Paw - don Me!

I was awaken last night by the most frightening sound! It was similar to a freight train running off the track or as forbid the thought a 737 landing on top of our house! ( We unfortunately live next to several major airports! ) " Wait a minute!" as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes......I could see that it was coming from Ozzie! He was licking his paw with great intensity making horrid snorting, gagging noises as he continued his business! "Ozzie stop that!" I cried. He went on like he was in some kind of canine trance! My husband woke up to the melee and said "What the heck is that noise!" "It's Ozzie!" I said. " Make him stop!" Mark walked around and stood over Ozzie and in a sharp commanding alpha male voice said "Ozzie cut that out now!" Ozzie stared up at Mark like he was just in some other doggie dimension! He thankfully stopped and at 4:00 AM we managed to get back to sleep. Needless to say this morning I can't get enough coffee in me and hubby is a little bit groggy for the events of the night! I set out to research this problem. I found an article written by veterinarian Dr Janet Tobiassen-Crosby concerning the subject. She indicated that it could be from inhalant allergies causing general itchiness, arthritis or other painful "interior" conditions casing pain in that area without any visible infection. ( He does not have Inter-digital cysts which Bullies are prone to, and he is probably too young for arthritis?!! ) She goes on to say that it may simply be a habit! A behavior seen when the dog is relaxing or stressed or bored. Well he shouldn't be any of those things 4:00 AM in the morning! I have seen him do this paw licking stunt during the day. If it lasted too long I would distract him with a toy to snap him out of it, but this nocturnal lick-a-thon has to stop! Short of putting some topical brew of bitter or hot on his paws I am stumped on what to do. I will continue to search the dog information forums and with our next vet visit it will be the first topic to bring up! In the meanwhile Ozzie is snoozing peacefully here on the rug while we are victims of sleep deprivation! Enjoy your morning nap buddy while I make another pot of coffee!

Over the weekend we visited friends Terri and Dan, who have been attempting to have a final BBQ of the summer gathering! I say attempting because when they plan the party, it seems that each weekend it decides to rain! It has not been the most cooperative summer weather wise here in the northeast! So of course it did rain but they forged ahead and had a wonderful party despite the weather! Ozzie was invited too and you know anything that has to do with food and he is there! They have a wonderful Labradoodle appropriately named Tank. He is a big wiry boy and very sweet! He greeted Oz with some boisterous barking and was a good host. The rain stopped enough so they could play tug of war outside for a bit. They had some fun together and other than Ozzie's faux pas of eating from Tank's food dish all was well! Thanks guys for having us!

Farewell to a Friend!

I received some sad news this weekend. My friend Debbie emailed me that Knuckles had suddenly passed away. He was a wonderful little bully who was cherished by his owner and made countless people smile with his many hats and his visits to hospitals and libraries in our area! I know that Ozzie and I will miss him. Maybe if we can get Ozzie going as a therapy dog he will carry on in the tradition of Knuckles work! My condolences to Debbie, it's difficult to lose a pet especially a bully as sweet as Knuckles.!
I happen to catch a commercial the other day for a new show on the NatGeo channel. It's called Rescue Ink. They are a bunch of big burly tattooed biker dudes that rescue abused and neglected animals. They seem a bit intimidating and I am sure their techniques are a little over the top but hey more power to them. Certainly some of these animal abusers deserve to have their butts kicked though I am sure that these guys are operating within the confines of the law. ( Though don't you wish when the cameras stop rolling that they are beating the poop out of those scumbags! ) It starts on September 25th at 10:00 PM so try to catch it if you can. They will be making an appearance on Good Morning America on the 23rd and their website is http://www.rescueink.org/ so check it out!

Dressing up the Dog?!

The month of September signals the end of summer and the start of the Fall season. With that also comes thoughts of Halloween! There are displays in all the stores advertising candies and costumes. ( yes rudely enough some stores are hinting at Christmas, they should be arrested for that !) This led me to wonder what should Ozzie be for Halloween?! It falls on a Saturday this year so I suspect that there will be an all day onslaught of trick or treater's! How neat would it be for the kids to be greeted by the Oz in some whimsical costume?! I asked my son Will if he had any ideas and he came up with a couple good ones! He suggested that Ozzie sort of resembles the late great Yankee Babe Ruth in stature! We could dress him up in pinstripes and get a fake cigar and call him "Babe Woof" I have had trouble finding a Jersey in his size, apparently they only make them for smaller doggies. ( Of course it needs to be XL for proper fit! ) Will also came up with an old time gangster costume and we could refer to him as "Al CaBone"! Since I am worthless at sewing I may have to turn to online store alternatives! I found a couple that may work! One is a prisoner costume, black and white stripes with a ball and chain! Then there is the Pirate costume with a parrot and eye patch to boot! They are both pretty cute and it's a hard decision to make! I think Ozzie is partial to pirates so we may go with that! I have displayed them here so let me know what you think?!
On a more serious note today is the eighth anniversary of 9/11. Though thankfully I do not know anyone personally that lost their lives that day, living here right across the river from the event it has impacted my life greatly. I was at work that day and witnessed through our windows the plane slamming into the second tower. It was a horrible day indeed and we all need to honor those that passed that day by never forgetting! Peace to all!

Good Bye Summer!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend. Ozzie and I watched the kids this morning as they begrudgingly with their back pack and lunches in hand walked to school! (Sigh..) We had a nice weekend filled with good friends and good food. Of course Ozzie accompanied us, going to Uncle Peter and Aunt Lydia's house on Saturday and a BBQ at Uncle Lenny's on Sunday! Let's say he had his fair share of food! He lavishly dined on some fillet Mignon that Auntie Lydia gave him and Uncle Lenny and Uncle Vinnie kept his plate fill with Roast Pork Loin at the BBQ ( no hot-dogs for this hot-dog! ) He almost had an Oreo cake to himself if it were not for the fast reflexes of Uncle Lenny! ( good catch Len! ) Well now it time to undo some of those calories! We must get Ozzie into shape for the upcoming Therapy Dog testing! I have my doubts if he will pass because there are 10 steps of the test he must complete and there are 4 of them he is a little shaky on! Especially step number 4 walking on a leash! Yep that may be his undoing! When you have to push and drag one's dog is that considered walking? Well we have to September 19 th so we will be working it! In the mean time I am open to suggestions if anyone out there can give us some tips on walking on the leash please leave a comment! Alright I just downed my last sip of coffee. Come on Oz let's go for a stroll....oops too late he already is REM stage of his morning nap! Maybe later?!

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Knuckles Pays a Visit!

Yesterday Ozzie had a wonderful time with his friend Knuckles! Knuckles came over to get acquainted and Ozzie was a most gracious host! As I had mentioned in a previous post we met Knuckles mom, Debbie through the MidAtlantic Bulldog Rescue. She has been doing therapy work with him, visiting patients in nursing homes and going to libraries where they have reading to dogs programs for kids. Oz and Knuckles make quite the pair! Knuckles is only 30 petite pounds next to Ozzie's massive 74 pounds! They are like David and Goliath! They had fun hanging out on the deck and sharing a biscuit or two! The picture I captured of the two of them looks like Knuckles just told Ozzie some Bulldog joke that was hilarious! Feeling inspired by the work that Debbie does with Knuckles I will see if we can register for the next therapy dog certification test. There are still some elements of the test that we still haven't mastered! Like "down" and "stay"! Probably important commands....but maybe they will let him slide a little since he does the "cute" command so well!

For Your Listening Pleasure!

I have added a playlist of music to my blog. It has some noteworthy bully tunes on it you may enjoy! I especially like "I got a Bulldog" by a county folk group called Sweet Brothers & Ernest Stoneman. It's a wee bit folksy and it reminds me of the "Darlings" the back woods jug band that use to pop up on the Andy Griffith show. I stuck in there the song "Linger" by the Cranberries. You may ask what it the bulldog connection to that?! Well it is sort of an ode to bully farts! Besides I like the song! I will work on aligning it a bit better in the sidebar column. It was a challenge to just add it in there, so forgive me on that for a while! Today Knuckles is coming over to visit Ozzie. He is the therapy bully who's mom we met through the rescue. He is going to walk with Ozzie and hopefully encourage him to ease on down the road! I will update you on that event tomorrow ( with some pictures too!).

"I'll Have Cheese on those Fries!"

So yesterday was the big weigh in day. While Ozzie was not the biggest loser he was not the biggest gainer either! Yes he stayed consistently chubby at 74.15 pounds! So lets give credit due to the boy! Still this poses the problem of what are we doing wrong or right?! Cutting down his kibble even more would be just downright starvation city for Oz! Unfortunately the key element here must be the dreaded "e" word! Yes exercise! Walks in the evening have become the battle of wills! He must be dragged and coaxed with treats in order to make the 2 block trek! Somehow that seems counter productive! Apparently his former owners never walked him! That may have been fine in the more rural area they lived in but here where our property is the size of a postage stamp some walking is necessary! I did have a brain storm of sorts, I could dress up as Mayor Mc Cheese. This way Ozzie would have incentive to chase me down the block! Hmm maybe not! That could result in serious injury ...to me! In the meanwhile I think I'll call Jenny Craig and see if they have a canine division!

Weighing In!

When Ozzie came to us he was already a little on the ahhh...let's say chunky side! Certainly at his prior home he wasn't starved! As I have mentioned before he doesn't care for going on walks! In matter of fact he just flat out hates them. As soon as we walk out the door he plants his feet firmly on the ground and assumes the position of " I ain't gonna do it!" I have been trying to keep him on a "diet" of sorts. Reduced calorie kibble and snacks like canned pumpkin, non-fat cottage cheese. The vet pointed out that Milk Bones where high in fat so we found low fat chicken jerky! Ozzie does not seem to be the least bit phased by his portly physique! He probably refers to himself as "big boned". I came across a bulldog that may be a little bit heavier than Oz! Frankly I hope this is a result of Photo Shop not gluttony! I showed this to Ozzie and told him "You don't' want to look like this do you boy?" That should scare anyone skinny! Well today we are going to drop by his veterinarian to check on his weight, so keep your fingers crossed that we may have dropped a pound not gained one!

EveryOne into the Pool!

With the waning days of summer we all try to get one more day at the beach or the pool into our schedule. I have found out that though bulldogs are not known to be swimmers there are many bullies out there that do enjoy the water! Friends Don and Melinda had Bullet who couldn't wait to go for a swim in the lake or at the ocean. They said he would swim out to Cuba if he could. He especially liked to body surf! Monty from the bulldog rescue has Ruby and a French bulldog Frankie and a pug, Adrienne that all adore the water. They were upstate NY by Lake Placid this month where they all got their paws wet. He does have a life jacket ( which is recommended ) for Ruby but she prefers to skinny dip, so they have to be very watchful when she is in the water! Now as for Ozzie I have my doubts. The fact that he is a wee bit over weight certainly doesn't make him the most buoyant bully around! Just taking him for a walk around the block is a challenge. Besides I don't think that bulldogs are ergonomically designed for water. They are kind of shaped like an anvil. I could just see Ozzie heading straight for the bottom at record speed! I have considered going out and purchasing one of those plastic kiddie pools for the Oz. Knowing him he probably think it was one giant water dish! Oh well we may just be spending the rest of the summer in the shade taking power naps!

A Walk in the Bark Park

We have discovered a dog park located in the near by town of Ridgewood called the "Bark Park". I suppose most towns have caught onto this trend by making a space for dogs to run leash free in public parks. They divide it up, one side for small dogs ( up to 25 pounds ) and the other side for the big boys. We trotted Ozzie in there the other day and found a whole social network going on for dogs and their owners! Oz made the rounds with the usual doggie greeting! After sufficient butt sniffing he began to pee on anything vertical. An excited Golden Retriever came up to him as if to say " hey you wanna play with me?!" but Ozzie just plumped his rear end down on the ground and looked away. I in the meanwhile was talking with the doggie parents about what kind of food they feed their "babies" and which vacuum picks up the most fur. I definitely felt like I was part of the social click going on there, while Ozzie was not feeling the love! He was just standing there looking bored ( if dogs can look bored I suppose?!) "Well I guess it's time for us to go" I said to my new found friends. That was when Ozzie decided it was time to relieve himself of a two days worth of kibble! "Oz,don't do that" I shouted! Well there is no stopping mother nature! Luckily they supply poop bags there! We left with Oz and the big bag of dog doo. I guess that was less then fun for him. I was kind of enjoying it! Maybe we will try another dog park one day where they won't know to refer to him as the "dumper"!

You must catch Ozzie who's pictures are featured on another blog today! The site is www.boneheadbulldogs.com . I found it to be a neat place to get some bulldog information and enjoy the bully antics of Kennedy and Reagan. I'll be back tomorrow with a post titled "A Walk in the Bark Park". Stay cool you bullies!