SnOMG!

We woke up this morning to a drift of snow taller than all three browns, including Maizy, which is really something! Fortunately, Wrigley was there to plow ahead and lead the other dogs in a single line around the yard until they found a place where the snow was low enough to do their business.

Later in the day, we went out again to try to shovel our way to the garage. It was no easy feat as most of the snow had drifted to that side of the yard, but I finally got the walkway shoveled out.

Maizy and Wrigley helped by eating what snow they could. Probert helped by getting a ton of snow stuck inside his new hat (which may not be the answer for snowy weather).

Judging by the huge pile of snow at the end of our alley, which has been either plowed from the street or deposited by those neighbors digging out their cars, I will not be getting out of here anytime soon. We'll see what tomorrow holds!

Snowpocalypse!

We are in the middle of a THUNDERSNOW here in Chicago and it is windy and snowy as all get out. I am about to take the dogs out for their final potty of the night and hope that none of us blow away. Earlier, about 40 minutes into our blizzard watch, we went outside and I took these photos. It now sounds much worse outside than it was when these were taken!

Check out Probert's new JAFCO flexible vinyl "hat." We've only had it two days, so we'll keep using it before reporting back on it's functionality.

Probert's "Hat"

I have neglected to post about my decision to start muzzling Probert when he is with "the pack" because so many people react so negatively to it, but I'm ready so here it is. I have posted a few photos of Probert in his "hat" (we don't use the "m" word) on my personal Facebook page and have gotten some very mixed reactions. I understand that it is sometimes difficult to see a dog in a muzzle because it makes them "look mean" or for any other reason. For the first month after I bought Probert's muzzle, I couldn't even put it on him for any amount of time, but I finally dove in and now I am very used to seeing it on him and know that underneath, he is still my sweet little guy.

Probert has a history of redirecting in stressful situations (in the yard, something outside the fence usually) and biting Wrigley. He has done Wrigley some serious damage and in the interest of preventing that from happening (on the occasion when it does happen) and also in not isolating Probert from the pack, I bought him a muzzle. Since buying it several months ago, there have been two incidents when it has prevented him from doing any damage when attempting to bite Wrigley and the rest of the time, it allows him to interact with the pack like a normal dog and without my worrying about what "could" happen - so it's doing its job.

So, despite the "scary" exterior appearance of the muzzle, I have to say that it's one of the better decisions I have made for the health and happiness of all of my dogs. In the interest of looking a little less "scary" (and preventing further wall-gouging and painful leg-bashing from the heavy metal one) I just ordered Probert a new JAFCO clear flexi vinyl muzzle, so we'll see how that one works when it gets here. If anyone is interested, I will be happy to report back! In the meantime, please don't be too quick to judge a dog (or his person) by his hat!

The Old Lady Gains A Year

The matriarch of the brown dog pack got another year older on Saturday! Maizy Anne is now seven years old! Even with an arthritic hind end, she is LOVING our Chicago weather and is showing up the younger dogs racing around the backyard like she's got springs in her paws!

Visitors

Her daddy is out of town this week, so Miss Addison Mae is back in brown dog land! Unfortunately, the browns were not too excited at all to see her and Wrigley even HID! She is doing great, though, and I was happy to see her after a month of her being away. The first night I couldn't remember how I did everything with so many dogs, but now I'm back in the swing of things and everything is going smoothly. She leaves again on Friday, so I am enjoying our time together while it lasts.

In other news, my neighbor is also a yoga student of mine and heard me talking about Maizy's work at the library (which she hasn't been doing since her tail amputation several months ago because it took her so long to heal from that surgery) and asked if she could stop by with her kids someday. I said sure and yesterday she stopped over with the kids who read to Maizy, petted Hannibal the cat, and were licked by Probert (who is crated in the living room until Addison's departure because they stress each other out). Maizy was ecstatic to have visitors who were paying attention to her and after only a half-hour visit, she spent the rest of the day in recovery sleeping. Some "nanny dog"! Hehe. Probert was less enthusiastic, but was very tolerant and observant. He is not so used to children, but I thought he did great. Only one growl when the kids were getting too crazy by his crate, but he is entitled to give warnings if he doesn't like something. Wrigley did not come visit because he would have steamrolled those poor children with his boisterous enthusiasm for all things. :D

In closing, here is an updated photo of all three browns. Do you know who is who?

Pinuping

This past Sunday was a great Chicago fundraiser for Pinups for Pitbulls, a Holiday Market that I organized. I was really proud of the event, despite the fact that nature did NOT cooperate and it was blizzarding! The event was featured, along with my photo, in Time Out Chicago and we had a whole lot of really great vendors and rescues join us at Anything is Pawsible, the training facility where both Addy and Probert have been trained!

Overall, despite the weather, the event was a success and we raised around $2500 for the pups!

And I got to wear a Santa dress...

And our fellow brown dog, Fifty the two-legged pittie was there!

The event went so well that I'm already thinking we might do it again next year!!!

This Sunday Sunday Sunday!

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