A little bit Anal. A little bit Retentive.

I was surfing the interwebz and came across this post about a dog attack by an ex-police dog in training who was newly adopted by a police officer and left in the backyard with the officer's toddler in the backyard unsupervised.

I was reading the blogger's commentary regarding the attack and it wasn't until we read this paragraph that I realized how anal retentive we were:

"A new dog placed in a new environment with people he is unfamiliar with and left alone with a child. This has nothing to do with his 'rejected' status as a police dog and everything to do with responsible and safe care of a dog. When a small, physically sensitive, inquisitive toddler is around a brand-new dog, you have to go above and beyond 'safe' and into 'anal retentive'. A toddler is no match for a dog."

You can read the rest of the entry here: http://for-the-pits.blogspot.com/2010/06/strange-title-for-dog-attack-article.html

Before Ender or Barksdale, I would have completely been fine leaving a dog outside roaming free with children. I mean, why wouldn't it be okay, it happens all the time on television. Oh, wait, you mean television is sometimes misleading and I can't have that giant backyard where the toddlers and doggies are frolicking around outside while I sit inside and drink my iced tea?

But really, I hardly even leave Ender and Barksdale alone together, even if they are just hanging out in the living room and I'm using the computer in the bedroom. (Yes, granted I'm just looking out for my third baby - my 32 inch flat screen tv, you can never be too careful.) I think becoming a real dog owner means coming to terms with the fact that you can never be NOT paying attention. (In my opinion, this is the second crappiest part about being a dog owner, after all the pee and poo clean up.)

Not paying attention leads to complete and utter anarchy. Throw a few kids in the mix and the world might just implode.

Another thing I thought about when reading this article was how hard it must be to have a police dog seamlessly transition between being in a police setting versus a home setting. In a police setting, the intensity level is higher and the dog is on constant alert. Those two characteristics, if used to describe a normal dog, would mean that the dog is completely crazy.

However, the dog in that situation is provided a job and a handler, who is probably also on constant alert and giving constant direction. Those two things can create a highly effective working dog by directing the so-called craziness into something productive.

The issue is, when happens when a police dog comes into a home? I am willing to bet that the same kind of vigilance and alertness given to a police dog at work is not provided at home. And because of this, the control a handler has over the dog is probably less inside a home versus at work. In addition, the amount of exercise a police dog gets "on the job" probably is way more than they would get in a home. Those two things combined means that the "craziness" is uncurbed at home, leading to exponential crazy.

Would you leave your kid with exponential crazy?

Doggy Dining: The Albatross

So technically it's not dining, but hey, sometimes all you need is a drink. The Albatross in Berkeley is awesome for a number of reasons:

1. Board Games
2. Free Popcorn
3. You can bring your own food
4. Dogs allowed before 8 p.m.

All the women who are independent - throw your hands up at me

Okay, so it'd be Ender throwing his paw up at me right now.

Ender is what we would call "independent." As the dog walker gently broke to us, we might as well be a tree based on the attention he pays to us. Wait, on second thought, the tree in front of our place probably gets more action from Ender than we do.

Ender does not like to cuddle. He does, however, like to lay on the couch and in the bed. So he will tolerate you being on it at the same time. But when he comes up, rest assured that he will be picking the spot farthest away from you. Except on the bed. When he's on the bed, he's cursing the bf for only having a full sized bed.

The quickest way to get him off the couch or bed is to snuggle with him until he absolutely cannot stand it anymore. Then he just slinks off to his own bed for some peace. As any good doggy parent would do, we occasionally force what we call "family time" on him. I don't think he's gotten the memo yet, but if he's going to be part of this family, then he better get use to having someone all up in his biz-naz.

Barksdale on the other hand is a cuddling machine.

OMGOMGOMG

The bf has to keep me away from doggies with big ears, cuz, um, that's how we ended up with Ender. For your viewing pleasure:

E is for Endurance (and Ender!)

Here is what our exercise schedule looks like:

Monday through Friday:
20 minute walk in the morning
1 hour walk in the evening

Tuesday and Thursday:
2 to 3 hour excursion with dogwalker

Saturday and Sunday:
1 hour walk in the morning
1 hour walk in the evening

Two weeks ago, we met with Ender's dogwalker who said that Ender might not be getting enough exercise. My initial response was, wtf, we need to ship him off to a farm immediately. Apparently Ender's the special kind of pitbull where, after a four hour hike, he still has enough energy to bounce off the walls.

Anyone who's adopted a pitbull knows that an insane amount of physical activity comes with them. The bad news is, if you're not up for it, your pitbull is going to be effing crazy. The good news is, if you're willing, your pitbull is going whoop your ass into shape.

My ass has been adequately whooped by Ender. (However, this mysterious tire around my waist doesn't seem to be disappearing. I shake my fist at you post 25-yr-old metabolism!) It hasn't been whooped this good since my 7th grade P.E. teacher Ms. Stanley looked us in the eye and informed us that we would be running three miles non-stop by the end of the school year. Like running, as in not walking.

Endurance is also good for situations like these:
"Sit"
"No"
"Sit"
"No"
"Sit"
"No"
"Sit"
"No"
"SIT"
"Good Boy"

Doggy Dining: DOPO

I will reveal my bias upfront - DOPO is my favorite restaurant of all time. It is the only place I have found that can make parpadelle taste like it was made by a grandma in Florence. Their thin crust pizza is magic and DOPO staff is awesome.

On some random Thursday, the bf and I were being ambitious and decided to take Barksdale to the Mountain View Cemetery aka Piedmont Cemetery for her evening walk. (I know, sounds morbid but hey they have walking paths so you don't have to walk over any dead bodies.) I, being both lazy and fanatical, suggested stopping by DOPO for dinner on the way home. We sat at one of the tables in front of the restaurant and got treated with the same awesome service we get every time.

The thing to note is that there really isn't anywhere to tie your dog. Therefore, I recommend you master eating bread with one hand or bring your dog only if they are calm and have no problem laying by your feet as you eat.

Toy Review: Kong by Kong Co.

The guy who invented the Kong should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in bringing peace to dog households across the world.

The pros:
1. Makes minimal noise (I'm looking at you squeaker toy!)
2. Makes minimal mess (Food is inside, holes are fairly small ensuring food mostly stays inside the kong.)

The cons:
1. None that I know of

When we got Ender, we bought him the Extreme Kong (black color) in Extra Large since he was already 40 pounds at four months. However, when we got Barksdale, we bought her the Classic Kong (red color). Yes, even though she was two months, we wisely skipped the Puppy Kong. Conclusion? Skip the Classic Kong.

Why you may ask? First off, she ended up nibbling at the rubber around hole to try to get the treat out, unaware that she was supposed to be using her tongue, or as in Ender's case, putting the entire Kong in your month and chomping on it until the treat inside crumbles. The Classic Kong does not withstand pit bull nibbling, even if it's by a two month old pit. Secondly, your bigger pit will inevitably steal it and try to get at whatever's inside, resulting in Classic Kong destruction.

Kong also makes treats that fit perfectly inside the Kong. As of late, we've been using peanut butter which is a cheaper alternative. At night, I mix peanut butter with some lamb, stuff the kongs, and throw it in the freezer so the next morning, they are treated with a Kong with difficulty level of high.

We currently have three Extreme Kongs in our house right now. Don't judge.