Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Adopt a Running Buddy

A couple of years ago I was desperately seeking canine companionship.  Having moved out of my parents' place and in with the boo, I was no longer surrounded by fur beasts or "the noses" as my niece lovingly calls my parents' three wooly mammoths Australian Shepherds.  My boo is a relatively sedentary person, and being the complete opposite I'm always wanting to go for a run or walk about the city.  Back then, this amazing volunteer effort caught my eye called "The Monster Milers" where you can basically rent a shelter dog for an hour to accompany you on walks and runs throughout the city.  The dog wears an "Adopt Me" vest, gets his exercise, you get the reward of companionship and volunteering, and you both receive lots of friendly attention from potential parents who spot you running.

My experiences surrounded the PAWs shelter on 2nd and Arch street.  On a weekly basis I'd run to the shelter, take a pup out for a stroll or a run (depending on the pup), and run home.  It was ideal except that I wanted the pup to come home with me, every single time.  After adopting Harry, I haven't been back to PAWs mainly because I've got to run and walk my own fur-baby.  However the organization has grown and spread to a number of shelters in the city, which makes me really happy. 

If those paragraphs didn't convince you to go out and adopt a running buddy or at least volunteer with a shelter, maybe the following will.

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Adopt a Running Buddy:

1.  Availability 24/7
Harry runs at 5:30am, in the afternoon, and as late as 9pm.  Maybe he's a little slower the earlier he rises, but he's never turned me down for a run.  That kind of flexibility just isn't common among human running buddies.  Harry also will run in the snow, in the rain, and in hail even with 30 mph winds.  He makes the same squinty face I do in the elements.

2.  Potential bodyguard
Running with a dog I've noticed I get less cat calls (hey guys...dog & cat pun).  "Girl, you ain't doin nothin wrong", kissy sounds, "Can I run witchoo?", "HEY WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING TO?  WHYYYY ARE YOU RUNNING!!??" from vagrants and creepers on the streets of Philadelphia.  As far as this city goes, it seems like 40% of the population is intimidated by dogs...at least that's what it looks like when Harry goes in for a rushed tail wagging greeting.  Most passersby flinch as if he might attack them while I'm repeatedly apologizing for his behavior.  Even though I need to work on Harry's "friendly greetings", I'm pleased with the intimidation factor.  Back off creepers.

3.  Guilt-free Breaks
Say you're pushing out 8:30 minute miles, acting like it's no big deal, you're not tired.  Yet you are dying for a light to turn red so you have an excuse to stop.  Dogs need to do their business (in Harry's case multiple times) and greet every one of their dog friends on your route, giving you ample time to pause your watch and catch your breath without feeling like a cheater.  Oh I did 8:30s for 3 miles and it took me 45 minutes?  That's not what my watch says...

4.  Distraction Factor
Nothing beats good conversation during a run.  The miles fly by with little effort, and you're left socially and physically satisfied.  It's a similar story with dogs, except it's less awkward when you're wheezing your words or run out of things to say.  You'll also find that your conversations are completely different than they would be with your human running buddies.  For example, I can say out loud "oh Harry look that's a nice stick!" when the same statement would result in an odd stare or possibly desertion with a different species.  Plus, one ends up distracting themselves by keeping an eye out for what I call Harry Hazards like chicken bones, pieces of hair weave, birds (both alive and dead), goose poop (Harry's latest craving), and other dogs.  Ah the streets are alive, Philadelphia!

5.  Kill Two Birds with One Stone
Speaking of dead birds, running with your dog accomplishes two things.  Your workout is complete, and your dog is likely pooped.  A tired dog equals a happy dog, and a tired dog means he won't be getting into mischief when you're away.  If I can get a 5+ mile run out of Harry, chances are he'll sleep the rest of the day. 

Quick photo shoot at a stop light - Harry poses dramatically

Bonus:  Unanticipated Speedwork
Track day or tempo day is a day I dread.  Speedwork definitely improves your pace, but it is painful.  What better way to incorporate sprints into your run than by sporadically sprinting after a squirrel?  It's common for me to do a few blocks of faster paced running based on a dog walking ahead, birds, cats, or if the grass smells really good that day.  I've also realized that running with Harry adds some strength training to my workouts.  Running uphill is hard, but running uphill while pulling your 45 pound mutt is harder. 

Harry has definitely improved my running habits.  I've found myself being motivated by him to pick up the pace, and even myself motivating him to keep up.  Both have made my runs more fun and rewarding.  At the end of our runs, when we're two blocks from home I can yell "Go Harry!  Go!  Go!  Go!" and he'll take the leash into his mouth and sprint ahead pulling me to the finish.  What other kind of running buddy will drag you towards a strong finish any time of day?  Are you sold yet?  Get on petfinder.com already!

Doggy Deals: Amazon.com Pet Purchases

For a few weeks Harry and I have lusted after Fab.com's toy selection.  Always the bargain hunters, we found some of the same items for cheaper on Amazon.  These toys made for great belated birthday gifts and like the best toys, they're both educational and fun.  Did I use educational in dog toy reference?  I did.

Dinosaurs roamed the Earth a long time before Harry got here.  So in order to teach Harry about the Earth's trials and tribulations, Nylabone stepped in with a T-rex dental chew.  Harry quickly named him Tony and I find them embracing on the carpet at nighttime, likely exchanging stories of extinction and commiserating over the lack of forearm functionality. 

For $6.02 and free shipping eligibility, this archaic chew toy teaches Harry that dinosaurs are tough, but they can be destroyed over time.  Plus, I was excited to get a Nylabone in a different shape than boring old bone - which ends up being shaped into a shank by Harry's methodical chewing.

Although Harry is pretty excited over all of his new toys, his IQ Treat Ball is likely his most absorbing possession.  Featuring a screw off top and an adjustable panel, the IQ Treat Ball will dispense treats if it's bobbled about strategically.  Harry didn't care for it at first, but when I showed him there was food in it, and kicked it around until some treats fell out, he became obsessed.

Now he can be heard noisily batting the plastic ball across the hardwood floors until it gets stuck under the couch.  My favorite part about it is that you can adjust the 'skill level' depending on how smart your dog is, or maybe for how long you're going to leave him playing with the toy.  The panel can open up to a wider opening so that treats flow out more freely, or you can shrink it so more work is required to get a treat.  After seeing Harry play with it, I feel like I should have gotten him a bigger size.  He actually can fit his mouth around the ball and will carry it around and slam it to attempt to get more food out.  Since getting this toy, it's been our vessel for feeding Harry breakfast while we're at work.

Our final birthday indulgence, was probably the most ridiculous.  It's called "Hide a Squirrel" and it's 40% off at Amazon.  This is something that I can't let Harry play with by himself unless we want dead unstuffed squirrels laying around the house.  But when we do play together, Harry is mystified. 

The game starts by introducing Harry to his three squirrel friends...or enemies (I'm not really sure how he feels about them).  They each have a squeaker inside, so obviously they each say hello to Harry before jumping into their tree trunk - a stuffed trunk with holes on the sides and top.  The squirrels squeak while they get in their trunk and once inside, the trunk is handed over to Harry who has to pull each squirrel out.

We played several times in a row and it didn't get old.  Harry got faster and faster getting the squirrels out and sat like the perfect gentleman while I told the squirrel story and set him up for trunk navigation.  The product offers up "problem solving skills" as a benefit, but I think they should also add patience and squirrel education, since Harry learns all about their native habitat when he shoves his face into their home.

Harry is definitely satisfied with his new toys and I think the variety has created more opportunities for interactive play rather than just chewing.  All three of these toys were purchased for a total of $26 on Amazon, which also qualified me for free super saver shipping.  It's a doggy deal!

Fido Flick: K-9

On a lazy Saturday I found myself enveloped in the 1989 classic, K-9.  Starring Jim Belushi and a manly German Shepherd named "Jerry Lee", the film follows the typical cop movie.  It's almost like Lethal Weapon except Mel Gibson is Jerry Lee.  Belushi and Jerry Lee are partners, as Belushi was assigned a K-9 unit.  The two pursue a drug case, which I am pretty sure is based on marijuana (lame) and criminally master-minded by rich old white dudes (unrealistic). 

Belushi is downright rude to Jerry Lee.  Acting as though the addition of this dog is just the end of his life.  Sure Jerry Lee messes up a few choice pieces of his classic car, but the jealousy factor created by Jerry Lee being fawned over by Belushi's girlfriend was a little over the top. 

It was entertaining to hear the comical dog groaning -which is pretty much how Jerry Lee communicates in the movie - and seeing Harry respond with head cocking side to side.  The groaning was dubbed in, obviously.  I don't think the director could've captured any timely real groans in the frequency that they occurred.  Plus, Jerry Lee very much resembles my fur-nephew, Jager.

The preceding fact probably explains that (as in all cop/dog movies) when Jerry Lee was shot (spoiler alert) I completely broke down within 5 seconds.  Even though I knew the end of the movie, I absolutely hate it when the dog gets hurt.  Here's a picture of me and Harry during my emotional breakdown after the dog dying in the hit ABC series Revenge (Harry's comforting) just to prove how raggedly emotional I get:


Which is worse?  That I get this upset, or that I document it and send it to the boo when he's not home?

Without completely giving away the ending, I came away from K-9 feeling pretty good.  Maybe I even laughed a few times.  However, as far as dog movies go, the 90s (Beethoven) and the 2000's (Marley & Me) did a better job.  K-9 is a classic, but it's cheese.  And although it's rumored to be a copycat of Tom Hanks' Hooch - it actually came out 3 months before.  Otherwise, Harry thoroughly enjoyed it, until he fell asleep.

Harry Hors D'oeuvres: Birthday Pupcakes

As promised, Harry's cupcakes, or should I say "pupcakes", were served on his actual birthday February 18th.  These treats bring such joy to Harry's eyes it's ridiculous.  Anytime I get one out he sits, he lays down, goes back to sit, lays down again, as if he's attempting to do any command I might ask of him in the fastest way possibly so as to speed the process of cupcakes to mouth.  Unfortunately this hasn't brought about new tricks that I wish Harry could do...like talking, giving me his paw, or folding my laundry.

I got the recipe for the cake here and modified it so I could make cupcakes instead.  Making them cupcake sized allowed me to keep these treats around for the whole week instead of Harry binge-ing on an entire cake in one sitting.  So here we go...

For the pupcakes, you will need 1 cup of flour (wheat or white), 1 tsp baking soda, 1 egg, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 cup shredded or grated carrots, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/3 cup honey, and I used lowfat cottage cheese as frosting.  You'll want to start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Dog recipes are so easy peasy, you just put all the ingredients in one big bowl and mix them together.  Oh and by the way, I grated my carrots by chopping them up first and throwing them into my Ninja blender.  It saved a lot of time, but if you don't have a blender or food processor, I suppose you could use a cheese grater!

Once mixed, line a cupcake tray with liners.  You don't need to spray anything - the vegetable oil in the cake prevents the papers from sticking.  I found that I could get about 10 cupcakes out of my mix.

Fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way with cake batter.  These do rise, but not as much as you'd expect a box cake mix to rise.  Put in the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes.  Mine were done in 35.

While the pupcakes cooled, Harry helped me clean up by licking the bowl.  He wouldn't do it in front of me even though I said it was ok.  It was only when I walked away that Harry was brave enough to indulge in cake batter.

The coast is clear!

I topped Harry's birthday cupcake with the lowfat cottage cheese pictured earlier.  Although it sounds really gross to me, he found it tantalizing.  With a few blobs of purple human frosting and the touch of a birthday candle, Harry's pupcake was complete!

We indulged Harry with the birthday song which he thoroughly enjoyed.  His face was mesmerized by the presentation of fancy treat accompanied by fire and song.  The birthday tradition probably looks insane to first-timers, but it didn't go unappreciated.



With my help, Harry blew out his candle and dug into his deserved pupcake.  Tentative at first, Harry began by licking the frosting off his cake first.  Then full on cake swallowing ensued.  He literally barely chewed, and the remaining two cupcakes he ate that night had to be broken up first because we were afraid he'd choke.  Yea...I let Harry have three cupcakes on his birthday.

All in all it turned out to be a pretty good first birthday for Harry.  And if you're wondering what the cakes tasted like, they were almost a peanut butter flavored carrot cake.  Pretty good for dog standards I'd say.  Harry has been having a cupcake for breakfast every day this week before we leave for work.  I'm pretty sure he's not going to want to stop celebrating.

Nom NOM nom Nom

Happy Birthday Harry!

Today, on February 18th, Harry turns one year old.  Now, we're not 100% sure when Harry's actual birth date is, but given that he arrived at his shelter on May 18th and was an estimated 3 months old then, we figured that his birthday was three months prior on February 18th.  This means that Harry is an Aquarius....which is actually quite shocking considering he hates water. 

We had Harry's birthday party on the 17th at his favorite place, the Schuylkill Banks dog park.  Harry didn't care that it was 26 degrees out, and proudly let Mom (me) put on his birthday flair.

Following a birthday photo shoot and several birthday kisses, we headed to the park.  Harry has never squealed so much on a car ride - not out of nervousness, but out of excitement.  Within seconds of coming within inches of another fur-beast, Harry's "Birthday Boy" pin was long gone, but Harry didn't mind.  He set about his manic sprinting calling attention to the fact that this was his party, and he came to rock it.

The party was packed, averaging about 20 pooches.  Dogs big and small wished Harry a happy birthday and engaged him in some sprints, wrestling, and games of tag.

Things got a little PG-13 and out of Harry's age range when a few of the older dogs started humping each other.  Harry attempted some air humping but luckily his Dad and I pulled him out of the crowd before he embarrassed himself. 

Like most dog parties, Harry's birthday party had to come to an end.  After over an hour of running, panting, and air humping, Harry was ready to say goodbye to all of his friends.  With all of the 'happy birthdays' he received from friends and strangers, Harry certainly felt acknowledged and loved.  Cake is being done tonight - we'll have a recap and recipe later - so you'll have to stay tuned for Harry to blow out his candle! 

Although we haven't had Harry for a full year yet, it still meant a lot to celebrate his first year of life.  Having Harry for as long as we have - about 8-9 months - has changed our lives.  I never feel lonely, somebody is always there to cheer me up, I have a running buddy 24/7, and I couldn't ask for a better snuggler.  Here's to another year Harry!



Harry Hors D'oeuvres: Lovebugs

With busy season in full swing for the boo and me starting a new job, things have been pretty crazy at our house.  It's apparent that Harry's feeling a bit ignored, and with Valentine's Day being tomorrow, I had to do something to show him that I still cared.  What I really wanted to do was take Harry with me to the Puppy Love Valentine's Day Party at the 23rd Street Armory.  Proceeds benefited the PSPCA, and at only $40 a ticket you could bring your pooch, have some drinks, eat great food, and socialize with other pups.  They even had a photo booth!  Alas, I worked a little late and didn't have a human date to go with me.  So I decided to bake Harry treats instead!

I got the recipe for what I'm deeming "Lovebugs" at AllRecipes.com.  You'll need 2 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (always can sub regular), 1/2 cup pureed (canned) pumpkin, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 eggs, and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.  First step, as always is to preheat the oven.  In this case you'll need to go to 350.

This recipe couldn't be simpler.  You just combine all ingredients at once and mix them together.

The result should be pretty dry, but if you need a little bit more moisture to shape your dough, add a teaspoon of water at a time.  A little goes a long way.

I decided to make little Mama Lucia meatball sized "bugs" for Harry, but you can always roll the dough out to 1/2 an inch thick and cut into shapes.  Since I don't have a heart shaped cookie cutter on hand, I took the path of bugs.  After all, if anything Harry is the world's biggest love bug.  Spread out whatever you decide to shape your treats into on a greased pan about an inch apart.

Bake your lovebugs for approximately 40 minutes at 350.  You might need to vary the time depending on your oven, but the result you want is a hard little bug.

Harry observed the entire process seriously and helped me clean off my hands after handling the dough.  He even helped me clean the dishes afterwards as I loaded the dishwasher, which I believe was his Valentine's present to me.  The treats were actually quite tasty...I had a few...yea.  I'm the mom who eats her kid's cookies.  But given that they weren't liver or chicken flavored, it was a safe risk. 

Having Harry means I'll never be lonely on Valentine's Day.  It's one of the many good reasons to adopt a pup - so if you're thinking about it, there are plenty of adoptables that need homes! 

Puppy Bowl IX

I may not be a football fan, but I'm certainly a puppy fan.  This past Sunday was spent visiting family and getting our Puppy Bowl IX on. Harry and I were especially psyched about the puppy line up. Augusta, a plott hound mix, was expected to make an appearance plus Cash, a pit mix, was representing Philadelphia.  Harry and I spotted these pooches using Animal Planet's website, where we also got to see the players before game time in the locker room!

Day of, Harry settled in with a bone and kept an eye on the screen. In the first quarter, two daschund Bassett hound mixes names Harry and Sally made the first plays of the game. Sally scored the first touchdown of puppy bowl nine only a few minutes in!  Harry had a bit of a crush since Sally's teammate was also named Harry...so much in common.

The game slowed down after a few serious plays, but Harry and I stayed entertained by Meep the Bird who was live tweeting and by watching the hedgehog cheerleaders. Puppy bowl did a great job of seamlessly incorporating their sponsors right before the Bissel Kitty Halftime Show. Speaking of sponsors, our favorite puppy bowl commercial has to be the Subaru dog commercial.  We were thrilled by the addition of the cool down tub, enhanced with underwater vision, but not so thrilled with the random screaming by the hicks in Animal Planet's hit shows.  It was too rehearsed.

Our only let down was that throughout all the subs and all the quarter starts, we never saw Augusta!  She was in the very beginning of the bowl when the pups were loading up in a Subaru to get to the game, but she must have sat bench.  Marta won the MVP, Most Valuable Puppy, award for her fierce speed and inexhaustible energy.  Harry would've given her a run for her money. 

Not only is the bowl a huge opportunity for shelters to get their pups on TV and adopted, it's also immensely entertaining...and worth DVR-ing without deleting.  We've already watched it twice.  Although Marta won the 2013 award, Harry will always be my MVP...dawwww.