Chicagoing: City Privacy

One of the best parts of living in the city is that there is always so much to see and do. At the same time, we have to put up with living in tight quarters in a city of nearly 3 million people.
We put up with overcrowded El trains, waits in restaurants, and living really close to other people. Most apartments and condos not only have several units within the buildings, but they are often located mere feet from the next building.
For these reasons, us Chicagoans really value our tiny plots of outdoor space and make them into our own private areas.
At the same time, the pooches don't quite understand the concept of privacy. A new couple just moved into the building next door, and their dining/living room area faces out onto their deck. The pooches think it's a great idea to stick their heads through the railings and spy on them:
Which from the other side looks like this monster face staring at you as you are sitting in your home trying to enjoy your meal:
At least Mr. B. has some decorum and runs away when we catch him spying:

Pooches: Scaredy Mr. B

Since we don't have TV, I have grown accustomed to listening to all sporting events on the radio. For game 6 of the Stanley Cup, we were sitting outside enjoying the weather while listening to the game. When the Blackhawks won, the whole city lit up with fireworks, people were screaming and there was a dull hum of choppers. Right above the United Center were four news helicopters:Poor Mr. B was freaked out by the fireworks. Each time a firework went off, his ears would be pulled back and his head would look around for the source of the loud boom.
Even Ms. M, who was sleeping nicely in bed was alarmed by some of the fireworks. I don't think the pooches will ever get used to some of the sounds of the city.

Chicagoing: Top Things to Do in Chicago this Summer...with your Dog

This is our last week of school, and we are already itching to get out and enjoy the summer. Since most of the year is spent like this, Chicagoans take every summer day for what it's worth and have festivals and events every weekend. The best part is many of these events are dog friendly. Here are our top picks for things to do in Chicago that include your dog:1. Get Dressed Up and go to the Gay Pride Parade
We love this event where the entire community gathers together to celebrate gay pride and culture. It's a huge party in the street complete with costumes, beads, dancing, and a huge parade. Last year the pooches showed their spirit in these costumes; we're super-excited for the event in Boystown next weekend.
2. Chicago Architectural Canine Cruise
Chicago is known for its amazing architecture, though we don't always appreciate it when we've actually worked in these buildings (during my advertising days I was in both the Wrigley building and the Aon Center!). Mercury Chicago's Skyline Cruise line offers a canine cruise where you can see the city from another perspective while traveling along the Chicago River and parts of Lake Michigan. While it's fun to ride along and see the sights, we also had so much fun meeting the other dogs on the cruise who all had big smiles on their faces the whole time. I would even recommend this to out-of-town guests, who may not have their dogs with them, but are looking for something a little different.
3. Welles Park Concert Series with an Apart Pizza picnic
Back when Miss M and I were bachelorettes in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, we used to spend our Tuesday evenings hanging in the park where they have free weekly concerts in the gazebo. It's fun spending a nice summer evening outside, but even better with an Apart pizza by your side. This pizza restaurant, located just across the street from the park, was recently rated one of the top 25 pizza restaurants in the city by Chicago Magazine; for a city like Chicago, known for their pizza, this is a big deal. They make a great thin-crust pizza.
4. Waiting in Line for Hot Doug's
There are several Chicago Restaurants that are so infamous, the lines cascade out of the restaurants and wrap around the corner as people are wiling to wait hours just to eat there. Since we will have some time on our hands this summer, we finally want to try Great Lake Pizza and Rick Bayless's Xoco restaurant. We also want to go to Hot Doug's which is known for its amazing gourmet-style hot dogs. Even if you arrive early, much of the time is spent waiting outside in a huge line. What better entertainment than to bring the dogs who provide countless entertainment to the point of simultaneously collapsing on the sidewalk in unison. While most of the line is outside, you do need to go inside to order, so we're prepared to have one of us wait outside with the dogs so we don't have to tie them up.
5. Prairie Wolf Dog Exercise Area in the "Chicago Countryside"
Most of the Chicago Dog Parks are overly crowded and congested which often creates unsafe situations for the dogs. While we do have our "secret dogpark" where other people rarely go, sometimes we treat the pooches and take them to this forest preserve in the suburbs. It is 44 acres of enclosed space so with the sheer immensity dogs rarely interact. It has small lake, enclosed training areas, and tons of space to run and run. Just check out Miss M with her mad-accuracy frisbee catching skills. The only downfall is that it can be kind of expensive; it costs about $20 for a day pass, or you can buy an annual pass if you frequent it often.
6. Walking in New Neighborhoods and Dining at Outdoor Cafes
The interesting thing about Chicago is that it is divided into several distinct, cultural neighborhoods. Though I've lived her for the past 10 years, there are still so many areas I've never been to. What better way to explore than to take the dogs. It gives a reason for walking around, you get to see more things first-hand, plus the dogs help you interact with more people. The best part is that Chicago is filled with outdoor cafes that allow dogs, so we're always able to stop and eat before moving on with our journeys.
What other activities does everyone else recommend this summer?

Pooches: Daily Walk in 10 Pictures 06.16.10

You never know what you will see when walking through the side streets of Chicago. Ms. M is trying to get a closer look of the military artifacts in front of this apartment complex.
On another side street, we find a random bed and breakfast.Mr. B is now a true city dog. The sounds of honking horns, sirens, yelling people and all do not phase him anymore. He even crosses major city streets with his head held high.Mr. B is not even phased by all the visual stimuli. He just walks by an ad for The Boondocks on a permission space.Even though most people live in apartments and condos, we see a lot of people with large dogs, like this mastiff. Having larger dogs forces us to go out and explore the city.
While hanging out at the park, nosy Ms. M sticks her nose into our bag for some goodies from the farmer's market.
Eventually she got bored and hung out with Mr. B looking for potential playmates.
Though it was cooler than last week, the pooches were still panting at the 2 mile mark of our long family walk.And Mr. B decided to take a break and lay on the relatively cool concrete.
Eventually Ms. M decided to sit all lady like at an intersection as we wait to cross the street.

Pooches: The Dog Universe of Obligation

Chicago is a big city, but having dogs makes it feel a lot smaller. Not only have the pooches helped us meet most of the neighbors on our block, but I feel I am part of a larger dog-community.In this way, my school life and personal lives have seemed to merge. In my classroom, we are constantly discussing the level to which we are obligated to help other people in our communities, and how important it is to share information with others in our larger community. In many ways I feel an obligation to help fellow dog owners.
When I first adopted Miss M I really didn't know anything about having my own dog, or working with pitbulls. I made a lot of mistakes. And I'm still learning a lot of things through other blogs and comments on our blog. Knowing many people may have been like me, I feel obligated to help out when I can.
For example, there have been a rash of dog thefts in our area. While I was waiting to meet up with some friends, sans dogs, I noticed a man tying his beautiful blue pitbull up to a gate while he went to get some Starbucks. I asked him if I could meet his dog, then I told him to be really careful leaving his dog alone because there have been so many thefts in the area. He seemed kind of offended, and said he was just running inside quickly. I then told him about our 2 pitties and the indecent proposals we get when we're walking in the neighborhood. Of course the dog didn't get stolen, and he did wave and thank me as he left, but I really felt like I overstepped my bounds. I don't know if it would have been different if I had the pooches with me, to see that I really am part of the pittie community, or if I should just mind my own business.
We had another incident when we were with our dogs at the park; a woman let her dog drink out of the fountain that clearly said it was chemically-treated water. This time I decided not to say anything. Later, I was feeling so guilty thinking how the dog could have gotten sick.What does everyone think? What obligations do we have to help others in our dog community, and when should we just mind our own business?

Pooches: Red Door Walk

To keep the dogs socialized, we love taking them on all kinds of adventures around the city. Yesterday we took the pooches to participate in the Red Door Animal Shelter's fundraising walk for the animals.
This is basically a dog walk, with over a hundred of your "closest friends" that winds its way through the the northside neighborhood and Indian Boundary Park. The rescue is a bit unique in that it also adopts rabbits, chickens, and ducks. This year they are celebrating 10 years of adoptions.We have done this walk the last couple of years; we really like how family friendly it is, and how we get to tour this northside neighborhood. The walk takes place north of Devon in a neighborhood filled with quaint bungalows and sprawling flower gardens:
My favorite part is that we finish at Indian Boundary Park: an enormous park complete with lake, playground, and "zoo". They have a couple of exhibits with barnyard animals. We were marveling at how much Miss M reminded us of the goats. I think she even thought so as she was barking (something she rarely does) and trying to meet them. I wonder if we did a DNA test if it would come out small percentage "goat".
I think a lot of people who hold negative stereotypes about pitbulls have never actually met one, so we also like to use these types of dog events to show people how well-socialized, intelligent, and charismatic pitties can be. Our pooches walked nicely among the multitude of retractable leashes, random barking, and dogs invading their space. Here we are taking a break from the crowd and listening for instructions:They remembered to sit nicely at cornersAnd every so often we gave them a trick command to impress any onlookers. Here is Miss M with her signature wave:
And Mr B's signature trick of just looking cute:
We loved meeting other dogs. Here is Mr. B meeting another pittie:And this pooch who reminded us so much of a young Miss M. with similar stance, chin, and facial expression. His owner even said she was a boxer-pit.
And we were super-excited to meet our fellow Chicagoan dog Pip. Pip is a Red Door Shelter alum and has been working out to prepare for the walk. Though it is a long walk for such a little dog, Pip made a great showing pushing through the final leg.

Chicagoing: Paying a Premium

YEEEAAAAHHHH BLACKHAWKS!!! We pay quite a premium to live in this great city of Chicago. So it's a shame not to take advantage of all the great things this city has to offer. The funny thing is that during the winter we look forward to all the fun things that happen during the spring and summer months, but when the spring and summer months come we become lazy and let all these great things pass us by. We vowed to not let that happen again this summer. Since we have to walk the pooches, we are kind of forced to go out and enjoy the reason why we pay so much to live in the city. So this past Sunday, we ventured out to the farmer's market at Wicker Park to pick up some cheese and flowers.It was such a beautiful morning for the first day of Wicker Park Farmer's Market.
Afterward, we headed off to our first street festival of this spring/summer, the Do Division Street Fest.
Everyone was out with their pooches to enjoy the weather and check out the sites.
Since it was still early out, we were able to enjoy the street fest without it being too crowded. Plus there were ample spots to sit and enjoy the music.The pooches got some complimentary ice cream from Your Best Friend Pet Supply on Division Ave.
The ice cream was made in shop by the owner, who was a really nice and knowledgeable guy. Ms. M went to town on both hers and Mr. B's ice cream. What a great way to start off our summer, paying the premium to live in this great city is well worth it.