The Ritual of Sharing

OK, so call us bad dog parents if you like, but we enjoy sharing our people food with Chili, just like we did with Ruby. The only thing is....Ruby was a seagull, and Chili....not so much. There’s kind of a ritual to sharing your food, you and your dog, hanging out together. You pick up one fry, dip it in ketchup and eat it yourself. Then you pick up another, dip it in ketchup and give it to the dog. Then there’s the complete look of disbelief you get from your dog when you forget to dip it in the ketchup. “Whoops, sorry, forgot.”

Whatever Brad ate, Ruby ate, even if she didn’t enjoy it. The sour face she would put on when she was given a pickle was priceless. She didn’t have to eat it, but she would. After all, her Daddy just ate one and whatever Daddy would eat, Ruby would eat. The only things she wouldn’t eat was lettuce and medication. We would give her a piece of hamburger on the bun with all the fixins. She would swish that thing around in her mouth, chew a bit, then spit the lettuce out. It would just fly right out. She would do the same thing if I put any pills in her food. She ate so fast I don’t know how she even knew something was in there, but there she was, frantically eating her meal and somehow out the pill would fly.

Chili would like to eat everything we eat, but she has a more refined palate and more things upset her belly. In the days when we would share with her she was still picky. She’s the put it in her mouth, spit it out, sniff it, pick it up again, spit it out, eyeball it, then maybe eat it kind of girl. Can you believe that she’s even done this with fresh raw bones? I’ve stood there amazed as she’s sniffed a nice big raw knuckle bone, then given it a few licks, walked away and turned her back on it. “You are a dog, right?” Yes, the mysteries of Chili.

A few months back when Chili was diagnosed with pancreatitis, we stopped sharing food with her. If she really did have it, then we didn’t want to be contributing to her getting sick. This was not an easy thing to do. She still looks at us with those big eyes, then her Dad looks at me with big eyes. “Can’t I give her some?” She knows which one of us is the weakest. The thing is, I want to give her something. I want to share with her. I don’t, but I want to. OK, she does get the odd thing, but we’re definitely more careful about what the odd thing is. Sometimes I’ll even get a few nuggets of her food and just give her a piece now and then while we’re snacking on something else. It’s not the same though. She knows.

Many of my animal memories from growing up involve food. We always had cats and we shared with them. Or they would just take it. I can’t count how many times I would be holding food and a cat paw would come out of nowhere, claws would sink into my hand, and then drag it over to the waiting cat who would just eat the food as if I didn’t matter. Then there was the ice cream truck that would always stop when Toke the Great Dane would run over. He’d be standing by the truck, then a hand would come out of the window with a huge soft serve ice cream on the cone and Toke would lick it up.

When you really look at it, they’re all rituals of some kind. The things that made us smile, or just the things that we lived with, like ninja cat paws, that we secretly loved. Enjoy them, they make great memories.

It's a Tough Life!

Poor little Chili has such a tough life. For one, here Momma is so mean. Oh yes, I am certainly one mean momma. The things I do to her sometimes, are unthinkable. I know she wonders why I’m so mean to her...why I do these terrible things to her. I can’t help it. I’m just that way. I’m her momma and that’s what momma’s do.

It starts innocently, I don’t want to tip her off. I grab a handful of towels and playfully ask Chili to follow me upstairs. I’m very sneaky. When we get there, I shut the bedroom door to ensure there is no escape. At this point, Chili knows something is up. I can see it in her eyes, the look of concern, and the crinkly head. She’s thinking, “No momma, NO, I don’t want to and I’ve worked so hard to be stanky!” I speak to her ever so sweetly, luring her into the chamber of torture. Ha, Ha, Ha, she has no choice but to follow. There’s nowhere else to go. I pull out the carefully chosen all natural mixture and step into the chamber. The torture apparatus is turned on. I take my time making sure the temperature is just right. Yes, I’m so mean. After all, Chili now has the perfect stank on that she’s worked very hard at. Day after day of building it to a point where it’s refined, then in steps her momma, to wreck everything.

I call her into the Chamber and close the door. Now the real torture begins. Chili must stand there and take it. I soak her down and put the all natural mixture all over her. Yes, a special mixture to make sure she doesn’t get dry skin. Ha, I’m so mean. Then the worst of the worst... the full body massage. Oh yes, she’s so tortured, just look into her eyes. I carefully and thoroughly rinse her down then the final step of the process. The towel of torture. Chili knows it’s all ending soon and starts to get antsy. Biting at the towel, shoving herself back and forth between my legs and hopping around as much as she can. Shaking and shaking to soak down her torturer. “Take that Momma!” Then the biggest insult of all, she gets a treat. How could I be so mean? Someone or something must pay for this.

Once her toes are dried, the chamber door is opened, but she can’t leave. She must wait for the signal that it’s OK. She’s already planning her attack. There’s no way she’s the only one who will be tortured today. Once she is released she heads straight out of the chamber in search of a victim. Who will it be? The unstuffed squirrel, no..... the wingless chicken, no...ahh the victim has been chosen, it’s the headless giraffe.

Chili pounces on her giraffe, grabs it with her mouth, and shakes it so hard it goes flying across the room. “Ha, so there giraffe.” Then she bounds down the stairs and zooms around the house looking for a bodycheck victim. Oh look, there’s daddy, perfect. He did allow momma to torture her so he shouldn’t get off easy. She bounds into her daddy, and stomps all over him. “So there, daddy, now you’re wet too!”

The life of Chili is a tough life. Baths, toe-nail clippings, and rules to follow. She only gets two meals a day and isn’t given human food because it upsets her belly. Who do mommy and daddy think they are? Not sharing their food and treats, it’s an unspeakable offense to such a sweet little girl. And toe-nail clipping, who ever thought that up? Ridiculous. Oh yes, Chili has a tough life.

Slobbered and Stomped

Not a day goes by that I’m not slobbered or stomped. I don’t think I know what it’s like to be polished any more. Shiny shoes are a thing of the past and if I washed my hands every time I touched the dog, my hands would be washed away by now. Then there are the slobber marks that seem to be permanently on my jeans but they just change their location. That’s the way it goes when you’re the mom of a little girl who is lovey, licky, and likes to mash dirty, slobbery toys into you.

When I’m out shopping and I see a cool pair of shoes or boots, I get all excited then I think to myself, “how easy will these be to clean once they’re licked and stomped?” Then I walk away. This just isn’t right, I should have her trained to at least not stomp on me any longer. I wish. Everyone has to have the mark of Chili or their life just isn’t as great as it could be. The thing is, it’s not that I like being slobbered and stomped, it’s just that she’s so damn cute doing it. It’s almost impossible to get mad at her and when you do, you regret that you did because those big brown eyes are staring at you like she just did you a favour and you didn’t appreciate it.

Playing with her means you’re going to be slobbered. It’s imperative that she bring her toy to you and mash it into you before she lets you take it. It’s a must, like some unwritten law. The dirtier the toy, the better the mashing. You don’t even have to be actively playing with her. You could be standing over the sink, doing the dishes, when suddenly you’re goosed with an unstuffed squirrel. She not exactly subtle and she doesn’t really care about boundaries. If mashing the toy in your ass gets your attention, then that’s what she’ll do. After all, she knows you want to play with her, she’s just giving you an excuse.

Of course there’s the dog hair. I admit to constantly hugging Chili. I can’t stop, she’s too irresistible. This explains why I’m always covered in dog hair. If you come over for dinner sometimes, stop reading. Yes, if you’ve eaten dinner here you’ve eaten Chili hair, likely. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been boiling water for spaghetti, looked into the pot, and saw dog hair. Of course, I pick them out, so I do try to cut down on the Chili hair intake, but you’re eating them. Live with it. I was eating lunch at work one day when I looked down and saw a hair on my plate. For a split second I was grossed out, then I realized it was a Chili hair that fell off me. Once I figured that out, I just picked it off.

Now if any of this was due to another human, I would not be impressed. Human hair, disgusting. Human slobber, gross. Being stomped by a human, that’s rude. Put them all together and that’s one person I want to knock out. But somehow, because it’s a dog, I put up with it and even like it sometimes. You really do learn to relax about things when you have a dog. I’m sure that applies to any type of animal. It’s a good thing, to relax. The other day Chili’s cousin, Rocky Rocks, was so excited to see me that he was jumping in and out of my truck. As he usually does, he dribbled, but this time he was on my seat. My reaction, oh well, give me a cloth to wipe it up, no worries. If that had’ve happened 3 ½ years ago, I would have lost my mind, seriously lost my mind. Ahhh progress.

A better state of mind, beaten into me....courtesy of Chili.

The Sounds of Spring

What a great weekend it’s been so far. We’ve been spending all of our time out in the yard just enjoying the warm sun and the sounds of spring. Yes, the chickadees chirping, the hummingbirds humming, the woodpeckers pecking, and the dog barking and charging. Oh the sounds of spring.

Every year we have to remind Chili that the sounds of spring are different than the sounds of winter. She always forgets and spends the first few times in the yard sniffing the air, standing on alert, barking, and charging when anyone goes by. It’s so enjoyable for everyone. Yes, that’s sarcasm. It’s not exactly fun, but we spend the time retraining her so we can enjoy the rest of the season. We could leave her in the house but we like having her with us and I’m pretty sure she likes being with us too so we all endure.

There she lies, all pretty and cute soaking up the sun. She looks so content when suddenly she springs up like a breaching shark and starts growling and sprinting across the yard. Luckily a sharp, “Chili, Here!”, stops the charge and brings her to my side whining, protesting and moaning like I just kept her from saving the world. Half the time we look around and can’t even figure out what she’s charging at. So, I keep her at my side and stay ¼ focused on what I’m doing and ¾ focused on Chili and every sound and movement around me. I’m good at knowing what will set her off so I quietly ask her to look at me when I hear different noises and when she looks away, I tell her, “No, no...look at me.” Even when I’m successful for half the day I can’t let my guard down. If she jumps up and charges just once, it takes a while to settle her down.

Then there’s the sound of children playing. Chili loves people of all ages but there’s something about the sound of children playing when she can’t see them that she simply can’t take. There are no issues when she sees them, she just glances and goes about her business. She’s been like this from the day we adopted her so I figure there’s something in that first 6 months of her life that she experienced that triggered this reaction. The mysteries of Chili.

Of all the things that set her off, the one thing that rarely gets her going, that I would fully expect would send her into a fit, is the sound of the neighbourhood dogs barking. There are a few barkers in the neighbourhood but for the most part, she ignores them. I always watch her when they start barking and the odd time when I can see she’s priming herself to bark too, I stop her before she gets going. I don’t need her to be the neighbourhood barking dog, I have enough to deal with.

So the first few outdoor days of spring aren’t exactly relaxing but we make the most of it and do what we can to acclimatize the Chill to relax and just enjoy the sun, and ignore the sounds. She’s committed to her cause but so are we and she may be one stubborn girl, but that one stubborn girl is up against her mom and dad who are just as stubborn, ask anyone. Two against one, you’d think that would give us the advantage....you’d think.

What I find interesting about it all is she doesn’t react to anything that is happening if it’s on our property. A car can pull into the driveway, someone can walk into the yard, kids can play, and all she thinks is, “Hey look, someone is here to visit me and play.” Then she gets all wiggly and her tail starts thumping. I don’t know....the mysteries of Chili.

Little Miss FussBucket

It’s no surprise I live with a Princess, or should I say Court Jester, or to be more accurate a Little Miss FussBucket. She’s got her habits and her fits, her routines and her protests. I actually think she’s given me the ‘off with her head’ look a few times. Yet still I do stupid things just to please her. Well, I realized this week that I’d created an absolutely ridiculous situation for myself. Of course I got there because I was digging myself deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of food, and Chili, in Chili form, took full advantage. It’s just the next chapter in the food saga. I was crossing her over to a mix of new food, but in the meantime was still using up the last of the other food and also mixing in a bit of other food just to get rid of it. Her mealtime consisted of a mix of 4 different foods. It was just temporary. Ultimately the plan was to end up with a mix of just NRG and Nature’s Logic. Yeah, that was the plan.

A few nights ago at about 1am, Chili threw up her whole dinner. Poor girlie. The next morning I wasn’t really sure what she would do, but she ate her food mix as usual so I was relieved. At dinner, she sniffed her food, looked at me, then ate it. Uh oh, I knew what that meant. The next morning at breakfast Little Miss FussBucket staged a full on food protest. She wouldn’t even sniff it. She backed away from the dish and looked at me with those, ‘mother, do something about this or else’ eyes. So, here we are at 6:30am, staring at each other. I don’t really have time for this, but what am I supposed to do. I picked a few pieces of the NRG out of the mix and tried hand feeding it to her. She wouldn’t even look at it. OK, no NRG. So I abandon her mix and start taking fresh kibble from the bags and presenting one at a time to her to see what she’ll eat. She turned her nose up at one, but she ate the other two. For now, crisis averted.

At dinner, since I had more time, the master plan was to again present her with all the options and see what she’d eat. Picture this, Chili standing before me as I put taste test after taste test on a plate in front of her. Even as I’m doing it I’m laughing at myself. What has this dog turned me in to? Surprisingly, she turned her nose up at the NRG again, and the Fromm. Luckily she had no issues eating the Solid Gold and the Nature’s Logic. OK, new plan, mix these two until the Solid Gold is done, then just feed her the new stuff. That’s the plan anyway until Chili decides to change it.

Have you ever stopped to think about some of the ridiculous things that you do either for or because of your dog? Some would shake their head at me and call me crazy, and it kind of is. It’s really laughable, a lot of laughs that I wouldn’t have had if there was no Chili. If you have a dog, think about how many times in a day you were just going through the motions then suddenly looked up at a big or little goofball doing something stupid, and just smiled or started to laugh? I know for me, it’s countless. Put it all together and that’s a whole lot of happiness and laughs in my life just because I have a dog.

Yes, although my dog can be costly, can be frustrating, and makes me go damn near out of my mind sometimes, she’s also the best girl in world. Don’t you love how the mere presence of a dog completes things?

Crazy Routines

I find it funny just how routine dogs can be. There’s a ritual to almost everything. It’s like they’re superstitious or something. You can almost hear them thinking, “If I don’t twirl 3 or 4 times before I pee or poo, the boogie beast will bite me in the bum.” They don’t just have plain routines, some of the routines are site specific, or time specific. I wonder sometimes, what exactly is going through Chili’s head. Actually, I don’t think I want to know.

The Flip Flop: After breakfast every morning, Chili goes into the bedroom and flip flops her body all around the floor. We can hear the thumping and the growls as she’s flinging herself from side to side, rubbing her dirty body all over the carpet.

Stick to the Left: Chili is fanatical about being on the extreme left of the stairs when she’s going up or down. If you’re on the stairs and she’s coming up or down behind you and you move to the left to give her room, she’ll bulldoze her body between you and the wall or railing to ensure that she is still on the extreme left as she walks up or down the stairs.

After Daycare Treat: This one is time specific. Five days a week, when Chili comes home from daycare, she gets her paws cleaned, then once she’s given the OK, she boots it up to her crate to get the treats that are waiting for her. What I find interesting about this one is that she knows the treats are only there when she comes home from daycare. She doesn’t even go check it out any other time when we’ve been out, only when she comes home from daycare. Somehow, she knows.

Me First: There’s just something about heading up and down the stairs (what is it with stairs) that makes Chili barge her way by and make sure she gets there, wherever there is, first. If you’re coming up fast behind her, she’ll pick up speed to be sure she gets to her destination first. She can’t be beat.

Scratch My Ass: Exactly when did we turn into ass scratchers? I don’t know, but it’s happened. One of us will call Chili over to give her some lovin but just as she gets to us, she whips her back end around, backs up and throws a look over her shoulder, “Scratch It, come on, scratch it!” Well, she’s cute no matter what she does, but sometimes I’d just rather have the cute end as opposed to the stinky end. Actually, both ends are kind of stinky, let’s just say I’d rather scratch her head and ears sometimes instead of her behind. Oh well, she happy.

Psycho Beast: My least favourite of the routines, one that I’m constantly trying to change, and this one is place specific. When Chili is in the truck and a dog walks by, she goes a little psycho, but only sometimes. For example, if she’s in the truck at the daycare parking lot and another dog is walking through the parking lot, no problem. She’ll just watch them walk by and wag her tail. However, if the dog is walking down the road in front of the daycare parking lot, she lunges at the windows and acts like a psycho beast. There are certain places where we park that dogs can walk by no problem, then there are others where she just can’t take it.

Yes, all dogs have their quirky routines for whatever superstitious or crazy reason. For the most part their routines just make us laugh and shake our head, then there is the odd one that we’d love to change. What are your dogs routines?

Chili Fuel Change

We were a couple of weeks in to the new food when I saw the inevitable signs of a protest to come. I would put the dish down and Chili would give it a sniff, look at me, sniff the food again, then reluctantly eat it. I recognized this pattern. I’ve seen it twice before. It’s her way of telling me she’s not impressed with this food and I better do something about it before she stages a full on protest. Well, she decided not to wait. A couple of days after, she refused to eat it. I had to mix it with an old food of hers just so she would eat. She still wasn’t impressed but she did eat it. I could see her trying to sift through the food to pick out the good stuff. I knew my time was limited because I’ll only get away with this for a few days before she makes me start hand feeding her. All I needed was for her to last until the weekend so I could go back to Your Pet Pals to find something else.

I don’t live by the ‘if you don’t eat it, then starve’ mantra, when it comes to Chili. She’s at daycare all day and with her high energy lifestyle, I want her fueled up. She doesn’t have the option to run up to the girls in the middle of the day and say, “Hey, I’m really hungry, can you give me a bite to eat?” It shouldn’t be their responsibility to manage it anyway, it’s mine. I need to send her to daycare with success in mind. Sending her hungry, well, unless I’m doing it for a health reason, just isn’t right.

I always seem to forget that Your Pet Pals opens at noon on Sundays so I end up sitting in the parking lot for a while. For how often I’ve been there in the past few months you’d think I’d clue in, but I don’t. Luckily Lori saw me and waved me into the store. I knew we were at that point where I had to do something different, even if I didn’t really like it, or to be more accurate even if I didn’t like the potential cost. It’s time be creative.

I sincerely believe that Lori and her staff are motivated by their love of animals. I’ve never felt like I’m just being sold a bag of dog food. They’ve been extremely helpful and patient through our whole food search. Between Chili being a fussy girl, and then having to find a food that won’t bring on a bout of pancreatitis, it’s not been easy. I was starting to feel guilty about how often I was going in and bugging them, but as usual, once I get there, I’m greeted with a big smile and hello and they start quizzing me about Chili. I wasn’t alone in this, they were there to help me and it felt good to have people who were knowledgeable about dog food and nutrition on our side.

As I said, I knew I wouldn’t be just walking out of there with another brand of kibble. You can only do the same thing over and over again for so long before you realize that change is needed to make a difference. Lori suggested I try a mix of kibble and NRG which is dehydrated whole food. To say I was jumping on board right away would be a lie. I was hesitant and not because I didn’t agree with her, only because I didn’t like the costs involved. However, if I’m mixing it with a well-made kibble brand that would help stretch it out and make the cost easier to manage. It would also increase the nutritional quality of Chili’s meals. So that was it, we’ll see how this goes and maybe get lucky.

I sometimes shake my head at the things I do for this dog who seems hell bent on spending all my money. How is it that a stray has become such a bratty princess? Maybe in another life she was a princess. Hmmm, knowing Chili I imagine her more as the court jester.

Black Dog Beautiful

Black Dog Syndrome, a sad but true phenomenon. It’s said that black dogs don’t get adopted because some people consider them to be bad luck, too common, and they don’t seem to photograph well. Is this how people are picking their companions? I guess so because apparently more black dogs are euthanized than any other colour. We miss out on some of the best things in life based on choosing with our eyes, but, we all know, looks can be deceiving. We’ve all experienced what it’s like to choose the wrong human companion based on their looks. Luckily when we end the relationship you both move on to find your next love. Although it’s difficult, we have a choice in how we move forward. For an animal, there is none. There are times when an animal just comes into our lives, and there are times when we are actively seeking one. If we could just take the time to see the beautiful in every dog and have the patience to wait until that moment hits us where the true inner dog catches our attention. There are never any guarantees, but they all deserve a chance.

Here is an example of falling for a dog based on feel and not look. We were at the dog park one day and Chili was off playing in the muck when I felt a dog at my side. I didn’t look at it right away, I just put my hand around its head and started rubbing it. I felt an immediate connection with this dog. When I looked down, to my surprise, it was a Doberman. To be honest, I’ve never been a big fan of Dobermans. I guess I just always felt they were a little aloof and sketchy. For an instant, I had a short dream about taking her home and adding her to our family. That’s the impact she made on me. Every time she came close to me I couldn’t believe her beautiful energy. When her owner arrived I kept telling him over and over again, how wonderful she was. Thankfully, you could see how much he loved her. I was glad. So, there you go. I fell for her on first touch, not first sight, and she was a type of dog that in my mind at least, I didn’t think I liked. Lesson learned.

I’ve been lucky in my life to have shared time with two very different black dogs. First, there was Ruby, the reason I became a dog lover. She loved our little world, and didn’t care much for anything outside of it. If you weren’t petting her, you had no reason to be touching her. She would give you a dirty look, grunt, then move away. She shed like crazy and would wake us up in the middle of the night from her farts. We would have to hide under the covers. She would put up with my forced hugs and always looked at Brad with love in her eyes. She was the most beautiful girl in the world for us and I couldn’t imagine life without her. Then suddenly, life was without her. We still miss her.

This opened the door for Chili, the trickster with a love for life and everything in it. She wants everyone to touch her and believes everyone wants her to touch them, and she’s touched many. If you’ve been reading my posts, you already know about her, and you would already know that she chose us. She knew a good thing when she saw it. She knew right from the start, these two will put up with my tricks and give me the life I deserve. Imagine what would have happened if we looked her over because she was black. Chili seems to be my ‘meant to be dog’ in the way that Ruby was Brads. I know you’ve heard it before, but this beast has taught me a lot and pushed me to be stronger. We started out wanting a big, cool Newfie, or an impressive Great Dane, then at some point, we just stopped looking and started feeling. How lucky for us.

Fueling the Chill

Food. Something that should be so easy....but isn’t. It’s controversial and at times uncomfortable to even talk about. Yes, I know what it’s like to be given the blank horrified stare because I feed my dog kibble and not raw. I want Chili to get the best, but the best must also be what I can afford. I mean really, we have to eat and live too. There should be no shame in knowing when to say I’ve spent enough. Everyone has their limits. What if someone is feeding their dog a lower quality food but that’s the highest quality they can afford? What if that dog is given the absolute best life in all other ways? Does that make them bad?

To our standards, Chili eats well, probably better than we do. I do a lot reading and ask a lot of questions before coming to a conclusion about what I buy her. Also, Your Pet Pals where I now buy her food only carries well-made, high quality brands. They don’t sell a brand just because it’s popular, they sell what they feel good about selling. It’s like another line of defense in weeding out the bad.

Until this point, I only had to worry about getting Chili a great food that she liked. Now, Chili has mild pancreatitis and it’s imperative to find a diet that will meet her new needs. This is where it gets really difficult. I have never stressed about food more in my life than I am stressing right now. It’s overwhelming. I like to make decisions that I feel good about but I’m finding it difficult to put it all together. The more I read, the more lost I feel. Low fat, low carbs, high protein, raw, dehydrated, and it goes on. Oh yeah, and she has to want to eat it. Add to it that Chili is a high energy dog and needs her fuel. I can’t have her starving. She’s at a perfect weight and doesn’t have any fat to spare.

I don’t think for a moment that I’m the only one who thinks this sucks. Chili is not impressed at all. She’s not impressed when she doesn’t get her chips, she’s not impressed when she doesn’t get her spaghetti, and she’s even more unimpressed when she can’t have her absolute all time favourite Kraft dinner. You’d think we just tortured the beast. To be honest, we miss sharing with her too.

I find myself just staring at her sometimes. Willing her to tell me what to do, watching for signs that I’ve made the right choice, or the wrong choice. If it’s wrong, I hope I catch it quick enough before it causes her any pain. I don’t like this at all, watching and waiting. So, when I switched her food and started noticing that she was chewing on her paws and rubbing her ears and eyes I knew I made the wrong choice. Now we are trying yet another brand of food and the watching and waiting starts over. The girls tell me this particular food has performed well for other dogs with mild pancreatitis so I’m hopeful. I won’t know if I don’t try.

No matter how much you think you already know, every dog is different and what they respond to is different. Like with training, you take the experience of others, mix it with some of your own, add some new information and hope you’ve made the right choice. Chili doesn’t expect anything more. I have to try. She’s not going to improve if I’m not willing to make changes and trust myself. A part of that is accepting that I might make the wrong decision sometimes but at least I made it with good intentions.

The True Power of a Powerful Dog

I love big, solid dogs. That’s not to say I don’t love all dogs, because how could you not, really, they’re all so cute and unique in their own way. But it’s the big ones that catch my attention. I like a square nose, broad chest, a big happy smile, and a deep bark. My love of big dogs doesn’t come from feeling a sense of greatness because I have one. I just love a dog I can wrap my arms around and give forced hugs to. A dog I can play with and body check. There’s a lot more of them to love.... and clean up after. The point of today’s post is power. Although Chili has made me powerful, I didn’t get that power because of what she is, I got that power because of who she is and what she’s taught me.

Getting any dog is a big decision, that’s a life you’re taking responsibility for. People mistake the power of a dog for breed, size and strength. That’s just physical, although it can carry a certain amount of intimidation with it. Their true power comes from who they are on the inside. Some say that if you’re lucky, you’ll get a really easy, laid back dog. OK, I agree. I also believe if you’re lucky, at least once in your life, you’ll get a handful that will push you to your limits and teach you a few things about yourself. The catch, you have to be open to it.

To benefit from having a large, powerful dog, you must first abandon any idea that just by having this dog you are somehow powerful. That in itself is a lie. The least impressive thing is a dog owner standing tall and proud behind their pulling, out of control dog because they feel a sense of power from the tension, or from how uneasy it makes others feel. I feel for these dogs, not being allowed a sense of peace. Vulnerable to the inevitable consequences their owner has created for them.

For me, the power of inner strength, compassion, patience and endurance is what Chili taught me. Not just for dogs, it’s spilled over to other parts of my life and I’m better for it. Who’d have thought that a dog would break me down and build me up again? I didn’t. I thought I was already strong and powerful. What did I know? I did have people along the way who helped me see what a great thing was going to come from the chaos of me and Chili. What a concept, asking for help. Another lesson learned. I didn’t have to do it alone. There are actually people out there who want to help, out of the goodness of their heart. Wow.

I laugh more now and don’t take myself as seriously. Sometimes training a dog can make you look and feel like a bit of an idiot. You really do have to get over yourself. I was boring to Chili until I finally let myself just have fun. After all, that’s what Chili loves, fun. She didn’t think I looked like an idiot. The hardest lesson of them all for me was relaxing. Slowing down my mind and just naturally managing whatever situation Chili gave me. It felt so unnatural but in the end, it’s less stressful for both of us, and more effective.

So, that’s the power that I’ve gotten from my big, strong, powerful Boxweiler. I think it’s reasonable to say it’s a good power. In my mind though, I don’t have a power breed, I have a dog, and her name is Chili.

Brattier Chili Week

Every now and again for about a week Chili decides that nobody rules her, she doesn’t answer to anyone and she’s the boss of the world. Like most other things she takes on she’s dedicated to her cause, unfortunately for us and anyone else in her path. You’d think it would be one of those isolated things where she just rebelled against us. Kind of like when your dog behaves for everyone except you. But no, Chili doesn’t discriminate. She pushes everyone around equally. No one is immune.

You might be wondering how it’s even possible for a bratty dog to be even brattier. Well, it’s possible. Believe it or not, Chili is quite predictable and for the most part well trained. Stop laughing. I’m serious. She may be crazy, but she’s predictably crazy and that’s how I get the upper hand. I usually know her moves, before she makes them. I can hear the meatballs rolling around in her head and formulating a half-cooked plan. She can’t get much past me. Even when she goes into Bratty-Bossy Chili week, it just means I have to pay attention that much more.

So what makes a bratty dog brattier? It goes something like this:

- Loss of ALL commands and a whole lot of avoidance. (She knows them all but somehow forgets them, and she’s a master at ignoring you.)

- Every sound and every movement requires barking. (This is just plain annoying. I mean really, do you have to bark at the hummingbirds.)

- It’s impossible for her to walk beside or behind us. She MUST be in front and she must ensure there is tension on the leash. (She usually walks great on leash, at my left.)

- She barges past everyone to make it through a door or gate first. It’s like a dance, block with your left, block with your right.... (She almost always waits. I don’t even have to say anything.)

- Going out for a pee or poo takes FOREVER. There something in the bushes or something was in the yard, or there’s something down the street, or hold on I need to just find something to bark at. Squat, change her mind, squat, change her mind. The problem here is, if I take her inside before she’s ready, I have to bring her right back out an hour later. It’s better to suffer through it until she’s done. (She’s never quick when she goes out to the bathroom, so this just makes it worse)

- Worst of all, she’s on high alert, which takes all the fun out of walks. (She’s been doing so well on the Halti, but during this week, I have to actually cover her eyes when we walk by another dog)

The poor girls at daycare. They have to deal with her all day while we’re at work. At least we get her back tired. When I was waiting to pick her up the other day I heard the door open, then I heard a bit of a commotion. I shook my head, I knew what was going on. Then Chili bound around the corner and Angie comes behind her telling me her and Chili are not friends today. I laughed. She said Chili was bratty all day. I wasn’t worried though, they know how to handle her, even on her bossy days. Not to say it’s easy, like I said, Chili is dedicated to her cause.

So why don’t these bossy days really work for Chili? Easy. The people who manage her every day aren’t afraid of her. She’s too much of a squishy goo-ball when it comes to people. She just can’t help herself. She loves people. She might be bratty-bossy, but it’s just a phase. As long as you can be more patient, you’ve got her. She’ll push and push, but there’s nothing behind it, it’s just tiring for everyone around her.

Then one morning, she’s back to normal, bratty Chili who’s full of tricks and smiles. From that point, it’s over for a little while, at least until the phase hits again. I don’t know what triggers it. We haven’t nailed down anything in particular. It’s just something she does. Chili being Chili. A bratty dog being brattier. It’s all a part of life with Chili.

A Little Help from a Friend

There are many times that I dream about getting a little brother for Chili. To be clear, I’m meaning the four legged kind. She loves being around other dogs and will play, play, play until there’s no play left. I imagine them cuddled up together and hanging out. I imagine Chili teaching him everything she knows...... and that’s where the dream comes to a screeching halt. I love my girl and she has a lot of very endearing qualities, but she’s a brat. She’s a smiley, wiggly, enthusiastic, stubborn, independent, queen of the mountain brat. I have to be ‘on’ at every moment with her. If I slack off for one moment, she doesn’t miss it and takes the ground. She’s a lot of work and the idea of her teaching another dog her tricks is exhausting. One day, when she calms down a bit I may seriously consider the idea, but for now, she can be the only dog in the house. Maybe that’s her plan.

This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t get to teach other dogs her tricks in the meantime. She can do that at daycare and they can deal with it. Although, when she’s in the pack, she falls right into her place in the middle. She doesn’t care to be the leader. I guess you have more fun in the middle, nothing to worry about. That sounds about right for Chili.

In the summer I did get a few opportunities to watch Chili teaching her friend Oakley and Oakley, in turn, teaching Chili. Oakley is a perfect match for Chili since he’s solid and doesn’t mind playing rough. Chili loves body checking other dogs and she loves to be body checked too. Oakley needed a confidence boost and that’s something Chili has miles of. Chili is also excellent when it comes to sharing toys and balls. At first, Oakley would shy away and let Chili catch the toy. Then, Chili started to slow down and let Oakley get there first. You could see him having more and more fun as they played. She would catch it, then he would catch it, then they would both have an end. They shared perfectly.

Then Oakley had the opportunity to return the favour. Being a Lab, he’s a great swimmer and boy does he love the water. Chili loves the water too, but isn’t confident about being in over her head. You can see her bobbing up and down as she bounces on her back feet. She swims, but only if she can put her feet down and touch the bottom.

We threw the floating toy out into the water and neither dog hesitated, until Chili got to the point that she had to bob up and down, then she slowed. Not Oakley, he swan full on to the toy and swam back ready to go again. It took about 3 throws for Chili to start forgetting her fears and submit to just having fun. She started getting braver and braver following Oakley into the water. She would bob, then swim, bob then swim, each time swimming a little more. Then came the point that she was getting to the toy before Oakley and swimming the whole way back with it. They were having a ball and I was loving watching her learn to swim.

There was one point where I was held my breath though. I thought it might be the end of swimming for Chili. Oakley had caught the toy and made it to shore first. Chili stayed out in the water. When we threw the toy back into the water, Oakley took a running leap out into the lake. He landed right on top of Chili and kept swimming for the toy. For a few seconds, all we could see in the water was Oakley. No Chili. We waited and waited. The couple of seconds felt like minutes. I knew I had to stay cool for Chili’s sake. Then, her head popped up. I happily said her name and when she turned around, you could see panic all over her face. I pretended as if it didn’t happen and told her to get the toy. She swam directly to shore and to my side. Once Oakley returned, we kept throwing and she went right back into play mode. Disaster averted. Thankfully she wasn’t scared too much by her dunking and kept on playing.

Even for dogs, it’s great to get a little help from a friend. They can teach each other good and bad habits in a way that we could only wish. Chili gained some confidence in her swimming that day and although she could use a few more lessons, Oakley brought her further along than any other day of playing in the water with us. It’s days like that, that make we wonder if she should have a little brother. Then I remember; I named the blog ‘The Bratty Dog’ for a reason. Perhaps I’ll wait on that thought.