Runyon Canyon hike

well coming from us, who like to hike in the backwoods, this was more like a challenging walk. We took the girls to Runyon Canyon because the trail is off leash in 90 acres and we can walk to it from our house. We had a good time and will go back again but it has the issue that most off leash dog trails dog: people.

Don't get me wrong, I love interacting with other people on trails but the number of people you meet who scream "Don't let your dogs get near mine because mine isn't friendly" is astonishing. I mean you are in 90 acres of off leash area and you think it is OK to bring an aggressive dog?

Then there are the people who take a rest by sitting on the edge on the trail, on the ground, and get upset when a dog approaches them. Again, you are in 90 acres of off leash area do you think dogs will leave you alone when you sit at play level?

This didn't just happen to my dogs (the upset people) but to everyone with dogs. I did not notice any dogs picking fights with other dogs or being rude to people, they were simply interacting like dogs do. If people have issues with that maybe they should stay away from off leash areas.

You know something interesting happened

when the DH walks in the front door and says "Mesa learned why pigs roll in the mud"






so much for my nice clean house! I had asked the DH to take the monsters to the park yesterday to wear them out a bit. Lesson learned!

Our tradition is to watch football

At first Mesa is interested and Baily doesn't care

and then 10 minutes later the fact that we walked 9.1 miles yesterday kicked in

happy Turkey Day!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm thankful for the kindness of friends

So on this Ohio State- Michigan saturday I am in the office working a 12 hour shift that will be followed by a 48 hour cross country trip and capped off by another 12 hour shift on Tuesday. I will then get a much needed long weekend.

I am so thankful for my friends who will be taking care of the girls for me when I am away. I have to fly out to Kentucky for my Grandfather's funeral. We prefer to have house sitters and with the craziness of this move and knowing that we don't have any travel plans till Christmas we had just barely started to look when this trip came up unexpectedly. A friend who I have know for over 10 years happens to live one block over from me and offered to come stay with the girls while I am gone. She has always had dogs and my two simply adore her so it should be a great match and let my mind ease a bit while I am gone.

Now to just get through this 12 hour day!

On a lighter note, here is a funny pic from last night. I heard Baily whining, and since she is a whiny butt I didn't think much of it. After a couple minutes I went to see what was wrong and I found this:

Baily had walked under the table and not been able to figure out how to get out. She doesn't like to push things out of her way like Mesa would have so she settled for whining until someone came to her rescue.

we do live in LA after all

So after all the walks yesterday the girls went into hiding. They went into the bedroom where there was no noise or light and slept. They never go into a room where there are no people! Here is what I saw:

Today we started the day with a 5.5 mile walk in hopes that the girls would sleep all day :) In the middle of our stretch on Melrose Ave we accidentally walked into a photo shoot. They were very nice about it and while we waited for the light to change they told me it was for a British catalog. Maybe they will use on of the shots with the girls in the background!

So I've been feeling guilty

about the long working hours, especially now that the DH is gone :( so to make it up to the girls today we started the day with a 3.5 mile walk on the main roads so there were lots of good sniffs. After spending my day doing chores, we all ate dinner then took a 3.2 mile walk.

Yup, today we did 6.7 miles of walkies! Tomorrow we may do more if I can get the girls up!

I think I may be sick.. is this even legal?

There is a person selling PIT BULL BONES on ETSY. I have never used the site and I never will. I think I am going to go get sick now...

Almost Wordless Almost Wednesday

Took this one shortly before the move. After 9 straight days (the last four have been 12 hour night shifts) I am ready to relax and enjoy the sunshine.

So I need your help

Today I watched my Buckeyes win with the family. Here are my football watching buddies:

Luckily for me I live in WeHo and the bucks are playing in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena!!! Here is how I need your help. I really want to get the girls OSU cheerleader costumes. I have looked everywhere and no one carries them is big enough sizes! Anyone know where I might be able to find one? Maybe Brutus?

Happy Birthday Mesa :)

So today is Mesa's birthday but since it is also friday the 13th it seems as though I won't get to celebrate with her. I am at work and have a couple more hours to go :( But the DH is down for a long weekend (he is finishing up classes then moving down to join us) so he is helping her celebrate.

Last night we went to our favorite wine bar where they happen to serve marrow bone. So I ate the yummy appetizer and then had them wrap the bone for Mesa. She loved it and was super happy when I left bright and early this am :)

So now that she is three does that mean she is going to start calming down? :-P

Tomorrow is Mesa's birthday!

Or at least what we have decided is Mesa's birthday! She will be 3 :) Any suggestions on how we should celebrate?

Wordless Wednesday

I love living in WeHo

This is the most pit bull friendly place I have ever lived! Every night on our walks we get stopped by people who want to pet the dogs. Tonight alone we got stopped by 5 different groups who wanted to meet the dogs. These groups ranged from 50-something suits enjoying happy hour to bar bouncers to young couples on vacation. Obvious the girls love any chance they get to make new friends and I love being able to show people what a true pit bull is.

my version of training

I think training is one of the most important things you can do for/with your dog but I also understand that for everyone, training is something different.

When we just had Baily we were always in training classes. We even did some competition obedience. Then Mesa came into our lives and we had to take big steps back.We started focusing on what we call everyday training. We taught the dogs they could not get up on the sofa without being invited, we taught them which rooms they can and cannot be in and what seems to impress our friends the most is the fact that our dogs wont touch our plates unless told they can. Without hesitation, I will put my plate of dinner on the ground and walk into the kitchen to grab something. When I come back everything is just how it was.

Recently I have encountered people who think my dogs haven't been trained because they don't know any tricks or because we don't compete in any competitions. I have the greatest respect for any dog who knows a ton of tricks or competes in Rally, Agility or Competition Obedience but that just isn't something that will happen in our lives.

Sorry for the rant but it has been bugging me.

I am gearing up for 9 straight days of work

so in an effort to cheer myself up I have been looking through pics and thought I would share a couple :) Very uneventful weekend for us. Found a new park area that people use to run their dogs when there aren't any families using it to picnic/play. I am thinking of trying to get out there in the morning with the girls before I head to work.

I tried to take the girls running this morning and I remembered why we don't run together. Baily is fine and just trots along but Mesa is more of a go super slow and then all of a sudden get a huge burst of speed kind of runner. Makes it fun for me!

 

A new schedule

So for the first two month down here I will be the only dog caretaker. This means I need to get the girls on a new schedule. Since they obviously aren't morning dogs (see earlier post about Baily) am walks just don't work (trust me I tried before and it resulted me in dragging them around). Also, the closest dog park is 1.5 miles away and there isn't an open area to play chuck it near us so we have to find a new exercise routine.

So here is our current plan: Alarm goes off at 6:30, hit snooze until 6:45 or until Mesa shoves her head in my face which is Mesa speak for wake up. Get ready for work, pull Baily out of bed, feed the dogs breakfast, potty break and then give them frozen stuffed kongs when I leave. Get home after work and listen to the girls scramble off the sofa and run down the stairs to greet me. Go for a long walk or to the park for a bit of play time. Get back , clean, make dinner and then feed the dogs. Dogs sleep while I watch TV. We all crawl into bed around 10pm and then start the day over again.

So far the girls seem to like this new plan. Rather than multiple chuck-it sessions every day, the long walks seem to tire them out more. Mesa has even started sleeping on my shoes. Either she doesn't want me to leave without her or she just doesn't want me to leave!

Wordless Wednesday

The bed situation

So for a while now we have only had one bed for the dogs. When we used to have two beds they always chose to curl up on one. And who doesn't love looking over and seeing their pups all snuggled up.

Lately though I have started to wonder again if we should get a second bed on the off chance that they would like to sleep separatly. I was pondering this thought while doing dishes and I came back into the living room and saw this:

apparently Mesa decided she was done snuggling with Baily for the night and had invited herself onto the sofa while I was just one room away for 10 minutes.