City Dog: Dog Halloween Costume Guide: Finding Costumes for Bigger Dogs

 When I was younger I used to watch those Halloween-edition TV shows where literally everyone was decked out in Halloween costumes. I used to think it was all made-for-TV...until I moved to Chicago.With the entire city decked out all weekend, it just seems natural to have your dog in costume too. Plus, since we've realized that costumes make our pooches that much more approachable, we have taken to dressing them up every chance we get.

 At the same time, since pitbulls are so muscular, and their chests are so much broader, that it's harder to find dog-specific costumes for them. Here are some things we've learned:

Shop in the Kid's Section:

Most of the dogs' costumes are things that we find in the little kids' section. Mr. B wears the smaller hats, and we find kid-sized fairy wings, headbands and tutus. One mom even told us her daughter had the same ballerina outfit as Miss M.

Use Hats, Headbands, and Bandanas

We wrote here about how we secure the pooches' hats and headbands using elastic. Plus, they seem easier for the pooches to wear than full-out costumes.


If Your Pooch Doesn't Like Costumes...Try Decorative Collars

We love these bow-tie collars from Silly Buddy that can make even the most costume-reluctant pooch look dashing with minimal effort. Miss M even has one that she wears like a bow:

These are some things that worked with our dogs. And we've also written before about how to make your pooch comfortable wearing a costume.
What does everyone else do when it comes to costumes?

Living to 15

Within a week, a neighbor and a co-worker both had to let their dogs go due to old age, coincidentally both at the age of 15. Now that Mr. B has early-stage kidney disease, we are trying everything to ensure that not only him, but also Ms. M have long and healthy lives. Mr. B has been on a special canned kidney diet, but in a short month, he gained considerable amount of weight. To give him a better diet and minimize his weight gain, we decided to switch him to a limited ingredient diet, lean meats, fruits and vegetables. Sometimes we wonder if all of this is too much, because we have had family dogs that just ate table scraps and they lived a long and healthy life. However, Ms. M and Mr. B are truly our pooches and our best friends and we could not even imagine how empty our house would feel without one or the other.

In addition, my co-worker believes the key to her pooch's healthy, long life was largely dependent on exercise, especially low impact, long walks. Though we take the pooches on long walks during the summer, these become harder to come by when the weather gets colder. Our friend had both his pitbulls live past 16 and we would always see him walking the pooches everywhere. We recognize that we should appreciate every moment we have with the pooches, but every other aspect of our lives take up so much time, that sometimes we feel like we are not taking them out enough to exercise.

We always wondered if there was a key to helping your pooches live a long and happy life?

Chicagoing: Fall Farmer's Markets

 Since Miss M and I used to live together as bachelorettes, we used to do all kinds of bachelorette things: eat dinner while watching TV, take early morning jaunts to the Farmer's Market to pick up fresh flowers, and double-date. Though we now have E and Mr B in our lives, we still maintain our ritual together of going to the market.
Mainly I go for the flowers, and Miss M goes for the petting and training opportunities.

While E and Mr B are still sleeping, Miss M and I have kept our ritual, getting up in the wee hours of Saturday morning. We've seen the offerings at the market change, and now that it's fully stocked with ciders, pumpkins, apples and jewel-toned flowers, we know the markets are coming to an end for the season:

The funny thing is, someone else has been in on this little ritual with us. We have been visiting the same flower vendor for the past 5 years since I adopted Miss M. He remembers her as a crazy pup, and knows her now as a pup that gets crazy when she sees him.

Anyone else have rituals you do with your pup?

City Dog: City Dog In-Training

 The other day someone asked us what extra things a dog should know living among all the distractions of the city. We hadn't really thought about it in awhile, since we have gotten so accustomed to our routine with our dogs, but now that we have foster dog Super-Levi we're realizing what it takes to be a city dog in-training.

1) Work on Sit-Stays and Down-Stays

Down-Stay was the most useful training our pooches learned, and it was actually the command that changed our lives. Now we can take the pooches to get money from the ATM, buy things at the Farmer's Market, wait nicely while one of us goes inside, and most importantly...learn to sit nicely at outdoor cafes.
Little Super-Levi has already been doing well with the sit-stays and will automatically sit and wait while I am locking the door, picking up poo, or waiting to cross the street.

2) Be Prepared to Meet all Kinds of  Strange People...and Lots of Dogs!

Our pooches have become accustomed to meeting all kinds of people. People who may be wearing funny costumes, people who may rush up to the dogs and want to pet them, and people who may be stumbling out of bars drunk and trying to put a sombrero on their heads (yes, this did happen. Twice!).
We are lucky that our dogs aren't fearful, but we did need Miss M to practice her people greeting manners. We would have people come over so she could practice greeting them without being over-excited.
Though we still have the issue of seeing so many dogs--I guesstimated about 30 live on our block alone. We have been working on doing training walks where the pooches are busy focusing on their training so we can redirect if they get excited about another dog.
We also have our SociaBulls dog-walking group to be accustomed to being around other dogs, and we have even met up in smaller groups with some of the members we met in the group who live in our neighborhood.

3) Make Their World Big so they are up for Anything

 We love taking our dogs to big festivals, picnics in parks, and to explore new neighborhoods because they become exposed to so many new sights and smells. We started small because we know that crowds can be scary, but now they can move comfortably among crowds, meet all kinds of people, and have even been known to lay in the path of on-walking traffic. Little Super-Levi has proven he is well on his way to being city-desensitized as he even took a snooze in the middle of the street during last weekend's marathon.

These have just been our experiences.What are we leaving out?

How to Be a Tourist with Your Dog Series: Vacationing in Saugatuck, Michigan

When we started this 'How to Be a Tourist with Your Dog' series, we were curious to see how people travel, or have staycations in their own city, with their dogs. We weren't sure whether we would even get many posts, but we were surprised to get so many posts with so many diverse experiences. Plus, we started seeing people going out and trying new things with their pooches and getting a lot of amazing tips to help with dog travel. We especially loved reading this post where Laura says: We just want to thank everyone who has participated in this series, or made comments on previous posts! You gave us the courage and ammunition to take this trip and make it a stress-free success! Read about her experiences, and her own tips, as they travel with their 2 pooches to Saugatuck, Michigan.


 Thanks to this series, I was able to pull off a successful, surprise birthday trip for my husband from the Chicago area to Saugatuck, Michigan with our two dogs: Indy (our adopted mix) and Tessa (our foster-to-adopt bully mix).
Since we have a small hatchback, we didn’t really try dog seatbelts, but I think we will next time (or some other contraption -- taking suggestions). After a few different configurations, the dogs finally settled down in the car … in very strange places.

This was our first ever trip with dogs, and even though it’s about a 2 ½ hour drive from our house to Saugatuck, we planned on making a halfway stop at Round Barn Winery in Baroda, Michigan since we didn’t know how they would handle the long ride. Thanks to the tips from previous posts, I learned about GoPetFriendly.com, which was awesome in planning our whole trip, and we were excited to take this stop!

The facility was extremely dog-friendly, as long as dogs were leashed. We were even allowed to bring the dogs in the tasting rooms while we sampled wines in the winery and beer in the brewery. We strolled through the vineyards and were very grateful for the poop bag stations Round Barn had throughout the property!

Through HomeAway.com, I booked a last-minute stay at a dog-friendly studio apartment in downtown Saugatuck. If you are looking to stay in the Saugatuck/South Haven area, I would highly suggest going through LakeShore Lodging as they have many dog-friendly rentals. They even surprised us with a doggie bag upon arrival!

Saugatuck is small, and there were only 2 dog-friendly restaurants listed on GoPetFriendly.com, so we did a few rounds of take out, but we didn’t mind waiting outside the restaurant …

… or at a park while the restaurants prepared our food. We don’t think the dogs minded, either since Saugatuck has beautiful areas overlooking the harbor.

We did find an awesome, inexpensive restaurant called Pumpernickel’s that allowed dogs on their sidewalk seating. Since we don’t live in Chicago proper, this was a nice little treat for us!

One thing we did find, was adding bandanas to the dogs seemed to make them 10 times more approachable to the people and tourists of Saugatuck. I tried to find cuter, friendlier bandanas on the trip, but came out empty-handed. Next time, I will be prepared!
We will be the first to admit that we are coffee snobs, so we were very happy to discover that Uncommon Grounds in Saugatuck had a doggie-walk-up ordering window and allowed dogs in their outdoor seating area where we met new (and incredibly giant) dog buddies, who are also from Chicago!

I was personally so excited about the walk-up window, that I submitted Uncommon Grounds to GoPetFriendly.com.
After a short trip, we were on our way home and in the car, yet again. Although Indy and Tessa became traveling nap champions, and probably would have slept the whole way home, we planned another halfway stop at Grand Mere State Park. We walked the wooded trails, climbed the dunes and played in Lake Michigan for the first time (for the dogs, not us!).

The beach was very rocky, so we would suggest wearing sandals, some type of water shoe or have webbed feet when visiting.

It was a great way to finish off our trip as it exhausted all of us. We will warn you though, if you plan on stopping at Grand Mere, be prepared for a workout on the dunes to get to the beach!

Tips/Things We Learned:
1) Packing portioned bags of dog food (from Reggies’s post) was brilliant! I would have never thought of this on my own. But since we do have one picky eater that hardly ate on the trip (probably from all the excitement), I would pack a couple of cups of microwaveable rice and a few cans of wet food next time to entice him to eat.
2) Bring all of your dog’s vet work with you in a binder. You may never know when you will need it. We ended up putting the dogs in a local doggie daycare for one day, and the binder made everything so easy!
3) Since we were staying in a rental where a security deposit was necessary, I brought an extra bed sheet from home to cover the white (eek!) sofa with since I had nightmares of muddy and sandy paw prints all over that pretty white upholstery by the time we left! Clearly, we are failing still working on the no-dogs-on-furniture rule.
4) If you have larger dogs, don’t be shy about dressing them up a bit in a new town. We learned from Mr. B and Ms. M that a few accessories go a long way in the eyes of strangers. From what we saw, Saugatuck had many small dogs and designer dogs, and we got a few nervous looks from passersby when we were walking the town. Some even avoided us by crossing the street, or sanding in the grass as we walked down the sidewalk. Once we added the magical bandanas, we were getting compliments nonstop on how polite and sweet our dogs were, which were very refreshing responses!
5) If you are new to traveling with your dog like us, we would suggest traveling on off days. We went up to Saugatuck on a Monday and came home on a Wednesday to avoid the heavy crowds.

Thanks again to everyone who did make this series a success!

In case you missed them, you can also read our other Tourist with Your Dog posts showcasing Memphis,  Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, The Bay Area, Milwaukee,  Upstate New York, New York City, Austin, Florida, Portland, Richmond, Seattle,  Kansas City, Nashville, Alaska, and Chicago. And you can read about roadtripping the 7 Wonders of Illinois with 4 large dogs, boating to the Bahamas with a pit bull, specific tips for roadtripping with a large dog (NYC to rural Tennessee), Chicago Dogs' Sidetrip to Harbor County, and Destination "Dog Mountain" in Vermont.

Living European with Dogs: Sampling Pizza in Parks, Inspiration from Italy

We have recently realized that one of the best parts of traveling is figuring out our favorite things to do on vacation, and trying to incorporate them into our lives on an everyday level. With our dogs. While we were in Italy, one of our favorite things to do was enjoy time in a park sampling different pizzas. It also helped to have the Leaning Tower as our scenery.

While Italian pizza is amazing, we also have our fair share of great pizza here in Chicago. And we set out to have some pizza picnics with our pooches. One thing that really helps having the pooches along on picnics is having the big comforter as a blanket. Despite there being pizza in front of them, Miss M does tend to nod off.

 Some of our favorite pizza picnic experiences:
-Grabbing an extra-large slice of Paula & Monica's foldable pizza while on our daily walk, and enjoying it in Eckhart Park. We may not have the Leaning Tower, but you do get an amazing view of Chicago's Hancock Tower from the park. We can still do this even as we move into fall.
-Picking up a thin-crust Apart Pizza and enjoying it in Welles Park. Though it's even better during their summer concert series.
-Stopping by Spacca Napoli for truly authentic Neapolitan-style pizza. They have an outdoor area, but pooches are only allowed outside the fence.
 -Getting the best deep-dish pizza at Pequods and amazing thin-crust pizza from Coalfires and bringing it back for some alfresco dining in our "urban backyard".

Has anyone else been doing any dog picnics? Or trying any great Chicago pizza?

Super-Levi: Charming Any Dog in a Single Bound

 When we realized little Super-Levi had been raised by Superheroes, it became obvious his most important use of his Superhero power: charming grumpy Miss M.

We have all seen how bossy Miss M takes on the role of "Mean Girl". Much like the Senior who enjoys picking on Freshmen, Miss M coined the phrase 'barking smack', Miss M who sits on her guests:

And considers Mr. B her own personal pet:

We thought Miss M would be an excellent candidate to keep Super-Levi in check, but there was something keeping her at bay. She would only approach him cautiously, almost like he has a superforce-sheild surrounding him. Suddenly, bossy Miss M, who uses other pooches as furniture, was being used as furniture herself. Is this just part of Levi's superpowers, charming any dog in a single bound? Or is Miss M just getting soft?

Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Watching the Chicago Marathon

While I have spent the past several years running the Chicago marathon, this year I decided to 'retire', but come back as a spectator to cheer on the runners. As a runner I know how important the crowd support is, and I was so happy that E would bring the pooches to cheer me on. The race has over 40,000 runners, and it's like a party spanning 26.2 miles across all the neighborhoods of the city. We were even joined by adorable Lola and Franklin whose parents are marathon runners as well.

 Many of the runners and spectators dress up, so we knew this would be the perfect chance for the pooches to head into their costume closet. Mr. B even had a mid-event costume change ala Lady Gaga. Little Super-Levi wanted to use his superpowers to help the runners on this extra hot day.

The heat made everything extra hard, and it was already in the 70's early in the morning. The pooches crazy costumes made a lot of runners smile, and some even stopped.
One of the runners even recognized the pooches and wrote on our Facebook page:  You guys saved me!!!! I was really feeling the heat on that mile and started to struggle. Thank you for the shout out, I did a double take when I saw you guys; I couldn't believe it!!! Fate! That was better than an energy gel, and I thought about my pitties waiting for me at home and got all teary eyed and emo... I had to give it my best for all of them! Much ♥ and thank you! (Congrats again on your run Lea!!)

And of course, the pooches had big smiles from all the extra attention.

Congratulations to all the runners!

How to Be a Tourist with Your Dog Series: Memphis, Tennessee (High Paws Y’all)

 When we started this series, we were curious to see what activities other people do with dogs in their hometowns, see an insider's view of their city, and get ideas for a roadtrip. We were especially excited to see this post from Memphis as my family lives there, but we have never taken our pooches to visit. With the help of gorgeous Parker and his entourage of dog friends, they give us this incredibly detailed lowdown from different types of parks (including the largest urban park in the nation!), recommended doggie daycares, parades, Farmer's Markets (complete with dogsitting!), and concerts.

The south has long been known as a place with LONG, HOT (and humid) summers and mild winters that come crashing to a halt with the sign of a single now flurry. However, I’m sure the term “dog days of summer” was coined somewhere close to the bluff city aka Memphis, TN.  But a little humidity and heat doesn’t stop humans and canines from enjoying a little fun around town.

My name is Rachel and I live in Memphis, TN with my 8-year old Catahoula, named Parker. There are so many excellent things to do for a person and their loyal companion to do around town. Parker and I like to explore them all together.

 First on our list Memphis Parks  - off leash or on leash we always have a blast.

OFF LEASH
1. Shelby Farms

Memphis is quite lucky to have a plethora of parks around town, but did you know we have the largest urban park in the country? It’s true – Memphis is home to Shelby Farms, which is a park larger than NYC’s Central Park and SF Golden Gate Park. The best part about Shelby Farms Park though is the large off-leash dog park. I’m not quite sure the number of acre’s the off-leash dog park encompasses, but it boosts 4-5 lakes, hiking paths, tall grass and a dog washing station. You can spend well over an hour walking in various directions or stay in one place watching your dog swim alongside his or her 4-legged friends. Others still however use the large space to train their retrieving dogs for hunting or other retrieving purposes. This park is a fantastic place to meet up with friends or just go on a long trail run/bike ride with your dog. 

 2. Midtown Dog Park

One of the two other off-leash dog parks located in the city is the Memphis Midtown Dog Park (@ Tobey Field). The park is sectioned off into two fenced in areas. One section is dedicated to small dogs, while the other area allows medium/large size dogs to play freely. It’s been open for over a year and it’s really become a gathering spot for dog owners. People have brought out baby pools and toys to entertain both dogs and humans alike. Although the space isn’t as vast as Shelby Farms it’s small feel and fund loving people keeps the crowds coming back.

3. Germantown Dog Park

 This park located in a Memphis suburb (right on the border of Germantown/Memphis) also has a two sectioned off areas for small or medium/large dogs to play in, but you must purchase a dog park pass  ($50 annually for Germantown residents/$100 for Memphis residents) for the year. This dog park is unique because it offers a dog agility course.

ON LEASH

1. Memphis Greenbelt Park

 Located downtown in an area called Harbor Town is the Memphis Greenbelt Park. This park is a beautiful site that runs parallel to the Mighty Mississippi – great for a sunrise or sunset outing for you and pup pal.

2. Greater Memphis Greenline/Wolf River Greenway both act as connectors to Shelby Farms Park. 

 Why drive your car when you can walk, run, bike or rollerblade with your four-legged friend to Shelby Farms. The Greater Memphis Greenline (http://www.shelbyfarmsgreenline.org/) was an abandoned rail(s) to trails project that runs east-west in Memphis. The Wolf River Greenway runs beside the Wolf River in Memphis and Germantown. Both these paved paths provide miles of trails to peruse neighborhoods or get some exercise for you and your pal.

DOGGIE DAY CARE 
 Dog day cares have become essential to hard working professionals around Memphis. They provide a great source of enrichment for dogs that may be trapped inside for long hours. Plus the day cares often have parties who introduce you to your pup’s new friends.

1. Dogs Rule (http://www.dogsrulememphis.com/) 

 The original doggie day care in Memphis is located in Midtown Memphis. Dogs Rule provides a safe and fun place for dogs to play while their owners are toiling at work. Their staff is knowledgeable and caring with dog wranglers who have been working since the establishment opened.

2. Brown Dog Lodge (http://www.browndoglodge.com/) 

 Opened in the last four years as a day care and boarding facility it provides a fantastic operation in East Memphis. They provide an array of services including a spa like experience for your dog. Owners at work or vacation need not worry as they can always check in on their pups happens via the web cams that can be viewed from their website.

SPECIAL EVENTS – Memphis has a few special events throughout the year that may give you and your dog an opportunity to hit the town together.

1. Bark In The Park

 The AAA baseball team, Memphis Redbirds (http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t235), hosts an event each spring where you can bring your dog to a baseball game. The day at the park includes bleacher or bluff seats and pet owner/dog look a like contest.  What a great way to spend the afternoon and support the Memphis Redbirds.

2. 4^th of July Parade (High Point Terrace) 

Each 4^th of July weekend the High Point Terrance neighborhood hosts an annual parade where dogs are encouraged to attend.  People dress up their dogs with red, white and blue bandanas or walk them around in the parade around the block. Neighbors set-up water stations for the dogs to get a refreshing drink along the parade route.

3. Dog Days of August

 All dogs and their owners were invited to Memphis Botanic Gardens (http://www.memphisbotanicgarden.com/) to enjoy a day of activities to beat the heat this past summer. The afternoon was filled with a doggie-expo, a hot diggity dog play pool area and a variety of dog contests that ranged from tricks to costumes.

4. Memphis Farmers Market (http://www.memphisfarmersmarket.org/)/Cooper-Young Farmers Market (http://www.cycfarmersmarket.org/) 

 Two of the Farmers Markets located in town offer you a chance to go shop for local goods and bring your dogs along for the shopping trip. Although most dogs aren’t allowed in certain areas, stations are set-up for free dog sitting while you go shop for your fresh fruits and vegetables.

5. Levitt Shell Concert Series (http://www.levittshell.org/) 

 Enjoy an evening filled with music, a picnic and your favorite pup while you’re in Overton Park. The Levitt Shell provides concerts in summer and fall for free in Thursday-Sunday. Pets are welcome as long as you are outside of the main seating area, but there is plenty of opportunity to find space if you find an artist you’d like to hear!

I’m sure I’ve left off some other favorites around town, but there is definitely a lot to explore for you and your puppy friend while in Memphis. Parker and I hope to see you in down south soon!

We have loved being armchair tourists and reading all the insider tips of things to do in your city with dogs. Next week will be our final Tourist post!

Sirius Republic is donating 2 collars and we will have a random drawing of all the submitted 'How to Be a Tourist with Your Dog' posts to have 2 collar winners. Winners can chose from a standard collar, or an 'Adopt Me' collar to promote your foster or adoptable dog as modeled by foster dog Levi. 

In case you missed them, you can also read our other Tourist with Your Dog posts showcasing Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, The Bay Area, Milwaukee,  Upstate New York, New York City, Austin, Florida, Portland, Richmond, Seattle,  Kansas City, Nashville, Alaska, and Chicago. And you can read about roadtripping the 7 Wonders of Illinois with 4 large dogs, boating to the Bahamas with a pit bull, specific tips for roadtripping with a large dog (NYC to rural Tennessee), Chicago Dogs Sidetrip to Harbor County, and Destination "Dog Mountain" in Vermont.