Dog Park Etiquette

If you've spent any time in a dog park, or a public space with dogs for that matter, you're probably familiar with this scene. A small dog (often with an unfortunate name like Princess or Mr. Pickles) who doesn't stray far from their owner and meets other dogs with complete hostility. When you think of dog park etiquette, you'd think these disgruntled little Napoleons would be the ultimate offenders; but more often than not, they aren't. It's their crazy owners that create the problem.

I'm not trying to judge my fellow pet lovers, and I am definitely not claiming to be perfect, but there are just some things that you shouldn't do if you want a sociable, well-adjusted dog. For example, don't bring a baggie full of dog treats to a park with 30 other dogs, give them to your pup and then wonder why it acts aggressively when other curious noses appear. When said dog acts aggressively don't correct reward him by luring him over to a secluded corner of the park with yet another treat, ball, or toy. This is a positive outcome for unfortunate behavior (that you created, by the way) and your pet doesn't understand your full sentence explanations about why "it's not nice to growl and bite at other doggies like that. You can't make friends by being mean, so don't do that anymore, ok? Be nice." Your dog will respond with some variation of:  *blink* *blink* Is that a treat?

And God forbid you actually start feeding other people's dogs. I'm astounded that we see people bringing food into the park for their pets, but when they start feeding other people's dogs that's crossing a strange sort of line that I didn't even know existed until it happened. I never expected to have such a strong reaction to this, but the small handful of people who I've seen do it have really irritated me. We have a friendly pup and his sniffer's pretty darn good, so it usually doesn't take him long to figure out who is sneaking treats to their dog every minute and a half. He's also generally smart, so he'll hang out in this person's vicinity just in case they should lose a treat. Some people act irritated that he's hanging around expecting to get some of their dog's treats (the nerve!) and others find him endearing and share the wealth. How am I supposed to teach my dog not to harass or jump on you when you keep giving him treats? I also have no idea what that treat is and you don't know what I feed my dog on a regular basis. What happens when he gets rawhide as a treat and not doggie cookies, and those 8 biscuits you just gave my 17 pound dog means I have to deal with the runs for two days? 

Today's treat giver was a special kind of irritating. Not only did this family bring a ton of treats for their overly aggressive "in-tact" dog, they also brought some toys. At one point in time this lovely gentleman was taunting another woman's dog with the toy, pretending like he was going to throw it for him. When her dog remained glued to his side, barking at him, she naturally tried to get him to stop. But I think we all knew there's little you can do (other than confuse the hell out of your dog) when the other person is actively working against you. The solution, in this case, was to call it a day. Their tummies and our blood pressure didn't need any more of that nonsense.

All too often, the dogs that get a bad reputation for behavior that's not entirely their fault. Yes some dogs naturally have more agressive temperaments than others, but they are ultimately a product of their environment. I still like to think that these cardinal rule breakers really do have the best of intentions and don't understand that they are often a source of tension for both people and pets.

(For the record, Bear has never gotten sick from other people at the park - yet.)

Here's some more official Dog Park Etiquette, based on things other than my personal opinion.

For more amazingly ridiculous photos: www.ihasahotdog.com 

Writing Bug

This morning I woke up with a writing bug like I've never experienced before. I'm not sure if it was there when I opened my eyes or if I created it by starting one of my 27 in 27 items - writing down my dreams for 30 days. I always have the best recollection of my dreams when I first wake up, and this morning I remembered more than usual. So I pulled out a notebook that hasn't been filled with class notes yet and started day 1 by scribbling down what I remembered. By the time I was done with the first dream, I couldn't recall very much of the others, but that's to be expected. I've heard once you start doing this, you tend to remember more and more. I wrote for a good 15 minutes, and then had to start getting ready for class. I left a quick note for Casey to find when he woke up and then hopped in the shower.

As the morning went on, my thoughts wouldn't quiet down and the urge to write became more intense. I'm not sure if it was the subject that needed to come out (which may turn into another blog for another time) or if I just needed to write - about anything. Many writers will say they do it because they need to. Until this morning, I don't think I've ever understood the need to write, to dump out all of the contents of my head. It genuinely felt like my sanity was on the line. I started to get irritated that I didn't have the time to get my thoughts out in the way they were coming to me in those moments, and I considered foregoing the morning routine to do it. Rest assured, I managed to convince myself to shower, brush my teeth, and clothe myself. But the entire time I kept thinking things like, "Why am I putting on mascara right now? I need to be writing! This is ridiculous."

I wasn't able to sit down and write again before I had to go to class, so I just let my thoughts flow as if I was writing (but really I was brushing my teeth). It definitely wasn't the release I was looking for, but eventually the urge subsided and I got over the fact that it didn't fit into my schedule today. I find it funny that I'm having a hard time writing this blog right now when not so long ago it felt like if I could just sit down at my computer for 30 minutes the feeling would be so fantastic that it just might solve world hunger. I will be interested to see if the writing bug bites again as I continue to jot down my dreams in the morning. I don't think I will ever feel the need to write as a profession, but I'm finding that I really enjoy doing it for fun. Now, if I could only convince this bug to take on my final papers, I'd be set.

Berlin Bear?

One thing Berlin is famous for is bears. They love their bears - and selling bear souvenirs to tourists, which of course I fell for. You can find buddy bears all over the city with their arms stretched to the sky. Coincidentally, this is also a pose our little Bear can often be found doing, which somehow I don't have a photo of (distressing)! Today, we made a discovery that our very own Bear just might be German too.

Bear makes all kinds of friends at the dog park, both pets and people, the latter always asking, "what kind of dog is he?" This is the standard dog park convo, like going into work on Monday and asking, "How was your weekend?" We always respond with some variation of, "standard pound puppy breed: terrier mix" which is exactly what we were told. The organization we adopted him from also said he's likely part dachshund and upon telling people this, the response is largely skeptical with a wide variety of rationals (my favorite being, "oh I don't think so; he's too smart").  Bear has even met another pup just like him who was also a rescue and her person had even fewer guesses than we did. We think rescue mutt is an honorable breed in its own right and have no problem offering our ambiguous answer, although we've always been curious.

Today, Casey met someone who disagreed with said ambiguous answer and told him he didn't think he was a mutt at all, rather a specific terrier breed from Germany - the Jagdterrer (Yack-Terrier) or German Hunting Terrier. So, naturally, we went home and googled Jagdterrier until we ran out of youtube videos (not involving dead animals) and got sick of reading technical breed specifications. However the conclusion is: knowledgeable stranger was totally right! Minus a few 'flaws' like pricked ears and non-docked tail, he matches the photos and descriptions pretty well.

Take a look for yourself:

Image of a Jagdterrier snagged from the interwebs.

What little Bear probably looked like. So cute!

Does this look familiar?!

We also read a lot that reinforced our observations of his personality and gives us insight on how to keep him happy and healthy. These are definitely working dogs that are happiest when they have a job to do and get quite a bit of exercise on a regular basis. Good thing I've started taking him on my morning runs in addition to the dog park trips! Should we become unBearably curious (I crack myself up), apparently most vets can run a relatively inexpensive DNA test to help you figure out your pet's makeup. Until that time comes, I think we're pretty convinced that this is it. Awesome unexpected discovery!

Half Crazy

Most people in my life know that I am an ambitious person prone to taking on crazy ventures. Today's "she would do that" is Angie's Half Crazy half marathon. 

Tiffany, Laila and I after finishing!

I must admit that half marathon number two was definitely more difficult than the first. I can't blame it on the course (which was virtually as flat as possible), and I can try to blame it on the weather (so sunny and hot!), but my real downfall was almost a complete lack of preparation. Yes, this obsessive planner and over-preparer was not ready for what today had in store. 

Last month was a little more eventful than anticipated; and so I spent less time running than I hoped  I would (twice since the last half in mid-February, to be exact) when I signed up for this half marathon. The good news is that you don't have to be fully prepared to succeed at something. Sure, I wasn't as fast as I had hoped I would be, but I took it one mile at a time and eventually crossed the finish line! I also learned it takes courage to be slow at something that is really difficult... so slow that your friends send a search party to find you.

As I write this, I keep thinking about the lyrics to a Carrie Underwood song that was on my playlist today:

Here's to you long shots

You dark horse runners

Hairbrush singers, and dashboard drummers

Here's to you wild magnolias

Just waiting to bloom

There's a little bit of all that inside of me and you

Thank God even crazy dreams come true

Word.