Scout the Squirrel

So, it's August, and very chilly out and the other day I found Brach's candy corn at the supermarket. So it got me thinking, and I am so excited to share with you the picture of my tushy, Scout, dressed as a Squirrel for Halloween last year!

I will take it even a step further to share with you a video of her refusing to move since she was dressed up!

It's early, but since I'm poor and have no internet in my apartment, I may not be able to post this by spooky halloween time. Watch Scout refuse to move!

Cosmo Touches Himself

Who remembers Cosmo?

This post is dedicated to my boss, Chelle. Cosmo is absolutely and positively IN LOVE with her. So, this was actually my last day at the dog daycare I worked at, and she had just left and Cosmo of course was pouting at the door waiting for her to come back. He is such a pain in the ass that we just let him hang out in the office/lobby area because he can be dramatic, and for lack of a better word, volatile.

Anyways, I was just videotaping this for her, and all of a sudden he started touching his pee-shee (the word I use for penis). He was lilke rubbing it... so hillarious! So here is the video of it, check him and his pervert-ness out for yourselves!

*Side note: the reason the barking is getting out of hand in the video is because we have a huge window that looks out to the street and people stop, stare, knock on the window and this drive the dogs crazy, which causes them to bark constantly!

The Day I Bit a Pit Bull

Meet Jessie. How friggin adorable is this pitty? She had the most pullable lips and was just the sweetest blue nose pit you've ever seen! But, she came to our daycare through a rescue agency I was working with and she needed a place to stay since she was howling at her foster home, and the neighbors had started to complain. She was only supposed to be with us for a few days, but that turned into a week. Not usually too big a deal except that Jessie had a high prey instinct and kept getting dogs in her mouth and holding on. Not hurting them, just kind of like a cat who runs after a bird and catches them and then looks at you like, "ok... now what do I do?" it's instinctual, but they don't really know why they are doing it, or what to do next.

Anyways, she was doing well so I let her out on a lazy Saturday afternoon with only a few dogs there. She and a few bulldogs were all hanging out together in the sunshine, when all of a sudden one of them got up to walk around and she just grabbed them in her mouth. I was on top of her in seconds trying to pry her mouth open. Right when I felt myself starting to freak out, she let go and the dog was unharmed. But, I was so pissed at her for doing it and probably had built up anger from pits grabbing dogs in their mouth for no reason I scooped her up in my arms and yelled, "how does it feel to get bit huh?!" and I bit on her her neck, tasting the leather of her collar in my mouth as I let go. I didn't bite her hard, nothing like a pit bull bite of couse. Maybe being with dogs this much and being the alpha that I am, I took on the roll of alpha dog in the room, I really don't know! I am in no way ashamed of me doing this. In fact, I love the fact that I just did it, like instinct... the exact instinct that Jessie felt when she saw "prey" running across the room. I stood there stunned at my reaction, and put her down in a separate room in the daycare. She turned around wagging her tail and licked my face.

Poodle Attitude

So yesterday, a poodle named Folsom decided he was too hot out in the sun. He found a perfect spot, right in front of the fan! How sassy is this?

Summer is Here!

Not much to say, just happy summer y'all! Here is a little video of Scout's first trip to the beach last summer when we went to Coney Island the day before they stop allowing dogs on the beach. She was so happy and interested at all the new things to sniff and see at the ocean's edge!

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Who remembers that movie, All Dogs Go To Heaven? I do, mostly because it was a Don Bluth cartoon movie, when I was a wee one and I watched it all the time!

The characters were Charlie and Itchy, and I want to be the one to tell you, I have met them! That's right they live in Brooklyn. Don't believe me? Here they are!

You see it?! Ok, maybe not everyone will see it, but they are these cartoon characters come to friggin life! And, the big shepard mix who looks like the bigger cartoon pup is actually named, Charlie, the same name as the cartoon character. Now, Max, the black smaller mix isn't the same color but he is basically Itchy come to life! These two are so funny. Now, Charlie is one big goofball that drives me absolutely insane! He would sit in the window of the daycare and bark at ANYTHING that would walk by. I mean, don't get me wrong I understand if they see a dog outside, of course they will bark. But children? Baby carriages? Bikes? People (on the other side of the street, barely visible)?!!?! Anything! And I knew his bark by heart. When he would start up I would yell his full name, "Charlie DeGraudpre!" and I would hear, click click click click... and then he would appear in the other room where I was sitting staring at me with his big goofy brown eyes, knowing full well of his guilt of barking when he had no reason to! Sometimes as he sauntered over to me he would let out a few low yip/barks as if to say, "what, Jenn? I was just saying hi... jeeze"

Another time, I went to go pick them up at home and opened the door to a eaten corn cob on the ground... I just stood there and thought... "that shouldn't be there..." and walked around the corner to find a garbage can knocked over with crap all over the floor. Max was sure to greet me with his strange way of smiling, which is him showing his teeth (kind of like how chimps do), you're almost afraid he is being aggressive but he is just charmed to see you.

Anyways, they always reminded me of the dogs from All Dogs Go To Heaven, what do you all think?

Milton the Poop Eating Genius

Ok, I have been trying to post a video of Scout drooling for the past week, and it won't work. So, I have decided to just tell you all a story about another French Bulldog named, Milton.

He was at the first dog daycare that I worked at, so I don't have a picture of him on my new phone, which is a shame because he was the funniest looking bully ever. Here's the deal with Milton. He's crazy. And I love him. He was always itchy so he was always scratching himself, and sometimes he would tend to get very close to his eyes and face and cause scabbing on his face. We were worried he might jab himself in the eye so we would put a cone on him to try and hinder his constant scratching. But it didn't really work.

Anyways, what I also failed to mention is that Milton was like, the poop eater extraordinaire, so this putting on the cone business just made his poop eating skills stronger! Picture a crazy french bulldog with a cone on... he sees a pile of poop. He walks (or more like runs) over to the doodie and goes to eat it and the cone stops him from being able to reach it, because the cone hits the floor and leave his face and dirty little frenchie lips about an inch away from the prize. So, does he give up? No. He then starts to walk, with his face (and cone) on the floor over to the wall area, while dragging to doodie pile with him. When he gets to the wall, you would think he has been outed and can't go anywhere from there, but think again bitches! He lifts his head and cone up the wall, bringing the doodie up with him and then when it is safe and sound in his cone, he opens his mouth and gobbles down that scrumptious doodie. What a fuckin sicko! I couldn't believe it when I first saw it, I didn't even stop him because I figured he couldn't eat poop with a cone on! Ravenous dogs with cones on can barely even eat their dinners because of those cones, but Milton did not let a silly cone stop him from doing what he came to daycare to do, eat poop. He would waltz away happy about his midday snack with poop all over the inside of his cone (which I incidentally would have to clean thank you very much).

But I loved him. He was my absolute favorite dog at the Dog Spa and I ain't ashamed to say it. I mean what dog would be that determined about poo to do that? Only, Milton. Oh, and then he would attempt to jump up on my lap with a doodie covered cone. Sweet Jesus, I miss him. Wait, is he the sick one, or am I for missing that little poo eater? Eh, who cares, would someone mind passing the poop, please?

Scout Drooling at Tompkins Square Park

So, this has never happened before. Bulldogs are typically the drooling kind, but Scout has never really had a drooling issue. There was a frenchie at the daycare I worked at named Raul, who every once in a while would get these 2 strings of drool coming from his mouth for no reason! We asked his parents about it, and they said sometimes when he would take a break from daycare and then come back he would drool like a maniac! So it finally happened to my tushy.

I was petsitting my newphew, Andy, my best friend's adopted beagle/terrier mix (that's him with Scout!), and Andy just loves Scout... in fact, a little too much sometimes! We were in the Lower East Side at my friend's apartment and Andy will chew on her arm, legs, and any limb or body part he can get in his mouth (don't think dirty, people...) Anyways, Scout is chunky as you and I and everyone knows, and she gets winded very quickly and Andy being a young energetic pup likes to play and play and play and Scout looks up at me with those eyes which say, "mom, he driving me nuts, please help me mama!" So it was time to go to the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run! We got there and Andy was barkin, running, chasing, and acting like normal dogs do. And typical tushy was lounging, rolling in the urine covered sand, and trying to get to squirrels that were running around outside the gate, her usual annoying bulldog self. All of a sudden I looked over at her and it looked like she had eaten a tennis shoe, with 2 strings of drool dangling from her chunky lippos. Because of her sniffing the ground and looking for squirrels this then caused dirt and leaves to culminate at the end of the drool, which was even more appetizing! Watch Scout and her ridiculous drool, and let's hope this is the first and last time that this happens!

Missing In Action

Hey Y'all!

Sorry I have been missing in action with these crazy pups. I actually left the doggie daycare I was working at to return home to Connecticut before Grad School in the fall. Although you would think I don't have any more stories because I don't work there anymore, think again! I took tons of videos and pictures of these maniacs before I left to stock up on my doggie humor to last through the summer!

Check out this bully of a bulldog, Toro.

Just look at those wrinkles! He looks like a friggin beanie baby! He acts all rough and tough but is such a playful little pup running around making crazy noises! He barks but it sounds like he is chirping or something, it is very strange! I have a video of it, but have been up since 6am, so you will all have to wait to witness his weirdness in a video.

Anyways, I will be posting more often of these stinkers, and when I don't have any more material from the Brooklyn pups, I will report on my own dog, Scout and her unrational fear of plastic bags and other strange things. My boyfriend and are also planning a trip cross country this summer so Scout will definitely be reporting from the road (we are taking her with us), and she will fill you in on all her crazy bulldog adventures from coast to coast.

Carl and Scout= Sisterly Love

Remember Carl? She can be full of a lot of sass, but other times she is such a cute helper and lover of all! The dog she is sitting next to is a 10 year old pug, Scout. She has very bad arthritis in her rear legs, so she really cannot walk at all. She can scooch around and she also has wheels that we can put her on so that she can get some exercise and run around! She just loves her wheels because she can run around and sass all the pups with her half bark (she can't really bark anymore so it sounds more like an angry yelping noise!).

Scout tends to hang out on a little bed we make for her with her water bowl and wee wee pad because sometimes she has to pee and can't scooch off her pad soon enough. Look at Carl keeping her friend company on her little bed set up! Aren't they so friggin cute? Now, Carl could just be hanging out with Scout because she has a cushy little bed, but I think Carl knows she needs the company and sisterly love.

Check out Scout on her wheels!

Another Lola... "Lola the Dancing Puggle"

There is a tiny Puggle named Lola at my daycare who, among her many other quirks, loves to do a cute little Puggle dance. It seems that whenever she encounters a gate, fence, or even sometimes a larger dog, she doesn't know what else to do but dance! Also appearing in this video is Sam the Sheltie, Roxy the Wheaton Terrier, Rocky the other Wheaton, and Hoss the white lab...See for yourself!

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Pathetic Lola

Ok, so some of you will watch this video and feel bad for little Lola, but don't! She is one of the sassiet frenchies we have ever had! In the video you can catch a glimpse of Forza, a puppy cane corso, who is enormous. She runs right up to Forza all the time and sasses her, barks at her whenever her little french heart pleases! But when she wants what she wants (which in this instant is to be on my lap) she will whine and pull the sad, innocent card to get her way! Watch Lola, and listen for the anger in her barks!

Sunshine Naptime

Ok, so during the spring and summer months, sun shines through our windows and causes all of the dogs to sunbathe in it. In fact, Gracie will bark at dogs and fight over her space in the sun. Well, it was early afternoon and that is when the room is drenched in sunlight, and a ton of the dogs found a spot in the sunshine and passed out. You can tell they love the sun because they follow the shape of it on the floor of the daycare. Say hello to sunshine naptime.

Nap Time

Thank goodness for nap time.

Around lunchtime and the early afternoon, all of the pups are so tired that they are start to fall asleep near our feet since we sit at a little table near the radio and sign-in sheet. It is the best time of day. They get so exhausted that I can finally hear myself think for the first time three or four hours! I often get new customers ask if we have a scheduled nap time and put them away, and that answer is no, but that they all do have an inner clock telling them it is time for a little snooze.

Here is a picture of what nap time looks like.

More Breedest Beagles!

Some of you may remember my previous post on Breedist Beagles. Well, here's another example of this discrimination!

From the left is, Charlie, Treacle, and Freckles

Hunter the Basset Hound

Hunter is the cutest lady hound ever. She just walks around wagging her tail back and forth super slow and her whole body moves, and she is crazy cute. She also has the longest ears ever, and I hope that if another dog needed an ear transplant she would be willing to donate since she has so much extra!

Meet Hunter!

Louie and Buddy

This is Louie and Buddy, brothers who come to daycare together. Buddy is the white lab and he is about a year old, Louie is the retriever and he's a bit older. I am not sure his exact age, but he has that charming grey muzzle dogs get when they start to age. Anyways, Louie has been a regular at daycare since I have worked there and has always been somewhat of a loner. But ever since his family got Buddy he has become much more affectionate. Buddy is super sweet, always greets everyone with a wagging tail and plenty of kisses! As you can see here, they love to snuggle up and take a nap together in the warm california sun. How sweet!

Foster Animals

I just wanted to show the list of all the fosters Matt and I have taken in over the last 2 years or so. They have been so great (well, most of them) and we have enjoyed loving them before they went to their forever homes!

Fall 2008.

Matt and Mojo! A 6 month old Chihuahua from WaggyTail Rescue, super playful and so cute! He peed a lot at first because he didn't know how to ration water, but he was a dream!

Fall 2008.

Gustave. An itty bitty kitty that we found on the street of Bushwick. He was standing in garbage and didn't even fight me as I picked up right up and put him in a towel. He was exhausted and hungry. He loved Scout so much and would crawl into her bed to cuddle. He is now Versace, and lives with one of my old roomate's best friends.

Video of Gus and Scout

October 2008.

Moose, a pitbull who followed us home on the streets of Bushwick. He had no tags, and we put up flyers everywhere and never heard back. He now lives on a farm with one of my friends in Connecticut. For those of you wondering, he is trying to squeeze into a cat bad at my mom's house.

January 2009.

Cookie Monster! A Shih Tzu/Poodle we took in almost less than a week after we placed Moose at his home. I was effing heartbroken over Moose and took in another pup right away.

She was amazing. She was a matted mess, and now is living it up in Rye, NY.

Video of Cookie

March 2009.

Vinny... Um.... Vinny was super cute and a nice dog, kinda. He bit me twice the first day I got him. He became obsessed and protective of me, and whenever Matt tried to hug me, Vinny tried to attack him. So, he was cute, but it made me see the scary side of chihuahuas.

May 2009.

Maddie (left) and Chelsea (right). We were wanting to adopt Chelsea because she had this cute little ink drop nose. But the two of the kitties hated Scout! So they were placed with a kickass couple who live in Queens. So friggin cute!

June 2009.

Teddy, a pit bull mix. We really only had this pup for like 4 days, he got placed so fast because he was so cute! He nows lives in Bridgeport, Ct.

July 2009

Penelope, a pit bull mix. So sweet, and such a cuddlebug. Here she is in Sunset Park, Brooklyn chewing on a stick which was one of her favorite activities! She just loved rolling in the grass after being in the shelter for so long!

Video of Penelope

August 2009.

Our last foster, Otis. Found on a windowsill that had a 20 foot or more drop below the window. I still have no idea how he got himself stuck up there. But when I walked past him and asked him, "what are you doing up there?" he started meowing like a maniac as if to say, "help me!" Now he is in a home with a nice dad!

When Pit Bulls Love French Bulldogs

There is this stigma about pit bulls that they are vicious and just all around bad dogs. Well that's bullshit. Although I do recognize the fact that when they are trained to be aggressive they obviously are not the best dogs, but that is not the fault of the dog but the fault of the human who raised them to be that way. Also, pit bulls do have something called "lock jaw" where when they grab something they don't let go, which is why they were bred and trained to be fighting dogs in the first place. But another one of their beginning functions were to be babysitters. That's right, parents would leave kids with pit bulls as a sort of sitter. They are great people dogs, but do tend to have issues when it comes to other dogs. But, they live to please people.

A male unneutered pit bull mix followed me, my boyfriend, and our dog Scout home one night and we took him in. He was, hands down the best dog ever. He listened to us better than our own dog, but he had anxiety and whenever we left him alone, he would chew up things, and I hated putting him in a crate during the day. Once we got him neutered and all his shots we were looking for a home for him, when I was reconnected with a friend from years back, and she mentioned wanted to adopt him. He now lives on a farm with one of my friends in Connecticut with her husband, their 2-3 year little boy, another pit, as well as chickens, pigs, cows, donkeys, goats, chickens, etc., and another baby sibling on the way! We named him Moose, but because of his little human brother's love for birds he was renamed Goose, and is the most kickass dog ever (except for the fact that he runs away and gets into trouble bothering horses and the like around Connecticut.) He looks kinda sad in this pitcure, but it's only because he hated getting photographed so here are links to videos of Mr. Moose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLHUP0WCuis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mHzluTCado

I have fostered in 3 pit bulls, and they were all great, and as a woman it is empowering to walk with one down the street because weirdos, and men run away or move out of my way in order for me to pass. Anyways, my boyfriend and I fostered a pit we named Penelope. She came from the East New York ACC shelter and had severe seperation anxiety but was the biggest love bug ever. She was placed with a naive couple (the wife wanted her, the husband blatantly did not.. and although I told the organization who I was fostering through what I thought, they still placed her in the home). The couple had a dog the same size as ours, and Penelope sat on their yippie terrier. Because she sat on the dog, they said she was vicious and she got sent back to us. Note to adopters- make sure you and your partner both want to dog... don't use bullshit excuses to get out of an adoption. So that day... the day that this alleged aggressive pit bull sat on a stupid spoiled yippie terrier named Sassy... she came back to our place and when I invited her and our dog Scout up on the bed, she cuddled up with Scout and put her nose in her butt. Yea, really aggressive.

Do Not Let This Happen To You

Ok, so this story is from a while back but everytime I see this picture, my legs get itchy. This is Cosmo, a big bulldog who is a bit of a psycho. His Dad always comes in sorry for his naughty behavior, and is happy to see when other dogs put him in line. You see, Cosmo is like a roasted marshmallow. Hard on the outside, gooey on the inside. He tries to be so rough and tough, but when you yell at him to sit down or wipe his dirty face wrinkles he bows down and submits. But he's scary, so it was a risk to find out that if you stick your finger in his wrinkle he will shut up.

Cosmo literally just walks around barking... for no reason. Absolutely no reason. And then he will run into a crate, with the door open, get angry, and bark even more ferociously. It's like he's saying "let me out of this crate!" but the door is open... and he went in himself... and he can get out, so I'm like... yea.

Anyways, angry bulldog barking for a 7 or 8 shift can get very annoying as I am sure you can imagine. By the end of the day when I start feeding dinner, he continues to try and push past me and bolt into the kitchen so I have to relent and let him in. Then, I trick him into a crate so that I can feed the pups who need their dinner. He gets so freakin pissed, but he calms down after a while and lays down for a bit.

But one day in the summer, he would not stop barking, and he literally followed me around licking my legs all day. It made him calm to lick my legs so I let him continue just to shut him up. Well, ladies and gentlemen, bad idea! Do not let dogs lick you for a prolonged period of time. I should have known not to do this due to the fact that I break out in a rash everytime I change laundry detergent, and seem to get rashes in New York City. One of the perks of moving here was a) no poison ivy/poison oak and b) less mosquitoes. But when you work at a dog daycare and a crazy bulldog licks your legs you get a rash! I was literally tearing my legs to shreds for weeks until one day I walked in after crying all morning because it just wasn't going away. My boss and one of the owners took pity on me and with their help I was able to finally get some good medicine to help. But let this be a warning to you. Do not let bulldogs (or any dog or cat for that matter) lick you for a long time or ever. My mother now always checks in to make sure that I am wearing pants to work. Oh Cosmo.

Girlfriends

Here are two dogs who are totally teenagers. They have a certain clique at the daycare and it is comprised of all young females, and they make this high pitch sound when they play, which sounds like teen girls gabbing.

You may remember Gracie from a previous post about a Viszla who likes to sit on her, well she has seemed to figure out how to do this to others. Meet Joey (who I call Josephine) the yellow lab, and Gracie. Gracie has started laying on dogs, from beagles to boston terriers. Everytime I try to take a photo whoever is getting sat on gets up and runs away before I can snap the shot. But Joey stayed still long enough for me to snap this beauty... look how these gals hang out together, I think the next step in their relationship is getting a friendship bracelet that comes in two pieces. Gracie+Joey=BFF.

Mastiffs are Life Sized

Meet Kashmir.

She. Is. Huge.

And by far one of my favorites because she is completely unaware of her size. She romps around like she is a 30 pound pup but she is more likely 100+ pounds. Many dogs run in terror from her because she comes bounding at them flopping her gums full of drool.

I mean, just look at how long her legs are! Who knew that some dogs could come in human life sized form. The thing that makes her so hillarious is that she is only maybe 9 months old, so she wants to run around and wrestle like a puppy would, but other dogs don't know what to do! It's like that movie Jack, where Robin Williams grows 4 times as fast and none of the kids his age know what to do in his presence. One day she came up to me and lifted her foot and nudged me with it, and I had a bruise the next day. When she comes in I am so friggin excited to see her, I run out to her and start talking to her in my dog voice and she just starts wiggling all 100+pounds of herself. It is quite a sight to see!

One day, I decided to measure just how big Miss Kashmir is. And I found out that if I came packaged as a dog, I would be Kashmir. Her paws are the same size as my hands, and she has a 8 1/2 size foot. Don't believe me? Check it out...

Let's face it... big girls are more fun.

Cookie Monster

Ok, so this dog isn't one of the dogs at the daycare I work at. This beauty was a foster that my boyfriend and I took in last January. I just received the most heartwarming beautiful e-mail from her Mama, Nori who took Cookie to the streets of Rye, New York. Cookie came to us completely covered in mats, and knots. I was going to get her groomed the next day, but I could tell she was in such discomfort I took a pair of scissors and put her in the bathtub and just started cutting. She also had a huge buildup of wax and hair in her ear that she would walk around shaking her head every few minutes, so we took my boyfriends beardtrimmer and a small attachment to cut out the wax! Poor Cookie Monster!

Sometimes people ask me how I can take in fosters and then part with them, and it is because of families like this. They are so genuine and kind-hearted. When I told the family that another couple had written me earlier, they said their daughters (both high-school aged) were heartbroken to think they may not get Cookie. They said they had a dog named Bert, and when I referred to her as "Cookie Monster," they knew it would be a great fit! Well, after the first family passed on this gorgeous girl, she was soon adopted into a new home.

Cookie was not pleased to see four people walking into the apartment she had settled into, and lowly growled and walked into our bedroom. I called her out and her new two-legged sisters bowed to greet her and let Cookie approach them on her own. In a few minutes her tail was wagging, and she was soaking up all the petting and loving she was getting. I turned to her Mom and asked, "so do you think you'll take her?" and she nodded with a huge smile and said, "yes." I heard one of the girls say, "YES!"

On our way out to their car, Cookie's Mom turned to me and asked, "isn't it hard to give them up?" And I said, "look at her!" she was waltzing right up to the car. It was as if Cookie knew that this was her new family and she went happily with them. I told Nori that one of the best reasons to foster is because of the reactions I get from the adopting families, and how happy I see the dogs with their forever families. She really did land in an amazing home, and they e-mailed to let me know it had been a year of Cookie and they simply loved every moment, (even though Cookie tends to knock things over and rummage through them, often leaving a flip flop or two with a few teeth marks in them!). She came to us a knotted mess from the ACC in East New York, and now here is a picture of her living it up in Rye in her cute pink tee-shirt!

Also, here are a few links to youtube videos we took of her last year.

Cookie after a Bath

Cookie on the Bed

Molly

Yesterday I met a bulldog named Molly that is so cute you might mistake her for a plush stuffed animal! Assuming she is a puppy, I was corrected when a co-worker informed me that she is 3 years old and full grown! She is forever a puppy! Besides her adorableness, Molly also has one of the sweetest dog personalities ever. She is calm, loving, affectionate, she gets along well with other dogs and she listens. And funniest of all, she can jump higher than I have ever seen a bulldog jump. Yesterday I watched her jump up and actually reach the face of a 5'3'' girl and lick her face!! It amazing, its almost like she hovers for a second or two in the air before she gracefully glides down. Someday I will capture her majesty on video! For now, enjoy her adorable bulldog face :-)

Here she is catching some rays and getting some sleep on the turf!

French Anger

I'm not sure if a lot of you know what french anger is, but it's when a french bulldog gets very angry because they aren't getting what they want. Enter, Lenny and Carl. Lenny and Carl are brother and sister frenchies who were named after simpson characters. Lenny is like a little turkey. If he is motivated, and I hold his arms, he will pull himself up onto my lap. Carl is a lady, so we usually call her Carlita and I'm still not sure if she likes that or not... Sometimes I re-do the lyrics to that Santana song called, "Maria" to Carlita and sing to her all day...

Anyways, they have attitude and sass, especially Carl. Lenny is a mama's/daddy's boy while Carl parades around the daycare like she is the queen of Kings County. She has walked right up to dogs, stared them down, and the dogs will drop their toy and walk away. You've never seen anything like it! She even did it to one of my favorites, Bandit, a 13-year old Portugese Water dog, and I had to yell at her for disrepecting her elders (even though it's hard because of her cuteness).

So, they are super cute, and love to fight over who gets to sit on my lap. I took a video of them on our climber, and it was just too funny to me how Lenny tried to push Carl out of the way so he can have my lap all to his chunky self. Listen for the anger in their talking to each other, I know you'll hear it.

Max is a Bird of Paradise

Meet Massimo (aka Max). He is a 6 month old French Bulldog and one of the newest dogs at the daycare. He looks exactly like my pup, Scout, so naturally I fell in love with his crazy French-ness.

The first day he came was a Saturday which is our slowest day so he was a bit sassed to have no puppies to play with. There were only older dogs there, who were not in the mood for a crazy, playful puppy. Anyways, he was trying to convince one of our regulars, Gabby, into playing with him. He reminded me of those birds of paradise on the discovery channel who dance and prance to try and impress the female birds to mate, while the female sit there completely unphased. Well, meet Max the bird of paradise, and his female interest, Gabby, who ain't buying what he's got to sell.

The Belle of the Ball

Belle


I'm the first to admit, all animals are beautiful no matter what they look like. Mutt or purebred, they are all amazing! While I would never discriminate against any dog for their looks, there is one pup who stands out to me as one of the most gorgeous malamutes I have ever seen. And her personality only makes it better! She is the cutest, sassiest, adorable howler I have ever met and every time I see her, all I have to do is look at her, say "Belle!" and she immediately begins with a low pitched howl...sounding something like "WooooWooooooooo"!! I always know its gonna be a fun day at work when I see Belle out sunbathing on the pavement.

Keeva!

And I can't forget, her little sister Keeva! She's a little rascal if I ever saw one...I say she reminds me of a creature from "Where the Wild Things Are". She is sassy as well, and a bit more nippy that her big sis. You know Keeva is behind you when every time you go to take a step you feel a small set of teeth clamping on the ends of your pants! Of course, I'm not complaning. I love every minute of it :-)

Breedist Beagles

Ok, so I don't know about beagles in your neighborhood, but the beagles in Brooklyn tend to be a bit breedist. That's right, breedist. They only like to hang out together. Maybe they like the way their fellow beagles smell or look or howl. But they tend to stick together.

Meet Freckles and Charlie. Charlie is the sleepy one in the back, while Freckles is staring at me with beagle anger. Freckles is one of two, her sister's name is Treacle and the two were found down south in a puppy mill and they had a few litters of puppies by the time they made their escape to the northeast. Maybe it's because they made so many beagles that they only like other beagles. I don't know what it is. But even Charlie's Mom has called him breedist because he will only lay with other beagles.

Let's face it, these tri-color canines are pretty kickass. They howl like nobody's business and sometimes scare the crap out of me if I am not ready for it. They are inherently stinky because of their houndness and they can smell food from a mile away. In fact, Dylan, another beagle once came right up to me as I was taking a sip from my soda and clamped his teeth down on the crust of my slice of pizza that was sitting on the table. He did it right in front of me! I couldn't believe it. Maybe it's their aduacious personality that keeps them together. Whatever it is, say hello to the breedist beagle brigade.

Riley the Vizsla likes to sit on things

Meet Riley.

Which one is he? Why, he is the Vizsla who is sitting on Gracie the Wiemaraner and Betsy the Boston Terrier.

Riley loves sitting on things, especially soft things. He boards with us a lot, so we have a soft green blanket of his from home. He loves to curl up on it during the day. Sometimes other pups lay on it, and he gets very upset and will bark at them until they leave. He has often sat on many dogs at the daycare; labradoodles, shephards, and others. And no dogs ever seem to mind.

In addition to dogs, Riley likes to steal his Mother's clothes to lay on. Once, she walked by his crate to find that he had stolen a lavender bridesmaid of hers, and was laying in a pool of purple tafetta. Next time you meet a Vizsla, especially Riley, bring him something silky to lay on.

Why I Can't Get Enough Dane

I love great danes! So large, so gentle, so sweet and silly. We have a large variety of danes at my daycare, each with their own unique look and personality. However, I have noticed that all danes have one thing in common...they love to lean! Whether its on a ledge, a chair, or in my lap, danes love to find a place to rest their rears and give their back legs a break from holding up all that weight. Can you blame them?

Occasionally I have had the pleasure of being approached by a great dane when sitting down and have them plop their behind right in my lap! Here is a picture I took just yesterday of a beloved dane named Astro taking some time to rest on a big plastic toy.

The Coolest Pugs in Brooklyn

Meet Gus and Tiger!

Gus was the first pug of his family and met his brother when a local woman was forced to give up her pug, Tiger, and Gus's parents adopted him!

Gus is the thinner of the two, while Tiger has a bit more chunk on him (he's the one with his chin resting on the handle). Here is a video of them thinking that I was going to feed them dinner. I had just come into work (at about 1pm) and they just assumed that I was there to feed them, I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Afterall, I have the ability to perform such tasks while they do not. The whining you hear is Mr. Chunk himself, Tiger, trying to persuade me to crack open a can of wellness whitefish and feed them dinner just a few hours early...

Hello! My name is Lyndsay and I live in Manhattan Beach, CA and I work at a dog daycare one town over in sunny El Segundo. A Connecticut native, my dog daycare adventure began at a small daycare in Farmington, CT during college and upon relocation to LA for more school, I knew I wanted to continue to work with dogs. When you work with dogs, life can be quite unpredictable, while all the while being fun, exciting and tiring! I feel extremely lucky to have a job doing something that makes me happy, and I share the joy with one of my lifelong friends living and working in Brooklyn. We have decided to share our stories with the world through our blogs, her representing the east coast and myself representing the west. We hope our stories can entertain you, while also presenting an opportunity for you to experience and learn about what we consider to be the best job in the world :-)

I live with five wonderful pets...4 cats and a dog, Princess. Ironically, Princess is a troubled rescue dog and therefore cannot accompany me to work. But she is sweet and loving most of the time, and does get along great with one of my cats, Bradley. It's funny how animals form relationships...sometimes they can seem illogical to us, but to them it makes perfect sense. That's one thing I love about working with dogs, I get to observe their social interactions and watch them form relationships with each other just like we do with other humans every day.

Freddie

So I decided that I would start off with a post on one of my favorite dogs at my job, Freddie. I know I shouldn't pick favorites, but once you all learn more about her, I know she will be one of your favorites too!

Freddie is a 9 year old English Bulldog. Although she is nearing her senior years she doesn't act a day over 3 years old. She LOVES jolly balls and usually needs to have the balls taken away from her because she ends up knocking over dogs trying to dribble the ball around.

We were overbooked for Thanksgiving this year at the daycare, so I took her home with me. My Mom fell in love with her and Freddie kept her company while she was knitting, but we had to stick her in the kitchen at bedtime because she snored so loud I couldn't think!

Freddie has to get 3 different types of eye drops in her eyes 2 times a day or else her eyes will fill with goopyness. Gross I know, but she is a champ and lets me put the drops in because she knows after she gets her dinner, which she makes a mess of because the kibble falls out of her floppy mouth.

Whenever I see Freddie on the street with her Nanny she goes ca-razy and starts wiggling and immediately bows her head for me to rub her ears and head. Or when I pick her up at her house to come to daycare she bolts out the door and pulls me the whole way there! But after a day full of jollyball playing and chasing her friend, Gracie the Weimaraner, she goes to sleep and this is what she looks like.

Welcome!

Here’s the deal. I am 20-something post-college grad living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn with my man and our French Bulldog, Scout. I started working at a dog daycare in Brooklyn during college and I am still working there and currently applying to graduate school. Everytime I would tell an owner or friend about a story about a naughty pup at my job they kept telling me to start a blog about it, and I finally have.

Although I would have liked to put my college degree to good use at a "real" job, working at a dog daycare has a lot of perks. I get exercise and play with dogs all day. But I do go home smelling like ass everyday, pick up more poop than you could ever imagine, and have to break up fights between sassy dogs from time to time.

Have you ever wrestled a beagle for your slice of pizza? Gotten slobbered on by a 100 pound mastiff? Had to listen to a English Bulldog snore as loud as a freight train during her afternoon nap? Gotten peed on? Well, if you haven’t and want to hear all about it welcome to, What's the Sniff?

Stay tuned for crazy stories about pups at the daycare and anywhere in between including my own tushy butt, Scout.