The Boys Room

A couple of weekends ago, we participated in our friends', a Yellow Brickhome, yard sale. That lead to us donating many of our belongings, multiple trips to Ikea and the paint store and hours painting and remodeling the office.

The office has quickly become the favorite hang out of Mr. B. It has become our sanctuary away from the "ladies". He loves the calming vinyl toys and blue walls, and I love the calming skateboards and bike.

Do you have specific places in your home your dog calls his own?

City Dog: Urban Park Getaway

Have I ever mentioned how much we love living in the city? Between the community parties, pop-up carnivals, and weekly street fests it's fun to always have things going on and be surrounded by people.
But sometimes...not. Sometimes the hordes of people can be a bit much and I wish that we did have a bit more green space. Or just space.
I guess they were also feeling this way 'back in the day' when they created Chicago's Boulevard system and huge urban parks. It was the idea of creating a 'city in a garden' and creating surrounding greenery beyond the dusty, dirt roads.

We've recently had the chance to explore these gems which give us a break from city life. With plenty of green space, lagoons, weeping willows, formal flower gardens and amazing historical architecture we can find that bit of space which makes us all the more ready to return back to everyday city life.

Is this the type of break you other city dwellers take too? And if you live in a less populated area, do you feel the need for a 'city visit' every so often?

Pooches: What is Your Dog Limit?

Even though we already have our own two pooches, sometimes we come across certain pups that make me think we should become a 3-dog household.

For awhile we were actually considering adopting Boris the Bachelor ourselves. I've never had a dog who was loyal to just me, and Boris really is the complete package.
But then there is reality. I barely mastered walking 2 dogs at the same time, and with a third dog I've been taking an extra 3 walks a day (6 walks a day!).
Everything takes a bit longer: feeding 3 pooches at mealtimes,wiping 4 extra paws each time they go outside, and buckling 3 pooches into the car.  I've also been finding it hard to divide my time among the pooches and not feel like I'm neglecting anyone.
While it is fun having fosters, they are also a good reminder that we can never own another dog. Like Kate said, it's always hard when the pooches outnumber the people.

 Though we do know so many people who successfully own 3 or 4 (sometimes 5!) pooches. How do you determine your dog limit? How much of it is group dynamics? Or maybe age and size really matter?

Also:
Didn't this 3 dog outing look seamless? (Though it was secretly overwhelming at times).
The other time we almost foster failed.

SociaBulls: One Year Anniversary "By the Numbers"

 For the longest time I would enviously 'Facebook stalk' the Hikabulls group in California watching their amazing hikes with like-minded dog owners. It was only after lamenting that I wished we had a group in our area, that Lark suggested we start our own group, giving us the structure and the confidence to begin walking in Chicago. Flash forward and we have reached our one year anniversary!
From navigating densely population urban areas, to unexpected growth, getting to be part of a positive dog community and meeting and working with some amazing people, this is how we look just 1 year later:


Number of Members on Our Inaugural Walk: 4 --Plus, Miss M & Mr. B
Number of Current Members: Approximately 120 current members who have completed our 'orientation' process. We also have approximately 45 dogs on our waiting list. We have increased to 2 walks per week, but we cap the walks at 20 pooches each.

Number of Walking Locations Visited: Sixteen! When we first started we didn't know if we could even find one location in the city where our group could walk uninterrupted. We have since tried several places in the city including rotating between historic urban parks, lakefront paths, city nature trails, sculpture gardens, and city nature trails. We've learned some locations work better than others, and a lot of it depends on the time of year.

Numbers of Walks Cancelled in One Year: 7! We've only had 4 walks cancelled for weather conditions (thanks to a very mild winter!). And we chose to cancel the weekend NATO was in town, and for the Chicago Marathon.

Number of "Fifteen Minutes of Fame": One! After an unfortunate incident involving an irresponsible dog owner and 2 'dogs-at-large', we were excited to welcome the Chicago Tribune on one of our walks to share the positive side of responsible dog ownership.

Number of Adoptable Pooches who have Walked with the Group: 17
Number Who Have Since Been Adopted: 12! Four of them even return to SociaBulls to walk with their new families.

Number of New Walking Groups We've Heard about in Other Cities: Several. We've been trading emails with a lot of people in a lot of locations and we've been privy to all types of great, well-researched groups popping up. From Seattle to New Jersey, Minnesota, Kansas City, Oregon, California, Arizona and Ohio (I know I'm leaving some of you guys out...), it has been great hearing about all the new groups and trading ideas.

Favorite Quotes about the Group: "I can't do many social things with my dog, but this is one thing we can do together every weekend". Plus more here. 

Funniest Quote Heard From a Passing Car: "If I had known you all were walking out here, I would have brought my Westie".

So where does this leave us now? To be honest...I'm not really sure.
This year has been about learning a lot, encountering things we've never anticipated, and changing direction a few times. What we originally thought was clearly defined, just doesn't seem so clear right now.
We never expected our group to grow so big or the demand to join to be so high.
I do know we will continue creating a positive, safe place where our dogs can comfortably walk.
Stay tuned to our Sociabulls Facebook page where we will keep most of our updates.

Plus, 'fun facts' from our first few months.

Pooches: Mr B Thinks We all Look Alike

E and I have a little trick we play on the pooches. If one of us is already out with the dogs, the other will show up, walking right past the pooches, to see how quickly they can recognize us out on the street. Miss M is quick to spot us from afar, but it always takes Mr. B that extra minute where he has to doubletake,  his eyes widening, as he really can't believe it's us.

We don't know if it's because we tease him so much with this game, or just from living in a state of constant bewilderment, but we've realized that Mr. B thinks we all look alike. When we visit E's family, he always ends up following one of his other cousins around thinking it's E. (Imagine his shock when the real E walks by).
And just like a Seinfeld episode, one time Mr. B and I were waiting in the car while E went into the Korean grocery store. Mr. B would get so excited because he thought every Korean guy that walked by in a hat was E.

Do dogs really think all humans look alike?

Also...we're planning on going here this weekend which might cause even more confusion for Mr. B.

And the video that explains it all.

DoggyStyle: On Dog Laundry

We write a lot about daily things we do to keep our place clean with dogs and how we keep our pooches clean, but I recently realized I haven't written much about our dog laundry routine. I actually didn't think it was anything outstanding until my same friend who says things to give me low self-esteem said it was weird. So now I'm curious...do people have a separate system for doing dog laundry?

Can you spot the pooches hiding in our Laundry?

Laundry was actually a huge ordeal back when Miss M and I lived in our Bachelorette Pad without a washer/dryer. Miss M used to accompany me, across the street, to the Jolly Rogers Laundromat. We each had our own separate laundry bags; I had my clothes and Miss M had a tiny bag of her 'dog laundry' which usually included her bed cover, some towels and my bathmat. We washed our clothes separately, then headed home. Even though we're lucky enough to have a washer and dryer in our home now, we still aren't the type of roommates who combine loads.

My friend also thought the amount of cleaning was obsessive. I always clean the dog beds when the pooches have baths because I think it will keep them cleaner longer. And I typically clean the beds and pillows every 2 weeks.

So now that it's out there...how does everyone else clean your dogs' laundry? Do you keep dog laundry separate? And how often is standard for dog laundry? Is it even a big deal?

Also: More Obsessive Dog Cleaning

Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Chicago-Style Hotdogs at an Old-Fashioned Drive-In

We were just talking about how we try to balance leaving our dogs at home vs. taking them with us everywhere, when we discovered a new way to have family dinners together: nostalgic dinners at the drive-in. We were wanting to try Chicago's infamous SuperDawg: an old-fashioned drive-in hotdog stand. With its over-the-top lifesize hotdog characters on the top of the building, car service, Chicago-style hotdogs and milkshakes it was just like a scene from the movie Grease. You can tell how good the food was based on Miss M's 'crazy eyes':

 The pooches were a bit confused about why they were sitting in a car that wasn't moving and when we would get to our actual destination. They were also a hit with the cars who pulled up alongside us.

Do your pooches typically come along for family dinners?

Also:.Dining outdoors with Dogs.

City Dog: Balance of Bringing Your Dog vs. Leaving them Home

When I first adopted Miss M, we were lucky enough to have an entire summer together before I started my new teaching job. This was a summer spent of numerous daily walks, farmers markets, and lots and lots of quality time. Little did I realize how this would be a problem when I started teaching and I would be gone all day.
Since then we've been very aware of balancing spending a lot of time with our pooches and making sure they independent on their own. So even though we do love showing all the things we can do with our big dogs, here is a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the not-so-exciting things we do to make sure they are still comfortable on their own.

Establish Routine

This is something we make sure to do with all of the foster dogs we've brought in. Even if we're home, we keep the routine of eating breakfast, going on the morning walk, then each pooch goes to their separate crates for bed. We hide in another room so they get accustomed to being on their own and not having us there.

Loving when You Leave

 Miss M actually loves when we leave and is always trying to make us go away if we're taking too long. We have conditioned her giving her an ultimate kong  when we leave for the day. We go through the routine of having them go to their beds, we give them the frozen kongs which take longer to eat, then we slip out the door unnoticed. The frozen kong is like a mental puzzle which does leave them tired by the time they're finished and ready to sleep.

An Unexciting Return 

 Whenever we come home we completely ignore the dogs for at least 10 minutes and go around doing our typical things. We don't want to get our dogs overexcited for our arrivals and departures and just make it a normal thing that we'll be coming and going.

These are just some things that have worked for our dogs, but we know some dogs do have extreme anxiety when left alone. What are some other things you do to make your pooch comfortable on their own?

PS. Making former foster  Little Red Wilma comfortable in her crate

SociaBulls: On Color Coded Bandanas

While a lot of us wear bandanas and flair to make our pooches more approachable, we've also been using colored bandanas in our SociaBulls group as a means of communication. With 20-ish dogs, and walking in loud, urban areas, the bandanas give us an extra edge to keep constant communication.

Why Every Member Wears a Bandana

 We have started wearing bandanas so we can identify who is in the group. We've had a couple of instances where curious people 'joined' our group either in the beginning or mid-walk, but since we are such a big group it can be hard to identify who isn't a member. Since we put so much trust into everyone following the rules and giving space, it's important for us to recognize our members and be able to explain our group and structure to any curious onlookers.

Showing if Dogs Need Extra Space

 While it's important to do introductions before the walk, sometimes people are distracted by their own dogs or can't identify the dogs mid-walk who for many reasons might need extra space. While we initially didn't want to single anyone out or make them feel like they're wearing a 'scarlet letter', many of the dogs who needed space agreed it would be good to have a visual reminder with a specific colored bandana.

Indicating a Buddy

 Since our dogs do go to the bathroom and fall out of order, the dogs who need more space wanted to be sure when they rejoin the group they can walk next to a dog who won't react back if they react. We use another colored bandana to for our unflappable dogs who can act as buddies.

Buying Bandanas

Looking at our photos, you can see these aren't official bandanas. To eliminate expense and money-handling complications, one of our board members had the genius idea to just buy fabric to cut into strips, which each pooch has been personalizing as a jaunty bow or bowtie.

DINOs, the dogs in need of space blog, also wrote this interesting post about using color-coding to indicate the need for more space.
Does anyone else use a similar type of color-coding system?

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 demand for membership has grown, and we currently have an active waiting list, we will be putting a hold on new members at this time..

Mr. B, the Dog's Dog

Miss M really wanted her own dog, so we went out and adopted Mr. B. They were so excited to meet, that Mr. B pulled his foster mom halfway down her driveway to say hi to Miss M and then the pooches ran together for 30 min around his foster mom's yard and lake. Miss M thought she had found her perfect dog, that was until we brought him home. She quickly learned that Mr. B was not a dog's dog.

She would try everything to get Mr. B to play with him, she would shove toys in his face, nibble on his ear and even bite his legs, but Mr. B would just lay down or walk away. We soon saw he was the same way with all of our foster dogs.

Whenever our fosters were playing with Miss M, we would find Mr. B in the corner of the room, laying nicely with his stuffy. Then when Miss M gets too crazy for our fosters (which was all the time), the fosters would turn their attention to Mr. B.

They would get in his face, jumping around and barking, but they would all leave dejected, because all Mr. B would do was turn his body and lay facing the other way with his stuffy.

We sometimes wonder if Mr. B thinks he is a cat, because he doesn't want to play with other dogs but he is very eager to play with a cat ... and rats.

PS. The post when Miss M got her very own pet dog.