Pibbles, Pibbles, Pibbles!

L and I attended the eastern Massachusetts portion of the Coast to Coast Bully Walk on Saturday. The weather was warmer than expected, which is awesome for fall in New England. The turnout was pretty big - it was easily the largest gathering of dogs we've ever attended. In addition to pit bull-type dogs of every shape, size, and color, we also saw a boxer, a pug, a shepherd, and a tiny toy breed dog dressed as a pumpkin.

Since Badger is a stress pooper (anyone else have a dog like this?) we spent much of the walk cleaning up after him. But right before we left, I had the chance to walk around and snap some pictures of other attendees:

What do you call a group of pitties? A cluster? A snuggle?

Loved the ears on this pretty orange pittie!

And the underbite on this one

The last-second look away

And here's the pug I mentioned earlier!

We also saw several adoptable dogs, two of which I managed to photograph. Stay tuned tomorrow for the follow-up post with adorable adoptable pitties!

Did you attend any bully-themed events this past weekend?

Office Dogs

It seems that the east coast and the west coast have very different views of what a good work environment is. Here on the east coast, I wear "business casual" attire to work every day. Nice shirt, black slacks. On Fridays, we're allowed to wear jeans but not t-shirts. My friends on the west coast wear cargo shorts and sandals to work every day. (Or at least they're allowed to. They probably have better fashion sense than that.)

Another east coast/west coast difference is the phenomenon of office dogs. Many companies on the west coast either allow employees to bring their (well-socialized) dogs to work or have a designated office dog. My suggestion for my workplace to participate in "Bring Your Dog to Work Day" this year was met with an awkward laugh followed by a rejection.

This is why I love working from home. Not only am I barefoot and wearing shorts, but I get to see this little face:

"Did you get my meeting request for dinner and walkies?"

Is your workplace "dog-friendly"? What do you think of the office dog phenomenon?

Buckle Up!

When we first brought Badger home as a tiny puppy, he rode curled up in the passenger foot well at L's feet. That became Badger's spot in the car, since at just over 40 lbs, he still fits in the foot well if he curls up tightly. But in the back of my mind, I was concerned that his head was right at airbag-level if he sat up.

He also kept changing the radio station

Mushroom has always ridden in the back seat of the car while wearing a seat belt harness. We bought a seat belt harness for Badger too -- we just made a lot of excuses (he might chew the seat belt, he might try to play with Mushroom) and never used it. Until this weekend. And guess what? He was perfectly well-behaved!

Or eating out of the seat back pocket

Mushroom is an old pro -- and the perfect size for bucket seats

How do your dogs ride? Do they wear seat belts? Do you use a crate? Something else?

Head Collars =/= Muzzles!

L was showing pictures of the Badgershrooms in their Halloween costumes to a friend when she asked, "Why is Mushroom wearing a muzzle?" This isn't the first time we've had people mistake the Gentle Leader head collar for a muzzle. We also frequently get asked questions like "Are they friendly?" and "Do they bite?", which we think are due to people thinking they are muzzled.

"I smell bacon..."

L took this series of photographs to show our friend that the head collar is not a muzzle.

The Gentle Leader on the ground. The loop with the buckle goes around the neck, and the small loop goes over the nose.

"I'm sleeeeepy... Make the other dog model for you!"

The strap that goes around the neck is very tight and sits just behind the ears.

The straps form a 'V' shape and do not prevent the Mushroom from opening her mouth.

Badger actually wears a head collar too, but people often don't notice because it's the same color as his fur. Maybe we should get a brown Gentle Leader for Mushroom.

Badger's costume isn't a shark so much as a dog being eaten by a shark

Have you found that people mistake head collars for muzzles? Does this influence your choice of dog walking gear?

More Blog Awards!

Thank you, 2 Punk Dogs, for giving us the One Lovely Blog Award and the Beautiful Blog Award! (Over a month ago... We're so punctual...)


The requirements for the Beautiful Blogger Award are:

• To copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post. 
• Thank the person who nominated you and create a link back to their blog. 
• Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award.

The requirements for the One Lovely Blog Award are:

• Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.
• Share 7 things about yourself. 
• Nominate other bloggers you admire. 
• Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know.

Here are our 7 things:

1. When Mushroom whines, it sounds like she's meowing.
2. Badger likes to lick inside my ear when I lay down on the couch. It's gross.
3. The last 3 video games (not counting phone/tablet apps) I've played are Tokyo Jungle, Guild Wars 2, and Torchlight 2.
4. The only food Mushroom has ever refused to eat is carrots. Not sure why - she eats green beans, canned pumpkin, and rabbit poop (not actually a food).
5. Badger has spots on his belly. You can see them because the fur on his belly is thin and white.
6. Badger likes people, then treats, then dogs. Mushroom likes treats, then dogs, then people.
7. My favorite holiday is Halloween!

And here are the bloggers we nominate:
A Heartbeat at My Feet - Oscar the pitbull mix, current foster Cooper, and many successful former fosters
Life with Alfred - Bat-eared Bruce Wayne and blocky-headed Alfred, who looks adorable as a panda
Maisie and Me - New(ish) Bostonian pocket pittie Maisie
My Two Pitties - The two referenced in the title are Kaya and Norman, but there are so many more animals
Prettie Little Pittie - Well-dressed New Yorker Goose
The Rufus Way - Grumpy, brindle Rufus in Seattle (funny, he looks pretty happy to me)
Trinity's Love - Another Massachusetts dog Trinity and her new sister Kylie

It's never too early for Halloween costumes!

Can you tell what Badger and Mushroom are dressed up as?

A Dog's Tail (Game)

A couple weeks ago, my favorite video game blog, The Border House, announced a game jam where readers could create a game using Twine and submit it for everyone to play. Twine is an easy interface that helps you make a choose-your-own-adventure style game.

I made a game about dogs (of course) called A Dog's Tail. It contains information that is probably very familiar to readers of this blog, but I was hoping it could spread a little awareness among people who don't think about dogs 24/7/365. Many other people made Twine games as well, and you can play them all here.

Also, Badger's first training class was last night! The class mainly focuses on staying calm in the presence of other people and dogs, which Badger desperately needs to learn. I was afraid that he'd do something to get us kicked out of class (always expect the worst, right?), but he actually did very well. So well, in fact, that we're considering bringing him to one or both of the dog events happening this weekend: Buddy Dog Humane Society's Woofstock and Chelmsford Dog Association's Howl'ween.

Badger, the class clown

Are you gearing up for an exciting weekend? Or will you be cuddling in the warmth of your home?

Anniversary + 100th Post = Giveaway!

Today is our 2-year anniversary, and it also happens to be the day we reached 100 posts on this blog! To celebrate, I made an infographic, because I love infographics.

Click to enlarge

Also, we're holding our very first giveaway! The prize is one item of your choice (up to $30) from our favorite online deal site, DoggyLoot. To enter, just comment on this blog post (once per person, please) before 9 PM EDT on Oct. 11, 2012 (that's roughly 24 hours from now). The winner will be announced tomorrow night via an update to this post.

Update: The contest is now closed. I used Random.org to generate a number between 1-4. Congratulations to Keri @ Trinity's Love for being the winner of this giveaway! Keri, I sent you an e-mail. Thank you to everyone who participated and everyone who reads this blog. =)

P.S. If you don't have a DoggyLoot account yet, here's our invite link: https://doggyloot.com/invite/3245ac. They give you $5 just for signing up, and we get $10 to fuel our online-shopping habit.