Chili is celebrating by wearing his Christmas footie pajamas.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Happy dog
One of my favorite things about Chili is his huge smiles. This is a well known pit bull trait, and they arguably smile the best out of any dogs.
Who can see those faces and not love pitties? Of course, their somewhat loose face skin makes for some pretty epic funny faces too.
Who can see those faces and not love pitties? Of course, their somewhat loose face skin makes for some pretty epic funny faces too.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Chili's arrival
Here's a little background on Mr. Chili Dog. Chili is a mutt of what I would guess to be lab, pit, and possibly dachshund. He was adopted from the Sacramento City Animal Shelter as soon as I got my own apartment my sophomore year in college, because I had always wanted a dog but my parents would never let me get one. He was at the shelter for one month, and his little info card said he had been taken because his owner was in jail. For what I have no idea, but I hope it had nothing to do with dog fighting.
I can honestly say that, in retrospect, I should have researched my breeds a bit more thoroughly before picking a pit bull. Not that I would have it any other way now, but man was I not prepared for the amount of doggy proofing I had to do in my house.
When Chili first arrived, he had just been fixed and took a couple days recovering from surgery. This is about all he did.
Which actually, to this day, is what he's doing most of the time. But after about a week, when I guess he was feeling better, oh man did he go nuts. He had separation anxiety to the extreme and could not be left alone. But I mean, who wants to be left alone after living in a tiny cage for a month all by yourself. I did not have a crate ready, so after he ate my bed one day (I'm serious, it was a foam mattress and he tore apart about a foot and a half of the bottom) I decided to try to lock him in the bathroom while I went to class. Results? Chili ate the door jamb. And then got out and ate some more stuff anyway. And then peed all over. I wish I had a picture of how much of this solid wood he tore apart, but I was too mortified back then about how much I'd have to pay in damages.
I very quickly went out and bought a crate. And a bunch of dog training books.
Honestly, Chili was a little terror when I first got him. For the entire first year, if I didn't have him in his crate and we left him alone he would destroy something, pee on something, or poo on something. He was also very protective of me and would hump any guy that came into our house. Kind of funny because he's so stumpy, but not behavior I would like to encourage.
Doesn't sound very supportive of pit bulls as a breed in general does it? He was stubborn and slow to learn, but I never once thought of getting rid of him. Chili was family as soon as he came into the house. He had an instant and complete devotion to me, and I blame his slowness on my lack of experience in dog training. But as soon as I got a better handle on it, Chili improved his temperament drastically. I made sure he got lots of exercise, socialized him to doggy friends and people at the dog park almost everyday (although this was easier for me, we lived literally next door to a dog park) and monitored him at all times I was home. If I wasn't home, he was in the crate. This meant I had to be home a lot, but hey, I knew it would be a time commitment. The separation anxiety was the hardest, but gradually I think he just learned on his own that his home was safe, I wasn't going anywhere, and I haven't even used the crate at all since that first year.
So what does this mean in terms of my experience raising a pittie? Well, from what I know, they're high energy, really really like to wreck things, and stubborn. But they're also extremely loyal, loving, capable of being very gentle, and just about the happiest dogs evar. Even a total dog n00b like me turned this completely untrained terror-dog into a gentle, quiet household pet. Which leads me to believe it all comes down to training. Dogs are individuals, and people are responsible for their dogs behavior. Pit bulls should not be judged when they are owned by people who train them to fight, or don't bother to train them at all.
Plus, as an added bonus, pit bulls are very tolerant of their humans doing weird things to them. This makes them very good with kids. And easily amused college students. Seriously Chili's really squishy face=hours of entertainment over the last 4 years.
Notice how he's smiling even though I'm totally messing with him?? I said he was a happy dog. I <3 my pittie puppy.
I can honestly say that, in retrospect, I should have researched my breeds a bit more thoroughly before picking a pit bull. Not that I would have it any other way now, but man was I not prepared for the amount of doggy proofing I had to do in my house.
When Chili first arrived, he had just been fixed and took a couple days recovering from surgery. This is about all he did.
Which actually, to this day, is what he's doing most of the time. But after about a week, when I guess he was feeling better, oh man did he go nuts. He had separation anxiety to the extreme and could not be left alone. But I mean, who wants to be left alone after living in a tiny cage for a month all by yourself. I did not have a crate ready, so after he ate my bed one day (I'm serious, it was a foam mattress and he tore apart about a foot and a half of the bottom) I decided to try to lock him in the bathroom while I went to class. Results? Chili ate the door jamb. And then got out and ate some more stuff anyway. And then peed all over. I wish I had a picture of how much of this solid wood he tore apart, but I was too mortified back then about how much I'd have to pay in damages.
I very quickly went out and bought a crate. And a bunch of dog training books.
Honestly, Chili was a little terror when I first got him. For the entire first year, if I didn't have him in his crate and we left him alone he would destroy something, pee on something, or poo on something. He was also very protective of me and would hump any guy that came into our house. Kind of funny because he's so stumpy, but not behavior I would like to encourage.
Doesn't sound very supportive of pit bulls as a breed in general does it? He was stubborn and slow to learn, but I never once thought of getting rid of him. Chili was family as soon as he came into the house. He had an instant and complete devotion to me, and I blame his slowness on my lack of experience in dog training. But as soon as I got a better handle on it, Chili improved his temperament drastically. I made sure he got lots of exercise, socialized him to doggy friends and people at the dog park almost everyday (although this was easier for me, we lived literally next door to a dog park) and monitored him at all times I was home. If I wasn't home, he was in the crate. This meant I had to be home a lot, but hey, I knew it would be a time commitment. The separation anxiety was the hardest, but gradually I think he just learned on his own that his home was safe, I wasn't going anywhere, and I haven't even used the crate at all since that first year.
So what does this mean in terms of my experience raising a pittie? Well, from what I know, they're high energy, really really like to wreck things, and stubborn. But they're also extremely loyal, loving, capable of being very gentle, and just about the happiest dogs evar. Even a total dog n00b like me turned this completely untrained terror-dog into a gentle, quiet household pet. Which leads me to believe it all comes down to training. Dogs are individuals, and people are responsible for their dogs behavior. Pit bulls should not be judged when they are owned by people who train them to fight, or don't bother to train them at all.
Plus, as an added bonus, pit bulls are very tolerant of their humans doing weird things to them. This makes them very good with kids. And easily amused college students. Seriously Chili's really squishy face=hours of entertainment over the last 4 years.
Notice how he's smiling even though I'm totally messing with him?? I said he was a happy dog. I <3 my pittie puppy.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Hello, world
This is Mr. Chili Dog.
Mr. Chili Dog is a pit bull mix who was adopted from a shelter. Chili would like everyone to know that pit bulls are not scary dogs. Chili's favorite activities include: sleeping, eating, snuggling with our other adopted dog, and laying on his back until someone rubs his tummy.
Chili also happens to be one of the wussiest dogs I've ever seen. He is afraid of:
1. rain
2. snow
3. the ocean
4. cats
5. people in strange costumes
6. the laundry basket
7. heights
8. stairs
to name a few. We took him on a walk in December on the Golden Gate Bridge once, and the combination of heights, the mass amounts of water below, and the fact that he doesn't like to go out when its cold led to one really unhappy Chili Dog.
This is my dad trying to get Chili to keep walking. Needless to say, we only stayed on the bridge for about 10 minutes. Even though he's pretty small for a pit, Chili is very sturdy and when he doesn't want to go, he's not going anywhere.
Mr. Chili Dog is a pit bull mix who was adopted from a shelter. Chili would like everyone to know that pit bulls are not scary dogs. Chili's favorite activities include: sleeping, eating, snuggling with our other adopted dog, and laying on his back until someone rubs his tummy.
Chili also happens to be one of the wussiest dogs I've ever seen. He is afraid of:
1. rain
2. snow
3. the ocean
4. cats
5. people in strange costumes
6. the laundry basket
7. heights
8. stairs
to name a few. We took him on a walk in December on the Golden Gate Bridge once, and the combination of heights, the mass amounts of water below, and the fact that he doesn't like to go out when its cold led to one really unhappy Chili Dog.
This is my dad trying to get Chili to keep walking. Needless to say, we only stayed on the bridge for about 10 minutes. Even though he's pretty small for a pit, Chili is very sturdy and when he doesn't want to go, he's not going anywhere.
Hello, world
My name is Mr. Chili Dog. That other dog is my little brother, Gambit. We're both adopted, but I love my mommy and daddy. And belly rubs.
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