Dog Training: Waiting

Here are the pooches waiting patiently for their treats. Since the dogs can get excitable, we've done a lot of training so they know how to be disciplined. When I first got Miss M., she was fresh off a stint on the streets. And she acted like it. She would steal stuff off of counters, and she even did this to her own bed:

Since then, we were quick to get into training classes. One of the best things she learned to do was "wait". It started where I would hold a treat near her, and if she came near me I would close my hand. When she was able to get close enough with the open hand and wait for a bit, I would reinforce the word and she would get the treat. Each day we would push it a little more until I was able to put it on her foot. She takes it very seriously. She sits like a statue, staring, and won't move. I can even leave the room, with her dinner in front of her, and she won't touch it. Once I left and forgot about her and she waited with her dinner in front of her for about 10 minutes until I came back:
Mr. B on the other hand is a bit more disciplined. Like a typical pittie he just wants to please his people. He just learned to wait by watching Miss M. His strategy is to not look at the food and pretend it's not there:
The crazy thing is they are both crazy about food. The mere mention of the word dinner is enough to send Miss M. twirling and Mr. B. bulldozing in excitement. Just check them out in action:

Pooches: Adopted?!

Our neighbor has got us thinking about how people can state misinformation as if it was a fact. The other day our neighbor stated that there is always something wrong with adopted dogs, which is why they were given up in the first place, referring to Ms. M and Mr. B because they were adopted (Ms. M from New Leash on Life and Mr. B from Kalamazoo Animal Rescue). The funny thing is that her teacup pug that she carries in her arms is always lunging from her arms, growling and barking at Mr. B and Ms. M while they sit quietly and calmly as we let them walk by. It's amazing how people forget that little dogs could be as dangerous as large dogs and need just as much training. (Several years ago, I stepped into the hallway of my old apartment and my neighbor's bichon frise ran up and bit me on the leg. Though my neighbors apologized profusely, it didn't change the fact that their dog was extremely aggressive and attacked the other tenants.) Regardless, it took us by surprise that there are dog owners, rather dog lovers, that are misinformed and overtly proclaim their misinformation to other people. Though we preach the benefits of adopting a dog, especially a bully breed such as a pit bull, we choose to live by example. We love how Ms. M and Mr. B on most occasions listen to us and are great ambassadors for pit bulls and adopted dogs. Though we still have to work with them; on our daily walks, both Ms. M and Mr. B walk on our left and rarely pull on the leash. I am probably anthropomorphizing our pooches, but I feel that they are grateful to be out of the shelter and in a loving home. Several years ago, the thought of adopting a dog never crossed my mind. I have several friends with dogs, and they were either bought from stores or breeders. Just like our neighbor, I believed that adopted dogs were bad dogs. It was not until I met A and Ms. M that I became a proponent for adoption. A is a vocal advocate for adoption and she uses Ms. M and now Mr. B to spread her message. One large issue that we face is that many people in our neighborhood have pit bulls that were bought from backyard breeders. So whenever anyone asks us about the pooches, we always like to throw in the fact that they were adopted, hoping that it would dispel some of the misconceptions about adopted dogs and possibly influence others to consider adoption as their first and only option.

Pooches: Miss M. the Ultimate Bad Sport

So one of our blog friends, Mango, is having a contest where you can vote to determine the ultimate bad sport dog. We posted before about how Miss M is the ultimate bad sport.
From throwing tantrums when she has to go home:
To using her brother as furniture:
And even taking over his teepee.You can read the whole post here. And vote for Miss M. here.

Schwang Manor: Winter Denial

Despite what the groundhog says, since we live in Chicago, we just know there will be at least twelve more weeks of winter. I miss the days of the fun daily dog walks exploring the neighborhood, meeting people, and having beautiful greenery around.
Since it still gets dark around 5:00, all of our walks are in the dark. Even the pooches don't have a good time:
It has just been a long and miserable winter. And now that we're essentially stuck in the house, I've been trying some things to make it feel more "tropical" and less Chicago winter.
We meandered in to CB2 the other day and picked up this new bathmat. It's made of riverstones and I like it because it reminds me of the shower floor of our vacation in Tulum. It kind of does make our bathroom feel a bit more spa-like, and even Miss M. likes how it feels on her webbed feet:
We also picked up these bright yellow placemats we originally spotted at Jam. Now eating at our own table feels like fine dining.
And apparently at Trader Joe's it's already Spring. They have tons of tulips, daffodils, and bulb plants. We picked up some paperwhites which are making the house fragrant. Plus tulips make anything look better.
What are your strategies for getting through the winter?

Pooches: Dog Walker

For the longest time, we have thought about hiring a dog walker, but we couldn't find anyone we trusted in our neighborhood. A and Ms. M had a dog walker that they absolutely loved, but she moved out of the city. We've considered going with a dog walking company, but our friends have horror stories which quickly stopped those thoughts. Also with many dog walking companies, they change who walks your dogs, and we are very particular of how our dogs are fed and walked. When our friends recommended their dog walker, we decided to give her a try and she has completely changed our lives. Since we started at new schools and A has been working on her National Board application our hours have been inconsistent with a lot more late nights at school. Now we can stay late and not worry about the pooches. We trust her with our pooches and they absolutely love her. In addition, she brought the pooches these great gifts for Christmas. If you are in Chicago and in need of a dog walker, let us know.

Pooches: Dog Dental Care

I had an emergency visit to the dentist the other day for what they thought was a root canal. I was lucky to escape dreaded surgery this time; however, the dentist did tell me that once you have a filling, it is inevitable that it will need to be replaced in the next 10-15 years. And to replace it, they need to keep drilling away at more tooth, so eventually root canals, and even teeth replacement, is inevitable. While I was cursing the Halloween candy of my youth, I was also wondering how these terrible tooth statistics bide for our pooches.

When we met Rocky, we thought he was a really young dog because his teeth were amazingly white.

His owner told us she brushed his teeth every day since he was a puppy. I was inspired to do the same with our pooches; I bought a little curved brush and peanut butter toothpaste. The pooches loved the toothpaste, but their gums were bleeding from the brushing. Then it was too difficult because they just started eating the brush. Knowing what can happen to us, even with brushing, has me worried. What do you do for your dogs' teeth?

Pooches: B is for Bulldozer

Though Mr. B is six years old, he still acts like a little puppy. He is really excitable and highly spastic. He'll run around the living room and pushing all of our furniture all over the place. Before we adopted him, he was adopted by this family that had a young child. Apparently Mr. B was returned because he ran full force into the child and stepped on the child. Mr. B has not changed that much since then. He still runs full force around the house and will even try to push us out of the way. He is most excited when either A or I come home and we release him and Ms. M from their teepee and crate. Mr. B will run as fast as he can out his teepee and in the past he would slam Ms. M against her crate. Ms. M has gotten wise and now waits until Mr. B passes by before she steps out. We have thought about changing Mr. B's name to Butkus, Singletary or even Urlacher.

Doggystyle: Dogs and Rugs

It may just be that it's dark outside, and we've been cooped up all winter, but I've started thinking of adding to our decor. Last spring we added hardwood floors in both the bedrooms, and I thought it might be nice to add another rug in the bedroom.
We put a lot of thought into getting the rugs we currently have. The rug in the main room is perfect because it's dark enough that it can take a lot of use.
We also have some FLOR tiles that are hardy, dog resistant, and can be easily replaced should anything happen.So right now it's super-easy to sweep up dog hair, and we have our amazing vacuum that cleans everything up, so I don't know if it's a bad idea to get a rug. I'm really liking this rug, in winter sky or slate, for our bedroom:
We saw it in the store and it's really soft, and would be perfect underfoot for these cold winters. Since we get free gift cards from our Citibank Rewards Account, it would be practically free. It seems like our bedroom is lacking something, but I'm not sure if this would be a bad idea with dog hair?
I'm also really liking this rug from West Elm. Maybe it's the dreary winter days, but I really like this bright yellow.
Though it may not be the most realistic, or gender-neutral, choice for us. So what are your thoughts? Is it worth it to get that rug for the bedroom? How do you choose rugs? Or do you go sans rug?

Pooches: Miss M. the Bad Sport

Miss M. can be very charming. When I first saw her at the adoption event, laying in the Whole Foods parking lot, I was drawn in by her over-attention and "beautiful smile". When we go on our daily walks people find her quite captivating, and she acts like the perfect pooch as she makes new friends. The friendliness and circus-dog training is why we love pitties, but Miss M. also has a bit too much of the "Bully Breed" in her. She is a terrible sport and always tries to bully us to get her way. She is quick to let us know when she doesn't like our decor:

She is always invading Mr. B's space and using him as furniture. Doesn't Mr. B look miserable?When she has guests over she invades their crate and uses them as furniture. Doesn't her friend look miserable?She had a great time at the pooches Halloween Party and was mugging it up for the camera:
But, she threw a tantrum when I told her it was time to go home.And she pouted when she had to share the limelight with Mr. B.

Overall, she's just not a sporty dog.

Chicagoing: Big Dogs in Little Spaces

A lot of people believe they can't have a big dog unless they have a big place or a yard. We don't think this is true. I really think having a smaller space forces us to have a greater connection with the dogs. When I was growing up and we had a house and a yard, we could just mindlessly open the door to let the dogs out, and we didn't really have to interact with them at all. Now we're forced to walk the dogs and spend time training and interacting with them. We have successfully been able to have our 2 pooches in our 2-bedroom condo.
The pooches have more than enough places to sleep. Although they love sharing a crate, they have tons of floor pillows, rugs, and places to just flop on the floor.
We go on long daily walks twice a day. These walks are good for all: the dogs get exercise so they're calm at home, it gets us out of the house, and we get to explore our neighborhood and meet our neighbors. Plus, they're not too time consuming. During the schoolyear, I walk the pooches in the morning, and E walks them at night. Plus we have a dogwalker for all the times we can't make it home.If the dogs still have too much energy at home, we take them to the "secret dog park". We don't go to the typical dog parks, these parks are overcrowded and often accidents waiting to happen. The park we go to is typically empty. We go on off hours and play fetch. During the winter the pooches go to daycare. We also give them kongs, which are like mental stimulation puzzles as they try to get the food out from the inside. Apparently thinking is quite exhausting for the pooches.