Happy Trails to Dad!

Yesterday we had a big send off party for my Dad who has finally decided to retire at age 80! He is moving out to Oregon to live with his sister Marie on a 40 acre ranch. I don't know if you could qualify it as a ranch but she does have 3 horses, 2 cats and a toy poodle named Molly! Unfortunately it rained on and off as remnants of Hurricane Bill blew past the east coast so it was largely an indoor event. It got kinda hot and sticky in the house even though we had the air on down to 60 degrees! We had a good sized crowd and with the stove going it was sauna like. As you can imagine it was not a good hair day! Thank God my cousin Annie is a caterer who specializes in barbecue was on hand to help me pull off this gig ( to whom I give my gratitude. Otherwise we all just be eating hot dogs and hamburgers with Shop-Rite potato salad) ! On the menu was barbecued brisket, pulled pork, potato salad, pasta salad, steamed clams, linguine and crab sauce ( to die for! ) and desserts that I will still be eating come this weekend unless I fall into a diabetic coma before that! Though the party was for Dad at times it was Ozzie who was the center of attention! Many of our friends had not yet seen Ozzie so it was a coming out party for him. Ozzie didn't have to do much to elicit folks to eww and ahhh over him. Most of the day he lied smack dab in the middle of the kitchen with his tongue hanging out! What a sight. I only tripped over him 23 times! My father received a lot of well wishes and gifts but I think Ozzie had his share of "gifts" too! My husband fed him enough brisket to serve a family of four with. As for my nieces and nephews no telling how many Doritos they ended up giving him! At the end of the evening Dad was very post party happy. Ozzie too had this very contented look on his face as he slipped off into his doggie slumber for the night!

Burn Baby Burn!

Yes it looks like a disco inferno took place on our lawn! Our backyard while not spacious was once a lush healthy green! This morning while I gaze across the landscape I see a big yellow patch of what was once grass. Ozzie's preference is to take his daily pees in the privacy of his yard. While this makes it easier on us and him ( he rather not walk if at all possible! ) its created a problem I cannot remedy! It's lawn burn in the first degree and there are some solutions I found on the Internet. One should saturate the area with water every time they urinate. ( Well our back yard hose is not working and I be darned if I am gonna drag the hose out from the front each time he pees. I'll just pray for rain! ) You can plant urine resistant grasses such as rye and fescues ( My husband fired the landscaper because he thought he could do just as good of a job. Needless to say the lawn hasn't been the same since. He couldn't get weeds to grow! ) There are pro-biotic compounds on the market such as Dogonit, which has natural enzymes in it that speed up the break down of urine. ( Can't I save a dime and use baking soda?! I thought that works wonders on everything?!) We are having a BBQ this Sunday. I suppose I could throw a big tarp on the spot and set up the bar area there. I will then pray that it's not too hot and folks won't notice it smells like a port a potty spilled its guts out! If any of you have any suggestions please don't be shy and leave a comment! Have a good weekend all!

The Boys of Moonshine

I happened to be watching Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel the other day when they had a most interesting episode! He and Anthony Bourdain another Travel Channel Chef/celeb went local and visited a bar in the Redhook section of Brooklyn called Moonshine. The element that caught my attention was the place is patrolled by two bulldogs! It's a regulars joint that features country bands and bulldog decor and you can play pool for free on Sundays! They serve a lot of locally brewed beers and there is an unspoiled charm about it! They have a neat garden area in the back where they supply the grill if you supply the meat. BYOM! I emailed Nick who owns the adorable bullies and he told me their names are Boss and Topper. They are 10 years old and brothers! I think we will try to make it there if only just to visit the bullies! In the meanwhile if you have a hankering for beer and do it yourself BBQ with a shot of bulldogs then take a trip out to Brooklyn and stop by Moonshine. Tell Boss and Topper Ozzie says "hey"! http://www.brooklynmoonshine.com/

ZZZZZZZZ

Sleeping may be the favorite past time of the bulldog! They do it so well and with such style! Nothing is more soothing to my ears than the full throttle, 500 decibel, ear crushing snore of my Ozzie! I have updated the video bar with some of Ozzie's brethren cutting wood like only bullies can. I wonder if Breathe Right has a canine strip! They could make a bundle just from Bulldog owners! Sweet dreams all!

Thinking About Adopting?!

I just wanted to take time to thank the folks at the MidAtlantic Bulldog Rescue! This is where we adopted Ozzie from! They work tirelessly to rescue and find homes for bulldogs that have been surrendered to them. Many need immediate veterinary care! One of the principal members Joanne has even driven down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to rescue a bully who had severe injuries to his legs! If that is not love and dedication I don't know what is! So if you decide you want to become a parent to a bully and live in the NJ/PA/MD/DE area please contact MABD.

Vick Still One Up on His Dogs

After serving 18 months in prison and his personal lost of millions, Michael Vick gets a second chance for fame and fortune with the NFL. Signed on for a 1 year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles at 1.6 million dollars and an option for a second year he is doing better than he should!

It always amazes me that society seems to reward those that do not deserve it. I guess in this case money talks and the NFL still sees Vick as a big bonanza of revenue! For a man who had every thing and ventured in the dog fighting arena shows a lack of intelligence and humanity!

An on line pet store called Hot Dog Collars which specializes in sports team themed pet products has recently discontinued selling Eagles pet paraphernalia. They now accept donations to the Philadelphia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Bravo! Hopefully the rest of the city of brotherly love will turn their backs on Vick! He may have paid his dues to society but to dog lovers the score will never be settled!

Sharing Some Bull with Friends

What a wonderful community of folks Bulldog owners are! I know some people, friends of a friend that have been emailing me with Bulldog tips. They are on Bulldog number three so I consider them experts of sort! I would like to share with you their advice since I have found it most insightful. So here are some excerpts from Don & Melinda out of Texas:

If you are talking about the fold of skin across the top of his nose, that is called his “rope.” Actually, we just learned that when we got our new puppy (Walter). His brother had a very prominent rope and they sometimes need to be removed or trimmed down. As for walks, ours love to go for walks but they have to be very short ones. The biggest fear you have with bullies is that they overheat. They love to lay in the sun but can unknowingly get heat stroke while doing that so don’t let them do anything in the sun for any length of time. Too much cold can mess with them, too. For such big, burly dogs, they can be quite fragile. We have never had a problem with it but most bullies have to have their face crevices and wrinkles cleaned often or they essentially mildew, so that’s another thing to watch out for.

BIG CONCERN: Bulldogs have very high tolerances for pain. When Bullet and Blossom were “fixed” they weren’t even given pain pills because they just don’t do that with bullies. In fact, we had no idea that Bullet was in pain until it was too late. So, keep a close eye on Ozzie and know that he will probably just ignore something that would have another breed whining and crying.

I may have mentioned this but, if not, we just got the AKC papers back on Walter and it turns out that he is the half-nephew of our beloved first Bulldog, Bullet. Bullet’s father was Walter’s grandfather.

I have attached photos of Bullet (75 or so pounds of sweet, loving, slobber-making, solid muscle bulldog), Blossom (64 pounds of high-jumping, lizard and squirrel-chasing, not afraid of anything, non-slobbering little girl), and Walter, a rather stoic but very sweet 4 month old 35 pounder that can’t seem to get the knack of being housebroken, yet. The shot of Walter is from when he was about 8 weeks old.

Working it!

It is going to be a chore to get Ozzie to lose some tonnage! He really detests to walk and he really loves to eat! We have tried nonfat plain yogurt to nonfat cottage cheese to only the whites of his morning hard boiled egg! He does manage to get anything that hits the floor food or otherwise. However he seems to have a penchant for paper which probably is zero points according to Weight Watchers! We saw that he was unusually rambunctious tonight so we decided to try going for a walk. We went down the cross streets which are shorter blocks for his sake. He begrudgingly waddled along for a bit and then the smells of an impending rainstorm and dog urine got him going! As we got to end of the third block we feared that he we would have to carry him back or call a cab! Luckily a terrier came along and then a pug which enticed him to follow along leading us back to the house! He has been sucking wind for the last 30 minutes but I think it's a good start to a slimmer Ozzie!

Coming Clean

This installment is not a tell all. Unless knowing that I stole Beth Silverberg's pen in the third grade does something for you! She was a know it all and teacher's pet anyways! Actually we gave Ozzie a bath yesterday since it was super hot here and an opportunity to wash and dry in the outdoors! He was surprisingly cooperative! Or it may have been fear that kept him frozen to one spot! He was very dapper looking after his drenching! I believe he smells a little less "doggie"! Though you need to be mindful to not get your bully's eyes, ears and nose wet. It is suggested to clean his face separately which we all do daily anyways. Curious enough due to their upturned noses water can easily enter the nose and drip into the lungs. A Bulldog can drown in a relatively small amount of water so be careful not to get water in his nose! I told my son this while were bathing him and he looked at me like I was totally paranoid! "I rather be safe than sorry I told him, maybe that is why you made it to 23 years old!"

Words of Wisdom from Ozzie

If it smells like cheese......eat it!

Dog Tags Chewy Shoe

Yesterday I was watching Oprah and ( oops you caught me yes I admit to becoming an Oprah junkie! ) and they were doing a show on animals and our relationships with them. They had a segment that was on "Puppies Behind Bars" an organization that has inmates training puppies to become service dogs for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. What a wonderful situation for those men! Doing time, behind bars and feeling hopeless in a sense and then being given an opportunity to give back to society! These inmates whom I am sure have lead less than stellar lives are for the first time feeling good about themselves while having the companionship of a dog and the knowledge that they are doing something of value! The soldiers that receive these dogs some with physical disabilities or emotional are getting back to good with the aid of these animals. The actress Glenn Close was on and endorsing this program while encouraging folks to purchase the Dog tag Chewy Shoe toy. It's made of non-toxic rubber and from the same molds that are used to make the soles of military boots. I think it's a nice way to honor the sacrifice made by our guys and gals in the military and with a portion ($2.00) going to the Puppies Behind Bars program its a worth while buy!

Weighing in on Ozzie

We were lucky to receive Ozzie is such good health. At 2 years old he is a vigorous strapping example of a Bulldog. He did however test positive for Lyme's disease with a high bacterial count so our vet put him on doxycycline for 21 days. He had no outward symptoms and has completed his meds so he is in the clear. It's been a damp summer to say the least and ticks and mosquitoes have flourished! Oz does need to lose weight however! He should weigh in around 65 pounds or so and currently is tipping the scale at 74.6 pounds. When he went to the vets for a recheck on Monday he was down a whole pound! So give credit its due! It's a challenge to get him to slim down especially since he detests to do any walking. If he could he would request the town move the fire hydrant from our corner to in front of our house! It is simply exhausting! Maybe with our new goal for training for the Canine Good Citizen's Test we can work on the walking thing! We thought his would be a good challenge to segue into therapy dog training. A new friend we have made through the Bulldog Rescue, Debbie, is involved with her bully Knuckles, as a therapy dog and visits hospitals and the like with him! Knuckles ( that is him looking dapper in his hat ) has also participated in reading programs for children at local libraries. The kids get to read their hearts out to a nonjudgmental Knuckles who attentively listens. ( maybe while taking a snooze or two! ) This has got to be a win win situation for all. I hope I can get Ozzie to cooperate with me on this one. I think he would be idea for this except for his lack of desire to walk with me! We will work on this and report back our progress. In the meanwhile if you want to read the comments left by Don and Melinda on the Ozzie birthday post you will find some very sage advice on bulldogs and a laugh or two. Thank you for your words of bully wisdom!

Skateboarding doggie

I put some video up of Tillman the now famous skateboarding Bulldog. He is a trip to watch! Ozzie's comment was that Tillman was a show off and he could do that with his eyes close taking his afternoon nap at the same time! The only part I believe is the afternoon nap which he is an expert at. Not to mention the morning nap too!