Stoutpup

A food tailor made for the English Bulldog. Last night was the offical kickoff of our grilling summer. We had cookout at our friends the Cox’s - hamburgers and hotdogs, friends and real dogs. Samson, the neighbor’s Beagle made a spirited appearance at the end of the night and he and Lucy had a blast chasing each other around the yard. This morning Lucy had a love hangover from all the fun with her new friend Samson.

I learned something new from fellow bulldog lover and friend Julie who was at the party. She told me about a food especially made to combat the flatulence of bulldogs — it’s called Bulldog 24™ by Royal Canin.

I like that a bullet point on this website is:
• ODOR RELIEF — Promotes Proper Digestion and Reduces Flatulence

What I like even more is the fact that you can watch a pretty long promotional video on bulldogs and their digestive systems here. If you want to see bulldogs bounding around in grassy fields, it’s a must see.

Anyways- We are going to give Bulldog 24™ a chance. We’ll keep you updated. Hopefully Lucy will quit gassing us out of the Office. She’s gotten really bad lately. Audible even.

National Geographic channel has been running a “Dog Whisperer” marathon. For those of you who don’t know who the dog whisperer is, he’s Cesar Milan, of the Dog Psychology Center in LA. Cesar specializes in rehabilitating dogs that are known to be prone to violence — he gives second chances to breeds such as Rottweilers and Pitbulls at his center (as well as many other breeds). Basically he says that dogs aren’t born violent, it’s their owners that fail to provide what the dogs need in order to become fulfilled dogs within their “pack” or family.

I love watching the Dog Whisperer because I learn something new in every episode. Most of the dogs have behavioral problems at home that range from aggressiveness to obsessive compulsive behavior to just plain annoying constant barking. The common thread in each episode is not only the rehabilitation of the dogs themselves, but the “training” of the owners to better relate to their beloved animals with an animal mentality — a “pack” mentality if you will. Most of the folks in these episodes are like me and they tend to treat their dogs like children - babies even. We coddle them and give in to their bad behavior out of love (we think), but really we do them a disservice by not showing them the structure — what they need — to know their place as pack members. For some reason even the most experienced parent or teacher who is used to disciplining kids and students tends to fail when it comes to being that calm assertive pack leader for their dog at home.

Here is Cesar’s Philosophy taken from his website :

“In the wild, a dog’s very survival depends on a strong, stable and organized pack, where every member knows its place and follows the rules established by the pack leader. The pack instinct is perhaps the strongest natural motivator for a dog.”

So…as leader of the pack I need to practice my calm assertiveness. I don’t want to nurture Lucy’s bad behavior (badgering us to play with constant head butting/barking) with chaos and inconsistency. After all we don’t respect our employers and elected officials when they lack process, set no boundaries, scream, flail their limbs about. Who wants to follow the lead of a crazy person. I realize that my dogs aren’t always looking to be cuddled and hugged and pinched and squeezed. Sometimes they are just looking for me to tell them to shut their traps and sit in their beds until it really is time to play. And they will still love me for it.

It’s a little gloomy in Washington today. Lucy will sleep all day until about 4 pm when she’ll rise from the big chair and start acting like a crazy maniac. She and Deezy are like a Tom and Jerry Cartoon, running about the house, chasing each other.

It’s coming up! I just got my reminder in the mail. Last year Lucy and I raised $200 from the donations of our generous family and friends. Thank you everyone! You know who you are. The money raised goes to help less fortunate animals and is put on by The Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County. It’s held at Ft. Steilacoom Park and is prime dog watching and photographizing for those who want to see a TON of dogs! It’s reallly fun, and we’ll be walking again on July 15th, but before that we’re hitting you all up for money. I’ll keep you posted.

Loooooooooooie!

Anyone who has ever seen pig hollering will know what I mean. Lucy get’s very excited when we holler out her name with a high pitched twist at the end. She comes running.

This blog is inspired by Lucy - the most photogenic Bulldog in the South Sound. Stay tuned for news, photos, reviews, and random thoughts.