Pooches: Cute Aggression

Lately, we've realized we all are afflicted by a phenomenon: "cute aggression"
Detailed by a graduate student and a psychologist from Yale University, this syndrome means whenever you see something cute you have the sudden, uncontrollable urge to squeeze it.
A and I tend to focus our cuteness aggression on different pooches.

A cannot stand Miss M's cuteness and she loves to squeeze, pinch and pull on Miss M's floppy jowls. We have seen and heard of others that seem to have the same urge when they meet Miss M or just see a picture of her.

A also has an uncontrollable urge to play with Miss M's bottom lip and even has the urge to pull her bottom lip.

Most of my cuteness aggression is focused on Mr. B. Whenever he is laying around, I like to hug him or when his cuteness is too much I try to cuddle with him and squeeze the cuteness out of him.

Whenever he is standing around I love to give him a loving pat on the head and on our daily walks I cannot resist smacking his tiny buttocks.

Much to Mr. B's dismay, Miss M's cuteness aggression is also focused on the lovable Mr. B. She cannot help herself whenever she sees Mr. B laying so cutely in a bed.

She is so overwhelmed by his cuteness that she must smother the cuteness.

Mr. B suffers from cuteness aggression with his stuffys. He loves to squeeze and smoosh and sometimes nibble on his incredibly cute stuffys.



Has anyone else been experiencing 'cuteness aggression'?

 

Also:

Cuteness agression in action here and here!

Because this is also in his DNA. (Can you blame us?)

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Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Miss M and Mr. B do the West Town Art Walk

Since we do need to be out there for our Daily Walks each day, we are always looking for fun ways to switch it up. This past weekend our neighborhood was hosting the West Town Art Walk, which just happened to be along one of our favorite walking routes. The art walk partners local businesses with local artists; you can just pop in as you're strolling down the street.
They also had performance artists and rickshaws and a trolley to take you from one end to the other:

Many of the shops that aren't serving food are dog-friendly, though E and I would take turns popping in as the dogs mysteriously looked on.

The pups loved the extra attention, and we loved some new discoveries.
We were very excited to see a new storefront,  Epic Spices, had just opened and was participating in the Art Walk. While it seems to be a smaller storefront, there is actually a large facility in the back which houses and grinds whole fresh spices. When I was talking to the owner, he said it is intended to work like a bakery where you stop by to get the fresh-ground spices when you need them instead of letting them sit in your cabinets losing flavor. They just opened and are continuing to add inventory, but they expect to have as many as 130 spices. While I was there they had Black Hawaiian sea salt, Pink Himalayan sea salt, and grey salt. We are so excited to have discovered them, and add them along with this tradition of ours.

Also:
Have we told you how our pups love art?
This kind too.
And we're excited to do more of this.

Pooches: Did you Ever Doubt?

How were you sure that the pup you ended up with was meant to be yours?
And did you ever have any doubts?
A friend of ours just adopted a new pup and while the little guy is really great, and he doesn't have any issues, she's not feeling that he was really meant to be "her dog". She had always wanted a larger dog, but the rescue thought this little guy would be a better match for her.
Though it has only been a short time, she says she doesn't feel a connection with him, and she's not sure if it's better to wait it out and see if her feelings change over time. Though at the same time she feels really guilty. She's not sure if she really is the best human for him, if waiting it out will just make him more attached, and he really does have a better family that would adopt him.
We weren't really sure how to answer, so we were curious to hear some other thoughts.

Though most people don't talk about it, I think at some point many of us have been overwhelmed and wondered if their pup is the right fit.
At one point,  I even wondered that with Miss M.
Young Miss M was a crazy pooch with a lot of energy. She didn't know how to sit still, and every minute I needed to find activities to entertain her. Several times during a single walk, she would look back at me, grab her leash and start playing tug-of-war.
She would usually win.
Looking back, I really think it was this challenge, and the time we spent working together, that strengthened our bond. I knew she was my one and we were meant to always be together.

At the same time, before we adopted Mr. B there was another pup that we almost adopted.
At the time, we knew it wasn't a good fit, but it was hard for us to say so because so many people were counting on us.
He was a nice pup and we took him into our home on a foster-to-adopt status. The rescue was excited and they kept saying how we were the perfect family for him. Miss M loved playing with him and she thought he was the perfect dog for her. But...we weren't sure he was the perfect dog for us.
He was a young dog and each morning we would be awoken to dogs rumbling, wrestling, and leaping over furniture. He needed longer walks than Miss M, and since she couldn't keep up we needed to do separate walks. We weren't sure we could live like that for the rest of our lives. We felt really pressured into taking him because everyone was so excited, and it was really hard for us to tell them it wasn't going to work out. We felt like we let everyone down and that they would all hate us.
Though in the end, that pup ended up with an even better situation (a single girl who loved going on long runs with him!) and we ended up with Mr. B who is the perfect antithesis to Miss M.

We would love to hear everyone else's experiences. How did you know that your pup was the one? Did you have any doubts? Do you think it is better to wait it out? Or to not allow him to get too attached and work on finding his best family?

Also:
How my One helped me find my other One.
Miss M's One
Admitting when it's not working out

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SociaBulls: Having a Bad Day or The Best Day Ever?

During our SociaBulls walk, I was just telling one of our members how Miss M was having a really bad day. 

For the entire walk, she was stopping to sniff everything, pulling towards the grass and lunging to eat goose poo.

Though I guess if you looked at it from Miss M's perspective, she thinks she had an amazing day: she was stopping to sniff everything, pulling towards the grass, and lunging to eat goose poo. 

Are our worst days with our dogs really their best day ever?

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.

Also:
Goose poo is her kryptonite.
As anticipated, these things happened also.

Pooches: Life Lessons (Arrested Development style)

Though it sounds odd, Mr. B and I live in constant fear...of each other.
Several years ago when Mr. B first started the habit of following me everywhere, I decided to take Arrested Development's George Sr.'s lead and teach Mr. B a life lesson by hiding behind corners and popping out to greet him.

Eventually Mr. B wisened up and now he stops short of finding me, and he will just stand several feet from a potential hiding place and wait until I give up and just come out to find him.
In addition, Mr. B has decided to teach me a valuable life lesson and scare me whenever he gets a chance. I'll be looking for a missing Kong under the bed and out of nowhere a furry face is being pressed against mine.

I'll be coming out of the bathroom and out of nowhere I hear the clicking of dog tags right behind me.

I will turn in bed to switch off the alarm and out of nowhere a tongue will be licking my lips profusely.

What started out as a life lesson for Mr. B, has turned into a life lesson for me...and me looking behind my back everywhere I go in the house to find this.

Also:

This is really his biggest fear.

What they really teach us.

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DoggyStyle: Unrealized Outcomes of Pinterest Hacks (for Dogs!)

Along with so many others, lately we've been sucked into all the goodness that is Pinterest. With it's endless scrolls of photos, recipes, and home hacks we've been tempted to try some things on our own.

With some outcomes that we never expected.

Here are some of the dog-related things we tried:

Using Caulk on the Undersides of our Dog Rugs to keep them From Sliding

We love having these fluffy rugs scattered around our home as a place for our pups to lay that also looks nice. Though they would always slide around so much that we wanted something to secure them in place. Enter Pinterest where we found this idea to use caulk to slip-proof our rug. 

At first it worked really well. And we were happy. But then we realized if the rugs did move, from a vacuum or sliding dog, then all the caulk would come undone and you would just have to re-do everything. And after they came undone the first time, we just never replaced it.

We had also read about some people who had issues with discoloring. When we first removed the caulk there was some initial discoloring, though it did disappear with washing and time. 

Using Virgin Coconut Oil for Pups' Chapped Skin and Itchy Spots

Pinterest is filled with pins about the many uses of Virgin Coconut Oil. From being a hair conditioner to seasoning cast iron skillets to eating it as a supplement. We also found out it's safe for dogs.
It worked wonders on Miss M's chapped nose and soothing some itchy spots on Mr. B.
The only downside...it's too delicious.
Miss M spends the whole time licking the oil off of her nose...and off of Mr. B.

Fixing Scratches on Wood Furniture

I never thought this pin about fixing scratches on wood furniture would involve the dogs. Our coffee table is a bit scuffed, and I was excited to try this vinegar and olive oil mix. While it did make some of our scratches less noticeable--though not as amazing as the example in the pin--we did have a problem: Miss M thought this concoction was delicious. Every time I turned my back she was trying to sneak a lick of the table.

These are some of our behind-the-scenes outcomes. Any other stories from great Pinterest pins? Or fails?

Also:
How we learned to save money using human products for our pups
This one worked. And it keeps our home smelling nice!
Discussing Coconut Oil and dog allergies.

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Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Miss M and Mr. B go to the Design Harvest Festival

Miss M is perplexed by the Square Dancing behind her

We know people sometimes feel sorry for city dwellers with our lack of green space, stretches of concrete. Though we've realized that we all just like to make the best of it. Sure we're lacking an abundance of nature, which just means the city will close down one of our major streets transforming it into our own 'Urban Orchard' complete with tartan-covered hay bales, pumpkins, square-dancing...and a high-end furniture design show.

It might not be a real pumpkin patch, but the pups didn't realize they weren't really at an orchard. Many pups accompanied their people to this super dog-friendly event where they were allowed access into the design tent and had plenty of hay bales and carpets for resting and 'glamping'.
Never having seen straw before, Miss M tries her own Huck Finn impersonation.

And she wasn't even embarrassed to be seen with her dad in public.

Maybe she just wants a few pumpkins for our own home?

Also:
How we solve this problem.
Pumpkins!

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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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Pooches: Mr. B, the Boorish Pooch

One thing that we enjoyed about our summer walks was that the pooches were generally laid-back. And slow.
Though now that the weather has gotten a bit cooler, it seems the pooches are using an entire season's pent-up energy, and they have gotten a bit more obnoxious.
From the moment we leave our gate, Mr. B is on a race. A race to get to somewhere that only he knows.

He is crossing streets faster than a speeding bullet, leaping abandoned poo in a single-bound, and using his x-ray vision to avoid feral white plastic bags and grumpy cats. It has gotten to the point that we have to call out his full name: including his middle name.

Many times his excitement is unanticipated, and he will be walking nicely then randomly spring vertically in the air with all 4 legs even. Then continue on.
Sometimes he becomes hyper-focused on his treats where he will march like a marionette but is off again like a brute once that treat is received. Sprinting to only he knows where.
Eventually...miles from home, he will calm down and almost walk nicely on leash and soon enough, he is exhausted and he can barely walk up our stairs.

Which makes us smile.
Not because he is tired, but because we are reminded that our 10 year old has so much life yet to live.
And each day he is excited to start his adventure.

Also:
We've also noticed this.
And what always makes us feel better.

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DoggyStyle: Where Miss M is Unimpressed by Our Decorating Decisions

With all of Miss M's quirks, one things we've noticed about her is that like any proper lady, she really enjoys flowers.

I used to think she took pride in them because we have a weekend tradition of going together to the Farmer's Market. She would pick the flowers, and make sure they were arranged to her liking when we came home:

She spends time gazing at them:

And she was really excited about her Get Well flowers:

With summer ending we know how hard it will be to get fresh flowers in Chicago, so we thought we would get something a bit more permanent.
We saw these colorful cacti at Home Depot, which we thought looked quite flower-like, and we thought Miss M would enjoy gazing at them.
Though it seems she was actually more surprised than anything:

And as long as she doesn't come too close, maybe she will enjoy gazing at these as well?

PS. Does anyone know how to take care of cacti like this? What kind of water and light do they need?

Also:

At least it smells good!

And they do live right there.

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