This has got to be my favorite holiday. Mom and Dad had some friends over, and we got all dressed up. At first the lobster costume they put on me didn’t feel so great, but I got used to it. In fact, I was so excited to have visitors that I forgot I was wearing it.
Mom was dressed up as the Corpse Bride, Dad was the Corpse Groom, Alden was Count Dracula, Ling was a French maid, Helen was a widow/dark bride, Irene was Bob Marley, and Ken came as a Chinese guy.
Mom was supposed to dogsit Shadow while Aunt Barb and Uncle Ron were on their East Coast trip. The first night I was with her, she bit my tail and I barked a warning at her. So Shadow went to stay with my grandparents until Mom got back from Boston the next day. Turns out they got so attached to Shadow they didn’t want to give her up. So she spent the next two weeks with them. Grandma even took her shopping and bought her a sweater and raincoat. Looks ridiculous to me, but it doesn’t seem to bother Shadow. Good thing Mom doesn’t dress me up.
Today was an adventurous day of training in Bernal Heights. Mom’s been pretty disturbed with my aggressive behavior with dogs at the park and lack of ability to recall when playing, so she contacted dogEvolve where I took recall classes last year. My recall had improved miles from before but still needed a lot of work. Mom felt that dogEvolve’s techniques were very effective and the trainers really know what they’re talking about.
Since dogEvolve no longer offers Recall 2 classes, we met Pam for a private session on Bernal Hill, a cool place where dogs can run offleash and people can enjoy panoramic views of the city. First they attached me to a long leash and recalled me from short distances. No problemo! Then I got a little more freedom….and I was off! Can’t catch me!! I was halfway up a hill when they called me back.
Mom learned some techniques such as collar grabbing me from play, then releasing. This is so I don’t have to dodge her out of fear playtime will end. Then Pam made Mom hide behind a tree. Then she released me to see if I can find Mom. The purpose is this is to train me to find her when she’s out of sight. Once I locate her, I’m handsomely rewarded.
One time when they dropped the leash, I decided to take off and run for the hills. Pam started chasing me, but when she saw it made me run faster, she stopped. I ran down the hill and out of sight. They stood at the top of the hill and called me. I was sniffing around, but when I heard Mom call, I ran like hell back up the hill. Pam gave me a HUGE reward, treats all over the place.
Pam thought the way I approached other dogs was fine. Mom was still concerned about my aggressive behavior, but Pam told her to just work in big open spaces with few dogs first. Putting me in a fenced dog park with a million other dogs and trying to train me is setting me up for failure.
Motivated by today’s session, Mom took me to our regular dog park. I had a great time by myself, but then a 6-year old pitbull named Rex joined in the fun. We had fun romping around, but then Mom got concerned about me barking and trying to bite the dog’s neck. I can’t help it, he’s a little runt and I gotta show him who’s the boss. Remembering what Pam told her, she intervened, separated us, then released several times. (Pam told her to do this every 10 seconds, even before tension starts to build.) It’s a good thing Rex was a puppy, because a bigger dog would most certainly have put up a fight.
Mom’s thinking of taking me to Fort Funston this weekend where we can have more practice. Yay! Now that Mom’s a little more confident, it means we can go to fun places more often. She was restricted me too much out of fear of losing control, which made me more hyperactive and crazy when I encountered other dogs.
Practice makes perfect. WOOF!
Oh boy, today was a blast! Both people and canine guests came over to honor ME. I got lots of cool gifts – a chewable stuffed tiger from Auntie Helen, a humongous rawhide bone and fancy water dish from Uncle Kevin, and a tire ball and rope from Uncle Dennis and Alva. Uncle Albert, Aunt Tammy, and Batman got me a doggie pizza and beer (to celebrate me turning 21!) with yogurt chips. Dee-lish! I also got some steak from Uncle Alden, Ron and Ling. Those few bites of Grade A top sirloin was fabulous, however, I was supposed to get the whole steak rather than a few morsels!
Unfortunately, Alva didn’t realize the rope toy he came with was really for me. He kept it all to himself. When I tried to rightfully claim it, he would growl and run away with it.
The day was nice and sunny for a backyard bbq. The big people were enjoying the food and we doggies were running around. Alva has an annoying habit of licking faces, and Batman the husky didn’t like it at all. There were dog fights in the yard and in the house. I got into a few skirmishes myself.
Then there was the Canine Olympics. Each of us was put to the agility and attention test. We had to jump over two bars, run around a cone, and up a ramp. Unfortunately with my short attention span and lack of mental acuity, I came in 3rd place. But who cares! It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.
The grand finale of the day was a double decker heart-shaped meatloaf cake topped with bbq sauce frosting!! Uncle Dennis smelled it and nearly ate it himself. But all dogs were able to share my scrumptious, mouth watering, fang drooling cake.
Ahh, what a fun-filled day. I only wish Mom and Dad would share the doggie yogurt chips – they’ve been eating it themselves and I’ve only gotten one. Click here for photos of the party.
Late Sunday afternoon. My doggie friends came to hang with me in the ‘hood. Mom went to pick up Dennis and Alva while I stayed to play with Bruiser. We got along great and chased each other for a bit under Auntie Helen’s supervision, but soon got into a major fight. Dad heard the commotion and opened the door in time to see Auntie Helen get knocked down. Grandpa jumped out of the cottage to help separate us. Each of us, including Aunt Helen, wound up with some scratches and wounds by the time Mom got back.
So the three of us headed to the park over the freeway. We crossed the overpass and walked down this zigzagged, graffiti covered path to the park. A family was having a picnic there, so we went to the other end of the field. I was on a long leash. Bruiser got under my skin, rubbing it in my face that he was off the leash, so I took a lunge at him. That’s when the mayhem began again! We were growling and snarling loudly and probably scared the little kids at the park. If we weren’t attached to our leashes, I would’ve pulled a Mike Tyson on him. I hear dog ears are more delicous than human ones.
Later, the big people went grocery shopping for dinner. They separated all of us: me in the cottage, Alva in the yard, and Bruiser in the house. Bruiser’s dad then came to pick him up a little early.
Alva and I got along like angels in the house. Er…that’s after we got scolded a couple times for trying to chase each other inside. But hey! Who can resist?? I can’t help being the life of the party. We mellowed out pretty quickly; I think both of us were pooped (no pun intended). Alva’s an old dog whose company I don’t mind, but whenever Mom or anyone comes to pet me, Alva shoves his face in between us and starts licking that person’s face. He’s such an attention hog. I continued my angel-like behavior and ignored it.
After dinner came the photo ops. We canines were excellent models. I’m the only young good looking one, though. Alva’s old, greying and has a big, knobby head.
While the big folks were watching a Mike Tyson documentary, we went to sleep. Ahhhh…. I wish these fun filled days would never end!
I’m in LA with Mom and we’ve been here for a week. We met a nice lady named Jai who invited us to her apartment courtyard for a playdate with her dog. Finally, I can run free in Santa Monica! The dog park here started checking dog tags and only allowing SM dogs to play there. But it’s ok, we love the long walks and plenty of landscaping for me to do my business.
Dad arrived yesterday. More to be updated later…
The weather was overcast in San Francisco, but every day is a sunny day when I have a playmate! The last time I saw Bruiser he was a little puppy. Now he’s a rambunctious teenager. When Auntie Helen first brought him over, we got into a bit of a mish mash, growling and barking, until we were separated. It was time to leave the house!
The humans spent a long time trying to get Bruiser in his harness. Not sure if they put it on right, but we headed out anyway. The weather was cold and drizzly, but we had a blast. When we got back, we hung out in the house for more play. We were confined to the kitchen and I REALLY wanted to go into the yard. But then I got distracted doing tricks for treats. Mom and Dad were impressed at how well-behaved I was. I came when called, even when Bruiser was boxing me.
A beautiful clear day in SF brings the doggies and their human pets out. We met up with Auntie Helen and her nephew Bowser near the Golden Gate Bridge. Bowsie was a jumper and whiner. But he got more attention me!
Wow, I have more friends in LA that I never knew about! We visited Dad’s ex-coworker, Wacky Jackie, who lives in Mar Vista with her fiance and two dogs. Bebe (AKA Jeremy) was Aunt Jackie’s dog for the past 12 years. He came from Singapore and is a shitzu – cocker spaniel mix. Dad said Bebe’s seen a dog shrink before because of his separation anxiety issues. Apparently, the neighbors are not thrilled with him. Aunt Jackie showed us a fat envelope filled with neighbor complaints and city notices about the barking that goes on when she’s not at home.
Kiki is a recent addition to their family, a 1-year old shitzu she took in from a friend who couldn’t care for her anymore. Kiki played nice and even let me eat out of her food bowl. Well, actually I just helped myself. She can’t do anything about it because I outweigh her by 65 lbs.
The big folks had dinner that Jackie cooked, while I sniffed the dogs. Small dogs aren’t very playful, though we did have a good noisy run in the yard. I found a piece of rawhide on the floor and begged to go outside to bury it. Unfortunately, it was confiscated when I growled and snapped at Kiki for trying to take it from me.
Aunt Jackie’s place is a dog heaven, but to humans it would be a testament to her wackiness. Lots of pictures with her, Bebe and Kiki. She showed us her Bebe scrapbook and the holiday postcard she took of the dogs at Petco. Some tiles on the floor have dog footprints. A basketful of dog toys sits in the living room. The dogs have their own room that looks like a nursery designed by Winnie the Pooh. Get this – Bebe even has his own shrine in the office. His poster is plastered on the wall by his name. The only thing that’s missing of him is an Andy Warhol painting.
After dinner, everyone went upstairs to tour the house and have dessert. They left me behind a baby gate downstairs! That sucked. But we ended the night with a potty stroll around the neighborhood. I had a fun night. It sure beats going to someone’s house that is overrun with annoying kids.
We headed to Fort Funston again, this time with another dog added to our pack. Uncle Albert and Auntie Tammy brought Batman to SF to play. Batman, a Siberian husky, gained some weight since we first met him, which is good because he was skin and bones when they first adopted him. Alva ran free like always. And as usual, I had no, zero, zilch freedom. At least I wasn’t the only one, Batman was restrained too.
Gee, there are so many purebreds and designer dogs at Fort Funston. There needs to be more mutts, since there are millions sitting in shelters waiting for homes. Mom is an advocate for adopting, not buying from a breeder or pet store.
Top 5 reasons for getting a mutt:
5. Buying contributes to the proliferation of backyard breeders and puppy mills. Dogs are not commodities, we’re your best friend!
4. Millions of dogs, young and old, purebred and mixed, are sitting in shelters waiting for homes. And every year millions more are put down.
3. Many breeds of dogs are inbred and may show signs of health problems later in life; mixed breeds have no genetic overlap.
2. Shelter dogs are usually spayed/neutered, up to date with vaccinations, and include vet care for the first year.
1. Mutts are more unique!!
We will be forever grateful to whoever rescues us!
