Throughout the past couple of weeks, you may have seen me make reference to Ray’s “sore foot” while discussing our new walking strategy. With this winter being so bitterly cold, we’ve had (like so many others) challenges getting the dogs out to do their business and back in in a timely manner. These boys are young and energetic. They want to go outside to play and by the time they realize they still haven’t pottyed, their feet are very, very cold. Often we ended up taking them out singly but with any weather break, we did let them carouse a bit more.

With the cold, we noticed a few times that Ray favored one of his back legs, but usually this only lasted a short time. After all, when they both would dally outside, they’d end up standing with a paw in the air, looking at me as if I had forced them to play and get cold. As we modified our rotation and the boys played outside with each other less, Ray’s “sore foot” would get better and as they played more, he would favor the foot again.

When Ray was a teeny pup, I took him every month for regular nail trims. At first there was no issue, until the first day he was “quicked” and the next visit, there was more anxiety. I jackpotted treats but he was more and more anxious. The last time, I went to this location, he was in high anxiety, and I didn’t know enough yet, to call it off. Very luckily for us, we then installed and inground pool and the concrete surround kept his nails filed down to acceptable levels. Desensitizing at another location was not looking good so we are now doing desensitizing at home and I am able to clip a nail at a time and he doesn’t growl or try to bite the clippers. Much.

Similarly with the Vet. I take him monthly to hop on the scale and purchase his heartworm cookie so he has a comfort level with the office. However, last year during his vaccination visit, he had the Doctor who isn’t so into large dogs and to say that visit went poorly would be a severe understatement. I abashedly admit to putting off taking him to the vet because of his anxiety. Of the two dogs, Ray is the one I take out shopping more because he is so calm and well mannered. Juli-bean is great but we still have some leash manners and vocalization to work on, so Ray is my ambassador. The Vet’s office is a totally different matter.

Last week, however, the limping got worse and I was able to get an appointment with the Veterinarian who has a better relationship with Ray and who also owns a Pit bull mix. She is patient and caring and aware of any stigma that may stem from a frightened Bully type dog. I must say, our doctor spent nearly an hour and a half with us, watching Ray walk, sit and interact. She worked on getting him comfortable enough for a manual evaluation but at the end of the day, we came away with a diagnosis of a suspected torn ACL. The muscle in Ray’s leg and Ray’s anxiety did not allow for a completely thorough exam. I was left in the exam room while the staff checked him out and the sound of his terrified screaming and moaning will haunt me forever. I’m glad I left my phone in the car, because I may have been tempted to record that sound and really, no one should ever hear that sound.

We came away with some meds for pain, a referral to a surgical vet up here, discussion about weight loss and some brochures about Anxitane and the Adaptil collar and strict orders for no activity for Ray. The good news is that after 2 full days of doing nearly nothing, the limping is dramatically decreased so we are hopeful that we’re dealing with a strain or a sprain rather than a full on tear. Regardless, we’ll keep everyone posted on the happenings with our high maintenance pooch but in the meantime, has anyone had any experiences with Anxitane or the Adaptil collar? Thoughts? Opinions?

With the balmy and welcomed temperatures we had in the forties, I hesitate to say this, but I’m hoping for a few more days at least of some cold temps.  Not because I like the cold but because the boys have some new clothes to show off! 

Recently I was lamenting how hard it is to get a coat for a big chested dog that wasn’t way too long and spamming Facebook wishing aloud that the talented owner of Lamae Designs would branch out and add jackets to her repertoire when she graciously agreed to make one for each of the boys!  We already had cozy and fashionable snoods and knew these jackets were going to be great. 

L., the owner and I messaged back and forth discussing fabrics and I told her my secret wish was for the boys to have their NFL teams but Ravens material is nearly impossible to find here in Indiana.  Luckily for me, she loved the idea and found some great fabric online and we discussed the lining colors as well as additional things like collars and such.  After measuring the boys for the golzillianth time I hopefully suggested that since she’d have to order x amount of fabric, wouldn’t it be awesome to make them matching snoods!?  Luckily for me she not only agreed but allowed these snoods to qualify for her giving back project, so a portion of the price went to ACSPCA!

Ray-Ray Suavay

Keeping warm enough for a rousing game of bitey-face.

Julius might be too handsome for words.

These are great, because I really wanted them to velcro across the chest and under the belly.  If the fabric is stretchy enough I can usually get them into a pull over, but it’s hard and for anyone else in the family who needs to let the boys out, the velcro is the way to go.

L. even came over to triple check the sizing on the  boys before putting the final touches on.  This was great just because we could really visualize the changes that needed to be made, if any.  As if that wasn’t enough to knock my socks off, she made matching snoods for the Doggy Daddy as well, so Kevin will be styling with his boys.  (Keep checking Facebook to see if we can get him to pose for a Dad and Lad(s) photo.)

If the day ever comes that the Bears and the Ravens face each other in the Super Bowl, this should be their logo!

According to the Center for Disease Control, 35.9% of adults age 20 and over in the US are obese, and the percentage of the same age group who are overweight, including obese are 69.2%. Not surprisingly our pets are encountering the same issue. According to this article, nearly one in every four dogs and cats in the United States is overweight or obese.

The Peaceabull household has three adults and five animals which almost mirrors these stats. Of the three cats, Miko is definitely obese and between the two dogs, Ray is inching towards obesity while Julius doesn’t appear to have missed any meals lately. He is still trim, but certainly on the well-fed side.

As for the humans? I will only throw myself out there and say that I need to lose weight. I’m out of shape, my clothes are shrinking too tight and while taking a CDC weight assessment, I was actually relieved to be overweight and not obese.

I’m not athletic, I don’t love to exercise, I like good food, good beer, cheap wine and I’m not naturally thin. Since wishing the fat away has not been working out so well and more importantly, I want to keep Ray healthy, I’ve made a committment to him and myself that we will start walking.

A nice walk.

With Julius going to day-play so successfully, I wanted to do something special for Ray. Day play for Ray isn’t off the table, but I’m considering a few options so rather than just talk about how much we need to go walking, I decided to just do it. I drove home for lunch noting that the sun was shining and the air wasn’t unbearably cold, so as soon as I arrived home, I grabbed the leash and Ray’s Tiennot Sweater and off we went.

Good and frequent check-ins!

Presently, Ray has a sore foot so we didn’t go too far, but the pure joy he exhibited as well as the good manners, kept me afloat a happiness cloud for the entire day. He wagged his tail the entire walk, checked in with me often, kept a pretty loose leash and when the pee-mails got to be super interesting, was pretty easily redirected. A pleasurable walk for both of us.

I’m committing to our walks on a regular basis and as our stamina and the weather permit am hoping to extend them to some meaningful meanders around the neighborhood. We’ll keep you posted.

Way back, well before we moved to this house and even before we got Julius, I was looking into doggy day care for Ray.  None of our neighborhood dogs would or could play with him and I wanted to be able to socialize him with more than just shopping trips.  One day on a whim, I stopped at a day care to get some information.  Hinky vibe.  I won’t say more than that, but Ray did not go there or anywhere else for daycare.  The thing is, I know daycare isn’t for every dog, and for the time, it was not going to be for Ray.

Ray’s play date with Colt was great, but it was too hard to get them together.

With Julius’s arrival, Ray learned more about being a dog and less about being my baby.  He played more appropriately and greets more appropriately now as well.  No more jumping on other dogs’s heads as a “howdy.” 

Julius, on the other hand, was good with other dogs but sometimes wasn’t given enough of a chance.  Julius gives a whole new meaning to reactive.  When Juli sees a dog being walked in the street, he begins this cry/whine/screech that sounds like he is being tortured.  I did know, however, that it was not because he was trying to tear up anyone, but because he so wanted to play.  I figured he would be a pretty good candidate for daycare.  He has more energy to burn than Ray and since he is crated while we work, it would be a nice break for him.

On another whim, I stopped by Paw’s-n-Claw’s Pet Care Palace, this time with the hubby in tow.  We were greeted by Misty, the owner, who answered all of our questions and volunteered to take us on a tour and assured us that they do not have breed restrictions.  She also told us about some upcoming events as she sent us out with all of the paperwork we needed.  As we got in the car I starte chuckling, “I really like that place.”  The hubby said, “Of course you do, I think she is as crazy as you when it comes to dogs.” 

You see, she had just told us that the following week would be a cruise theme.  Each day was a different port of call, the dogs would get a paws-port, souveniers and have fun destination activities.



The first day, typically the new guys are kept separated for evaluation and to make sure they would handle being away from Mommy the new environment well and Julius proved ready to cruise early on, so he got to participate. 

Having fun on the first day! –via

When I picked him up after the first day, he was super happy, but also so wiped out.  My Juli who doesn’t ride so well in cars, was sacked out before we had gotten two blocks away and pretty much ate his dinner then fell asleep on the sofa for the remainder of the night.  He’s been back several times now, and now he has taken to sitting by the door in the mornings so that he won’t be left behind. 

On Friday, he was so determined that he would go to Day Play, that he ate breakfast with his coat on!  This is definitely a great place to take your pooch.  How about if you hop on over to their Facebook page and give them a like?  Click through their pictures and just look at how beautiful the building and rooms are.  There’s even a room with a fireplace and a TV for quite time and movies for the dogs.  Tell them Julius sent you and if you decide to have your dog visit, definitely tell them Julius sent you so his mom can get some referral credit. 

To say we get a lot of packages in the Peace-a-Bull household would be an understatement.  The boys get their BarkBox every month, usually a Bully Stick order each month, collars at random times, and various human related packages arrive.  That’s why when my hubby told me recently that I’d gotten a package, I didn’t really react much.  At that time, I was waiting on the Valentine’s collars from Prancer’s Pit Project, so although I was eager to see the collars, I wasn’t too surprised about a package.  When I saw the return label?  Oh My Dog! I nearly screeched. 

It turned out that our boys were gifted with a bag of Marsh Dog treats just as a thank you for being readers.  Now, I have a vegan friend who shudders at all of the various body parts I feed to dogs; duck feet, trachea, bully sticks, lamb lung, oh the list goes on, but I have to admit, when I saw the word Nutria I felt a few shudders of my own running up and down my back. Did one of my favorite bloggers just send me a bag of river rat?  Well, no. 

Various non-body part treats. (mostly)

Nutria-noms?  Yes, please.

When little Julius came running up to me Rapunzel in the street on that sunny July day, I knew he was a Pit Bull kind of dog, but what exactly might he be? He and Ray are very clearly Pit Bulls, but other than their height, they don’t look at all alike. Also, as the mom of two rescue dogs, I am in a very unique position in that I’ve seen the mothers of both my boys.

If you’ve been around for any length of time, you may know that we did Ray’s dna through Wisdom Panel back in 2012 and Ray appears to be an American Bulldog/Boxer/mix dog. So we wondered, with some very distinct differences between the two, what would we find when we tested the Juli-bean? We know he loves water, so maybe he is a seal?

So, we swabbed the little guy and just as I was telling him that we should be receiving the results soon, in the mailbox they appeared.

Soooo…best guess. What do you think makes up a Juli-bean?

P.S. He should be one year old in February and he weighs 74 pounds right now.

He knows I wasn’t happy.  He knows that although I knew it was the right thing to do, I wasn’t happy.  I’ve been so smugly happy with my stereotype busting four wheel drive, four door pick-up truck that I couldn’t imagine driving something as matronly as a minivan.  I drive a big truck.  In heels!  Unfortunately, there were several times when I was put on stand by that I might have to pick up the baby from daycare.  That would have meant driving home to get the carseat then back to get the Muffin because keeping a carseat in the truck would have impacted the space for dogs. 

Me, the baby Ray and our truck

So, we traded in my beloved Fernando so that the hubby would have the best vehicle for his job and I inherited the minivan.  And I was bitter, until I rigged this puppy cart out and made it our own. 

Riding in style!

Room for all!

So, yeah, when I saw how much comfy room there was for everyone, I mellowed slightly and resigned myself to being a Pittievan Mama, at least for awhile.

This has been a week for packages and new accoutrements  for the Peace-a-bull crew and if you follow along on Facebook, you may have seen a sneak peak of the new Valentine’s collars.  I was nearly beside myself that the fancy Christmas collars that I ordered didn’t quite work out, so I wanted to make darned sure the boys wouldn’t be so deprived in February.

Generally, if I have the boys out, they are wearing a harness, so most of the time their collars are decorative and I recently found the patriotic collar that I had ordered for Ray for the Fourth of July from Prancer’s Pit Projects.  It is softer as the interfacing isn’t so stiff and it is a 2″ width, which worked out really well for Julius recently so I went back to Prancer’s Facebook page and poured over the available Valentine’s fabrics.  After messaging them and changing my mind a time or two, I finally got my order placed and they came in the mail this week!

So Ray’s collar; my sweet lovey dovey Ray is the one I changed my mind about a few times and ended up with the perfect collar for him.

No pretty poses tonight!

It’s simple and it’s not too girly and it expresses my feelings for the big lug.  It just has love written all over it.

For Julius, as soon as I saw this fabric, I knew it was meant for him but not until I got the actual collar in my hands and then on his sweet neck did I  really understand how much this collar IS Julius.

If ever a collar was meant for a dog…

Bonus!  It’s sparkly! (but manly)

He’s just achingly more adorable in this collar.  Says the impartial mommy)  I just can’t get over how much this just “fits” his personality.
Yes, they are the Sweetheart Brothers.  (Thanks for the inspiration for the title, JR, the Juli-bean sends a hug.)

Who’s that girl?