Miss M's Not-Bucket List: Part II

In 2010, I wrote about Miss M being 100% mutt (it is nice to see Miss M's face show up as a web search result for 100% mutt).

Now that we have Little K, the post has a lot more meaning for us. It is interesting to us that when Little K was a baby, he would wave hi to everyone we passed by on our daily walks with both pooches and now that he is verbal, he says hi to everyone on our daily walk with Mr. B. He must have developed this habit from Miss M.

Our daily walks would often be a slow affair because it was an imperative to Miss M to say to everyone, she would either pull to someone or stop completely just to say hi. She was such an outgoing pooch and we love how Little K emulates Miss M and will say hi to everyone we pass by on our walks. Much like Mr. B, A and I are rather shy, so we are grateful that Miss M showed Little K how to be more outgoing.

Much like Miss M, Little K is a mutt aka Hapa Haole, but he knows his mixed heritage. As a not-bucket list item, we thought it would be interesting to Miss M and more so to us, if we got to know Miss M's background, so we did a DNA test for her back in December of 2016.
And the results are:

Obligation vs Opportunity

Though I am fully aware that my time with Mr. B is very limited, especially since the passing of Miss M, I have always considered my routine with Mr. B, taking him for a walk, letting him out for a potty break, as an obligation.

I would tell A that I have to take Mr. B for a walk when we get home, I have to let Mr. B out at night. It was not until we had a recent scare with Mr. B's blood work that I truly wanted to change my life with Mr. B and continue to live every moment as a grand adventure. I had to shift my thinking from things I have to do with Mr. B to things I get to do with Mr. B.

A daily walk, taking him out for a potty break, taking him to the vet should no longer be an obligation but an opportunity to spend more time with him and ensure that he is healthy and happy and we are still creating amazing memories.

Though I do slip up and say I have to do something, I try to remain mindful of my language and correctly restate it as I get to do something.

I hope to always remember not only with Mr. B, but with all aspects of my life that instead of having to do all of these obligations, I get to have all of these opportunities.

Also:

The Lovable Mr. B

Lucky for us

The Dogs They Were Meant to Be

Did you Ever Doubt?

Pooches: What We've Learned about Pet Insurance

One of the first pieces of unsolicited advice I always give to new pet owners is to apply for Pet Insurance.
Immediately.
Before you can develop any pre-existing conditions.
And with everything we went through with Miss M this past year, we have learned a lot about pet medical bills.
Though the biggest thing we found out:
It's not enough to just have Pet Insurance. You have to choose the right Pet Insurance.

Just from our experiences, this is a tale of 2 Pet Insurance plans: Miss M was on 24PetWatch and Mr. B has Trupanion. And seeing how making the right choice in the beginning can make a huge difference as your dog gets older.

NOTE (12.3.19): We no longer recommend Trupanion. They raised our monthly premium 40% without telling us. They claim that the increase is not due to age, but that they can increase the percentage given the types of claims for other pitbulls in our zip code, so they can never know how dramatically it can increase in a year.

Pre-existing Conditions

I enrolled Miss M in her Pet Insurance plan way back in 2007 when there weren't as many options out there.
To put this in perspective: The final Harry Potter books was just published. Britney Spears was still considered a positive role-model. And they just invented the i-Phone.
Simpler times.
When I was looking at plans, the biggest thing was checking the pre-existing conditions. Some plans won't cover conditions for certain breeds of dogs. You want to make sure to sign up before your pup has any major health problems.
But, it makes it really hard to switch insurance if you are diagnosed with anything.
At one point I had asked the vet about a urination issue--which we later learned was behavioral--and after that the insurance used that one question as a pre-existing condition where they would not cover illnesses involving her kidneys.
With that one strike against us, we always thought that we were stuck and we had to stick with her plan.

Your Policy Changes as They Age 

When you enroll in pet insurance with your young pup, it's so easy to skip the parts that talk about how your policy will change as they get older.

Most of the policies will have dramatic annual premium changes when they turn a certain age. We originally had Mr. B on Embrace Pet Insurance, which we liked a lot, but when he turned 6 years-old his annual premiums increased 40%! He didn't have any pre-existing conditions, so he wasn't tied to the plan and we were able to switch him over to Trupanion. Though as a 14 year-old dog, his current premiums are extremely high.

In our case, Miss M's total coverage drastically drops. Originally we could insure her up to $20,000, but once she turned 10 they would only reimburse up to $5,000. Given the costs of the co-pays and the annual premium, we only received about $3,000 back from her insurance.
You don't get any benefits for being a loyal customer.

Consider Total Coverage

I always thought it was enough that we were insured, and I never considered we would reach a point where our medical bills would exceed our insurance.
To put it all into perspective (and we know all costs differ depending on location, specific condition, and type of dog):
A visit and stay at the Pet ER can be $2,000+
It depends on a lot of factors, but in our situation a round of chemotherapy can be $5,000+ and an additional radiation dose is $2,500+. But the testing and procedures between and after testing can be as much as $600-1,500+ each time.
We had several rounds of testing.
Since she was older than 10, Miss M's coverage dropped to only covering $5,000, which is really $3,000 after co-pays and the annual premium.
Unbelievably, Mr B's plan with Trupanion has unlimited coverage. We met someone at the vet's office with the plan who told us they spent about $40,000 and they were still getting reimbursed.

Getting Reimbursed

I never thought about it when I signed up, circa 2007, but knowing when you're being reimbursed is a huge deal. 

Especially when you're dealing with thousands of dollars.

It took 2 months for Miss M's insurance to reimburse us. 

Ask About Add-on's

It turns out that Mr. B's insurance does cover some non-traditional therapy. If we had known this, we would have signed up long ago as we've had too many friends whose pups have ACL injuries and we would have wanted to prepare.

We unfortunately couldn't take advantage of it because we asked our vet if he seemed arthritic, and it was noted in our file as a pre-existing condition.

Pet Insurance vs. Just Saving Money for Emergencies

We have paid for Mr. B's plan for years and he has only turned in small bills a few times. 

So yes, we have lost money on his coverage.

At the same time, you never know what can happen, and I'd rather be prepared.

Despite all my years of saving, and being financially responsible, this past year was the most financially unlucky year of our lives. 

Baby K needed an emergency surgery on his large intestine and was hospitalized for 7 days. Our Developer decided not to honor contracts and has left us with a college-tuition's worth of needed repairs. Even our 3 year-old water heater gave out. All in addition to Miss M's illness.

It's a terrible feeling to have a sick pet and to be worrying about financial decisions.

These are just our experiences with the few Pet Insurance companies that we've worked with.

What are other people's experiences or things that we're leaving out?

Also:

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Mr. B vs Stairs Part II

We apologize that the blog has taken a backseat to everything that has been going on in our lives. The pooches are doing well, but getting older. A has noticed that Mr. B started to sit funny, so she decided to get his hips checked when he was in for his routine senior blood panel and shots. Everything looks great, but poor Mr. B has some pain in his hips from old age. We were told to minimize Mr. B's use of the stairs.

However, Mr. B has his own agenda, to live to the fullest and follow us everywhere. A and I have been working on getting Mr. B to stay on one floor, the main floor during the day and the top floor in the evening. We tend to forget things or need to do things on different floors and while heading up or down the stairs, we make sure to yell "stay" to Mr. B before we go up or down the stairs.

As we yell "stay" we can see the little wheel in his head turning, deciding whether to stay or follow us when we aren't looking. Next thing we know Mr. B is sitting right next to us, when he should have been staying. Now we run whenever we have to make a quick stop on a different floor and try to catch Mr. B before he has made it halfway on the stairs.

Due to all this running, A and I are keeping in shape going up and down the stairs. Through all this Miss M could care less about us. She chooses to stay wherever she wants, including laying in her own pee pads, a post for another day.

Is there anything you do to keep your dog's hips healthy?

Pooches: The Health Benefits of Daily Walks

We know a lot of people feel sorry for city dogs because we don't have backyards, but as our pups have been growing older we've been seeing how beneficial our daily walking routine really is.
We've realized what once seemed like a forced walk, now has been helping our pups through their aging process.

Low-Impact Exercise

People are always surprised to hear our pups are a (spry!) 10 and 11 years old, but we think a lot of it has to do with our Daily Walks. On work days our pups walk about 2 miles while our Family Walks go for 4+ miles. Even though they are older, our pups are used to these distances since we have been walking this much for years. Though in warmer weather we've been taking more breaks.
I'm guessing if we had a backyard our pups might run around for a few minutes, but with our daily walks our pups are forced to walk the whole time. We also know running in the yard would also be harder on their joints while our walking keeps their legs and joints loose. I also imagine Miss M would become a bit more portly if it was left up to her.
Our neighbor had his 2 pit bulls live to be 16 and 17 years old. Even when they were older he would always be outside walking them, even if they were going shorter distances, and he believes it's one of the things that did allow them to live so long.

Mental Stimulation

We've realized how important it is to keep our pups' world big and expose them to new things. The things we encounter on our walks are always changing, and this type of mental stimulation helps 'exercise' their brains to keep their minds sharp. It also keeps them from becoming bored which we know makes for an overall happier dog.

Catching Symptoms Early

Since these walks do allow us to spend much more time with our pups, we become more attuned to them and we are able to catch symptoms and ailments that much earlier. We are also aware of what is going on with their poo at all times.

We have found this helps with our pups and our lifestyles.
What are some other ways you work to exercise your pups, especially as you notice them getting older?

Also:
We originally didn't realize the health benefits of this one
Budgeting our time for all-weather walks

Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and story lines beyond the blog.

Pooches: How to Make Dog Baths Easier

My fear of dog-bathing began when Miss M and I were bachelorettes together.
It was just me and my 70 pound dog. 
We became a living comic-strip; a small girl trying to wrestle her 70 pound dog into the bath tub. 
And much like any comic-strip, there were many tub-escapes, falls, and slippery dog-chasing.
Fast-forward a few years, I felt ready to tackle home dog baths again. But this time with more of a plan than just tossing Miss M in the tub. Luckily, our baths are no longer comic-strip worthy, and we even figured out how to bathe both pups at the same time.
This is what worked for us:

Training your Dog to Love the Bathtub

Given Miss M's earlier Coyote-and-Roadrunner antics, and the fact she hated even going near the bathroom, I wanted to teach her to love the bathtub. We would practice sitting together in the tub without water, and I would make it fun by giving her the best treats she ever tasted. To get her to enjoy exploring the bathtub by herself, I would randomly leave these amazing treats in the tub for her to find. This helped increase her positive associations with the tub as a good place.
Once she felt more comfortable with the tub, and she was actually in the tub with water, I would continuously give her these amazing treats as she was bathing.
After the bath, the pups are rewarded by getting a different"the best treats ever". Through these associations, the pups willingly take baths.

Using the Right Tools: 

We always loved the self-serve dog wash places because they make things so easy, so we tried to set something up similarly in our own home. We bought a removable hand-held shower hose that makes it easy to hose down all those hard-to-reach areas, and rinse them off quickly. The hose also makes it really easy to rinse the hair off of the tub, and we use a hair-catcher on the drain so it doesn't get clogged. We keep all of our cleaning supplies in one place (those dorm caddies still come in handy!) which is easy to pull out. A vet tech told us putting cotton in their ears will prevent water from getting in and potentially getting an ear infection. We also keep wipes to clean inside their ears. We still need to get some non-slip things for the inside of the tub as Mr. B tends to slide around with his stubby little legs.

Save Time

Once our pups learned to love the bathtub, and we had our tools together, we learned a couple of ways to save time. Our treat association with the bathtub taught the pups to jump right in by themselves; we don't have to worry about picking up our big dogs. Since they now enjoy the baths, we save time by bathing them together. We also make it a team effort where E and I work together as an assembly line to wet-lather-rinse and dry. Though sometimes E does most of it so I can get photos.

We tend to bathe our pups about once a month because we have learned this about Chicago Grime and Miss M starts to smell like Fritos. If they are extra-dirty between baths, we wipe them down with a waterless shampoo spray.
These are things that work for us, what are some other bath tips you use for your pups?

Also:
Being preventative
We didn't know there were other benefits to this
This is what people are always asking us about
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and storylines beyond the blog.

DoggyStyle: On Leash Modifications for Better Walks

I've heard that City Moms take great care in choosing their strollers, often considering it like their SUV: equipped to hold and store everything they need for their walks and journeys.
And just like our pups go for so many daily walks, our leash has taken on the same importance. Through our daily walks through days like this or like this, these are some modifications we've made to make our walks easier:

Add-On's:

Miss M is upset we are not getting her best angle

We added a circular key ring to the leash handle and we were able to clip on our poo bag dispenser and an extra carabiner. We can use the carabiner to hold extra things like our dog treat bag, extra keys, or citronella. Though it sounds excessive, it's not bulky because I use the double-elbow hand hold that I wrote about here. 

Safety Measures:

It's funny how we all put so much trust in the little latch that clips the leash to the collar, but through our own experiences, and talking to several of our friends, we have learned how that little clip can fail. Sometimes it just wears out and doesn't clip as well, or if your pup rolls or snags it against a chair or table it could come unclipped. It has happened to us once with Mr B (he really wanted to meet a giant poodle), once with Miss M (we didn't even know it was unclipped until we looked behind us and we couldn't understand how Miss M was lagging so far behind) and a funny story from a friend (their pup came unclipped, rushed into a grocery store and was frolicking in the bread aisle). Since then, we learned to thread a carabiner through the base of the clasp serving as a second connector to the collar. We wrote more about it, here and this is what it looks like.

An Extra Grip:

Sometimes leashes can become slippery. Or cause rope burn.
To get an extra grip on the leash I originally used a leash with an extra loop at the end that acted like an extra handle, though I found Miss M found that extra loop very tempting to play with as we were walking. One of our dog walkers taught as a different trick: you can get an extra grip on any leash by tying a knot in various places to get more control.
Especially important if Mr. B is having one of those days where he doesn't understand the meaning of  'a walk'.

Style:

Mr. B is happy to match his person

Just like buying fun new gym clothes gives you extra incentive to go to the gym, I found using cute leash sets give me that extra push to enjoy our dog walks even when the weather isn't enjoyable. We have been using matching leash and collar sets from both Sirius Republic and Silly Buddy. They both handmade all of their collars and leashes so sizes are customizable. We like using the wide martingale and matching leash. Sometimes we even coordinate by the seasons.

Also:
We are liking this length now.
We also carry these on our walks.
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and story lines beyond the blog.

DoggyStyle: The Other Benefits of Wiping Paws

We know so many people think that owning dogs means you are constantly cleaning, but we have realized just the opposite: it has just made us more aware of keeping a clean home. Our home is definitely cleaner now that we own dogs.
While I wouldn't say we are actually spending that much more time cleaning, we do take preventative measures so things don't really get that dirty.

The one thing that has seemed to make the biggest impact, is that we wipe our pooches feet each time they come back from being outside. While it may seem a bit excessive, it is kind of like a person who takes their shoes off when coming inside.
And while we were wondering if we were being a bit intense, lately people have told us some other benefits of consistently wiping paws:

Preventing Health Issues: 

Some of our dog friends who are prone to having itchy feet have mentioned how important it is to consistently wipe feet to prevent dogs chewing on their paws. Our friend Melvin, also dubbed "World's Most Allergic Dog", uses sensitive baby wipes after each walk to remove any allergens before they can come inside.
Maybe a little less common, but wiping their feet before they come inside helps remove any toxins they might have walked through. With all of the outdoor rat poison, fertilizers, construction, and general debris it just made more sense to wipe their paws so there isn't a chance they might lick their feet and ingest something toxic.

Make Handling Easier:

While it may not be true for every dog, we noticed consistently touching their feet has made them more accustomed to handling by other people, and especially to having their nails cut.
Miss M especially anticipates each paw that needs wiping and she will actually hand us her feet. Even shifting her weight for her back legs. (You can see it here in this 'vintage' video)

Chicago Grime:

Thinking about all of the mud, dog feces, uneaten food, spit, and worms found on Chicago sidewalks, it makes me a bit queazy to think of it all getting tracked into our home, rugs, and possibly furniture. When we were having our sofas cleaned, the upholstery cleaners even told us that it's also common for dogs to encounter squirrel, and other animal, feces and bring it into the home, and this can cause flus and illnesses in humans.
Has anyone else been doing this too?

Also:
Have you met our secret cleaning weapon?
Making cleaning fun.
Our Dog-Entry Rug

Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and storylines beyond the blog.

Pooches: On Itchy Dogs

When we first adopted our pups, and we entered this 'hidden underworld',  we didn't realize that this would also enter us into the allergy and itchy skin discussion club. So many of our fellow pit bull-type dog friends suffer from itchy skin, and it seems to be one of the most questioned and discussed topics among owners.

Luckily for us, our pups' conditions have been minimal.
When I first adopted Miss M, she was always a bit itchy and I never realized how many things could be involved with food allergies. We realized that she doesn't do well with chicken and when we changed her diet it cleared up quite quickly.
Beyond that, we work to keep our pups' skin well-hydrated by incorporating fish oil into their meals and using a humidifier in our home. If we see any hot spots, we've been using virgin coconut oil topically which is a good moisturizer and is not harmful if ingested.

We have had limited experiences, though this is something we get asked about often. One of our dog friends even asked us the following question:

Have you ever done a post on the blog about sore paws and how to treat them? We are trying to help our pup because his paws are quite sore. He has allergies, and the vet likes to give him steroids, and antibiotics for infection. He took the meds in the summer, and I guess they helped some, yet now he has irritated paws. 

After reading on the internet about foot soaks in chamomile tea and Betadine, we are trying that, but we need to do more of it. I spray his feet with a tea tree oil/aloe/chamomile hot spot spray by Vet's Best that we got at Petco, and it helps. We would be grateful for any ideas you have about this.

We are definitely not experts, and we would love to hear your thoughts about helping your itchy pup, and if you do have any advice for sore paws.

Thoughts?

Also:
This was also something new to us too 
Extra winter precautions

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SociaBulls: On Leash Safety and Preventing Equipment Failure

Mr. B rides to SociaBulls in style

Though we are nearing the 2 year anniversary of our SociaBulls walking group, we are always a work in progress learning what works well and always working to improve comfort and safety for all of our pups.

As some members have been sharing their experiences of leash equipment failure on their personal walks, we decided to make some changes to the group to prevent the chance of equipment failure.

Replacing Equipment

Much like bicycle helmets can deteriorate and need to be replaced every few years to function, the same is true for the clips and buckles on collars and leashes. We know a lot of people who have had their leash clip come undone (it even happened to us a few times!) so we are now asking members to make sure they are using current equipment.

Double-Securing in Two Places

Between stories of latches falling off of leashes, prongs popping open, and dogs wiggling out of harnesses, we are asking members to begin double-securing their equipment in two places.

-We are all using carabiners as a way to double latch our leashes. You can see the example here.

-Prongs are backed up using a carabiner to attach it to the harness.

-Halters are double-clipped using this example here.

Recommending The Double Elbow-Hand Hold or Additional Waist Leashes

We've had at least two incidents when we were on our daily walk and a dog came running up to us because the owner had happened to drop the leash. We know how easily dogs can get excited and cause any of us to lose hold of their leash.

I like using the double elbow-hand hold we wrote about here. 

Plus we know a leash with a double loop on the end or even a knot tied towards the bottom can give extra grip.

We also know some members who have been successful double-leashing using a handheld leash in addition to a handsfree waist leash like this one. 

Using a 4-foot Leash

While dogs can get a bit further from us on our standard 6-foot leash, we like how the 4 foot leash gives us a greater awareness and a reminder to keep our dogs close to our side.

While nothing is foolproof, after hearing so many stories we wanted to make sure to create the safest environment we could for our group.

Has anyone else experienced equipment failure or had success with other techniques?

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

Also:

Coding

Supplies

After-trainers!

DoggyStyle: The 'Not Fun' Side of Dog Organization

Sometimes it can be a struggle to keep my own stuff in order, let alone managing things for the pups. We're always so busy thinking about the fun side of dog gear, that sometimes it takes things like this to remember the not so fun things we need.
Here are some things we've learned about keeping dog paperwork, medicine and daily safety essentials in order:

Dog Paperwork

Mr. B takes baths more than he does paperwork

I remember signing up for a training class and being asked to supply proof of spay neuter (from the rescue group), current vaccinations (from the vet), rabies (from a different vet), proof of prior training classes (certificates) and scrambling to find all these different documents and make copies.
So we made it electronic.
We just scan all of our documents and keep everything online. It's much easier to be able to email the documents, print everything out from one electronic file, and keep it with us at all times via our iphones.

First Aid Gear

Ever since this happened, we became painfully aware of how we need to stock up our dog first aid supplies. We now have an entire drawer devoted to hemostatic bandages (to stop bleeding), gauze, antiseptic spray, Neosporin, Benadryl, and Gas-X.
We have also realized that not all cones are made alike and we keep 3 different types of cones so we're ready for whatever type of wound they might need to be protected from. We wrote more about it, here.

City Dog Walking Essentials 

With so much going on in the city, I find I need supplies even for a short jaunt outside. We have gotten things down to a science where we keep supplies in separate bags for our separate types of walks: an Everyday Short-Walk bag, a Family Walk/ Festival bag, and an Overnight/Weekend bag.

We wrote more about it, here.

I know we're still missing a lot.
I'm curious to hear how everyone else organizes their essentials. And especially, what do you keep in your dog first-aid kit? 

Also:
Fun Dog Organization!
Who knew car safety could be so hilarious?

Pooches: Miss M's Cone Fashion Show

Since this happened, we have been lucky enough to never have our pups in a cone for an extended amount of time.
We've learned not all cones are the same.
Miss M wanted to find the one that was just right.
She tried this floppy one:

Miss M would gladly stretch out her neck out for what she thought was an exotic, fancy collar:

 But I think she really liked how this inner-tube cone meant she always had a pillow handy:

Ultimately, once we figured out she could do the 'cat splits', stretching her leg straight up in the air ,we were afraid she could potentially pull out her stitches, and we realized she needed the classic: "martini glass cone".

Which has caused fun hijinks around our place. Like how I will be sitting next to her, but out of her vision, and if I call her name she will go running in the other direction down the hall:

Though I think Miss M really appreciates how the cone really does accentuate her 'beautiful features'. Even when her 'mouth is full'.

The good news is she just got her stitches out and she is healing nicely.

I think she secretly misses her pillow.

Though we did find out that she was misdiagnosed and it really was a tumor. They believe they got most of it out, but now we are doing nightly pet-checks (just like nightly tick checks for anyone who went to camp) so we can catch any bumps that might re-emerge. 

We're all happy to get back to normal....except for Mr. B who will now go back to this.

PS. Did you see this video of cone hijinks in action?
I think maybe this helped make Miss M more comfortable wearing her cone.
And maybe the cone would help me with this problem Miss M has.