Two Pitties in the City

The Stuffy Named Mr. B

2012-02-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

Several people have mentioned that Mr. B reminded them of a stuffed animal and just last month we wrote about Mr. B and his stuffies, but now we are thinking that Mr. B might actually be a stuffy. In his winter hat he looks a lot like Paddington Bear

and just like Paddington Bear he is a member of his adoptive family, but unlike Paddington Bear he does not have a love for marmalade, but a love for easy cheese. Akin to Paddington Bear, Mr. B wears his hat and has adventures in the big city, not London, but Chicago. A has written how he looks like the lovable Baloo from Disney's adaption of The Jungle Book.

I like to think of him more like Winnie-the-Pooh, having adventures all around the city and sometimes in our home with

his stuffies; Piglet, Tigger and crew.

I can even picture him adapting this quote for his favorite stuffy “We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh (Mr. B)?' asked Piglet (Stuffy). Even longer,' Pooh (Mr. B) answered.”

So that would mean that I'm Christopher Robin

and this would be my sentiment to Mr. B.

DoggyStyle: Mr B's Tepee Upgrade

2012-02-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

This is Mr. B.
Mr. B lives in a tepee.
Just like a character in a children's book!

But it didn't start out so magical.
We know how important it is for our pooches to have places that are comfortable and familiar to them, and to keep them safe from temptation while we are away. Mr. B loves being in a his crate. So much that he will even share:

He just didn't love it when the door was shut. So he decided to use his face as a battering ram to break out.
We began leaving him in the crate with the door open, but his huge crate soon became an eyesore. So, we replaced his crate with a tepee. Now he still has a private place to hang out, but we think it looks so much better for our decor. We wrote more about it here.

And since the winter has been so gloomy, and we have to stay inside so much, we decided to take it up a notch. Much like the guy who decorates his dorm room with lights, Mr. B added some twinkle lights to the top of his teepee.

Though he likes to think it's more classy, like the Eiffel Tower, than a dorm room.
But, at least it's attracting the ladies, even if it is just Miss M.

SociaBulls: The Dog who 'Loves too Hard'

2012-02-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

Since we’ve started our SociaBulls group, a lot of people have been asking how the dogs benefitfrom the experience. We have a wide-range of dogs who join for differentreasons, so we thought it would be interesting to highlight different member'sexperiences.
Zoe is an adorable pooch we met in our neighborhood back when we were still fostering SuperLevi. We were all heading to a rally to save our local police station when Levi literallystopped dead in his tracks and wouldn’t move. Short of dragging SuperLevi across the concrete, his reluctance to move was the serendipity allowing us tomeet the amazing Zoe and her mom. They have since become integral members of the group: never missing a walk, always dressing in the latest doggy style (just check out all her 'costume changes below', and her mom has even become New Member Co-Coordinator .

Here is Zoe’s story, along withphotos of last weekend’s snowy SociaBulls walk.

Adopting Zoe
The first time I saw Zoe, I knew that she and I were meant to be.

When I first saw her at PAWS Chicago, she was cuddling in a room with a little German Shepard puppy and a Rhodesian Ridgebackmix. Though I was immediately drawn to Zoe with her soulful eyes and heart-shapednose, the PAWS volunteer showed us the Ridgeback mix first. To be sure, she wasa beautiful dog, but I just couldn’t get that little brindle puppy out of mymind. So, I asked to see her. We were taken to a room where we could play andtoss a ball around for her. Instead of playing with the ball, she ran fromperson to person, butt wiggling and tail wagging. She was just happy to bealive.After much wrangling with my landlord and my husband, we took Zoe home less than a weeklater. It truly was one of the happiest days of my life.Zoe walked out of PAWS with us, hopped into our car, and never looked back. Neither did we.

Working with an Energetic Dog in the City

At five months old, Zoe was a ball of energy who required daily 4-5 mile walks. Thoughtime-consuming, I looked forward to our adventures. It was like experiencingChicago as a tourist, as Zoe and I visited new neighborhoods and exploredpreviously overlooked sites. While this was great exercise and lots of fun, Ilonged for other like-minded dog owners to join us.

Finding SociaBulls:

Fortunately, Zoe and I ran into A. and SuperLevi in the neighborhood when our dogs literallybrought us together. Zoe and I were walking behind A. and SuperLevi when ourdogs caught sight of one another. SuperLevi started to pull A. backward towardus, while Zoe began to drag me forward toward Levi. Before we knew it, A. and Iwere walking side-by-side, commiserating over our dogs’ boundless energy. Afterdescribing my lengthy daily walks with Zoe, A. mentioned this dog-walking groupshe had just formed called Chicago SociaBulls. The instant I heard about agroup with a philosophy of “owners-helping-owners,” and a commitment to pitbull type dogs, I was on board. Within an hour of meeting A., I had emailed herand requested to join the group. Before we knew it, Zoe and I were on our wayto becoming part of the pack.

Even on our first walk with SociaBulls, I realized how much this experience could help myexcitable Zoe. As a dog with the attention span of a peanut and the strength ofa horse, Zoe desperately needed to become a more attentive and restrainedwalker. In her excitement to meet new people and dogs, Zoe had a tendency tothrow herself at the nearest person or dog in sight, going into what we referto as “bucking bronco mode.” As my husband’s friend describes Zoe, “She loves alittle too hard.”Walking with

SociaBulls:

Fortunately,SociaBulls has been a place where Zoe and I could work on those behaviorswithout judgment or embarrassment. After her initial excitement at thebeginning of walks, Zoe has learned to settle into a rhythm with the other dogsin the pack. She does especially well when walking next to Mr. B, whose calmdemeanor is a positive influence on her.

Because our dogs are not allowed to directly interact, Zoe has learned that she does not need togreet every dog she sees on the street. Additionally, she has become muchcalmer when walking in large crowds – something that is essential in a busymetropolis like Chicago. Finally, Zoe has become much better at payingattention to me with lots of distractions around her. While we still have moreto work on, we have come a long way.

Indeed, SociaBulls has not only improved s Zoe’s behavior, but it has connected me with a group ofdog owners whom I not only respect, but consider dear friends. I can saywithout irony or exaggeration that I feel I have become part of a community thathas changed my life. And as the New Member Co-Coordinator, I hope to offer thisexperience to other interested dog owners. As our group expands each day, Icannot wait to see what awaits us next.
You can also read more about Zoe’s adventures in Chicago with her feline siblings by visiting their blog 'Two Kitties, One Pittie'.And you can read about SociaBulls members Izzy (Being a good pitbull ambassador while working with an energetic dog) and Maize (Being social with an unsocial pup).
You can also stay up to date with photos, updates, doggy snow fashion and announcements on our SociaBulls facebookpage here.

Pooches: On Finding the One

2012-02-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

I never expected Miss M to be "The One". And I never expected my experience with Miss M to lead me to E where we would one day be married with our little family.

See, I was very calculated when I began looking for a dog. My first decision was that I wanted to adopt. My second decision was that it would NOT be a pitbull-type dog. Not even a percentage. When I was scanning all the photos on Petfinder I would skip all the dogs with big blocky heads, and I would move on from anything even hinting at being a pitbull.

But then an amazing thing happened. After meeting so many dogs at so many adoption events, I met a pitbull. And she was amazing! She was laying on the ground, patiently, and when I looked in her direction her face lit up and she began wiggling in excitement. I had never met a dog so sweet and so in tune with people--until I went over and met the second pitbull at the event.
It was only after meeting my first pitbull in real life that I realized how wrong all my assumptions about pitbulls had been. And I had to make Miss M mine.

(Vintage Miss M)

At the same time, I had been very calculated as a single girl. I always had a singular idea of the 'type' of person I would end up with. And I would limit most of my experiences to trying to find that type of person.
But after realizing how wrong I had been about my perfect dog, I realized how wrong I had been in my calculations.
As E wrote in this (favorite!) post, we were never expected to be together. I am Jewish and E is Korean-American. Our families expected different things for us.

But at the same time, it was inevitable:
E, who has a PhD in neuroscience, was working in a research lab. He wanted to become more involved with his community. He decided to become a high-school teacher in the city.
I was working downtown in advertising. I wanted to become more involved in my community. I decided to become a high-school teacher in the city.
We ended up teaching at the same school; we started the same year. Our school was so big, it was only that second year that we met each other. I knew early. He was afraid of my pitbull...until he met her that first time.

If it hadn't been for my experiences with Miss M, I never would have realized how wrong my calculated efforts were. Or what I could have missed out on. And now we live happily with two pitties in the city!

I'm always curious about everyone's back stories and how they knew their pooches were right for them. How did everyone else end up with your "one"? And did your "one" help you find your other "one"?

Pooches: On Walking During Winter and Ruffwear Giveaway Results!

2012-02-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Knowing how important daily exercise and socialization are for our pooches, we just make sure to bundle up when we go on our daily walks. We love getting out there and going by the principle that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes, we've learned to bundle our pooches in sweaters, snoods, and hoodies, bundle ourselves up for our daily walks, and we've found classic dog coats for inclement weather.

We were beyond excited that Ruffwear has donated coats for adoptables Bessie-Belle and Ferris to navigate the Chicago winter as they wait for their forever homes.

Plus...two lucky winners!
It's times like these that we really wish we like Oprah where we were able to give coats to everyone; it sounds like there are a lot of cold pups out there! But we are just us.
So we used a random number generator to randomly choose 1 winner from blog comments and 1 winner from facebook photos. And the winners are:
Liz and the adorable Bella who wrote

"Bella would adore a Ruffwear coat!! She'd actuallybe willing to go outside in the winter for more than a quick "businesstrip"!"

And Lindsay Grounds and the very lucky Bianca:

This sweet Pittie girl was rescued from a Sheriff's-officer-run dog-fighting ring out of Houston, TX in December of 2010. Since that time, she has been waiting patiently at Treat 'Em Right Rescue for her forever home. An amazing family from Battle Creek, MI (burrr!) fell in love with her some time ago, and we have finally been able to make arrangements to get her to them! This amazing girl is going from hot, winterless Texas to snow, snow, and more snow! She's going to need a winter wardrobe and would love to get one of these awesome coats! She makes her journey up through the US next weekend (Feb. 17-19)!! Oh, and with her fabulous new coat, she would be able to run and play outside in the freezing Michigan snow with her new Pittie brother, Gogo! She could do all the fabulous things she's always dreamed of!

Congrats to the winners! Winners, please make sure to contact us by emailing us using the envelope icon on the sidebar of our blog. And we hope all the pooches can stay warm this winter and enjoy some time outdoors.

The Human by Mr. B

2012-02-10T07:13:00.000-06:00

Mr. B is quite a shy pooch compared to Miss M, but once he warms up to you, he will always be your friend. He is a very loyal pooch that would spend hours cuddling with us whenever we are home and

whenever we leave, he will patiently look out the window

and follow anyone that passes by in hopes that it is his favorite human.

While Mr. B waits for his bestest friend, we could see him citing Pablo Neruda, "absence is such a large house that you'll walk through the wall, hang pictures in sheer air."

When he sees his favorite human, he will stand like a bear at the glass trying to say hi. He will then run towards the door and start hopping up like a rabbit and scratching at the wall and the door. His favorite human does not happen to be A or me...but our dog walker. He truly loves her and he cannot contain his excitement whenever she comes over for his walks.

The Other Pooch

2012-02-09T06:56:00.000-06:00

Mr. B and I will always be best friends, but lately, I feel like I have been neglecting Mr. B and spending most of my time at home hanging out with a different pooch. Actually , I think she has been hanging out with me most of the time.

Sweet Miss Bessie Belle and I love hanging out on our new living room bed and it has turned into our "go to" lounge area.

It is also our work space, nap space, "tv" watching space, basically it is our all-purpose space.

The bed is big, but only big enough for me and Sweet Bessie Belle. Poor Mr. B, he is always too slow to squat a spot in the bed, so he has to succumb to his usual role as Miss M's body pillow.

Dog Gear: On Winter Dog Coats (and a fantastic Giveaway!)

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Living in Chicago, without a backyard, we are always consumed with weather and how to keep all of us warm on our numerous daily walks. We had written previously about keeping dogs warm with Dog Sweaters, Snoods, and Hoodies, and gear to make daily dog walks easier for us humans. So this post will cover dog coats for inclement weather.
Being short-haired dogs, our pooches get really cold in the winter, and diva Miss M hates the rain. As we searched for dog coats, we found it was harder to find coats in larger sizes, and since pitbull-type dogs are so 'chesty', it also makes it hard to find coats that fit. Our go-to has become Ruffwear coats where we picked up the Sunshower Rain Jackets (now discontinued) and K-9 Overcoat.

The pooches' Ruffwear coats have served us well lasting for the past several years and even through a Blizzaster. And while we do have Miss M's fun pink puffy coat for a good laugh, we do find these Ruffwear coats are the dog equivalent of the basic black wool coat: you keep returning to for its quality, reliability and classic fit.

Since we have been fostering Sweet Bessie-Belle during the winter, we knew we needed to find a big coat for our 90+ pound gal. I started a conversation with the people over at Ruffwear who not only helped us decide on a good fit, but offered to donate coats to foster dog Bessie-Belle and adoptable Ferris AND they are giving away 2 brand new coats to readers (read to the bottom for info!). Here is what we found out about the newest Ruffwear offerings.
Bessie-Belle decided to go classic and try out the newly redesigned Ruffwear K-9 Overcoat.

We like it has a fleece lining for warmth to stay warm through even a Blizzaster, but since the shell is also water-resistant it can double as a raincoat. In Chicago, it would be a 3-season coat. The buckles on the side make it easy to take on/off (no lifting legs through armholes and working with snaps) and you can adjust the straps for specific sizing. We also like it has the reflective strip since our winters here tend to be especially dark.

Compared with the earlier versions of the Ruffwear K-9 overcoat (as modeled by Miss M), the overall length is a bit longer and roomier. We do like that it has a higher, almost cuffed neckline, to eliminate snow and rain. This coat also comes in green; Sweet Bessie-Belle wears a size large.

We had been eyeing Ruffwear's new Quinzee coat which seems like a dog version of a puffy coat. Of course we knew this would be perfect for adoptable Ferris to call his own as all the urban youth in the city are going puffy.

We like that this coat is the perfect combination of functionality and city cool. It repels the elements by being water-resistant and is the equivalent of being wrapped up in a warm blanket. The higher neckline works to keep snow and rain out, but also has a zipper on the neck...for that urban-chic look.

On the practical side, this coat is very light-weight and it even has it's own stuff-sack on the inside to fold into itself. And it also has the reflective lining.
Mr. B (ok..me) is actually eyeing this coat which would be perfect for his city strolls..and his urban-dog image. This coat also comes in red. Ferris and Mr. B (modeling Ferris's coat) wear size Medium.

We were beyond excited that Ruffwear donated coats to help adoptables Bessie-Belle and Ferris stay warm this winter. And we were completely floored when they offered to give away coats to two(!) lucky readers.
There are two ways to enter, but please only enter 1 time.
We love spending time with our pooches, plus we know how important it is for their socialization, to always take them new places. With her new coat Miss Bessie-Belle is looking forward to longer walks in different neighborhoods (hoping to meet "the one"!) and Ferris is excited about more SociaBulls walks and urban neighborhood strolls.
What new thing would you be able to do with your pooch if you won a new Ruffwear coat?

1) Let us know by commenting on our blog post here. (Or comment here if the comment section is being fussy: http://www.twopittiesinthecity.com/)
OR
2) Post a photo on our Facebook page of your pooch letting us know what you'd be able to do with a new coat. (We do love seeing photos of your pooches!)

Details:
-Please only enter once by commenting on the blog OR posting a photo on the facebook page.
-We will use a random number generator to randomly choose a winner from
1) Overall blog comments
2) Facebook photos
-You have until Friday at Midnight (EST) to post your comment or photo
-Winners will be able to choose your own style and size and have your coat shipped to you from Ruffwear
-Winners must live within the contiguous United States

SociaBulls: The Experiment Called SociaBulls

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

SociaBulls has turned into something a lot larger than we ever could have imagined. It first started with a lot of guidance and advice from Lark at HikeABull, and then a small group walk with Buddy, Jack, Maize, Torre and Miss M and Mr. B back in August. Though A is the brains, beauty and brawn behind SociaBulls, I would like to think that I am more than just the husband and I actually do some of the little things behind the scenes, like driving us to and fro and walking a pooch.

Regardless, I love the community that we have built, and that we continue to build, as we incorporate new pooches. With more than 80 new member requests, we love that SociaBulls members have stepped up to create a "Board" which is seemlessly helping integrate new members and keep things manageable.
Our own pooches have even given up their walking spots to allow adorable adoptable Ferris from New Leash on Life come to work on his leash skills, as A leads and documents the walk and serves as the 'dogless person' each week.

We love how we are still able keep our main vision of 'owners helping owners' and we are excited to see new groups starting up in so many different cities.

We also enjoy that this is a free way for people to work with their dogs without any judgement or criticism.

Also, it is nice to work with a pooch without worrying about what others are thinking and being part of a community of like-minded and responsible dog owners.

We even have a Chicago SociaBulls facebook page with further updates.

Goodbye, Knox

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

When I first adopted Miss M, I felt so alone. None of my friends had dogs. I didn't know how to deal with her leash pulling. Or her over-excitement. Plus, people were getting really sick of my 'Miss M' stories.
Flash forward a couple of years and I found an amazing on-line dog and pitbull community. It has been so helpful sharing resources and stories, while realizing we're all in this together. This is where we met the beyond adorable Knox and his family:

Reading about their adventures felt so similar to my own. They always referred to Knox as the pup that 'changed their lives', moving from young 20-somethings to responsible dog-owners advocating for the breed. It was through their experiences with Knox that they decided to 'pay it forward' by opening their home to foster dogs. Knox made the perfect foster brother, mentoring his many fosters as they found new homes. And only using them as furniture...sometimes.

And beyond seeing how inspiring they were with their foster work, Knox also became a dog blood-donor helping save the lives of so many other dogs:

And while Knox and his family have worked so hard saving lives by opening spaces in the shelter through fostering, and saving lives through blood donation..the unfortunate thing is Knox passed away over the weekend. He was a young pup whose life was cut unbelievably short by a sudden and unexpected illness.
Though we had only known Knox virtually, his personality was so big it came bursting out of the computer screen, and we feel like we know him more intimately than we know some of the dogs we see on our block each day.
We askthat you please not comment on this blog post, but instead go over to Pittieful Love’s Facebook Page and leave them some kind words; a thoughtful message of support and hope tohelp them through this very difficult time.

"The Great White Pooch" by Miss M

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Miss M has quite the reputation among Mr. B and our former fosters for her needy sleeping habits. It didn't take Miss M long to realize that Mr. B makes a pretty comfortable pillow.

Lucky for Mr. B, he gets to enjoy a short respite from Miss M, whenever we have a foster, such as Wilma

and Super Levi,

but it is not quite the same with Miss Bessie Belle, Mr. B is a bit confused why he is still the warm bodice for Miss M. As written in Miss M's memoirs: "Call me Miss M... Chief among all my endeavors is the marvelous cushion of the great pooch. Such a portentous and mysterious ottoman rouses all of my dreams," Miss Bessie Belle is Miss M's most elusive ottoman and pillow. Yet, there was one time, when Miss M came very close to capturing the great white pooch.
She started her voyage by testing the pillows and the limits of the great pooch's tolerance.

She laid to give the great pooch a false sense of security.

Then she checked to ensure that the great pooch was sound asleep from her false sense of security,

and she plotted her plan of attack, we could see the wheels turning inside Miss M's little head.

Out of nowhere she swooped in, like a cheetah, a rather portly cheetah, for her most elusive ottoman.

But, Miss Bessie Belle was wise enough to always sleep with one eye open and knew that Miss M was approaching.

Poor Miss Bessie Belle has the look of terror in her eyes, as she ran quickly away from the grips of Miss M's monster arms.

Unlucky for Miss M, Miss Bessie Belle just eluded her clutches

and not became just another foster succumbed to Miss M's wiles.

PS. Did you catch the literary reference?

PSS. We've heard people have been having problems commenting. We have an exciting giveaway next week, so we wanted to get a sense of whether people are still having that problem. If you can't comment...please let us know on our Two Pitties facebook page.

My Favorite Room in the Winter

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

Other than the bedroom, I love to spend most of my time out on the porch during the summer, and when summer ended so did my favorite lounging spot. Luckily, A and I decided to foster Miss Bessie Belle, because she agreed to let me turn our front room into a large bed.

Though it is probably hard for many of you to believe, some people think that I am still much like a little kid. When I told A that my co-workers told me that I have the attention span of a 12 year old, she said she was offended, because I am more like a 6 year old. That being written, I finally had my perfect front room, with numerous places to just lounge and cuddle with the pooches.

We had four large comforters laying all around the front room, so I, along with the pooches, could lay, crawl and lay wherever we felt like. Problem is that now that I'm on the floor, I have become another chair or pillow for Miss M.

Unlucky for all of us, A felt like we lived in squalor and "requested" that I find a better option to make the front room the perfect lounging room. The pooches and I decided to order a Molly Mutt huge dog bed duvet and we filled it with all of the comforters that we used to make the perfect lay, crawl, lay area.

Now, the Molly Mutt bed has become the best spot where the pooches and I can hang out and relax. I guess the only downside is that oftentimes it gets too crowded for me and

sometimes it even becomes too crowded for Miss M.

Pooches: Preparing to Walk our Dogs in the Winter

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

Since we don't have a backyard we don't have a choice: we need to go outside several times a day to walk our dogs. And while that might sound like a terrible thing...it really hasn't been that bad. We do believe in the phrase: "There's no such thing as bad weather. Only bad clothes". Since then, we've picked up on some things to make our winter walks a bit easier and dog-walking specific. Though not as dramatic as Miss M's attire.

Crampons:

It has taken us over 3 years to get on the crampon bandwagon, but it has been well worth it. There's many a Chicago sidewalk that will be completely iced over, which becomes even more complicated with an excited dog (or two!). Tired of feeling like every walk was Iditarod, we finally picked up these crampons allowing us to walk over ice with ease. Now we wonder why it has taken us so long.

Flip Top Gloves:

I've found that I always have to take off my mittens to get a poo bag out, which can get cold. So now I use flip-top gloves so I don't have to take my gloves off, or risk loosing one in the snow. I've been curious about using 'texting gloves' because I think those might work well also. Has anyone tried those?

Dog Booties:

I'm not sure if our dogs' feet get cold as much as they get salt caught between their paws which can be painful. We had tried using the fancy boots before, then we just found out about PAWs disposable reusable boots which stay on, are cheap, and can be replaced easily if lost. We had written about our quest for the perfect snow boot here.

We are actually going to have an exciting dog coat post coming up next week. What are some other cold-weather dog-walking tips you've found?
PS. The hat Miss M wears is actually from the kids' section at Old Navy. It has little pom poms at the bottom we secure and it stays on really well. We think it makes her look like an Ice Princess...in many ways.

Details of Their Perfect Diet

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the pooches' perfect diet and my new meal plan. Since then, we have had numerous questions asking for specifics of the pooches' actual diet. At first we were hesitant to detail our specific diet as these are the things we have found to work for our dogs, but we do know all dogs are different and we want people to understand the mix that works for our dogs may not be perfect for all dogs.
We only feed the pooches twice a day: once in the morning (around 6:30 am during the week and 8:30 am on the weekends) and once in the evening (around 4:30).

During the summer we realized Miss M was a bit rotund and their kidney levels were dangerously high.
We wanted to add whole fruits and vegetables, but honestly, we didn't think we had the time or patience to actually "cook" for our dogs. And by 'cook' I mean cut up stuff.
We were lucky to discover Sojos Grain-Free Dog Food Mix which is largely a blend of dried veggies and fruits. We had tried some other dehydrated veggie mixes, but we really liked how Sojos had the larger chunks. It almost looks like a type of casserole we would eat ourselves. Since Sojos should be rehydrated overnight in the refrigerator, we have set off a whole shelf in the fridge just for our pooches' food, but you can also just rehydrate Sojos in water for at least 1 hour.
We also started using a high-quality meat. We rotate between Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet canned formula and raw food nuggets or patties; we vary this up based on the price and availability, brands include Northwest Naturals, Nature's Variety, and Stella & Chewy's. For each pooch in their morning meal, we use a half cup of Sojos Grain-Free Dog Food Mix, a half can (6.5 oz or 185 g) of the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet (we vary the formula every meal), a cup of the raw food nuggets or a half patty of raw food, a splash of goat's milk, a tablespoon of probiotics and a can of water. We prepare this each night and store it overnight in the refrigerator.

Though we would like to use the raw food for both their meals, but due to the cost of raw food, we just add another half can (6.5 oz or 185 g) of their canned diet in lieu of the raw food for their afternoon meal. Since we were so excited about Miss M's healthy weight loss, which we largely attribute to Sojos, we decided to use add Sojos to Miss Bessie Belle's diet.

For each meal, Miss Bessie Belle has a whole cup of Sojos Complete Food Mix with Raw Turkey with a cup of her kibble (and splash of goat's milk and a tablespoon of probiotics). With this healthy diet and long walks, in the short time she's been with us Miss Bessie Belle has lost over 8 lb. and now has a renewed pep in her step and is very lively!

Recently, A had a discussion with a representative from Sojos and raved about the great success we have had with their products and they have offered to "sponsor" both the bigger gal-pooches of New Leash on Life, Miss Bessie Belle and Miss Claudia to regain a healthy weight as they search for their forever homes.

Miss Claudia, who would not eat a bite of her kibble in boarding, now thoroughly enjoys her kibble with Sojos Grain-Free Dog Food Mix and a splash of goat's milk in her foster home.

SociaBulls: Izzy and Her Pack

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

I'm always amazed at the variety of reasons people chose to join SociaBulls and how different their goals are. So we've decided to highlight some of our SociaBulls members to show their varying experiences with the group.
This gorgeous brindle gal with the crazy ears is Izzy! We first met Izzy's mom through SociaBulls; she was one of the very first emails we received when we announced we were forming the group. Since then they have been very dedicated members and her mom has been instrumental to organizing and growing the group. Izzy is not only her first pitbull-type dog...but her very first dog!
Here is their story about trying to remain good pitbull ambassadors while working with an energetic dog.

Lastsummer I came across Two Pitties in the City blog and immediately becameenamored with Mr. B and Ms. M. And as Ispent some time reading about their daily adventures, I also realized that Mr.B and Ms. M’s parents were providing an honest insight into the challenges ofbeing a dog owner, the quest for finding new resources and ultimately wantingto show how wonderful pit bulls and pit bull type dogs are.

See, Izzyis my very first dog and the day she came into my life I embraced theresponsibility of providing her with the best quality of life possible. And I also recognized that I was responsiblefor being an ambassador for pit bulls. Many a day I questioned (and still do) whether or not I was doing a goodjob. Why can’t I get her to stop pullingwhen we walk? Why must she annihilateevery soft plush toy I give her? Is shegetting enough exercise? Was it my faulther toenail split? Is she beingsocialized enough? Sometimes I felt likea lone dog owner, wondering if there were others out there that had just asmany questions as I did.

Izzy is avery good girl. At just over 2, herenergy knows no bounds. She is quiteintelligent and a little bit wily, but is over the top generous with heraffection and desire to follow me from room to room as I go about my day. And she loves, LOVES to meet other dogs andpeople. So, when Two Pitties introduceda pack walking experience, I knew Izzy and I had to join the pack.

ChicagoSociaBulls has brought a positive dimension to our lives. Through our weekly pack walk, Izzy islearning that she can be around other dogs without screaming “HI! FRIENDS! LET’S PLAY!!” Now, though she does get excited when the pack gathers,she is able to remain calm, and keep focused on me and the commands I giveher. When we gather each week, Izzygreets her pack with “Hey pack! Let’swalk!” And so we walk. Through pack walking Izzy has been able towalk side by side with other dogs, even creating the perfect trifecta. Her focus is sharp and she is increasinglyless distracted by the random chicken bone on the ground, or the renegadesquirrel. On our solo walks, her pullinghas decreased significantly and she is more adjusted to walking at the pace Ichoose, rather than forcing me to move at a faster clip. Her dog greeting manners have improvedtremendously and we can now walk through the neighborhood and pass other dogswithout Izzy stopping in her tracks and pulling to get over to meet the otherdog. For me, the pack has allowed me tobecome part of a community of like-minded dog owners. I don’t feel alone anymore in my quest to bethe best pit bull owner I can be. Izzyhas a pack, and now, so do I.

Since this, we have had an overwhelming response from other like-minded dogowners looking to join the group. If you contacted us previously, we are currently working on a new member enrollment system and you should hear from us soon. If you are interested in joining the group, please email us at chicagosociabulls@gmail.com.

Miss M being Miss M

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

We are very lucky that Miss M is not much of a barker. We have only heard her bark to correct, and that is ironic since it is Miss M that should be the one getting corrected. However, that does not mean that she is not a vocal pooch. Most of the time, Miss M is quite the lazy pooch, enjoying her 23 hrs of shut eye moving from one comfy spot

to another.

However, she becomes quite a vocal pooch when she wants something. On the weekends, if we happen to stir at all, this is a signal for the pooches to freak out. First I am woken up by Mr. B's gigantic face licking my nose.

Then comes Miss M's melodic singing. We first thought that she had to go potty, so we would take her down, but that ended up with her running around the backyard and then running back up the stairs and crying to get back in to the house. Eventually we learned that her melodic singing was for her breakfast.

Poor Miss Bessie-Belle, she still has not gotten used to their routine and one time she got caught in a Night at the Roxberry moment, with Miss M on one side and Mr. B on the other side knocking her back and forth.

FYI:The gate we have up, blocks Miss M from sneaking out in the middle of the night to scope out any food that is unaccounted for, to go potty on the living room rug or to do some random mischief.

DoggyStyle: On Sweaters and Hoodies and Snoods

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

Even as the temperatures dip, and Chicago winter is in full swing, we still need to walk our dogs. But like many pitbull-type short-hair dogs, our pooches absolutely hate the cold weather.
Finding ways to keep our dogs warm had become our mission--not to mention our 'gateway' into costumes. We have been getting a lot of questions about our recommendations for keeping larger 'chesty' dogs warm. Here is Part I: Sweaters, Hoodies, and Snoods. (We will cover coats and inclement weather items in an upcoming post).

Sweaters

Sweaters are good because they can transition from inside cold to outside cold without a wardrobe change. Plus sweaters are usually our go-to's during the holidays when we're trying to convince our family that our dogs will actually behave this time. We initially had a hard time finding sweaters that fit, and weren't too expensive. We do like our matching black and pink skull sweaters; these were actually our first 'dog clothes' purchase and they were a bit pricy, plus the fit is a little off.
We also ended up ordering some custom dog sweaters from friend Our Waldo Bungie whose mom knits and gives part of the proceeds to help dogs.

We bought these sweaters which were a mere $30 each, and we like that they are customized to our dogs' size, plus we could choose the colors (though choice can be so overwhelming for me!)

Hoodies

Our dogs didn't really need hoodies, but at only $12-14 we thought they were good for a laugh. They are Zack and Zoey from Amazon, and you should always order a size bigger. ~~Our dogs wear Large, SuperLevi was a Medium, and Big Bessie wears XL...but it's a bit big on her.~~ Oops...I wrote that really late at night. Our dogs are XL, Bessie is XXL, and SuperLevi was Large. The tight arms and chest make them look hilarious

Miss M was able to wear the green one for St Patrick's day. We have noticed a lot of Sociabulls members wearing them, and especially having the great idea of using them as a layering piece.

Snoods

After I had seen a couple of snoods on people around town, I thought they would be the perfect cold-weather accompaniment for our pooches. The snood can serve as a type of turtleneck, or be pulled up like a hood, which makes our pooches look like otters:

They fit perfectly in the gap between the pooches neck and coat, and I like that they can cover prongs or training collars. They also keep their ears warm without having to wear a hat. We got ours from one of our SociaBulls members who started a dog scarf Etsy shop, just as I was searching for some snoods.

These are some of the non-coat items our pooches wear on colder days. You can also see quite the array from our SociaBulls walks and a great writeup by fellow Chicagoan, and SociaBulls member, Zoe which details even more options.
What do your pooches wear when it gets cold?

Pooches: On The Secrets of Elderbulls

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Having foster dog Bessie-Belle in our house has let us in on a secret: Elderbulls are basically move-in ready dogs. And after paying our dues with crazy Miss M, it's nice to know there are options to be able to enjoy dogs with less of the craziness and excitement.
I really wish I had started this blog when I had first adopted Miss M, because people don't realize how much work I put into her. When I wasn't taking her on one of many, many long walks a day or tackling her when she tried to take the leash from my hand, she may have been home chewing one of my heels, or even her own bed. But we all expect that from a younger pup.

For some reason, when we were looking for our second dog, we automatically looked younger. For a time we were even in a foster-to-adopt with a pooch Miss M's same age and energy level. We would awaken to them playing. Need to go on even more walks a day. And put up with dogs leaping over our furniture (yes, that really did happen). We realized we really weren't up for going through all of that again. So we thought we needed to put our search on hold. Until we realized...we should just adopt an older dog.

Mr. B was 5 years old when we adopted him. We did find that, unfortunately, it is often harder to find the older dogs. Our search for Mr. B took us all the way to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Maybe that's part of the secret? We didn't have to go through training class again.We didn't have to deal with endless energy. He didn't chew things he shouldn't. And he fit in with our lifestyle; even going skateboarding with E.

Now we've realized just how move-in ready foster Sweet Bessie-Belle is. She hasn't destroyed anything. Hasn't had a single accident in the house. Doesn't need to go on countless long walks each day. Basically perfect! And the perfect anecdote to being able to adopt a second dog without starting over with the craziness again.

Plus we really appreciate how easy our life is now that our dogs are a bit older. I sometimes wonder if I would trade in all the years of agony working with Miss M if I could have just adopted her as she is now?

City Dog: Shopping and Winter Socialization

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

During the summer, our pooches are accustomed to being out and about, meeting different people, and exploring different places. But once winter in Chicago hits, we all head inside to hibernate. And we quickly learned last spring that when we stop exposing our pooches to new things all winter, spring-time becomes a tedious reteaching process. So we've been trying some new things:

I didn't think we had many options to take them places during the winter, but when we heard Home Depot allows dogs we thought we'd give it a try.

We did make sure to ask the employees in advance, and Mr. B had a great time walking through the aisles with his 'tool backpack' and helping E get supplies. Plus I think he was happy to have some away time from all the ladies in the house.

I guess it isn't very often that you see a large dog in a store. Especially in a backpack. And with his own camera. Curious how Home Depot looks from a dog's perspective? Here are some of Mr B's highlights:

When we originally posted this on our Facebook page, people mentioned a lot of places where they were able to take their dogs. What are some unusual places where you're able to take your pooch?

SociaBulls: Navigating a Dog-Walking Group in a Densely Populated City

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to hear about so many people who have decided to start own walking groups in their own city, and we've been hearing many questions about how to do this within a densely populated area.
Last week Lark from HikeaBulls shared some great tips about the importance of creating structure to set all the dogs up for success. To add on, here are some things we've learned about managing walks within the city:

Explore Beforehand and Choose a Continuous Route:

The key aspect of the walking is developing a rhythm for the dogs to walk as a pack. The hard parts are when the dogs are stopped because they usually get anxious, or may react to other dogs' hard stares. So it is really important to find routes that don't involve a lot of traffic lights or stopping. We have gotten very creative with our routes, and after learning more about our local Park District we've found many park-like areas which allow continuous walking. We also choose areas with ample or easy parking.

Have a Dogless Leader (or a Few!):

The problem with finding these great uninterrupted park-like areas is these areas are usually the spaces where people like to go off-leash. Knowing how on-leash dogs can get over-excited, or even defensive, when approached by off-leash dogs, we are very careful to intercept these dogs as often as possible. We have members who will volunteer to attend the walk, without their dog, to help intercept other dogs approaching. We try to have a leader in the front, back and middle; members walking at the front of the group will yell back if a dog is approaching. Usually people are a bit curious, and with a wave the leader is able to explain to the approaching person or dog that our dogs are 'in training' and they need to focus and not interact with other dogs. People have been really nice about it, and in many cases people will even step to the side. The leaders also carry extra supplies: water, bowls, poo bags, extra leashes (we had one break!). We are working on making cards and informational material for the people who stop us and ask about the group.

Create a Pack Order:

Knowing our dogs all have different socialization experiences, we create an order within our group to allow dogs to feel confident during the walk. We usually have our most excited, or leash-reactive, dog in the lead. We have several confident dogs we use as 'buffers' between over-excited dogs. We are aware of dogs who might be afraid of men, and pair them with a female walker, or allow them to walk in the back at their own pace. Before joining the group, members let us know this type of information about their dogs, so it helps us create 'walking buddies' We also do introductions at the beginning of each walk to make sure everyone on the walk is aware of dogs who might need extra space.The dogs themselves also seem to find friends within the group. We had written before about Maize, who started in the front and became more confident as Izzy and Lola walked behind her. Eventually they became a trifecta. Mr. B's BFF's are Jack, Torre, and Gordon.

Respect! And Set Rules

We make sure that all of our new members are understanding of our rules and structure knowing all dogs have different socialization levels and we want to make this a positive experience for everyone. We discuss our structure through email, and now an application where they indicate that they have read and understood the rules. We are an 'owners helping owners' group and we create a positive supportive environment for other owners to work with our dogs. We think having trainers on the walk would be kind of like having a personal trainer join a fun-running group, so we don't have trainers on the walk or align with a single trainer.
We want our group of responsible dog owners to be seen in a positive way and we are very respectful of the neighborhoods we visit. The group makes sure to walk to one side, and if there is a runner coming we yell back to the rest of the group so we all give them space. We all bring poo bags and clean up after ourselves. We also cap our walks around 23 dogs so we won't take up too much space in a densely populated area.
We also know that many people who see us will judge all pitbull-type dogs based on what they see from us, so we always want to be seen in a positive light.

Pick your Own Name

Having your own name defines your identity as a hiking group. We all have different philosophies and rules we will follow in our groups, but if something happens with another group that shares a common name, this automatically creates a connection and damages your reputation. So it's just best to choose a name completely different than any other group.

For all of those who have emailed (and so sorry for the slow response...this has been an incredibly busy time with work/school), I hope these ideas have been helpful. We would love to hear about the progress of your groups, or any other questions.
PS. My camera stopped working mid-walk so luckily for smartphones, and a great pack leader, we were able to get these photos!

Mr. B, Lifestyle Photographer

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Mr. B has been a developing photographer for sometime now, and just like A the developing photographer, he upgraded his camera to the GoPro HD Hero. To make the camera accessible to Mr. B, we created a collar mount for the camera. The supplies you would need include: a clip from a skirt hanger (we snapped off one the clips from a plastic skirt hanger), flat adhesive mount that comes with the GoPro camera, and a hair band.

As shown in figure A, we attached the flat adhesive mount to one side of the clip from the hanger and we wrapped the hair band around the GoPro mount and clipped the clip with mount to the collar as shown in figure B. To secure the mount, I pulled the hair band under the collar as shown in C and D and secured it around the other side of the clip. This is actually pretty secure and prevents the GoPro from falling off the collar, even if becomes unclipped.

Finally make sure the GoPro is taking pictures or videos in UpD (upside down) mode. Here are some of Mr. B's photos from this past year:Costumed twin

Drop some food

Blogging SociaBull Members:

A Franklin a Day

Two Kitties One Pitties

3legs2ndcity

and Yellow Brick Home

with best friend, Jack

Other best friends, Torre

and Gordon

Smooches from pooches

Smooches for pooches from Miss M the kissing bandit

Our Perfect Diet

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

We always thought that it was funny that some people had pets that ate better than they did and we believed our pooches were perfectly happy and healthy eating high quality kibble. When we received some bad news about our pooches health, we were forced to change their diet to high quality protein in lean meats, vegetables, fruits, fish oil and probiotics, and even then, I still thought we ate better than our pooches.

I was perfectly happy thinking that our dogs were so simple enjoying their hodgepodge dinner, while I got to eat an Italian beef with hot peppers, a Maxwell Street polish, a Chicago hot dog, large fries, a strawberry shortcake and a large vanilla malt and this was all for one dinner.

Then came the fateful day when A had that conversation with Katherine from Two Kitties One Pittie and the SociaBulls new member coordinator, about her vegetarian lifestyle and how much healthier her husband, K, felt while testing out her lifestyle for a year. In addition, I happened upon a TED talk by Dr. Terry Wahls, and I realized that our pooches ate better than us.

This was further validated when I thought back to Miss M and Mr. B's blood test results demonstrating that their kidney levels, previously at alarming values, have all decreased to normal, which the veterinarian attributed to their change in diet. And finally, foster dog Miss Sweet Bessie-Belle, who was only with us a short two and a half weeks, lost 6 lbs and now has a renewed jump in her steps, which is probably due to A replacing half of her high-quality kibble with Sojos Turkey complete diet.

Now, I realize that the pooches eat better than we do and that has nothing to do with the cost of our food but with our quality of life due to our food. Though A eats largely fruits, vegetables and beans, she will indulge in crispy fried and super sugary foods just because of me. So I have decided to do an experiment on myself and try a whole-foods (mostly plants-based) diet for at least two months.

Guest Post from HikeABull: Starting Your Own Dog-Walking Group

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

Long before we had our own Chicago SociaBulls group, I would enviously read about the HikeABull group in California combining dog socialization with amazing hikes. It was only one day after lamenting on their Facebook page that I wished we had a group like this in Chicago, that group organizer Lark wrote back that I should think of starting my own group. It seemed like such a daunting task: Where do you start? What type of structure do we need? Would anyone want to join?
Through numerous email conversations and support, Lark helped me build up confidence to begin our first walk. This was our first post pleading for members to join us.We were so excited to have 4 dogs join us on our first walk and in a mere matter of months we've grown enormously.
Since then we've heard from so many people wishing that they also had a group in their area, After speaking with Lark, we are so excited to share her guest post about starting your own dogwalking group.
Allowing space and no dog greetings is incredibly important to allow dogs of all socialization levels to feel comfortable and benefit from these walks. Here is Lark explaining the structure of creating a successful group:

Benefits of aDog-Walking Group

Creating a place where people could come and be social withtheir dogs in a fun and respectful environment is my passion. HikeABull is myheart. I wanted it to be a place where all types of dogs, breeds, behaviors,personality, could come and most important be successful. This comes from havingdogs that are not always welcome everywhere because they are pit bulls, andalso because of Lola and her just being a dog with quirks. Lola used to lungeand whine when she saw dogs, people, and squirrels …leaves blowing. And whenyou have a dog that acts like this, lets face it: it's embarrassing. Lola lovesother dogs and people so much, she would get overly excited and then couldn'tcalm down. She had no leash manners or focus. Lola is not unique and most dogsare going to have some behavior to work on or manage. Lola and I attend OurPack Training classes and hike with HikeABull. The reason the hikes help isbecause they have the structure of respect. I knew that another dog coming upto Lola would excite her too much and therefore set her up to fail. Lola is now(most of the time) a socially sound dog, because of training and the ability tosocialize in a place that I had set her up to succeed in. Even dogs that havewonderful social skills can still benefit from structure. It is like teachingour children social manners. They have to learn the appropriate behavior forcertain social settings and so should our dogs. The classes gave me the tools Ineeded and the hikes have the social outlet to practice them.

The Importance of Structure: No DogGreetings

HikeABull has 4 organizers and we all take pride in creatinga comfortable and successful social environment for all the dogs. How do wemake this happen: with structure. Our number one rule is the dogs do not get togreet. This takes that social pressure off of the dogs and gives them a chanceto relax. Our society has somewhere along the line decided that because theirdog is dragging them to get to another dog’s face, it okay and all dogs loveit. Not true! We refer to Our Pack’s information often http://www.ourpack.org/dogdogintros.html

Structured Distance Between Dogs

To give all the dogs a chance to get comfortable, we starteach hike with distance between dogs. A good distance is 5 feet from dog to dog.As the hike progresses the dogs relax, and get into the groove of pack hiking,the distance closes. Most dogs end up walking side by side, but some willcontinue to need space throughout the hike.

Respecting Differing SocializationLevels

Next we believe in respect. We have respect for our fellowgroup members and are aware of their dogs needs. HikeABull has dogs that areworking on fear issues, poor leash manners, leash reaction, over-excitement,and some have been under socialized. Plus, we also have many dogs that are verysound social dogs. None of these issues have anything to do with breed, but theindividual dog. Before the hike starts we have short introductions and everyonegets a chance to let the group know what their dog’s boundaries are and theyare encouraged to speak up throughout the activities if they need more.
We alsoremind people to beware if their dog is staring at another. Not all, but somedogs can be particularly sensitive to the stare. When the group is stopped(example; before the hike, water breaks, or after the hike) we have the dogsspaced out with plenty of room. It is common for the dogs to get a littlerestless or board at this time. It also gives the dog a nice opportunity tostare at another. Not all dogs do the hard stare, it is ok for them to look atone another, but you want it to be a looking around, checking things out kindof thing. Not a, “I‘m focused on you“, thing! Bring high value treats, and tryto get your dog’s focus back on you, or turn your dog away from whatever it isinterested in. Break the eye contact.

Keeping a GoodReputation

We also make sure HikeABull has a good reputation. We followtrail rules leash laws and make sure no poop is left behind. Our reputation isimportant to us; we want people to notice us for our great dogs and not badbehavior from their humans.

This group is only one type of socialization for people to participate in tohave a well rounded dog.
If someone wanted to start their own social group, myfirst suggestion would be to find your structure and guidelines and then makethat very clear to all people wanting to join. It gives them the tools neededin deciding if the group is right for their dogs needs.

I love that HikeABull and Sociabull's are a place where alldogs are welcome and can be successful. I am so proud of the people who takethe time to organize both groups.

Following these guidelines really helped us create our SociaBulls group which has been such a positive experience. We've heard from so many of you who are interested in starting your own groups, and we would love to hear how that's going.
Also, Lark is currently creating a type of forum where people can reference and locate dog-walking groups in different cities and share ideas to create more positive experiences. Stay tuned to the HikeABull's Facebook page for further updates!

SociaBulls: Snowy Winter Stroll and Growing our Group

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

We welcomed our first snowy walk this weekend with plenty of our short-haired pooches decked out in a variety of winter gear:

Until I owned my own short-haired dog, I didn't realize how their own fur often isn't enough to keep them warm in the winter, and it's always interesting to see the array of coats, hoodies, sweaters, and snow suits the pooches wear.

The snow created a peaceful walk and a perfect scenic backdrop for a fun morning walk with our current group.

Since our last walk, and the article that ran in the Chicago Tribune, we have received an overwhelming response from so many people who are interested in joining our group. It's great to hear there are so many people in our area who are excited about dog socialization and responsible ownership; we love how everyone has been sharing their stories and showing us photos of their gorgeous pooches. We have even had over 50 new member requests!

We are very excited about finding so many like-minded dog owners in the city and we are currently working on ideas to grow and integrate those interested in joining into our walks.
We do want to make sure that as we grow we are doing so responsibly. Our structure is very important to allowing dogs of all socialization levels, including timid dogs, leash reactive dogs, and over-enthusiastic dogs, to be successful and at the same time we want to model the importance of responsible dog ownership.
So for those of you who have emailed us about your interest, stay tuned as hope to be getting back with you by early next week with information on membership integration. We do look forward to meeting you, and join our Chicago SociaBulls Facebook page for updates.

We also had many people who had questions about whether there was a dog walking group in their area, or how to start a dog walking group. Stay tuned this week as we have a fantastic guest post from our favorite dog hiking group detailing how to start a group and maintain the structure to keep it successful.

Mr. B and Mr. Stuffy

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Ever since we boarded Mr. B at his daycare, he thinks every time we're going to daycare, he's going to be left behind. So now it has become an ordeal getting him out of the car for daycare. When we drive up to the building, he will ball himself up and brace himself in his seat, so I will have to climb into the backseat and carry him out of the car and into daycare like a little puppy. The funny thing is that he has such a great time when he's there and he is completely exhausted the whole night,

but the next week he forgets all about the great times at daycare and he still thinks he's going to boarding, so the drama starts all over again. Though we like to believe that he is missing us, we believe that his real affection is for his stuffed toys.

From videos of the dogs playing posted by the daycare, Mr. B looks like a little boy with his head in the clouds, strolling around aimlessly by himself, while Miss M and all the other dogs are running around and playing together. Mr. B even gets bumped by these running dogs, but it doesn't seem to phase him or take him down from the clouds.

We have been envisioning Mr. B as Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes and all of his stuffies are Hobbes and while he is at daycare, he is sauntering around reminiscing about all of his adventures with his best friends, Mr. Stuffy and crew. So the moment he gets home, he is reunited with his friends and he can go back to having his most excellent adventures.

Though most of their adventures have been in the house, there were times that their travels went past our four walls and into the streets of our grand city.

We often say that Miss M is the smart one and Mr. B...tries hard, but it could be that Mr. B is just misunderstood and he is really the imaginative one.

DoggyStyle: Pitbulls in Party Hats & Birthday Cards

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

I've found I'm always scrambling to buy birthday cards searching to find the perfect pre-made card for each person. After a lot of frustration, I thought it might be more fun and personal to try making our own birthday cards with the pooches and print them using Moo.
When I found instructions on how to make these party hats, I thought they would look great on our pooches' big heads. And what better day to test out our photo shoot than New Year's when these would make a great conversation piece?
Behind the scenes: Miss M is always willing to wear anything if it gives her the chance to model and get more attention.

Even Foster dog Bessie-Belle, who had only come to live with us 2 days prior, was completely willing to walk around Chicago in a hat. Miss M had to get her Zoolander on.

We had plenty of people peeking out of restaurants to see the pooches and brighten their New Year's day. Sweet Bessie-Belle made an excellent model:

Though eventually the high winds made us come back in early before we could get many more photos.
I'm still trying to think of a clever caption to write on a birthday card. Any thoughts?

Pooches: Update On Dog Food, Health and Convenience

2012-01-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

As our dogs have been aging, we've been researching ways to keep them healthier, happier and at a good weight. We know how important diet is, though we've realized what worked for our pups a few years ago doesn't always work as they age. When we learned late this past summer that Mr. B was in early stages of kidney disease, we panicked and started him on a prescription diet, but after a couple months, his weight ballooned and he became really sluggish.

We reexamined his food and we modified his diet to one that consists of a limited ingredient canned diet dog food supplemented with fruits and vegetables, lean meats, goat's milk and probiotics.

We went in to our veterinarian this past weekend for their 6 month blood and urine test and amazingly, Mr. B's levels went down from early stages of kidney disease to normal (high end) and Miss M's level went down to ideal levels.
In addition, since we've been adding a dehydrated vegetable mix to their meals, Miss M is no longer 'rubenesque' and vet was so proud to see she is at the ideal weight.
Before Photo:

We are really lucky in Chicago to live near several local pet stores, where we do have options, especially one in general, Liz's Pet Shop. Liz's Pet Shop is a no-frills pet store, packed to the brim with all high quality pet food. Liz is very knowledgeable about the products she carries and she was instrumental in modifying our pooches diet. The pooches used to eat high quality kibble, but now they have a quality canned diet. The extra moisture in the food is also important for their kidneys and keeping them hydrated.
Though we choose to always shop local, one main issue that we have faced is traveling to the store to pick up food for our pooches.

We love being a single car household, especially since I enjoy commuting by bike all year round. However, we can never find time to go to the dog store now that A goes directly to her graduate classes right after school and she gets home well after 10 pm. After one serious scramble when we realized we were out of food and I didn't have a car to carry anything home, we were introduced to Mr. Chewy.
Mr. Chewy is a newish online store with high quality food that ships free for orders over $50. They offered us a gift certificate to try their service and review it, and we were happy to try it since they carried our hard-to-find canned food, and it would be one time we didn't have to worry about the car schedule. Just like an online grocery store, our order arrived via FedEx to our door and it was nice that I didn't have to bike with several pounds of dog food through major Chicago streets. We are lucky that we do have options, but we think this is a great way to get some hard to find food that we've found is often out of stock in our local stores. Plus A remembers when she didn't have a car and it was so hard to carry Miss M's food, even though the pet store was relatively close. Even Miss M had a hard time carrying her own food in her backpack.

Our New Foster Dog: Meet Sweet Bessie-Belle

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

If you've been following our Facebook page,we had some spoiler-alerts about a foster pooch we took in over winter break. E is always hesitant to bring a foster dog into our home during the school year, because of the extra work that is required adding a 3rd dog. Since we were home during winter break, we decided to become short-term fosters for mellow elder gal Sweet Little Bessie-Belle, and hopefully find a suitable foster or permanent home during that time. Ironically, it was E that fell in love with our big sweet girl and decided Sweet Bessie-Belle needs to stay with us until she finds the perfect home.

Sweet Bessie-Belle was waiting so patiently at the city shelter, where her time had just run up. Luckily New Leash on Life saw how sad she looked, and quickly realized how fantastically amazing she is, and swooped her up just in time.
Even though Bessie is a big girl, she blends in quite well with our pooches.

Even volunteering to walk around Chicago in a New Year's party hat, without complaint, when we'd only had her for 2 days (You can probably tell from the photo who's complaining).

What we didn't expect: she is so mild-mannered and gentle that she is even better than our own dogs. She is like a sweet Southern-belle among our pooches with attitude. And like any proper Belle, Sweet Bessie-Belle created her signature demure look with this Sirius Republic flower to match her Adopt-Me collar.

And was delightfully surprised when Smiley Willie and Nabi's mom from SociaBulls made her this beautiful blue collar flower to tuck behind her ear:

Sweet Bessie-Belle has transitioned into our household quite easily, and every day she lets us know how grateful she is to live with us. We know she is going to make a fantastic companion for a lucky family, or pooch, or even a child who loves to play dress up.

SociaBulls: A Morning Walk with the Chicago Tribune!

2012-01-09T06:30:00.000-06:00

While we've resumed our weekly SociaBulls walks, we had a couple of extra guests with us yesterday: a reporter and photographer from the Chicago Tribune! You can read the fantastic article raising positive awareness they wrote here which has so many of us smiling from ear to ear:

It has been incredible to bring positive awareness to our dogs. Even though we only began back in August, we love getting together with such a diverse group of people demonstrating responsible dog ownership.

Our group is composed of PhD's and PhD candidates, lawyers, chefs, business professionals, teachers, artisans, and grad students, just to name a few.

I think it's easy for people who haven't met our dogs to make assumptions about us, but getting out there and allowing them to see us, and how amazing our dogs are, can show the bigger picture. We hear so many positive comments.

Positive socialization is important for all dogs, and many of us who own pitbull-type dogs feel an extra responsibility knowing people will judge the entire breed based on what they see from our single dog.

It's hard to miss us with our 20+ pooches. And I'm always amazed by the dedication of everyone consistently waking up early on a Sunday morning to spend quality time with our pups. (Trivia: Anyone recognize the belly in that photo??)

Our highlight of this week was when a woman driving her car stopped, and yelled out "If I had known you were walking here, I would have brought my Westie".

And of course knowing that even though we walk together as a group, each pup and owner is individually setting a good example of responsible ownership by modeling this in their respective neighborhoods.

We couldn't be prouder to be a part of this group! And seen from Mr. B's camera, the pooches even seem to pick up good habits from one another:

Mr. B and the photographer taking photos of one another:

We never anticipated our group would grow this big, so right now we need to review our structure before we can take on new members. Please stay tuned to our Chicago SociaBulls Facebook Page for updates, and thank you everyone for your support!

One of Our Favorites: Ms. M 100% Mutt

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

This has to be my all-time favorite post, because we have met so many people that live parallel lives through this one post. Plus, it gives some personal detail that we don't readily divulge in our other posts. We will resume updating our blog on Monday. Happy New Years!

This past weekend, A's family was in town from Memphis for our belated wedding reception. The last time they were in Chicago was about 10 years ago, so we wanted to show them everything Chicago has to offer. Coincidentally, Kip Fulbeck's Part Asian, 100% Hapa solo exhibition was at The Field Museum.
A and I wanted to see this exhibit for awhile and with A's parents in town, it was the perfect time to go. For those who do not know, A is Jewish and I am Korean-American and we eloped 7 months ago, which is why the wedding reception was belated.
When we first started dating, both sides of our family, mainly our parents and grandparents, were disappointed and disapproving. Over time, both sides of our family have accepted and even embraced our relationship.
So we thought it would be interesting to us and A's parents to visit the exhibit to see what our kids could possibly look like. Hapa in the Hawaiian language, pidgin, means half and refers to an individual of mixed descent. In the past the term was derogatory, but now it is embraced as a term to describe individuals whose mixed descent includes Asian or Pacific Islander.
We don't think A's parents liked the exhibit as much as we did, b/c we don't think they understood why we were so excited, especially when we were looking at pictures of 1/2 Asian and 1/2 Jewish individuals.
Though we went to visit the exhibit to see kids that were half Asian and half Caucasian or hapa haole, the exhibit raised some very interesting points. Many people of mixed descent are asked "what are you" and often times they have to pick one race as their identity over the other. Though not the same, but somewhat analogous, we are often asked about Ms. M's genetic makeup.
The main guesses of her breed has been Boxer, American Bulldog, and American Pitbull Terrier and people like to point to specific phenotypic features to support their guess. On the other hand, Ms. M could care less about her genetic makeup, she just knows that she isn't human nor a cat and maybe not a basset hound. While some people see her as a vicious pitbull, she just thinks of herself as the cuddly, lap dog Ms. M. I realized that our future children could have some racial identity issues, and Ms. M would be a great role model. Hopefully they realize that labels that people give them are not important, it just makes it easier for certain people to use their preconceived notions to judge them, just like certain people can blindly judge Ms. M and Mr. B without meeting them.

And like Ms. M, hopefully our children could care less about their race and those of others and approach every person openly unless that person gives them a reason otherwise.

One of Our Favorites: SuperLevi is Reunited with His SuperHero Family

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

(Photo taken Levi's 1st night in his new home!)

Out of all of our fosters, Levi was with us the longest, because he knew that he had to be reunited with his super family. Lucky for all of us, his super family did come back and he is back to having grand adventures with his fellow super dog, Wonder Greta. We love reading about the super lives of his super family at 3legs2nd city.

For the longest time we couldn't figure out why it was taking so long for SuperLevi to be adopted. Besides being a fantastically easy city dog, hanging out at outdoor cafes and neighborhood festivals with ease, he is incredibly handsome, goofy, and comes with his own superhero roll.
But when we met his new family, we realized why it had taken so long: he needed to be reunited with a fellow superdog.

See, this is Greta. And she comes with her own superhero story. When Greta was rescued as a pup, she was severely malnourished with festering open wounds. But, this courageous pooch used her superdog powers to overcome it. Though at a mere 2 1/2 years old, it seems those evil villains had come back to rumble with Greta again, this time in the form of blood cancer. And in this tougher battle, Greta sacrificed a limb, but came out with her dignity and spirit. And while the oncologist estimated it was only a matter a months, Greta has used her superdog strength to go beyond this estimate, full of energy and sass and able to outrun all her 4-legged friends.

As Greta's Mom says: When Greta, my 3 year old rescue pittie, was first diagnosed with blood cancer, it hit me like a ton of bricks. For the first couple weeks, I walked around in a daze and it constantly felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Her oncologist told me it could be a matter of a few months, and this was something I just couldn’t wrap my head around. She has become such a huge and positive part of my life, and after having her for less than two years, I just wasn’t ready to let her go. After she had the amputation surgery to get rid of her tumor and she began to heal, it became apparent that she isn’t ready to go anywhere either. Her energy is still up, she is getting around great and she still has a lot of life left in her. She is one tough cookie, and I am continuously inspired by her resilience.
Before she was diagnosed, I started thinking about fostering a second dog. I have a very flexible work schedule and was finally feeling financially stable enough to help out another furry friend. This idea was put on the back burner while figuring things out with Greta, but soon after she healed from her surgery, I was more interested than ever in a second dog. But, given the circumstances, I decided to adopt instead of just foster. I felt like it would really help Greta enjoy her time left, give me some comfort for the future, and then there was the added bonus of providing another dog with a very loving home.

Now the big question: How do I find the right dog to bring into our family? I’ve been a fan of the blog Two Pitties in the City for a while now, and when I saw Levi, their fun-loving foster dog, I fell in love. Greta can be a little picky when it comes to her companions, but she has a big soft spot for male pit bulls with lots of energy. Plus, his alter-ego is Super Levi, so maybe he would be able to tap into his super healing powers to help Greta? It sounded like a match made in Heaven.
When we first decided to bring Levi into the household, I remember saying to my boyfriend “I wonder if he will have as many strange quirks as Greta?” I should have known better after reading the Two Pitties blog…what a goofball! So far he has kept things so light and fun around the house, we’ve barely even thought of Greta’s cancer at all. Although it took her a couple days to warm up to his overzealous nature and inherent lack of boundaries (check out the pic below of him sitting on her), he has grown on her significantly. They are best buds now, and I have never seen her so happy and at ease. She grows to love him more and more each day, and it’s actually quite amazing to watch.

We couldn't be happier for Levi and his new family. And Levi has already been living it up with the new fam: going to outdoor cafes for brunch, city walks to the deli, joining up for a SociaBulls walk, and even making his way into bars as the perfect ambassadog:

The best part, we will still be able to see plenty of SuperLevi. Not only did we get the luck that from the entire Chicagoland area he lives mere blocks from us, but just like any great superhero, he has his own 'spinoff' blog. You can see his handsome face and read about his crazy adventures on Greta's blog here.

But wait...there's more!
We had so many people supporting us in finding Levi's (super) x-ray vision that we were all able to save SuperLevi's x-ray vision AND have enough money left over to rescue another dog in need of medical care. Please read this incredible thank you note from his rescue, New Leash on Life, because now "one sick pup in Chicago's pound who has been dreaming of rescue will have its wish granted-all because of you and Super Levi. So we'd like to say one last SUPERSIZE THANK-YOU FOR HELPING SUPER LEVI."

And for the Raffle Results:
We really wish we were like Oprah where we could give prizes to everyone, but since we're just us...our friends at New Leash drew the raffle results using a random number generator.

We can't thank you all enough for helping SuperLevi save his x-ray vision. Check SuperLevi's blog for updates on his new life and upcoming surgery, and stay tuned to meet that special pooch who has been dreaming of rescue, and will now have his wish granted.

One of Our Favorites: Being Social with an Unsocial Pup

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

E is choosing his favorites this week, and he especially liked this post seeing how our SociaBulls walk was so helpful to one of our members and what we learned about ways to be social with an unsocial dog. We are keeping our Facebook page updated this week with photos of new foster dog Bessie.

While our SociaBulls group is not a 'magic feather' that will instantly turn your pooch perfect, we have been hearing that it has been helping people continue to work on things they've already been working on and help supplement their pooches' socialization.
We have been especially interested in hearing about Maize, a sweet shy pup that was started on our inaugural walk, but also struggles with severe leash reactivity. I had never realized how difficult leash reactivity was, until walking one of our rescue dogs and feeling hopeless about going anywhere in a city filled with dogs. So we were very intrigued by Maize's story, knowing how dedicated her mom is working with her, and hearing how she is learning to be social with an unsocial pup.
Spoiler Alert: Maize was part of a confident 'Pitbull Trifecta" on our last walk!

Maize’s Story

The dog walking group has given me new found hope. As it turns out there ARE ways to be social with other dogs even if your dog is leash reactive! I used to drive by dog parks or walk by dogs socializing in the park and lower my head in frustration and maybe even a little bit of jealousy. I have 2 leash reactive dogs which makes city walking where there are tons of dogs around difficult at times. This used to be something that was hard to admit or talk about. I didn’t know anyone else who experienced the struggles I have faced in the past 3 years.

Prior to adopting my staffie mix Maize it was me and my pug. Although he’s been leash reactive (only in a 1-2 mile radius of our home) for years it was never a big deal. Since he is a small dog people tend to dismiss any reaction and come straight up to him and oooohh and awww over his extremely flat face and bugged out eyes. When my Maize came in to my life I had just lost a 9 year old golden retriever in a break up and my heart ached for her. My neighbor informed me of a dog that had been abandoned at the grooming salon where he worked. She was left by her owner who no longer needed her and was moving. She was being financially supported by a rescue and was staying at various groomers homes. When I first saw her walk down the courtyard her head hung low as she sauntered towards me. This was not a physically abused pup, just a young girl who had a couple of litters, no socialization and no self esteem. I thought to myself, ‘I’ve had two dogs before I can totally handle this!’ I had no idea what I was getting myself in to.

What is leash reactivity?

My experience with leash reactivity is a reaction that it happens out of fear and as part of mimicking her pug brother. I don’t think Maize was ever socialized as a puppy and the combination of having no self esteem and living with my leash reactive pug she could only help but follow her pack leader.

I'm no expert, but in my experience with leash reactivity, I see the behavior as actually built-up frustration. Two dogs see each other across the street; one dog gives a hard stare or bark; the other dog lunges forwards and feels the pull of the leash on the collar or harness. In this case, the lunging dog then becomes frustrated that it is restrained and unable to approach the other dog. When this repeatedly happens over and over again, the dog begins to equate the pull of the harness or collar as being retrained and becomes reactive towards this restraint. When on walks together, as soon as Pug would start to lunge, so would Maize and then all bets were off. Maize would also lunge at everything, not just other dogs. She was so scared and confused and had no coping skills that reacting was the only outlet for her. The solution to this problem has been learning some great redirection tricks and then being able to practice them during the SocialBulls Walking Group.

What Socialbulls does for us- The Trifecta

What has been so amazing about our experience with the SocialBulls Dog Walking Group is that Maize can walk with 15-20 other dogs. She is usually in the lead so sometimes she doesn’t realize who is behind her until she turns around and even then there is usually no reaction from her. This past weekend was particularly amazing. We went to Humboldt Park and Maize and I walked next to Izzy and her mom. Izzy is an extremely well behaved pup who has amazing focus, which then helped Maize to feel more at ease and more confident in her socialization and walking. Not only did we walk next to Izzy we also walked behind her and at the end of the walk Maize was walking next to Izzy AND Lola. The three of them easily strolled through the park together and I nicknamed them the 'Trifecta'.

The amazing part of the group is that dogs never meet face to face so I don’t have to worry about the other dogs and their owners because we are all there for the same reason. I think I have also benefited from SocialBulls because I’ve been able to meet other people that have the same passion for their dogs as I do and everyone seems so kind and understanding. Maize has come a LONG way and I think the key is to keep her active with other dogs just like this group!

It has been so great to hear how well Maize was doing, and we were so proud to see how confidently she was walking with her new friends. And while the group isn't a magic formula, it has been great having so many like-minded, supportive people working towards a common goal.

One of Our Favorites: Chicago Dog-Walking Club, Our Inaugural Trek

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

We were worried that people wouldn't join our dog walking club, so we were pleasantly surprised to find several great dog owners that came out for our inaugural walk. They are largely responsible for turning our small dog walking club into the SociaBulls. Here is a recap of our very first walk:

We had written before about our struggles to find ways to comfortably socialize our dogs in the city with other dogs, and how happy we were to get advice from HikeaBull, a group in California who uses group walks for positive socialization, so we could start a dog walking club in Chicago. Knowing dogs have different levels of socialization, excitement, dog tolerance, and fear it is important to know how to bring them into a group comfortably.I will admit, I was a bit nervous being in charge of starting a dog walking group in Chicago, but after many conversations with Lark at HikeaBulls and understanding what works, we had a very comfortable and successful first walk!

We had a great starting line-up of dogs, including Buddy:

Torre and Jack:

Maize and the pooches:

All of the dogs were working on a variety of issues: from leash reactivity to over-excitement to being fearful to learning good dog manners. To make the walk a positive and comfortable experience for everyone, we let everyone know the issues we were working on beforehand, and we made sure to give everyone a lot of space so the dogs weren't overwhelmed:

The natural rhythm of the pack walking is very social and calming for the dogs. During the walk they were able to come a bit closer, though we did go back to having a lot of space when we stopped for water breaks.

I had a hard time trying to decide where to have the actual walk, since I don't know of many 'hiking trails' in the city. Then I realized: our city has 18 miles of beautiful lakefront paths. We picked the south lakeshore path which is a beautiful scenic stroll with views of boats in the harbor, Solider Field, the museum campus, and, of course, our beautiful city skyline:

We did see a storm rolling in, so we had to cut our walk a bit short, but we had a great experience and several smiling pooches:

Thanks again to HikeaBulls for helping us understand how to structure a positive group hike, and to Jack, Torre, Buddy, and Maize, and their people, for being the 'pioneers' on our first group hike. And to Kelsey for walking Miss M, giving me a chance to walk around and talk to everyone.
We welcome other Chicago-area people to join us in the future. If you would be interested in joining us, please email us using the 'contact us' button on the sidebar and write "Dog Walking Club" in the subject line. And please like our Facebook page where we will continue to keep Dog Walking Club updates

One of Our Favorites: Velveteen Pitbulls and Aging

2012-01-02T11:01:00.000-06:00

Since we are off for break this week, we are focusing on relaxing, hanging with our new foster Big Bessie (check our Facebook page if you missed her!), and looking at some of our favorite posts. This is one of our least favorite, but increasingly important, topics to discuss.

We always want to deny our pooches are aging. For the past couple of years, Miss M has remained 4, and Mr. B has always been 5. It wasn't until someone asked us their ages, the other day, that we realized we had been living in a time warp.
Our lives with the pooches had always seemed the same, but then I started noticing a couple of gray-brindle hairs on Miss M's eyebrow.

Though Mr. B is already gray, he has been aging more like the 'Velveteen Pitbull'. Much like the rabbit in the beloved book, we noticed Mr. B is becoming a bit more worn.

The fur on his elbows has worn off:

The ends of his ears are becoming tattered and frayed:

And the hair on his nose has rubbed away from being petted:

But just like the Skin Horse so wisely explains in the book: this is what happens when you are loved for a long, long time.

One of Our Favorites: Miss Goofus and Mr Gallant

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

It was this post that actually made me laugh the most. The best part: our pooches just give us this material and all we do is report it. We're currently working on Part II.

It was just the other day that I had the epiphany: our pooches were just like Goofus and Gallant from Highlights magazines. These characters look similar, but they aren't twins. Gallant is always nice and respectful, while Goofus just does whatever he wants. Let me show you what I mean.
Mr. B is appreciative and happy to be bathed:

While Miss M lets them know they aren't working hard enough:

Mr. B enjoys laying contemplatively by the flowers:

While Miss M is critical of our decorating decisions:

Mr. B is loyal and loves spending time with his family:

While Miss M is always interviewing and campaigning for a new home:

In most dog duos, will there always be a Goofus and a Gallant? Or does anyone have the misfortune to have 2 Goofuses?

One of Our Favorites: Rugs as Training Tools and Hans Washington Mr B

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

We've been posting many of our favorites this week, especially as we're fostering Big Bessie over our break (check out her updates on our Facebook page). This post has always been a favorite not just for the combination of training and home decor...but for the end photos of Hans Washington Mr. B. We learned embarrassment was another way to make him not chew things. Though my favorite part is Miss M's face when she sees him in the wig:

With all of our hardwood floors, I always liked having an Ikea Rens Sheepskin rug or two next to my bed to keep things cozy. When I adopted Miss M I thought they would be multi-functional to look nice for me and be comfortable for her. Little did I realize Miss M was likely 'raised by wolves' before I got her; she didn't know how to sit still and would spend hours tearing around my tiny apartment. My life changed when she learned the commands "down" and "stay" and all of a sudden she would spend her days lounging on the rugs.

The rugs and floor pillows are nice because they serve as a type of "base" for the dogs. The dogs understand 'their place' in the house so they aren't constantly pacing or trying to get on the furniture. When we had our guest dogs in the house, they all understood where they were supposed to lay:

At the same time, Mr. B didn't quite understand these were rugs and not giant fluffy chew toys. When we first adopted him, he ate huge chunks off the rug. Seeing he doesn't like to be reprimanded, we decided to embarrass him when he chewed chunks off the rug. We made him a little toupee with the leftover bits and called him Hans:

But when he chewed a lot off we made him a full-out wig and he became Hans-Washington Mr. B. I think it scared Miss M more than it phased Mr B:

Or an a more traditional note, we use Grannick's Bitter Apple Spray; it's harmless to dogs, but they absolutely hate the taste. You could spray this on the rug, or spray it on your hands it put it on their lip if they start chewing. I don't know if it was the embarrassment or the Bitter Apple Spray, but soon enough Mr. B learned to lay nicely on the rug without eating it:

One of Our Favorites: Our First Foster, Little Red Wilma

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

As we might have something to announce while we're on break (check our Facebook page!), we have been thinking back to our first foster: Little Red Wilma. Wilma was our very own 'Single Red Female' following Miss M's every move, and striving to become Miss W. The pictures in this post are some of my favorite photos ever.
This summer, we decided to become a bit more involved in dog rescue...so we're fostering a dog! This is Wilma from Project Rescue. Wilma was living at Mr. B. and Miss M's doggy daycare. She really loves people, so the rescue knew she would be much happier living in a home until she's adopted. Luckily, the pooches had already met her at daycare, so they were quick to welcome her into our home.
Wilma is a petite pitbull. She weighs in at a mere 40-something pounds, which is nearly half of what our pooches weigh.With her gorgeous red coloring and wrinkly face, she almost looks like a "teacup French mastiff". She is about 2 years old and full grown.Wilma gets along fantastically with other dogs. As Wilma is getting adjusted, Miss M was even kind enough to let her lay on her favorite floor pillow
and took to just laying on the floor:
Wilma was quick to hang out with Miss M in her crate. Though Miss M realized she didn't like being used as a body pillow:
And quickly reversed that situation:
And after a short breaking in period, she took back her favorite pillow, regardless if someone was already using it.

One of Our Favorites: Miss M's Very Own Pet

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

Since we're on break, we thought we would spend the week posting about some of our favorite posts. (Though do check our Facebook page as we will have current updates...and some exciting news). This has to be one of my favorite posts because it truly shows Miss M and Mr. B's relationship: she really thinks he is her pet dog:
Back when Miss M was an "only dog", the one thing she really, really wanted was a dog of her own. She used to watch longingly as other dogs passed by, and would nearly explode from excitement if one happened to look her way.

When we were ready to get another dog, we used to joke that we were getting Miss M her very own dog. We knew the new dog would need to have her approval, but little did we know what a diva she would become. We found a couple of dogs that we liked, but during the introductions Miss M only scoffed at them.
After we went through this whole drawn out process, and we found our Mr. B, Miss M continues to think Mr. B is really "her dog". She uses him as custom furniture:

This one doesn't even look comfortable:

Controls where he goes:

And monitors his drink intake:

Mr B has been a good sport through the whole process, but now he's asking for his very own cat.

Pooches: PitBull Secret Santas

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Not to be left out of the holiday fun, Emily at Our Waldo Bungie organized a Secret Santa exchange among some of the pitbull bloggers, including: That Touch of Pit, Twenty-Six to Life, Love and a Six-Foot Leash, Pittieful Love, and Two Grad Students and a Pittie.
The pooches had waited in anticipation to receive their packages last night, especially when they received....

Handmade dog tags from our Secret Santa Our Waldo Bungie!How cute are these? Each of the pooches got a dog tag with their names and our phone number. And knowing us too well, she made them with little skulls to match their dog collars. Of course they had to try them on immediately. Mr. B even sat extra tall wearing his:

And because she knows what our pooches love best, she also sent all-natural dog treats (snickerdoodle and peanut butter), which Miss M quickly claimed:

And a little mouse stuffy because Mr. B is a 'country mouse'.Chillin' with his new toy:

Thank you so much Secret Santa Our Waldo Bungie!

Meanwhile, our pooches sent a package off to New York City for Lucy of That Touch of Pit. Here is a sneak peek of what our pooches made:

Check out That Touch of Pit for the full reveal, and how we used this photo of Lucy to personalize her treat jar. And check the other participating bloggers to see what gifts they received, including: Twenty-Six to Life, Love and a Six-Foot Leash, Pittieful Love, Our Waldo Bungie, and Two Grad Students and a Pittie.

Pooches: On Making our Pitbulls Approachable...and Warm

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

There is nothing more our pooches like than meeting people. And nothing more we like than busting stereotypes about pitbull-type dogs. While I had never thought I'd be someone to dress up my dog, we quickly realized that when our dogs wear costumes or gear people are much more likely to approach us. And learn what amazing dogs pitbulls really are.

While we meet so many people during the warmer weather, once winter hits, all the Chicagoans go inside to hibernate. It becomes so much harder to meet people...and Miss M goes into withdrawl. So now they wear hats and puffy coats. Sure, they don't keep them that much warmer, but it was kind of incredible to see many people disgruntled with the cold Chicago weather openly begin laughing to see Mr B's big furry hat and Miss M's pink puffy coat:

Of course the pooches loved when people would stop to talk to them and pet them. And we liked talking to the people who were surprised to realize that pitbulls are such great dogs.

SociaBulls: By the Numbers

2011-12-21T06:51:00.000-06:00

We know well-socialized dogs should always have the chance to be exposed to new places, people and other dogs. And while we are often taking our dogs out-on-the-town, we did crave another opportunity for our dogs to be socialized in a positive way. For the longest time we would enviously follow HikeaBulls group in California, watching them go on their amazing hikes, until we finally realized, we should start our own group. After many conversations with the amazing Lark of HikeaBulls, through her help we were ready to start our own group: Miss M and Mr. B were the only members.

Flash forward 4 months: we have already grown to over 50 members through only Two Pitties Facebook, blog and word-of-mouth! Here is how SociaBulls looks by the numbers:

Number of Members we Knew Before we Started SociaBulls: 1
With the exception of 1 person (who we knew through dog rescue) we didn't know any of the people who joined the group. We met some people who had emailed us through the blog, some people we met on the street, some people who had seen us walking as a group, and some who heard about it through word-of-mouth. I love that the group is organic and people 'happen upon it'. It's also great to meet so many like-minded people from all walks of life.

Number of Chicagoland locations visited: Nine!
We rotate our walks throughout the city and we've walked several paths along the lakefront with lake and skyline views, visited historical urban parks, nature trails within the city, a sculpture garden, Wrigleyville, historic neighborhoods and grassy boulevards:

Furthest Distance Traveled to Participate: Suburbs & Nashville
We have several active members who commute from the suburbs, early on a Sunday morning, to walk with the group. We also have a member who recently moved from Nashville and joined the group the first week she was in town.

Number of Non-Pitbull-Type Dogs in the Group: 14
We aren't just a "pitbull group", and we know all dogs need socialization. We have big dogs and little dogs, mixed dogs and purebred dogs. They're just all dogs walking together.

Number of Skills Being Worked On: Numerous
We have leash reactive dogs, timid dogs, overenthusiastic dogs, dog-selective dogs, fearful dogs and young pups. The dogs never meet face-to-face, but they are socialized through the pack walking experience. The structure HikeaBulls has helped us set up works!

Number of Fashionistas: Several
Even the Chicago winter isn't stopping us from walking. We all have been coming bundled up, including our pooches in an assortment of coats, hoodies and sweaters. We are going to try to keep going as long as the temperatures don't dip too low.

Number of Adoptable Dogs Walking with the Group: 4
We've had 4 adoptable dogs who have walked with the group to brush up on their leash walking and socialization skills to prepare them for their forever family. Two of them have been adopted! Estelle, black and white below, is one of the current adoptable dogs in the group walking with her foster mom from It's a Pittie rescue. She is tiny--a 'teacup' pitbull--and is AMAZING with kids. You can even see for yourself in this cute video here. We know this is such a great way to work on skills to increase their chances of adoption, and we love having them in the group.

Number of Reactions to People Seeing us Walk: Several
Besides being great for socialization, our group is raising awareness for responsible dog ownership and pitbull-type dogs. We've had several people stop and ask what we were doing, and how we get our dogs to walk so nicely. We even had a policeman tell us he couldn't believe all of the dogs were walking so well together without barking or having problems.

Best Comment Heard Last Week: "SociaBulls is so great. I wish it could be 5 days a week!"

We have been overwhelmed that our little experiment has become such an amazing group of people. We are taking a short holiday hiatus, but join our SociaBulls Facebook Page for updates on future walks and activities.
If you are interested in joining SociaBulls in the future, email us using the envelope on the sidebar of our blog. (I do apologize in advance that I've been a bit slow the past few days getting to emails).

Please Read All: Some Devastating News From Friends...

2011-12-16T21:53:00.000-06:00

Before we started our blog, we didn't really know any other pitbull owners. Slowly through our blog we began meeting other pitbulls with blogs. Through our blogs, comments, and off-line emails we began to know one another and consider them true friends.
One of our very first friends were the Houston Pittie Pack: a gorgeous group all literally rescued and brought together from precarious situations. Their mom truly has the biggest heart. While we knew them as a pack of 4, they slowly grew to 7, including some wee ones, as their mom opened her heart to these dogs in need despite a layoff, a baby on the way, and needing to work longer hours to make it all work. There have never been dogs more loved.

We recently heard the devastating news that last night there was a fire that destroyed their house. We heard from Mayzie: "She tried desperately to get all the dogs out of the house but they were hiding under beds and in closets. She was only able to save Brinks and Bella. The rest – Guero, Coco Chanel, Tiger, Lucky and Shelby – are all now at the Bridge. Thankfully, all the humans were able to get out of the house safely."
We are beyond saddened as we felt we really knew these pooches, probably even more intimately than we know the dogs we see on our block every day.

Lost in the fire was Coco "Queen of the Universe" who reminded us so much of Miss M with her diva ways. She came to them from a bad situation covered in ant bites, and she has lived with them at least 8 years:

Little Lucky, a new addition to the pack, who was a Daddy's girl and so heartbroken and shut down they brought her into the family and considered themselves extra lucky:

Tiger, another wee one, who they found outside their home during a cold storm. He knew the right home to pick:

Shelby, an abused, pregnant pitbull who had never known love and was left for dead in a parking lot. They gladly welcomed her into their home, nursing her back to health with love and the help of the blog community.

And Guero, Sandra's heart, and the pup that started it all. You can learn so much about their family, and their love for their dogs from this post here.

We were happy to know that all the humans, including Grandma and the baby, are safe. And Brinksey and Bella were saved:

Knowing how much they truly cared about each pup, we cannot imagine the loss they must be feeling, on top of losing their home and being displaced.
We know there isn't much we can do to help them with the loss of their precious pooches, but a group has started a Chipin page to help them get back on their feet and anticipate any immediate needs, lost wages, insurance premiums and other things that might come up.
The link is here:http://pittiepackfirerecoveryfund.chipin.com/sandras-fire-recovery
We also have a mailing address if people would prefer to send checks or condolences through the mail. Email us if you would like that address.

They are truly among the most caring and genuine people we have ever met. We loved receiving Valentine's Day and Holiday cards with photos of the pack, and we were always amazed how they truly cared for each pup, even making time after they had their own human child.

You can read more about them on their KissaBulls blog here: http://kissa-bull.blogspot.com/
And read for updates on Mayzie's blog here: http://mayziegal.wordpress.com/
And this update:
If you would like to help Sandra and her family BEYOND what you have so generously done… some of us have been working behind the secenes and have come up with this… Since they lost EVERYTHING… and are currently staying with Family… Space must be considered along with everything else… So Gift Cards seem to be the best way to go. There are BOTH a Target and A Wal-Mart very near. Of course you do know that WAL-Mart is where Shelby was Found by Sandra.
I KNOW that many of you would like to buy actual Presents for Sandra, Josh, the Baby and Bella and Brinks… but we MUST consider all the ins and outs… It would be for the Best to allow Sandra to purchase what is needed and not overwhelm everyone in the household. Perhaps they would even need some food items for their CHRISTMAS DINNER. Yes, my dear friends… Gift Cards would be MOST APPRECIATED.

Long Cold Nights

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

It is easy to feel miserable during the Chicago winter months, because the nights come a lot earlier and the days start so much later. When I leave in the morning, it is often pitch black and fairly cold and when A finishes teaching her last class, it is always pitch black and really cold.

But it really is hard to be miserable when every morning I catch A, Mr. B and Miss M keeping a watchful eye out the window as I bike down our street to work and on my rides home I get to see Mr. B's head in the window bounce up and down, excited to see me home.

Even though we live near a busy city street, the nights can be eerily quiet and lonely, but the sight of Mr. B sleeping so soundly and the sound of Ms. M snoring so loudly, reminds us that our house is whole.

Then there are the not so cold nights, because they are spent hugging our personal space heaters, Miss M and Mr. B in their beds.

Staycation with Dogs: Dome Walking Tour

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

When we went on a trip this summer, we realized that the best part of traveling was discovering new things we enjoy, then bringing them back to our everyday life...with our pooches. One of the main things we did was walk around gawking at the amazing architectural designs and domed Cathedrals.

Then we realized, this is we actually live in a neighborhood filled with Chicago landmark domed cathedrals. In Ukrainian Village there are several beautiful European-style cathedrals nestled amongst the homes in a few block area. With the multi onion domes, gold-leafing and enormous mosiacs, it's almost like we stumbled into a far away land:

The cathedrals encompass a few-block area with beautiful tree-lined streets, because since we have to take the walks anyway, we might as well make them interesting:

Pooches: On Getting Miss M's Number and Moo Cards

2011-12-14T06:44:00.000-06:00

Miss M still thinks she's a single gal. Whenever we go out, she is always eyeing the people, wiggling her little tush, and just giving people a good overall impression of pitbull-type dogs.

Our pooches have won over many hearts this way, and as double-insurance that people will leave having a good overall feeling of pitbulls, we give them Miss M's "number". Actually just a card with a link to her Two Pitties blog.

We have met so many people on our walks who want to know more about our pooches, living in the city with bigger dogs and pitbull-type dogs in general, and we found these little Moo cards were the perfect way to give them this information. You can upload a photo on the front and put website information on the back. You can choose a couple of different photos so you have several types of cards.

These are especially helpful when we have our foster dogs. So many people would stop us to talk, and we knew that they might not remember the rescue name, so it was so convenient to be able to give them a card. Plus, Miss M feels like a very fancy lady that she gets her own "calling cards".

City Dog: Walking Two Dogs at the Same Time

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

One of the hardest, but most necessary, things about having multiple dogs in the city is learning to walk multiple dogs at the same time. The city distractions can make it difficult to walk one dog, which is only magnified when you add a second pooch. Plus, since most of us don't have yards and we need to go on 2-3 walks a day, which quickly becomes a tiresome 4-6 daily walks if you need to walk the pooches separately.
I first 'met' Willie & Nabi's mom when she emailed to ask tips about how I learned to walk our pooches at the same time. But I was stumped. I had forgotten the steps I had taken. Now that she has been working on walking Wille and Nabi together, I thought it would be great for her to share her experiences: successes and struggles.

When A asked me to guest post about learning to walk two dogs, my first reaction was, “But I’m still learning how! What could I tell anyone?” Then I thought how one of the great things about the Sociabulls community is that it is owners helping owners, and how it is helpful to hear about the “Before” as well as the “After”.

I first found this blog through Project Rescue Chicago, the awesome group that rescued puppy Bella, as well as our smiley Willie, who we fostered and then adopted about 6 months ago. I was so impressed how A was able to walk 150 pounds of dog at once, because I was struggling to walk a mere 80 pounds of dog at once.

After a couple months with us, we started thinking of Willie as our Jekyll and Hyde dog. Indoors or off-leash, he was super mellow and seemingly perfect. On-leash, he would get overexcited, pull a lot, and react to other animals (sometimes dogs, but especially stray cats, squirrels, pigeons, or the housecat-sized rats that roam the streets of Chicago) by lunging and “barking smack” for half a block at a time. Also, he would remember *everything*, so if he saw a rat on one walk, he would start reacting in anticipation the next few times he passed that same spot, even if nothing was there.

Our other rescue, Nabi, is generally pretty good on leash, but true to her breed, she also has a high prey drive, and she has previously snatched and killed a pigeon out of mid-air while on a 6-foot leash.

When I first started trying to walk them together, as soon as one saw a squirrel and got excited, the other would copy, and it was a mess. We’ve recently started working with fellow Sociabull Maize’s trainer, and although we are definitely a work in progress, we are beginning to see some great changes. Here are some of the things that we’re learning:

One Step at a Time.

Like Miss M and Mr. B, Willie and Nabi don’t have a yard, so we rely on daily walks. We were used to doing long multiple walks a day with Nabi, so at first we were trying to work on Willie’s pulling and reacting during those long walks. Inevitably, he was getting away with a lot of pulling on those walks (because otherwise they would’ve literally taken hours), and the more he was able to pull, the more excited he would become.

We switched gears by starting to walk Willie alone, without Nabi, because Willie was more excitable with Nabi present. Our trainer had us break down walking with Willie to literally one step at a time, two steps at a time, etc., while never moving forward if he was pulling, rewarding for being “in position”, and “resetting” if he got ahead of us. We use mainly kibble as training treats and began feeding most of his meals through training rather than out of a bowl. He does get to run and sniff for parts of each walk, but only when we “free” him so he knows we’re no longer working. Our street is a big challenge due to several dogs left out in their gated areas who charge the fence, a big stray cat population, and squirrels, so as part of every walk, we try to practice going back and forth on our street several times. This type of walk doesn’t cover as much ground distance wise, but seems to tire Willie out by being mentally challenging.

Not Cheating.

As you can imagine, practicing walking one step at a time can get tedious at times and sometimes the temptation to just get going already is great. However, we have noticed that if we cheat, we have setbacks. We especially noticed this when we took the dogs out to the suburbs for a couple days over Thanksgiving and were a bit more lax while in vacation mode. When we returned to the city, it took a couple walks to get back to where we were before Thanksgiving.

On Equipment.

I feel like before we started doing this, we were searching for a “magic pill” in different equipment. We tried a couple different styles of no-pull harness, the Gentle Leader, and a prong collar. Each would make a difference for the first few days as Willie got used to the new equipment, but then he would adjust to it and learn to pull against it, and would still get just as excited around squirrels, because we weren’t effectively addressing the underlying behavior. I think different equipment can be a great management tool, but probably not in the way that we were using it before.

Voluntary Check-ins.

Working with a trainer has changed our perspective from trying to get Willie to constantly follow a series of commands to letting Willie make his own choice to pay attention to us. As an example, instead of us constantly telling Willie “watch me” like we were at first, now Willie can look where he wants, but he only gets rewarded when he voluntarily chooses to look at us and be at our side, which encourages him to keep making that same choice. We noticed that using the first method, Willie would look at us while we were giving him a command, but not much at other times, but using the second method, he’s checking in much more frequently on his own, which helps him not get as carried away.

Impulse Control.

We’ve also been working on other exercises like “leave it”, hand targeting, and recall, to help with focus and impulse control.

We’re just at the beginning stages, but seeing great changes so far. Just last week, Willie had a breakthrough moment, where a squirrel ran right in front of him, and he whimpered a couple times, but visibly made an effort to stop himself and then look at us instead! We have noticed improvement when he is outside with Nabi as well. Seeing how he is trying so very hard just endears him to us even more.

I love the support our Sociabulls community gives each other in trying to help our dogs be their best, from A sharing her experiences walking 150 pounds of pit bull to Maize’s mom telling us all about different trainers. We are learning so much and looking forward to more. Anyone else have experiences to share on working with pulling and prey drive, and learning to walk multiple dogs together?

SociaBulls: SociaBulls do the Boulevards

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Chicago winter hasn't slowed any of us down as we all bundled up to head out early on a sunny Sunday to walk the boulevards. Our SociaBulls walks have provided the perfect opportunity for the pooches to have a different type of socialization where they don't need to interact.
We were joined again by Adorable Adoptable Ferris who has been excited to brush up on his skills as he patiently waits for his foster or forever home.
As we've grown as a group, the pooches have become more accustomed to the routine and we've been walking in areas with higher-visibility. It's fun seeing the historic homes, over-the-top Christmas displays, dogs as statues, and the square.

Plus all the gorgeous pooches:

We had another adorable adoptable, Estelle, join our walk also. It's hard to tell from the photos, but she is a very petite little pittie; the perfect apartment size! It's so great to see how her foster mom is working with her, and exposing her to a lot of new things, to help her succeed in her forever home. And she loves her foster brother Boomer. She is from It's a Pittie rescue, and you can read more about her here:

We have started a Chicago SociaBulls facebook page here to keep everyone updated, and we're going to keep walking through the winter unless temperatures are unbearable.
Interested in joining? Use the envelope icon on the sidebar to tell us how you heard about SociaBulls and a bit about your pooch.

The Donkey and the Rabbit

2011-12-09T07:00:00.002-06:00

Ever since Miss M had her big 7th birthday party, she acts as if she can do whatever she pleases. Now that the weather has gotten colder, she is more reluctant to go on walks, even outright defiant, holding her ground after we have leashed her and gotten ready to go out the front door. She will brace herself and refuse to budge, like a donkey.

It is only through a lot of coaxing with praise, that she will choose to leave the house. Then on our walks, after she has done her business, she will turn to head back home.

However, Mr. B really enjoys going on walks and he will even rush ahead like a rabbit; he is always looking forward to our next adventure outside,

but on the other leash, we have Miss M, who will brace herself in the middle of the sidewalk and refuse to walk a step further. Again, we will have to sweet talk Miss M to join us for another block.

Which is all she will give us. When we try to go even more, she will defiantly turn on one of the streets that would lead us home and she will pull towards that street with all her might and on the other leash, we will have Mr. B running like a jackrabbit toward the other street that leads to our usual walk.

Poor Mr. B, Miss M's will to lounge in the warm home is too strong for the both of us and we usually succumb to her ways and before we know it, we are back inside, enjoying the comforts of home, away from the elements.

DoggyStyle: On Dogs, Couches, and Upholstery Cleaning

2011-12-08T07:00:00.004-06:00

Since adopting our pooches, I'm constantly on the quest to find easy cleaning solutions. I know a lot of people are deterred from having pets because they think it limits their options, but we even have white furniture.

We do have a 'No dog on the Sofa' rule, but our dogs think they are much more clever then us. We are constantly writing about Miss M's trickery where she will sleep on the sofa with one eye open ready to jump off the moment we come home. Our favorite was when she got a throw pillow stuck to her collar and she ate dinner like nothing was wrong.

Though lately we found out Mr. B is in on the trickery. They even have assigned seats on the couch. Here he is caught, and not realizing what else to do, he plays possum.

On the microfiber couch, we do have a dry cleaning sponge we use that can brush off light stains and hair. Though after many cycles of Miss M's trickery, combined with her drooling in her sleep, there were some stains even the sponge couldn't brush off. In my nativity I thought it just meant we needed to live with it, until after some googling I realized we could just get an upholstery cleaner to come clean our couch.
We used used A-Abace from Logan Square. The service is done by the owners who have been in the business for decades and they are very professional and knowledgeable. After realizing all the potential for dirt, oils, dog saliva, and bird and squirrel feces that could be brought in, the fact they were never cleaned before, and seeing how our couches looked practically new afterwards, we thought it was money well spent. It was around $100 per couch.

The only bad part was we have the Crate & Barrel Petrie sofa which can only be dry upholstery cleaned so it will still get out the stains, but it's harder to get out discoloring; we also learned the white will eventually begin to yellow from the sun. Fortunately for us, the pooches have never tried to sit on that sofa. But we do enjoy having the white...especially since we're headed for a dark and gloomy winter.
We have also heard of many people who use couches with slipcovers. I was also curious if people liked that, or if it became too cumbersome to clean very often. Or do people have other recommendations for couch cleaning?

Daily Walk: Holiday Stroll

2011-12-07T06:59:00.000-06:00

During our last family walk, we were shocked to see how much has changed since the week prior:

Miss M was especially confused, but delighted, to see the horses in the street. I saw her nose up sniffing the air before I even realized there were horses. She was quite intrigued.

Meanwhile, Mr B was still a bit spooked from the horses, while Miss M was just happy to continue her modeling in front of the Wicker Park fountain.

We have to walk our dogs anyway, and it is much better with fun scenery. Anyone else have any fun winter walks lately?

Pooches: On Fairness and "His & Her" Dogs

2011-12-06T07:00:00.004-06:00

I thought it was something I had just imagined, but I found out research shows that dogs actually do have a sense of fairness. According to this report from NPR, dogs become jealous and unresponsive if they believe they are not receiving equal treatment.

I was reminded of this article the other day when HounddogMom asked how we divide our time among the dogs, especially deciding which dog to take on an outing and which dog stays behind. This is what seems to work for us:
We Have His & Her Dogs

In our house, we have "His & Her" dogs. Though we love both our dogs, I have a special bond with Miss M since we were roommates back in our bachelorette days, and Mr. B is completely loyal to E; he even waits at the window all day watching for his return.

So if Miss M goes on an outing with just me, he's ok because he gets to hang out with E and do things like watch the Bears game. And Miss M is fine staying home as long as she gets to eat a kong.

We Try to Switch it Up

We do try to be fair by taking the other pooch to do a special thing every once in awhile. During the summer, I like to take Mr. B with me when I meet friends at outdoor cafes. He's able to sit nicely at the cafe, and he makes an amazing escort walking back home in the dark. And E will sometimes do things with just Miss M. Though I really feel Mr. B doesn't have as much fun with me. And from this photo, Miss M looks embarrassed to be out with her dad.

We Try to Be Fair as Much as Possible:

We try to give equal treats, equal toys, and equal embarrassing outfits.

This is what works for us with our pooches, but I'm curious to hear how other people keep it "fair" in their homes. Especially when the dogs outnumber the people.

SociaBulls: Historic Parks in Winter

2011-12-05T07:00:00.006-06:00

Even though we know how bad Chicago winters can be, our SociaBulls group has decided to continue walking until the temperatures become unbearable. Especially since we all have to walk our dogs anyway, it's much more fun doing so with your 20 favorite dog friends--and working in extra socialization.
The adorable pooch at the top who joined us is adoptable dog Ferris from New Leash on Life. He came to work on his pack walking skills as he waits for his forever family. Isn't he gorgeous? I don't think it's possible for this guy to take a bad photo.
Psst..this handsome guy is available and looking for a foster or forever home in the Chicago area.

Our walk took us back through one of our favorite urban gems. Here the geese stay in the water and we're able to enjoy the amazing architecture and lagoons and we hardly feel like we're in the city.

It was so great to see all our former members, and to welcome new members Penny and Jax.We loved meeting Penny's family who were so excited to come even though they are really, really close to having a new baby soon. And Jax who just moved from Nashville last week and is excited to meet new dog friends here in Chicago. We get to meet the most fascinating people in our group, and it's always amazing to see everyone's dedication to working with their dogs.

Like true Chicagoans, we're going to keep walking until it gets really cold. We have started a Chicago SociaBulls facebook page here to keep everyone updated.
Interested in joining? Email Chicagosociabulls.com to tell us how you heard about SociaBulls and a bit about your pooch.

Things to do in Chicago with Dogs: Downtown Tourist Dog

2011-12-02T07:00:00.001-06:00

Whenever I travel, I can always imagine myself living in that new city and taking advantage of all those fun, touristy things on a daily basis. But in real life, I don't. I often have to remind myself that people spend a lot of money to travel to Chicago, and I should really take advantage of what the city has to offer.

So, I decided to load up my pitbull in a cab, and head downtown. Growing up, our Mom always taught us to dress up when we went downtown, so Miss M got fancy with her Silly Buddy bow:

We've written before about how to catch a cab with a pitbull, and the cab drivers are usually really nice. Pretty Little Pitty also wrote about how she catches cabs in NYC and I like her tip about teaching the pooches to lay nicely on the floor.

So what is there for a pitbull to explore in downtown Chicago?

We checked out the museum campus and outdoor sculpture exhibits:

Found a 'pocket park' tucked among all the huge buildings:

We spent time checking out the famous Chicago architecture and skyline. The tourists taking the downtown segway tour were surprised to see a big dog like Miss M downtown. Miss M was surprised to see people scooting around on segways:

You usually didn't see big dogs, and especially pitbulls, downtown because most of the highrises have weight restrictions. People were really curious about Miss M. I think she won them over with her dainty pink bow, coupled with her pathetic scowl.
Has anyone else been doing fun staycation things with your own pooches lately?

DoggyStyle: Dogs, Plants, & Flowers

2011-12-01T07:00:00.004-06:00

Since Miss M and I have our summer ritual of going to the Farmer's Market each weekend, we have a habit of picking up fresh flowers for the house, which we also do all year round. These are my incentive to keep the house cleaner, and mysteriously, Miss M loves to sit on her floor pillow and stare at them:

We had taken for granted that we could have flowers at dog-level, because when we had SuperLevi, we realized how much he liked to eat them. And they were promptly removed.
Now that it is officially winter, we had to move our urban garden and mini-trees inside. Which we know can be confusing, because our pooches love chewing on stringy, leafy things when we're in the park or on our walks. It's often too much temptation for Miss M:

So we've removed everything from the pooches view and we actually created a mini-garden with all of our herbs behind our sofa:

We also have 2 trees we bring in for the winter--I know they look dead, but they bloom and flower again when we bring them back outside in the spring--and these are much harder to remove from the pooches' clutches. We have heard of some dogs getting confused and trying to pee on indoor trees; at least that hasn't happened. Though Miss M is getting a bit curious:

We also know some plants can be poisonous to dogs, so we do make sure to keep things out of reach that can be harmful, or if our dogs are really try to eat them.

Do other dogs live harmoniously with indoor plants? Or is it always a temptation?

Thanksgiving on a Monday

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Though A and I started this blog together, A does most of the writing and well, I write whenever A is overwhelmed by classwork from one of her many graduate degrees, or from prepping for her classroom, or from writing one of a number of grants to give her students real-world experience, or from preparing her students for her amazing community awareness project or from a whole of host of things she does to make a better learning experience for her students and our (mine and pooches) lives better. Though A likes to state my past career as an accomplishment, it is really her current life that is an amazing accomplishment and to top it off, she has brought new friends into our lives.

It was only months ago, that A and I were complaining about how we really don't have many friends that are dog owners and we would sit countless hours in the park with the pooches imagining how great our lives would be with a few dog owner friends. Now we are surrounded by such an incredible community of virtual and physical group of friends. I am awed by how A has introduced us to some old friends we just met. Last night we hung out with a few SociaBulls friends and we had a great time hanging out with several good (human) friends from our inaugural walk:

Maize

Torre

Jack

and with those who have made our group what it is today:

Izzy

Zoe

Lola and Franklin

but we missed those that make our Sunday walks extra special, you know who you are.
We are very thankful to our old blog friends that visited us in Chicago and those that welcomed us in their town and home and to our forever Project Rescue and New Leash on Life family members, Jack and Bella’s family and Leigh-Anne and George and SuperLevi’s family.

It was funny to me when on Monday night, Kim from A Yellow Brick Home and A were talking about Alex from Love and a Leash as an old mutual friend. A and I joke about how many of our closest friends, we have never met. She loves to tell me about your lives, such as fostering too many dogs so you had to move, the daily events of our oldest friends in Hollywood and countless many others. I apologize if I forgot anyone, but you all are truly dearest friends with A and me. We truly are thankful for the more than supportive virtual community and we hope someday we can meet you all.

Pooches: New Dog Essentials

2011-11-29T07:00:00.003-06:00

It's funny thinking back about how clueless I was when I first adopted Miss M. The night before she came to live with me, I stopped by the pet store to get some things I thought she would like. Looking down the endless rows, I really had no idea what I should get. What I ended up with: A rope animal toy that would painfully whip me when she played with it. And the tennis ball head that was destroyed in a day. A little green stuffed frog that was destuffed that same day. And a dog bed that met the same fate.
As I've been meeting more people who have recently adopted dogs, they've been asking the short list of what I would recommend when they bring home their pooch. I'm definitely not an expert, but these are the top things that come to mind:

1)Kongs & Nylabones:

These are good toys that won't be destroyed instantly, and they are good to have on hand for misplaced chewing behavior. We live my our kongs and we love that they double as a mental stimulation 'puzzle' that will be sure to tire out your pooch. We still put peanut butter in our kongs, and freeze them, and the dogs actually look forward to us leaving. We also learned from Love & a Leash that you can put the pooches' food in the kong as an extra challenge, or a decoy if your dog is on a diet.

2) Pet Insurance:

We don't work for the company, but I always feel an extra obligation to tell people about pet insurance. Both of our pooches have pet insurance, and we have literally saved thousands of dollars. The most important thing is to get the insurance almost immediately after getting your dog; this way your dog won't have any pre-existing conditions that the insurance won't cover. E has researched several of the companies, and the one we like the most is Trupanion. Most pet insurance, like the kind I irresponsibly got Miss M, won't cover breed-specific ailments. So things like allergies will never be covered. We like that Trupanion covers all of the ailments regardless of breed, plus they don't have a huge bump in premiums when your dog becomes an Elderbull. (Mr. B was on Embrace pet insurance and his premium increased 40% when he turned 7!)

3) Crate

Growing up we just used to have our new dogs in a gated portion of the house, though I think crating is the more accepted thing now (or at least for those of us who have smaller spaces). The good thing about the crate is the new dog will have their own private space. Plus, having a crate trained dog is a definite benefit so they have options of staying with friends if you have to go out of town.

4) Nature's Miracle:

This was the main thing I had forgotten, and even with our dogs now it's the first thing to go into their overnight bag. Even the most housetrained pooch is bound to have an accident when their schedule is disrupted.This is the short list, and once you get to know more about your pooch and their needs, you can start picking up some of the more specific things.
I'm sure there are several important things I left out. What does everyone else recommend?

Fun Fact: That top photo is of Mr. B when he was new to us. We had been corresponding for several weeks with his foster mom, and we went out to Michigan to meet him. That same night, we all went camping together before driving back to Chicago.

When Conditioning Goes Bad (Thanksgiving Edition)

2011-11-28T07:00:00.002-06:00

Sure we have conditioning to thank for our good dog behaviors like knowing to sit at corners and teaching Miss M to put her own toys away on command.
But what about when conditioning goes bad?
This Thanksgiving, we found out how bad behaviors have been reinforced with our pooches.

Mr. B has been conditioned to have his stuffies with him at all times.
But just watch what happens when we try to pack Mr. B's stuffies in his overnight bag...we thought we were the ones going crazy.
(This actually has to be my all-time favorite video of the pooches)

Meanwhile, Miss M has been conditioned to think that going to the suburbs means she does not have to follow our rules. The moment we hit the suburbs, Miss M awoke from a deep sleep in the back of the car to begin sniffing the suburban air. Which caused her to get 'crazy eyes'. So when we went to pick up E's Mom, Miss M was literally leap-frogging to get into her house where she proceeded to race around like a crazy dog, not listening, and even sitting on the couch.
She has been so conditioned to not follow the rules, that she gets excited before she even gets in the door.

After all the good behavior we are used to, this 'off' behavior is even more frustrating.
I think it might be a long road considering she starts getting excited in the car just smelling the suburban air.
Anyone else have these types of 'bad conditioning' experiences? Or have success changing them?

The Uninvited Guests II

2011-11-23T07:00:00.006-06:00

On our first Thanksgiving together, we were so excited to have the family meet our pooches, because of Mr. B's calm nature

and Ms. M's huge personality.

They didn't disappoint, Mr. B quickly became best friends with E's 70 year old reserved and soft-spoken grandfather and Ms. M was the hit with her wiggles and kisses. Ms. M even practiced her waves and she was happy to perform for the whole family. And they were impressed!

So when the next family party came around, we were confident that the pooches would be on their best behavior when we brought them. Instead, clever Miss M realized our rules didn't apply outside the house. Everyone let her do whatever she wanted, she was being given food, and with her pushy nature she began eating food off of plates, digging through the trash, and eventually stuck her head in a huge family sized bowl of homemade potato salad. She was banned from all family parties.

And Mr. B. was banned by association. Even though all he did was search for his new best friend, E's grandfather.

So we are trying to find a way to get the pooches back into the family parties. Maybe if we gussy them up in these matching skull sweaters?

We were thinking we might bring her and have her on a leash with us for the night, so she can't sneak off and try to eat food off of plates. Anyone have any luck reminding your pooches of the rules, even though everyone else is trying to break them?
Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Things to do with Your Dog in Chicago: Grilled Cheese and Family Walks

2011-11-22T07:00:00.003-06:00

We actually aren't used to having so much excitement with a real live SuperHero living in our midst, so it has been nice to fall back into our regular routine with our two pooches.
Miss M and I have a long-standing summer tradition of going to the Farmer's Market every Saturday morning. It dates back to when we were Bachelorettes together. Though with market season over, we have begun our winter traditions, and we even let Mr. B and E join in:

Sunday mornings we all take a family walk together. Mr. B brings his backpack and we stop by our favorite bakery: La Farine .Plus, what could be cuter than a pooch with a roll of french bread sticking out of his backpack?

We pick up bread, and often a fresh-baked pie from Hoosier Mama. The pooches just like to check out their own smiling faces:

When we come home, E makes flights of mini-grilled cheese that we eat with soup and apple cider. Miss M especially likes watching the fire:

We miss all the summer action, but it is fun to have some winter traditions too. Anyone else have any good winter traditions with your pooches?

Chicago SociaBulls: Lakefront Path

2011-11-21T07:00:00.003-06:00

The impending winter has not stopped our dogwalking group as we took the pooches out to a portion of Chicago's lakefront path.

This is a popular portion of the lakefront trail, is the perfect reminder of how varied and beautiful our city is with the perfect mix of lakefront and harbor views, jewel-toned trees, and city skyline. Not to mention people spending time with their gorgeous pooches.

Plus a certain Superhero joining the walk with his very own family!

The pooches are still naturally excited at the beginning of the walk. Though once the walk starts, they fall into the rhythm of being in a pack. This location was kind of a gamble because it is so busy with runners, squirrels, geese and plenty of off-leash dogs. Despite all these distractions, the pooches did an amazing job of remaining focused.

And while this was our perspective of the walk, here are some highlights from Mr. B's view:

Check our Chicago SociaBulls page to keep updated on all things SociaBull. We will be having a walk Thanksgiving weekend, so check the site to see when the new location is announced.
And if you are interested in joining SociaBulls, please contact us at Chicagosociabulls.com. Put SociaBulls in the subject line and tell us a bit about you and your pooch.

Newsflash: SuperLevi is Reunited with His SuperHero Family

2011-11-18T07:00:00.005-06:00

(Photo taken Levi's 1st night in his new home!)

Ruffwear Overcoat: Kiira Ratia
Dog Sweater: Mary Agnew
Dog Sweater: Jessica Berson
Dog BackPack: Emily Hawkins
Go Pro Camera: Laurie Loweecey
Sirius Republic Collar: Natasha Ambuster
Silly Buddy Collar: Rachel Kirby
Doggie Biscuit Care Package: Cheryl Green
Doggie Biscuit Care Package: Kate Bedford
Winners: Watch for an email letting you know how you will receive your prizes.

We can't thank you all enough for helping SuperLevi save his x-ray vision. Check SuperLevi's blog for updates on his new life and upcoming surgery, and stay tuned to meet that special pooch who has been dreaming of rescue, and will now have his wish granted.

GoodBye, SuperLevi

2011-11-17T07:00:00.005-06:00

The other day, we heard our little SuperLevi's powers were needed elsewhere.
We knew his stay here was only temporary.

We helped him pack: folding up his SuperLevi outfit and putting his little red hoodie into a little bag.

The pooches watched him go. Miss M even thought she saw him fly away!

But we learned there was another family, a super family, that needs his healing powers more than we do.
And we realized, that's where he belongs.

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion of SuperLevi's search for his SuperFamily.
(And this is worth waiting for...we couldn't have made up a better ending ourselves).
Same pittie time. Same pittie channel.

Mr. B's Camera: Chicago's Wrigleyville by Dogs

2011-11-16T06:49:00.001-06:00

(Photo: Yellow Brick Home)

Wrigley Field always seems to be one of the first things people want to visit when they come to Chicago. People are always flooding in to see its iconic marquee, bevy of bars, and bustling streets. While this is what we see, we realized that our dogs' perspectives are far different. As we analyzed the photos according to Mr. B's camera and compared it to our view of the renegade walk for SuperLevi, we realized: we may be on the same walk, but what we see is completely different.

How Pooches See Eachother and The Most Interesting Places in the Neighborhood:

Colleagues and more places of interest

Look at me, look at you:

Colleagues:

What happens at Wrigley Field Stays at Wrigley Field:

This is a ballpark?

I wonder if the pooches ever notice the things we find most interesting on walks?

P.S. Stay tuned for end of the week updates on SuperLevi's fundraiser, raffle, and an exciting surprise.

Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: SuperDogs take on Wrigleyville

2011-11-15T07:00:00.004-06:00

As part of our fundraiser to help fosterdog SuperLevi find his (super)vision, we had a renegade superhero-themed dogwalk at Chicago's famous Wrigley Field and meandering through the surrounding Wrigleyville neighborhood. Imagine what people thought when they saw 20+ pooches, dressed in varying superhero gear, on a seemingly normal day. Here is our 70's style video featuring all of the Superpooches, showcasing their supertalents, and our walk through Wrigleyville (plus a cool soundtrack!).

The Cubs were even nice enough to put a special message for us on the marquee. You can see how excited Jack was about that!

(This photo, and photo of Jack in the montage, by Kim from Yellow Brick Home)

SuperLevi was so surprised as many of his friends popped out of nowhere to support him in his quest to find his (super)vision. We even had Bruce Wayne coming as Batman himself. And even some of New Leash on Life's current adoptable pooches hoping SuperLevi could use his talents to help them find their future homes.

The walk began at Wrigley Field taking us around the surrounding Wrigleyville neighborhood, Southport neighborhood and back to Wrigley Field. Even with so many pooches, and such a loud and exciting area, the pooches did an amazing job walking together as a pack. I think it also helps that their owners are always practicing focusing techniques.

It was so fantastic to see so many pooches out for an early morning stroll and supporting SuperLevi.

The support for SuperLevi has been so overwhelming, and the volunteers at New Leash are currently working to tally the results and organize the raffle entries. Stay tuned for the raffle results, and some exciting news at the end of the week!

Photo by Kim at Yellow Brick Home.

SuperLevi's Super Supporters

2011-11-14T07:00:00.007-06:00

We have been beyond astonished by the amount of support flooding in for our little SuperLevi, and seeing how far his story reached has been truly humbling. We have received support from 36 states, plus Canada!
While we know some people are even vacationing and will have photos coming soon, we were beyond overwhelmed to see so many proud pooches across the nation walking in honor of SuperLevi and wishing him well.
From former foster dog Pauley James and his boy, all the way in Kentucky sitting proudly.

Rachel, Joe, Luke (the black lab mix) and Amy (tiny foster fail pitbull!) out in Cream Ridge, New Jersey.

Adorable Nina from the Bay Area, California

Apollo, Laci and Lexi showing support on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Turk and Rufus out in Kansas City.

Lark and Lola hiking out in California.

Another Levi in West Virginia sending support.

Pink Daisy and Roscoe in California

And even little Mouse who is so small his bandana is more like a cape. But he wore it with attitude.

Jazmin and Maggie with the wind blowing through their ears all the way in Minnesota.

Another Levi and brother Neptune from St. Louis

Who are proud dog siblings to newly born baby Elsa (who has her very own zoo!)

Kamanchi in Ohio who thinks wearing his SuperLevi bandana will give him the ability to move the hamburger into his mouth without his Mom even noticing:

Annika, Chlly, and Flaca proudly representing from northern California

Nabi and Willie taking time for a Superhero stroll while vacationing in Michigan

Beautiful Billy representing, but sad he couldn't come walk in person

Super Leland charging up his superpowers (his Dad designed the shirt and bandanas!)

Fellow New Leash on Life Alumni smiley Wanda

Sassy Maize representing proudly:

Fellow New Leash on Life Alumni Kameko and Jude. Jude is even showing how excited he is to walk!

Well wishes all the way from New York City from Lucy and My Boy Bill

Kind words from New Leash on Life alumni Bean. Bean and Miss M were in the same 'pledge class' as they were pulled from ACC at the same time.

It has been so amazing to have all this support and see how everyone has really helped out so much. We are still excited to see photos from those walkers who had to be out of town for the weekend.

Here is a sneak peek of our local Chicago walk where 20+ dogs, dressed in Superhero gear, descended upon the Wrigleyville neighborhood. Some of the pooches even do superhero tricks!

We are still finalizing the raffle requests before we have the drawing, and summing up our totals. Stay tuned...

The Pooches Prep for SuperLevi's Walk to Find his X-Ray Vision

2011-11-11T07:00:00.003-06:00

Much like I have a routine to prep for the marathon, the pooches are very excited as they've been prepping for SuperLevi's fundraiser walk on Saturday.
They have been trying out Superhero costumes to wear for the walk. As either Bat-B

Or Green Man:

Meanwhile, SuperLevi has been practicing his superhero action rolls:

And Miss M was carb loading:

The pooches can barely contain their excitement about the walk. And here are the details:

In Chicago
When: Saturday, Nov 12
Place: Wrigley Field (starting and ending) We will have a fun 2 mile walk winding through the streets of Wrigleyville.
Time: "Registration" and T-shirt distribution begins at 9:30. The walk begins promptly at 10:00.
Events: Feel free to dress for our Superhero theme (Spoiler Alert: Miss M is coming as the 'Kissing Bandit'!). We will have photo opportunities with your pooches and photos with SuperLevi, Miss M, and Mr. B, and a couple other fun surprises.
Other: Because we are expecting a high volume of dogs in one place, no retractable leashes please.

Virtual Walk
We were very excited to receive so many T-shirt and bandana orders from far away, and we would love to see your photos of you and your pooches walking in SuperLevi gear.
Please post your photos onto Facebook throughout the day so we can see who is walking and where you're from.
You can post photos:
-On Two Pitties in the City Facebook page here
-And New Leash on Life Chicago Facebook page here.

And we are still selling raffle tickets through November 12. We have amzing prizes: Go Pro Camera, Ruffwear Dog Backpack, Ruffwear Dog Coat, Custom Knit Sweaters, Sirius Republic Collar, Silly Buddy Collar. Read more about the raffle prizes here. And donate to the raffle, indicating 'For Levi' and the prize you would like here.
We are excited to have everyone join us on the walk to see if we can help SuperLevi find his X-Ray vision!