Pooches: On Off-Leash Dogs and Speaking Up

Since adopting our pups, we've realized there are all kinds of challenges and considerations when owning dogs in the city, and the other week we wrote about the 'unspoken rules for dog owners' to be  considerate of others in our community.
After that post, we received an interesting question from a reader:
"How do you guys deal with other dog owners that don't respect the actual (leash) law, let alone the "unwritten rules" like you wrote about for today's post?  
At some point, you have to walk away, but how can we all as a community keep each other and our four (or three) legged friends safe?"

The reader then went on to detail a horrific interaction she had with a woman busy on a cell phone with 2 unleashed dogs.
This is one of the most frustrating things for us because when people disobey the leash laws and give themselves extra rights, they are actually taking rights away from other people.
They are taking away the rights of people who are afraid of dogs to feel safe in their own community.
They are taking away the rights of small children, older people, people with disabilities or unsure footing to do something as basic as securely walk down a sidewalk.
They are taking away the rights of fellow dog owners who for several reasons--working on training, needing space, needing to get to work, having an older dog or a dog with an injury, not wanting to get tangled in their dogs leash. etc--just don't want to interact with uncontrolled dogs on their walks.

Just like the reader who wrote to us does, we always try to make a point to speak up and represent those who can't speak for themselves. Maybe it's because of language issues, cultural fears, or just not knowing what to say.
Though at the same time, speaking up can make people defensive and hostile. We have an on-going issue with some neighbors, who despite our explanations, continue to allow their dogs to barrel down the sidewalk in front of them. It has gotten to the point where the guy even yelled at me for 20 minutes, as I stood in the street with our foster dog to avoid them, telling me things like nobody likes me, nobody likes my dogs, his dog is more popular than our dog, and the only reason we had the foster dog was because something was wrong with it and nobody wanted him (seriously...who makes fun of homeless dogs???). Despite having many other neighbors approach us with these same frustrations, they have never said anything to the off-leash people, so the off-leash people seem to think we are the only ones with an issue. We understand it can be difficult to speak up, especially when it can become a hostile situation, though DINOS wrote this really good article about standing up for your dog.

So what does everyone else think:
"How do you guys deal with other dog owners that don't respect the actual (leash) law, let alone the "unwritten rules" like you wrote about for today's post?  
At some point, you have to walk away, but how can we all as a community keep each other and our four (or three) legged friends safe?"

Also:
Click here to see the winners from the Packable Pet Poncho Giveaway
Why we need these
Comfortably introducing dogs

Our Weekend Adventures, as Told by Miss M (According to Her Camera Phone)

As told by Miss M:
My day usually starts with a gentle wake up call to the maid and the butler. On weekends, I let them sleep in, so I start my wake up call at 6:30 am, as opposed to my usual 5:30 am. I know they are awake, but they act like they are still sleeping. So I must vocally remind them it is my feeding time.

Sometimes they act like they are sleep walking just so they can go to the bathroom and back to bed without me knowing that they are truly awake, but I know that they are awake. Silly people, no one sleeps past 6:45 am on the weekends. Several excruciating hours later, the maid finally gets the hint and gets out of bed and makes my breakfast.
(I don't know why her phone is in my face, when she should be preparing my food).

Then it is time for my morning stroll, with my dog/pillow to meet my many fans and sign some autographs. After 10 minutes, I was over the walk, but my maid and butler kept telling me that they had a surprise for me. I was hoping it was a better maid and butler.

Two hours later, nothing. After signing some faces with slobber, I am back home with the same incompetent maid and butler, at least my dog/pillow knows his place in my home.

Is anyone else out there 'ruled' by a pup like Miss M?

In Case You Missed It:

What she is really like

As told in 'dog'

"Crazy Eyes!"

PS. Check our Facebook page tonight for the winners of the RC Pet Products Packable Rain Poncho Giveaway!

Pooches: The Many Chapeaux of Mr. B

Mr. B is an old soul and he believes a gentleman should follow certain rules. One of his steadfast rules is to don a hat when outdoors and doff a hat when indoors. Though not true gentlemen attire, Mr. B's chapeau of choice is a cap showing his Chicago pride.

Though in the summer, he gets dressed up a bit and dons his cowboy hats and fedoras

and in the winter he wears more functional caps that keep his head and ears warm.

He even have hats to compliment special occasions.

Like a true gentleman, if he forgets his hat, he makes do with whatever he has in paw or mouth.

Or is it just his big head?

Also:

How Mr. B keeps his hats on.

Toad.

Things to do in the City with Dogs: Division Street Farmers Market

One sure sign that summer has arrived in Chicago are our Farmer's Market. A few weeks ago we visited the 61st Street Farmers Market that is managed by fellow SociaBulls member, Danny. Though it is bit of a drive, it is well worth the trip with all the great produce and prepared foods. Lucky for us, we also have quite a few farmer's market that are only a short trip away, including the Division Street Farmers Market. 

Mr. B loves putting on his backpack and helping the family carry our groceries. 

Miss M cannot be bothered by the backpack, because she must be free to meet all the guests that happen upon her farmers market. She is always eager to strike a pose, while her dog does all of the grunt work. 

Is there anything special that signals the arrival of summer in your city?

Also:

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a Packable Rain Poncho (open until Sunday)

Training our pups for Farmer's Markets

Pumpkins!

Dog Gear: RC Pet Products Packable Pet Poncho GIVEAWAY

Since we don't have a backyard, and we're always out walking our pups in all kinds of weather, we like to live by the motto "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes". 

We have found walking through the snow, ice and rain, really isn't so bad as long as we are all geared up.

While we wrote about it the other week, we have recently discovered RC Pet Products Packable Pet Poncho is what we needed to keep the pups dry during these spring/summer storms. We like that it's a lightweight option so the dogs won't get too hot. And after making a couple of mistakes and being caught out in the rain ourselves, we love that these little coats are small and thin enough to easily carry in our pocket. They even come with their own tiny stuff sack! 

Added bonus, they are perfect at helping human morale during these dark and gloomy days. Because really, there's not much funnier than a dog in a hooded raincoat. And these ponchos come in a lot of different colors and patterns. 

RC Pet Products has generously offered to give away a Packable Pet Poncho to 2 lucky readers!

There are two ways to enter, and each person can enter 2 times. 

We love taking our pups out on walks and exploring the city, regardless of the weather.

What would you be able to do with your pup if you won a Packable Pet Poncho?

1) Let us know by commenting on our blog post here.

2) You can also enter by posting a photo on our Facebook page of your pooch and letting us know what they'd be able to do with a new raincoat. (Do you know how much we love seeing your dog photos?)

Details:

-You have two chances to win by commenting once on the blog and posting a photo once on our Facebook page.

-We will use a random number generator to randomly choose one winner from blog comments and one winner from the Facebook page.

-You have until Sunday (June 16) at Midnight (EST) to post your comment or photo

-Winners will be able to choose your size and color and have it shipped to you from RC Pet Products

-Winners must live within the contiguous United States or Canada

Good Luck Everyone!

PS. We only offer giveaways for products we would actually buy and use ourselves and would be valuable for dog owners

In Case you missed it:

How our pups became comfortable wearing coats and gear

Finding gear for large dogs

We really do work to keep ALL of their parts warm

City Dog: The Unspoken Rules For Dog Owners

After reading this article about some of the 'unwritten rules' all Chicagoans know, it made me think about some of the unwritten rules followed by responsible dog owners in the city. Looking back, it may have taken me a bit to catch on, but here are some things we've learned after owning our pups for a few years:

The Sidewalk Dance:

We've learned about this unwritten code among fellow dog owners. If someone is already on the sidewalk it's "their" sidewalk and you should cross to the other side. If you have a sidewalk but someone is approaching who is walking more dogs than you, having a harder time walking their dog (yes, even big men with small dogs), or has a dog and a child it's polite to give up your sidewalk to them and cross over. Don't allow your pup to turn a corner ahead of you without looking in case there is another dog approaching. Don't allow your dog to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and stare down other dogs. If someone is cleaning up dog poo, you will never approach them with your dog.

Walk in the Strip:

We always walk our dogs on our left side, so we choose the sidewalks where the dogs can use the grass strip between the road and the sidewalk. We are always aware to avoid the strips where they are trying to grow flowers. We also make sure to bring bags with us at all times to pick up the dog poo.

Clear the Sidewalk:

We are always aware that even though we love our pups, we also know not everyone wants to meet our dogs. We always make sure to keep our pooches at our side on crowded sidewalks and during busy festivals. E and I walk single file on city sidewalks so people can get around us. 

What are some other 'unspoken rules' you've learned as dog owners?

Also:

For those unexpected emergencies

We wish more people would do less of this

City Walking!

SociaBulls: On the Most Popular Dog Names

As our group has been growing, we've been noticing that we now have several members with the same names. Which can become confusing when they're on the same walk and we're reading the pack order.

It's a little different than Kindergarten where you could just add your last initial, because most of us don't know one another's last name, and oftentimes even the people's first name because we all know dogpeople only remember the dogs' names, not the person's, when we meet.

So we had to become a little "creative".

See, I used to have a job in a restaurant where the owner did not know the names of the guys who worked in the back. She would put together the schedules, and she would list it by: New Guy, New Guy #2, Guy in Hat, Mustache Guy #1, etc. Which is kind of mean, but the guys said it was ok because it worked.

So now that we have two Stanley's on our walks, we can all out the order for Black Stanley and Brindle Stanley. Much like our Lily's are Little Black Lily and Brindle Lily. We have Pitbull Jack and Shepherd Jack. 

Though we're a little stumped with our Luna's. We have two Luna's that are both petite, gray, pit bull-type dogs with tall ears. They look nearly identical. 

Our most popular dog name so far has been Bruno. We currently have 3 Bruno's in the group. Though when I'd already given away the name Brown Bruno, when we had another Bruno join who is also brown. 

At the same time, it also helps that we have some dogs that are multi-named. We doubt we'll be getting duplicates of:  Bruce Wayne, Jack Bo Didley, Detective Munch, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Questifer P. Doggins.

Though it's funny to see how things changed from the Benji's and Gizmo's of my youth. I found this list of most popular dog names of 2013. (I'm shocked Gizmo is still on that list!)

Does your pooch have one of the more popular names? Or were you able to create a really unique name? 

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.   
Please Note: As the weather has warmed up, bikers, runners, dogs, and kids have come out in full force in many of the areas that we walk. While we had previously been introducing new members a few at a time to each walk, we've decided that in order to continue to keep our group safe and make our walks a positive experience for everyone, we are putting new members "on hold" for the summer. You can still submit an application, and it will go on our wait list in the order it is received. Once things quiet down a bit more in the fall, we will resume introducing new members a few at a time to each walk, and will be contacting people on the wait list in a first-come, first-served manner. 

Also:

What our dogs actually see on SociaBulls walks

The Elusive Command for Mr. B

Though you would never suspect from the pictures, but there is one command that continues to elude Mr. B, well actually us training Mr. B, and that is slow or walk. Ever since Miss M broke her toenail off, we have been more conscientious of their indoor behavior. 

For some reason, life is too exciting for Mr. B and he always has to jog or run, which is the complete opposite of Miss M. We can tell which pooch is approaching by the pace of their footsteps. Miss M is more of a tap...tap...tap...tap...tap type of pooch, and though you probably couldn't tell from the pictures but Mr. B is more of a taptaptaptaptap type of pooch. 

Miss M cannot get to us slow enough and Mr. B cannot get to us fast enough. It is quite annoying when we have to go for a walk and Miss M is taking her own sweet time, sauntering around and enjoying the decor of the house, while Mr. B is running so fast that he has to slide under or jump over our legs.

We have tried without any success to get Mr. B to enjoy his morning walk from the bedroom to the living room in the morning or his evening walk from the living room to the bedroom. Sometimes it seems like life is too short for Mr. B and he has to run everywhere to make sure he enjoys it all and doesn't miss a thing.

Miss M on the other hand thinks living with us has been long enough and she needs to buy time so she doesn't have to be bored by our presence,

oddly enough, Miss M has a lot of wiggle and pep in her step when she meets new people.

Do your pups enjoy life fast or slow?

DoggyStyle: Communal Beds

Ever since we moved into a place with so many hardwood floors, I try to compensate by providing extra cushions and beds for the pooches. Originally, we had a lot of floor pillows  which were the perfect sizes for the pooches to perch.

We wanted to make sure each of our pups had space, so made some matching twin-style beds, ala Ozzie and Harriet:

Though we soon realized, even with separate beds they were just happier smooshing themselves into a single bed anyway.

Even the small ones:

So we decided to get one communal bed: Molly Mutt's size HUGE to comfortably fit both of them. 

I'm curious how other paired pups do it. 

Do your pups prefer single beds or just sharing one bed?

Also:

Remember Big Dog in a small bed?

And how we save money by using human products for our pups.

Choice!

Daily Walk: Mr. B Walks His Stuffy

It is pretty well known that Mr. B loves his stuffies. Nearly every time we 'suit-up' for a walk, he is grabbing his nearest stuffy ready to go. to Every so often we decide to give in and let him take his favorite stuffy of the moment on the walk. Right now, his favorite stuffy of the moment seems to be this big red bone that our dog walker gave him several Christmases ago. Except for a couple of stitches and missed stuffing, it has held up well over the years.

As with the start of all walks, he will run back and forth around the house with the stuffy and once the leash is on, he will grab the stuffy and sprint out the door.

The reason why we don't let him to take the stuffy on a walk, is that once we get outside, he will lose interest, dump it in the nearest mud puddle, and then it will be either A or me carrying a stuffy on the rest of our walk.

Surprisingly, this walk Mr. B carried his stuffy for almost a 1/4 mile. Then it appeared as if he got bored or his jaw became tired of holding onto such a heavy stuffy or

he just lost track of it.

 Though he enjoyed finding his stuffy on his head, he was more excited by pets on the head.

Does anyone else have a pup who carries their own toys on walks?

Also:

How we taught Mr. B not to destroy his stuffies

Invasion!

Could Mr. B actually be part stuffy?