I understand that all dogs have different levels of tolerance for close human contact. Ozzie seems to have no limit. He lets me lie on top of him like this for quite a while. He lets me use him as a leg rest (when we lie on the futon sofa) for hours. I also understand...
Part of good research is having an open mind and distinguishing the valuable information from the bull-#$%^. I believe any random person taking a guess at what's going on with our dog Ozzie, might get some things right and I work hard to recognize when someone happens...
On Labor Day weekend, Ozzie our mild 50-pound pitbull who rarely makes a sound, began barking for no reason. It was my lovely three-day weekend, but it was only lovely for one day. Ozzie kept barking urgently at nothing all day on Sunday and Monday. I thought I’d...
I enjoyed much of my Labor Day weekend, but not all of it. Saturday was nice, but on Sunday Ozzie developed a fear of the back of our building. Apparently there was evil outside our back door and he would bark himself into a frenzy over it. He's usually a silent dog,...
For those who have been following the story of our new dog, here’s an update (for those who haven’t been following the story: we purchased Ozzie from a shelter in Sept. 2011. He’s a 49-pound, black, pit bull mix who’s four years old, but acts like a puppy). Hey...
I guess when my life gets more demanding, my blog posts get shorter. I found out today that the dog needs vitamin B12 supplements, by injection. One shot a week. Guess who's giving the shots because her husband hates needles? Dog ownership just hasn't gone smoothly...
After the dog exploded in several puddles of diarrhea on the afternoon of Thursday, June 21st, I had a bad night, followed by a bad day of wondering why I'd ever agreed to get a dog. That Friday night I had a birthday party to go to. I warned the dog to keep it...
This is as close as Ozzie gets to what some dog lovers call a "smile." Usually he has a very serious face with an intense, dark stare, but that's okay because so do I. On July 4th we alternated staying in our air conditioned living room with sitting outside. Yes, the...
Photo by Bob Martin, Chicago, IL USA Sometimes Ozzie gets a little too close.
[Does this photo look like cruelty to you? It does to me.] As a new dog owner, I'm irritated by people treating their dogs like humans. American pet owners like to call our animals our "best friends" or the person we can always "talk to." But while you can talk to an...
Happy Easter to everyone who cares about Easter. Easter's a rough holiday for me (don't know why), but this weekend is pretty good. I took Ozzie to an Easter egg hunt in Horner Park in Chicago, Illinois USA. There were well over 150 dogs! Each plastic egg contained a...
Although it was rough at first -- very rough -- I have come to accept and feel affection for our shelter pitbull mix, Ozzie. He's cute and has turned out to be a great learner. Combine this with a woman who tends to be a diligent student and strict master and we've...
If I'd known that getting a dog would cause some people to call me its "mom," I would have hesitated even more than I did. If I had wanted to be a "mom" I would have either given birth to or adopted a child. I didn't do either of those things and I prefer not to be...
Photos of our first vacation with our dog (in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin USA). The Brat Stop (pronounced "brawwt stawwp" because "brat" is short for "bratwurst") is a bar, restaurant and cheese shop. It's where Bob and I shared our first meal as husband and wife on our...
This week (Mon-Wed) Bob and I finally got our getaway "weekend" to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin USA. It was our first ever vacation with our dog, Ozzie. We stayed at Eleven Gables Inn, a wonderful bed and breakfast that's homey and quaint and accepts dogs. We had a lake...