies more easily. Each of the pups has a hook for their leashes and raincoats.  It's also nice for us to hang our dog-specific city bag with the supplies we need for our walks; we wrote more about it, here. Our hooks are the flip hook racks by umbra, and we like how they flip up when they're not in use.

Dog Boot Drying and Preventative Cleaning:

With the icy, salt-strewn sidewalks, our pups need to wear boots during the winter. Things were getting a bit messy, so we decided to add a boot drying tray filled with black river rocks. The river rocks let the water drip through and keep their boots dry.

We've also realized one way to keep our home cleaner is to take little steps each day. We use kids' hand wipes to wipe the pups' feet after each of our walks to keep floor cleaning to a minimum. We also keep towels in our umbrella basket.

The Late-Night or Unexpected Trip:

Miss M is afraid of the dark

Just so we're not fumbling for clothes if we need to make a last minute trip outside, we each keep a pair of slip-on shoes accessible by the door. I also keep a long trench coat to throw on over any night clothes which is much quicker than being fully dressed. Though we do have a neighbor who is always out in her bathrobe.

What are some other must-haves you include in your entry way for your pup?

Also: 

When we talk about what's not talked about

Another use for a front-entry bench
Dog Bags!