CIty Dog: Reasons to Walk

We know some people are hesitant to get dogs in the city because without backyards, there is always so much walking involved. While we really enjoy heading out for a family walk,  I've also realized so many other times it has been helpful to have a dog at your side.

Finding a Mailbox

While so many things are better in the city, one thing that is more difficult is mail.
Without going into stolen packages or lack of delivery, it is just really difficult to mail stuff.
You can't just put the outgoing mail in your mailbox for the mail person to take, but you have to put it in a common blue mailbox. Which usually will be several blocks out of your way, and across at least 2 large streets. Or just hard to find. I would go days carrying my Netflix around hoping to stumble upon a mailbox that I never found.
The mailbox closest to our house is about 4 blocks away, which means I'm walking 8 blocks just to mail a letter. Which seems like a chore if I'm doing it on my own, but it becomes worthwhile with the pups. And if Mr. B can bring his stuffy.

Justifying Walk-by Donuts

Mr. B jauntily waits for donuts.

Chicago is really good at having walk-by food windows. Including several dessert options.
And since we're out walking around with the pups so much, we've made it a family tradition to stop by the Glazed & Infused window on our family walks.

Having a Late-Night Escort

While we walk most places in the city, I still know to take extra precautions after dark.
It seems like the people I'm most wary of, are most wary of the pups. E and I always refer back to the time when we were walking and a guy leaped out of our way, turns to Mr. B and told him "Much respect, Sir".
We're lucky that so many places in the city allow dogs in their outdoor seating areas so if I'm going out to meet friends I can bring one of the pups to escort me home.

Also:
Teaching your pup to behave at an outdoor patio
Some favorites.
Classy!
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and story lines beyond the blog.

Mr. B vs Stairs

One of our biggest concerns going from a single floor condominium to a single family home were the stairs. We were worried that our elderbulls would not fair so well on our stairs that lead up the bedroom and down to the basement. Miss M has long and gangly arms that are perfect for our stairs. She can ascend and descend our stairs with amazing grace. Mr. B on the other hand, has a harder time up the stairs. Though his stubby arms really makes it difficult for him to climb up our stairs, it is actually going down the stairs that has caused Mr. B the most problems. As written many times before, Mr. B loves his stuffies. He loves them so much that he has to take them everywhere, even if it means taking them up and down from the second floor.

We were wary, but we thought it was nothing to be concerned about. Until that fateful day when we heard a loud crash coming from the hallway. really early in the morning. A and I jumped out of bed to find a stuffy on our landing and Mr. B hobbling a bit on the main floor.

Luckily for us, the vet examined Mr. B and found that his injuries were minor, but we are really shaken by the whole event.

Now Mr. B is no longer allowed to carry any stuffy down or up the stairs. A has even separated his stuffys, where the ones that dangle and can cause Mr. B to trip are Mr. B's downstairs stuffys and the rest are his upstairs stuffys.

Unlucky for Mr. B, whenever he wants his stuffys to all be together, it is quickly yanked out of his mouth whenever he approaches the stairs. No longer will his stuffy collection be complete and in one place.

Pooches: On "Shop Dogs" (Kind of)

After so many years of maintaining our blog and sharing about the pups daily, it feels so strange to have stepped away from the blog for so long.
Since we launched The Laboratory, things have become beyond busy between The Laboratory and our regular teaching at school. We wrote before that The Laboratory has always been a dream of ours, that we never realized regular people (like us!) could start. It has been so great to have so much support from everyone, and to actually create the types of classes that I always wished I could take. And it has been so much fun! We've been using chemistry to recreate Cleopatra's beauty products, re-creating Hogwarts in Chicago, and working with students as young as 5 to design their own mechanical creatures (including an all-girls class!). We're already developing our summer camps where we'll be training dragons, dodging zombies and working as detectives.
We're still out and about with the pups, though the time where I'd normally spend photographing, creating, and writing for the blog has now been dedicated to continuing to create ideas for The Laboratory, emailing and returning phone calls.
One thing that has been lucky for us is that the pups can join us at The Laboratory when we need to go in to do things and we don't have classes.
They like to sit by the window and watch the people who watch them:

You usually don't see "shop dogs" this big, or in a pair, so a lot of people stop and interact with them through the windows. So we thought of some ways they can draw extra attention to our space:

The pups like the idea of "going to work". Mr. B has even decided that any store in our neighborhood that has its door open must be his store.
They get to help us out as we test our experiments.
Like checking out the Bath Bombs (Miss M approved!):

And some of Elsa's magically disappearing snowballs.
Miss M was not impressed.

Or amused:

Sometimes they become a bit bored, kind of like when I used to visit my Dad's laboratory. And Mr. B will just try to sleep:

Though Miss M needs to make sure it's a bit more like home:

As things are starting to settle a bit more, we're hoping to get back to writing more on Two Pitties, because we really have missed it!

Also:
We've been posting somewhat on our Facebook page. 
We've still been running into a couple of people who know the pups from the blog (thanks for saying hi!). They've told us that this, this, and this were some of their favorite posts!