Pooches: Mr. B's New Backpack

Remember when we told you about this sale at REI? Well Mr. B's backpack arrived the other day. He wore it on the walk where we were able to stop by Doggy Style and pick up the pooches Raw Food. Not only was Mr. B extra well-behaved as he carried his own groceries home, but he also received many complements on his new swag.

Pooches: Keeping it Clean

A lot of people marvel that we have 2 big dogs and almost all white furniture. We haven't had to sacrifice our decor for the dogs, we just take a few preventative measures. When the dogs come back from their walks, we just take a minute to wipe down their paws with antibacterial wipes. While this may seem a bit over the top, you would be amazed how dirty their paws are. This is Chicago after all. And by taking a minute to wipe their feet, we don't have to spend a lot of time cleaning up later. Miss M. even knows the drill and will lift her dainty, little feet one by one. Plus, if the dogs do have accidents on the rug, we always have our Hoover.

Pooches: Dog Park

Crowded dog parks are a big NO for pit bulls and other bullies. So we take our dogs to daycare at Unleashed. Though there are cheaper daycare centers around, we completely trust our dogs with Unleashed, because they know pit bulls and bullies better than anyone in Chicago. In addition, Curtis Scott is affiliated with Unleashed. However, money has gotten pretty tight, so we've been trying to find safe alternatives to supplement daycare. One option is The Wicker Park Dog Owners Meetup group, which has met up twice at Soggy Paws for play dates. Another option is the Walsh Park's dog friendly area. We normally would never take Ms. M or Mr. B to a dog park, but this park is rarely used. Walsh Park's dog friendly area is quite large and rarely gets crowded. The few times we have been there, there has been at most six dogs, including ours, but we venture out there on early weekend mornings or in middle of a weekday. Its nice to have a large controlled area where the dogs can run back and forth, with a few other dogs. Hopefully this dog park never gets crazy like the others, Wicker Park's and Churchill Park's dog friendly areas, which are too crowded and completely chaotic at times.

Pooches: Bad Rap T-shirt

One of my favorite t-shirt is the "My Best Friend" shirt from Bad Rap. Bad Rap (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls) is a rescue/advocacy group based in the San Francisco Area. Ever since we adopted Ms. M, we have tried to read everything we can about pit bulls. Bad Rap is quite popular because of the work they do with the Vick dogs. Their website has a lot of information about pit bulls, including how to be a responsible pit bull owner. On the website you will find a link to their CafePress website where you can find this shirt and plenty of other pit bull shirts, buttons, and such. We also recommend that you venture to their blog, where you will find all sorts of pit bull news.

Pooches: Easy Cheese Training

We have found a reason to use Easy Cheese beyond our college years. We have started using it for the dog training and the dogs absolutely love it. It is much easier to treat the dogs by giving them a squirt of Easy Cheese, plus it's much easier to hold then a bunch of dog treats. Although it does go against the Raw Food Diet idea, it makes training on our walks much easier.

Pooches: Soggy Paws

We joined the The Wicker Park Dog Meetup Group, because we wanted to meet other responsible pitbull owners, but the group is not limited to only pitbull owners. This past Sunday, they held their second meet up at Soggy Paws on Armitage. It was really nice meeting other dog owners, while letting the dogs play. A nice benefit to having the play date at Soggy Paws, is that the dogs can be washed right after the play date at their self washing tubs. Soggy Paws provides all the necessary supplies for all your washing needs. Now we have two really nice and clean pooches that won't let us sleep in on the weekends.

Pooches: Bark in the Park

This past Saturday, Ms. M and Mr. B enjoyed a nice walk with 3500 other pooches at The Anti-Cruelty Society's Bark in the Park. What made the event even more memorable was that P and M and M came out to walk Ms. M and Mr. B. They were so excited to be walked by people other than A and me. The dogs were completely exhausted after this 3.1 mile walk. What was nice about the event this year, was that there was a lot more pit bull owners. Maybe one day, pit bulls will stop getting such a bad rap.