Finny’s last day of being off-leash at Riverside Park

Well, that’s it. Finn is not allowed to go off-leash anymore. At least not for a while. He’s been terrible lately — running after squirrels so much that he becomes deaf, dumb and blind in the process. He won’t listen to me at all when he’s like that, and that can’t happen. The other day a woman went crazy on me when ran after a squirrel and cut her off. Her reaction was way over the top — screaming, threatening me. It was AWFUL. But I admit maybe she had a point. I didn’t have control of Finn at that point because he wasn’t paying attention to me.

Besides, Finn doesn’t have the stamina to run around that much and he doesn’t stop himself when he’s too tired. So I have to watch it for him because he’s very prone to having a heart attack. The heat really affects him and he pants so hard after really only a few minutes of running around.

So instead I’m going to walk him on a leash, like most people do. And see how it goes. I admit I’ve never really done that with him on a very regular basis. We usually only walk across the street to the park where I used to let him off-leash to run. So that’s my fault. I think if I had walked with him more when I first got him, he would be better about staying by my side at all times. So we started last week and I think it was good - for both of us!

But he does look cute running around all spastic. Enjoy the pics -

Handsome Devil

Look at that handsome boy!

The cutest hot dog!

Phinneus during the heat wave!

Sorry!

Sorry I’ve been totally remiss when it comes to this blog. My other blog for work is taking up all my blogging time! UGH

Anyway, so much going on. I think I’ll work backwards:

I have to complain about this new reality show, The Groomer Has It. I feel like it’s abusive to the dogs — and sometimes abusive to the dog owner! Maybe that’s an extreme accusation since I’ve really only seen one episode, and I even admit to fast forwarding through much of it in order to get through it. But still… I did still saw the whole episode, just sometimes a little faster.

In the episode I saw, the groomers descended upon a bunch of unsuspecting dogs and dog owners at a dog run. Many of the contestants approached them kind of agressively. Some went straight to the dogs and grabbed them, acting overly affectionate, so much so I felt like some dogs were scared. Other contestants were smarter about it and talked to the dog owners first. Those owners were the ones that were inclined to go along with their task: To give a dog a theme makeover. Sort of like costumes for dogs.

Anyway…to make a very long and upsetting show short…

Most of the dogs came out looking worse than before!

These groomers went way too far, in my opinion. Especially when they used hair-dye on the dogs. One dog-owner didn’t even know the groomer was dying her white poodle pink! Can you imagine giving your dog to a groomer and having it come back PINK?? That is so mean.

And other groomers, I thought, were way too rough with the dogs. There was this one dog (I think a Bermese Waterdog) that had long, mangy hair. The groomer used a metal brush and kept yanking, yanking at the dog’s hair to unknot it. He was pulling so hard that you could see the skin under the hair was pulling! If someone did that to me, I’d be crying.

I felt so bad for many of these dogs. The only one that looked great was the Golden Retriever, whose groomer did a beautiful - TASTEFUL - job. She let the dog be who he was, but prettied him up. She didn’t try to make the dog look like a person. I feel like that’s what many of the groomers were doing — applying human-based styling theories to dogs. That’s just wrong, no?

I don’t know. I’m sure a lot of people would disagree me on this, but the whole thing just freaked me out.

My Delicate Doggie

Sorry I’ve been remiss in posting lately. Work has been nuts! Plus, i’m in the search for a new digital camera so that I can take pics of Finn to add here…

Today Finn freaked me out a bit. We went to the Park as we do every morning, and he ran around while I threw his ball for him. He saw his other dog-owner friends and made them throw the ball for him too. Next thing I knew, Finn was gasping for breath. His mouth was wide open and he was practically wheezing! All in all, he was really only running around for 15 minutes or so. Doesn’t that seem too quick for a healthy, young dog to get winded? When we got home, he was clearly really exhausted. He laid down on the hardwood floor (which he never does) and just panted and panted, mouth wide open. I placed a cold washcloth on his belly to cool him down but it took a while before he calmed down.

Maybe it’s because the weather has warmed up a bit that he’s so exhausted? I don’t know. I worry he has asthma or other breathing issues….? I’ve read that some dogs have lung issues, especially ones with barrel-chests like he has. Has anyone else heard that?

In the meantime, I am definitely NOT going to let him run around like that anymore. Instead, only 5-10 minutes of throwing the ball; and then walking (on a leash) for the rest. I don’t want him to have a heart attack!!!

Dog-orexia?

Is there such a thing as dog-orexia? As in, dogs that are anorexic? Finn is so fricking skinny. I could feed him more, but he doesn’t generally want to eat that much. He very rarely eats anything during the day. Sometimes he’ll have a little breakfast (lately, Cheerios!) and sometimes he’ll pick on some dry food. But he won’t seriously eat until I get home from work. And even then, he’ll eat a can and some dry food and that’s really it. Sometimes he begs a bit for my dinner, but not much at all.

Sure, he likes treats (although really only all-natural chicken tenders). But he doesn’t go insane for them like other dogs do. And when training him, he really isn’t bribeable with treats. He’d really rather get praise, or a kiss, or some other form of affection. And he’s still that way! It can be very cute. Like, he’ll go outside to poop, in the right spot, and he trots back inside — so pleased with himself! He’s so good!!! And all he wants, more than anything, is a belly-rub and lots of kisses. That makes him happiest! At that point, he could care less about a treat. Which I think is unusual for dogs, no?

He also still has so much anxiety. Going outside causes him so much stress sometimes. And I bet that contribues to him staying so skinny! He has such a high metabolism, in addition to all the exercise he gets everyday. And then not eating much to make up for it, he stays so skinny. His ribs stick out a lot. It’s really almost like he’s anorexic! Weird.

Discrimination at its worst

The other day I had the worst - THE WORST - experience of discrimination I’ve ever had in my life. Finn and I were at the park, before 9am so he was off-leash, running around with his little pink ball. I’m walking and throwing the ball, walking and throwing, walking and throwing.

We come upon a group of 3 dog owners with 3 dogs romping around. Big-ish dogs, a german sherpard, a tall, thin dog and a fat fuzzy one. Finn runs over with his ball, and places the ball at the feet of one of the dog owners, while gazing up at them, tail up and butt wagging. The dog owner says to me, “Is that a pitbull?”

And I started to say yes, a mix, part Boxer, maybe a little hound… I started my usual spiel. But before I could get it out, he said, “I don’t want my dog playing with a pit bull. Get that dog out of here.”

The other dog owners were chiming right in, pulling their dogs away as if Finn was a snarling, rabid dog. I was horrified, and pulled him in the other direction, and practically ran us home before my tears came pouring out. The nerve of them! Those fucking idiots. Anyone who owns a dog knows that if a dog’s tail is up and wagging, they’re happy. It’s when they’re down and still that there’s a problem. None of that mattered to these assholes, though, because they made assumptions of Finn’s personality based on his breed and breed alone. Nevermind that he was obviously such a happy dog; nevermind he looks adorable in his light blue Old Navy sweater with stars on it (it was cold that day, I swear). Nevermind he’s running around with a tiny pink dog that looks silly. Merely the mention of those words - pit bull - sent everyone running.

Well, really, it sent me running.

I didn’t know handle that situation at all. It was so shocking - I expect more from my fellow dog owners.

But It made me want to get Finn a shirt to wear with a message on it that might make a racist dog owner think before acting. That’s how I got the name for this blog, actually. I’m going to get him a shirt at CafePress that says “Please Be Kind” on it. I’ll show you a picture of it when I get it made.

Meanwhile, I’ve been overly protective of Finn at the Park now, making sure he doesn’t leave my side. But mostly, I just feel so offended that anyone could ever make such preconceived notions based on appearance alone. This world can be so sick.

Watch Finn in action!

Here’s a really long video of Finn playing with his toys, spazzing out. I’m sure I’m the only one who will ever watch this video in its entirety, but take a look anyway! It’s really cute, but feel free to fast forward:

watch the video

Thanks to my friend Marc for making it for me….And to Janny for co-starring!

Who is Finn?

I should probably back up and tell you a bit about Finn, my dog who just turned 2. Got him at a shelter in New Rochelle, New York, with my soon-to-be ex-husband. There’s more to that story, but I’ll save that for later. Back to Finn.

The shelter found Finn tied to a dumpster. No one knows how long he was there or who left him there. But he was emaciated. When I brought him home, he was 25 pounds when he should’ve been double that for his size. (He’s now a healthy, but lean, 60 pounds).

But if I’m forced to answer, I’ll say he’s a boxer-pit mix, with a little hound thrown in. His eyes are pit-like, as are his shoulders. His body is pure boxer, but his nose is distinctly hound. (See pics below.)

When I first moved back to NYC, I met a woman in Central Park, while our dogs were playing. Out of ignorance, I asked what type of dog her dog was. She said brown.

I said I understand.

After having Finn for a year-and-a-half, I still often get asked what type of dog he is. Inside I want to scream because that woman from Central Park was right. Who cares what breed he is?

He’s Finn. And he’s brown and white.

I Love New York

It’s illegal to discriminate human beings based on race or color, but unfortunately the same doesn’t apply to breeds of dogs. Well, except in my city, New York, where there is “legislation that [prevents identifying] dangerous dogs strictly by appearance rather than individual temperament.” (That’s from a great article, by the way.) Thank you, New York, for being truly the melting pot of the world, welcoming everyone, no matter race, color….or breed.

In that article, it also talks about BSL — breed-specific legislation, which are in place in many counties in many states in the U.S., making it legal to discriminate and kill based on breed alone. If we, as citizens, allow this to continue, god knows where this will lead next. Pitbulls now… who’s next?