Beef the Boston

new puppy!

2008-10-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

i suppose we'll change the blog title as theres a new addition on the way.

next week, we'll have a new, yet to be named baby girl puppy in the house!

tin can camping

2008-08-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

this weekend we took our maiden voyage with our newly purchased 2005 22' safari.. wheeeeee!
we went south towards santa barbara, to the santa ynez mountains & met some friends at the upper oso campground.
Of course, we brought our best camping buddy with us, beef!!!

guard doggin:

after a roll in the dirt:

poking his head out of the top of his kennel in the pathfinder, a move we call, "the alligator"

Beef turns One!

2008-07-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Beef's Birthday!

Our wonderful little buddy turned one today... we gave him ice cream and cannolis ( made for dogs) to celebrate.

we love you beefers!

Indiana / Chicago Trip

2008-06-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

June 19th - 23rd we took a trip to indiana for my grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary. along came beef, as always.

we stayed in a great rental house with many of my relatives. it had a huge backyard to play in.

we went to explore the dunes state park, near lake michigan

and we walked all around chicago

most of the time, we carried beef in his sturdi bag

all that traveling makes a beef tired.

hula hooping - the beef way

2008-05-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Beefs dusty desert weekend

2008-05-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went camping with a group of pals on a dry lakebed in the mojave desert, near ridgecrest, ca.
We brought beef with his new ruffwear boots to protect his feet from all the sharp volcanic rocks and random sharp things (metal & glass) that seem to be all over the place in the hills. Another dog was there, a young olde english bulldog named haley & they had a blast playing all weekend!

on a hike, the lakebed behind him

hanging out on a chair

fun with hulahoops

hiking dog

desert skies at dusk

dirty

dirtier

dirtiest! (someone found the ultimate sunbeam)

very dirty dog!

dog pron. viewer discretion is advised

2008-05-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

bom chika bom - bommmmm..

lookout, ladies. hes barely legal. i think.

a cornucopia of the beeferton pics

2008-05-05T01:46:00.000-07:00

beef poolside in palm springs

showing us the chickenbutt/frogleggs

BATHTIME?!?!?!?! oh noes.

i has a stick.

i has a giant tennis ball!

i rule the albany bulb!

beach time!

pigggaaaaayyy!

2008-05-05T01:40:00.000-07:00

we have a pig dog!

really. he likes it.

long awaited update?

2008-05-05T01:29:00.000-07:00

lots of beef to update here!

ok, so last weekend we went to palm springs, to the coachella festival. we brought beef with us, since we had a retal house with a few friends & there was a pool. it was a must to get beef in the pool. heres how it went:

beef has a lifejacket, just to make things easy for him. fortunately, it makes carrying your pup a sinch!

not very happy about this idea, at all.

and him being highlarious.

At the dog park 04.13.08

2008-04-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

beef tugs it out with a darling welsh terrier

More pics of the dog park day can be found here

Shark mouth!

2008-04-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

beef has a newfound love of hanging from his sock. I fear this will inevitably lead to his teeth getting yanked out, but hes having fun for now... he seems to love flying!

another LA trip

2008-03-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

we went to LA last weekend for the angels & airwaves show at the wiltern, then hit up a boston terrier meet up in brentwood for a bit.

lots of boston action!

more pics from the meet up are here

then we went & met up with Floyd the pug

flpyds pretty cute

but im partial to this guy

BANG!

2008-03-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

beef likes paper.

2008-03-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

i mean. reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallly likes paper.

beefy at the vet!

2008-02-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

Mack took beef to the vet yesterday to get his heath certificate as we're all flying to Seattle for the weekend, celebrating Macks 30th birthday, visting our good friend Danielle, and catchign a killer show by our pals pete & Tim, otherwise known as bassbin twins & uberzone.

21. 7 lbs!!!

Staying Power

2008-02-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

We recently met with another trainer from Superdog. This time we focused on down/stay, sit/stay, leave it, and a little bit of the come command.

Beef is an solid B+ student when it comes to learning new things. I'd give him an A if he wasn't such a little stinker when he tests us here and there on his commands. He is smart and knows how to work the system, so we are put to the test every now and then when we give him a command. He has been stellar with the Heal and Back commands when we walk him and it makes him much more of a joy to walk with. Meaning he doesn't tug on the leash or try to eat everything he can.

Anyway, about this training session:

For the down/stay command we spent time putting Beef in the down position, which is basically a lay down position. And then we would give him an immediate stay command. The thing I learned immediately is that when I was saying "Stay" before, I was doing it the wrong way. Stay should be a one time command and then you should turn and walk away as you want to and not look back and not move away slowly from the animal. The idea is that you create the type of situation you want him to respond to. I was creating a type of nervousness where I would walk away slowly, watching the dog and repeating "Staaaaaaaaay", "stayyyyyyyy" and giving repetitive hand signals and ultimately this wasn't being very effective.

While Beef was in Down/Stay we created lots of distractions. We would walk in and out of the door, talk with each other and the trainer, throw his toys and things around him to make him interested. And if he began to get up or show interest in a toy, we'd give him a "leave it command" or say "no" and then give him another "down and stay" command. He did very well.

The ultimate goal is to be able to get Beef to be down and stay for 30 to 60 minutes at a time without him trying to get up and walk away. So far this week he has done very well. At one point he kept getting up and it was confusing why he would keep getting up because he was doing so good, but then all of a sudden he started peeing. So, the lesson here is: When your dog is doing very good at something and then all of a sudden doesn't do it, he's probably gotta pee, very badly. So, lesson learned.

We also went over the Sit/Stay command and had Beef sit for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. It's not as comfortable of a position for dogs and especially on tile that is slippery can be difficult for them to stay up long. So he did very well with sit/stay also.

When we did want to release Beef from any of our Stay commands we would use "CLEAR" to have him come over to us and then give him praise and pet him and so on.

We also went over and taught Beef how to "Upsit" from a down position. He is off and on with this one and occasionally needs a slight lift up assist to get him up, but he's learning it quickly.

We are taking Beef to Seattle with us this coming Friday the 8th, so that should be fun for him. We got a new airplane travel bag for him and he will reside under the seat as usual. We'll be sure to post some pics of Beef on the big trip.

the good the bad & the disgusting.

2008-01-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

the good:
we're all going to seattle on the weekend of Feb 8th! visiting with beefs auntie juju & maybe even a boston terrier playday? who knows...we're excited to take the trip & bring beef, tho. since hes terribly big for his first carrier, tho, i got him a nice navy blue sturdibag for the adventure.

also, this past weekend, we left beef at home for the full day so we could go snowboarding a few hours away. we limited his food & water in the morning, took him on a solid walk so he could get everything out early on & took off, hoping for the best...we were gone almost 12 hours & beef was fast asleep when we got home & a very happy boy. in the future, for these day trips, im going to make sure we planned ahead for someone to come walk him, or to watch him for the day so we dont have to stress about having him alone for so long.

the bad:
at the park yesterday, it was very very muddy. Beef got very very muddy & i wish we took pics, coz it was very very adorable, of course. i dont even recall what happened, it all happened in such a flurry of dogs rushing past me, but i lost my balance & fell butt first into a huge puddle of mud & whok nows what else. im not sure who was dirtier that day, beef or myself.

the disgusting:
i heard beef rustling around int he kitchen & walked in on him fully IN the litterbox, eating...well, everything he could eat. and then we have everything that was mushed and smeared all over his face. sigh. a truly low point right now.

Beef in Training

2008-01-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Friday we had a visitor to the apartment, a nice trainer named Melissa from SuperDog Inc., a network of trainers in the bay area, all utilizing the same "dog psychology type of skills". She met with us for close to 3 hours and taught us some very valuable lessons about certain body language when dealing with Beef, and also certain ways he reacts to these gestures.
The basic idea was to establish yourself as the dominant pack animal above him, and to not allow his overtaking, reacting as the alpha dog would when a lesser pack member would act up..sorta.
What we ended up was instant results with jumping, biting, heel commands & really honing the social dynamic we expect.
Mack & i were very pleased in the results we had & will continue to work with beef on these aspects. his next class day is the night of the Feb 1st.

choppy chop

2008-01-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

so this morning, we got up bright & early to drop beef off at the vet's office to get fixed. not that we thought he was broken, but his manly bits had to go. he was so clueless when we dropped him off, he just dorked out & was all over the vet tech that took him away.. he didnt even look back or seem to notice we werent with him.
On one hand, it felt kinda like dropping your kid off to school the first time or something & getting all stuffy in the chest...a smidge of separation anxiety, i spoze is what this is.

At home, Orange dosn't seem to mind at all. big shock. He's celebrating by sleeping on the bed. in the same place he sleeps all day regardless. He's very festive.

The city fo berkeley offeres a spay/neuter voucher program for $25, thru a select few vet clinics or the local humane society. The majority of the reviews i read on Yelp for any of the places offered were borderline crappy when it came to anything surgical was brought up... i figured that it was best not to seek discount surgery when its the health of my baby pup at stake & just took him to our current vet, where the procedure will be what im estimating at about $300, including his microchip alien implant. I feel that i made the right choice for our peace of mind that he'll be taken care of by a staff we're familiar with.
Im dreading bringing him home tomorrow... what sort of condition will he be in, will he be in pain, how shitty is that lampshade going to be, etc... i really have no idea what to expect. I dont remember ever nutering any dog ive ever had.. most of my pets have come to me prix fixe.

Im just hoping the lil bugger dosnt hate us after all this.

Beef's First Christmas!

2007-12-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas day at my(Mack) Aunt's house with my cousins and other friends and relatives. Beef got a new present from them and enjoyed hanging out with their old beagle Dudley. He was a charmer as always.

Beef Opens His Present.

His New Toy "Chew Me".

"Hey, why am I out here, and you are in there?" - Beef, outside while we eat.

Beef went at his wrapped present like a pro!

Beef Playing Catch

2007-12-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

When we go to the dog park Beef is usually very occupied with playing with other dogs and not very interested in chasing after a ball. But we went the day after Christmas and had some alone time where he retrieved the ball for about 20 to 30 throws very well and efficiently returned it to me.

Here is a video where he is returning, but of course he gets distracted on his return. This was just about the last throw I did.

Here is Beef after a long day of playing snuggled up in a blanket.

He did some modeling at the park.

His best impression of a mountain goat.

Beef and Coconut

2007-12-26T22:23:00.000-08:00

Beef went to the dog park and had a busy day playing with another Boston Terrier named Coconut, and again met with Lucy(Blog below) for some wrestling fun.

Beef and Coconut Lock Up

Dancing with Coconut.

The face off.

Beef and Lucy

2007-12-26T21:59:00.001-08:00

Beef and Lucy, wrestling at the dog park in Berkeley. In French! Enjoy..

Beef goes for the pin on Lucy

Lucy shows her fangs!

Beef Wrestles Nolan

2007-12-26T19:32:00.001-08:00

Beef had a great day on Christmas Eve wrestling and playing with another Boston Terrier named Nolan. Here is some video of them both in action. Enjoy.

Beef and Orange Face Off!

2007-12-19T19:50:00.001-08:00

Here Beef and his brother the cat Orange face off. Beef is always wanting to play with Orange like he's another dog friend of his from the park. Orange is usually pretty hostile toward Beef, but given the opportunity to really swat Beef hard with his claws, Orange has only been soft and playful. This Video shows Orange taking some swats, but not making any great contact.

The Stare Down.

Beef Chews on some Rope

2007-12-19T18:20:00.001-08:00

Here beef is getting in some quality time while chewing away on one of his many toys. This toy is the classic rope with 2 knots.

Extreme Closeup!

jump beef, jump!

2007-12-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

beef's eternal stuggle: to conquor the cat tree to reach his nemesis, Orange, resting peacefully, tho taunting him mercilessly at the top of the bookcase. beef cant quite get to level 2 & is pretty pissed about it.

Beef at the Beach - thanksgiving 2007

2007-12-17T13:49:00.001-08:00

forgot to mention that for thanksgiving weekend, we took beef with us to Sanibel, Florida, to visit my parents.

beef likes the beach

he liked the sand, at least...the waves and water, not so much.

there was a moment, at a friends house, whos backyard had beach access, where we didnt notice beef had run off for about 5 minutes or so. after lookign all over the house & yard, we went to the beach, where there were plenty of people sunning themselves that holiday weekend, and found beef, diggin in the sand, sniffing all the stuff he could, with nobody even paying him any mind.

heres a few snaps mack took of beef being sleepy on the couch

here, beef enjoys the sand, diggin in crab holes.

he got very tuckered out at the end of the day, and here he is snoring.

and a few pics of us at the sunset

Beef wrestling at the dog park

2007-12-03T11:14:00.001-08:00

beef made pals with a little black lab puppy at the park saturday. here they are havin fun!

beef squeaks his crab

2007-12-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

SQUEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK

beef at the park 11.17.07

2007-11-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

we took beef to the ceasar chavez park again today, this time donning his new camo puppia vest harness. he's quite the model.

here, we get the stink eye.

every now & then we run into Hero, a 1 yr old english bulldog with as much spunk as beef. they chase eachother all over the place & wrestle like crazy.

here is beef pretending to be a bunny

and of course, the rest of the set of park photos from that day.

Beef Talks

2007-11-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

Here is beef telling me that he wants his Gingerbread Man toy...

-Mack

Beef at 4 months old

2007-11-29T12:17:00.000-08:00

November 7th, beef is 4 months old...and is a little monster

he is also a little angel, as always

here's some assorted pics of 4month old beef

at this point, beef is accepting his training quite well. He sits, lays down, stays ( sorta), plays fetch & has a fairly decent recall. as far as house training goes, the accidents inside have been few & far between. beef is getting the hang of sitting by the door quietly to let us know he needs to go out. we'd like him to scratch the door, ring the bell hanging on the door knob, or even bark to let us know audibly he needs to go outside.

so far, i haven't mentioned that beef & our 10 year old fat cat, Orange, don't really get along so well. orange is old & wants nothing to do with a spastic puppy who wants to wrestle at all hours of the day & night. there have been moments we thought orange was warming up, but he was just getting in close for a better swat leverage. so, we'll see how that goes.

since i work at home in the day, I'm on the computer a lot. beef likes to sit in my lap for sometimes hours it seems, and look out the window. generally this is his afternoon nap, too. in lieu of him going to the crate, ill say "kennel" and hell opt to sleep on the bed or hop in my lap. beef likes to snuggle up & just pass out.

- gabby

Road Trip to Los Angeles

2007-11-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

Beef's first trip with us was our ride to los angeles. We stayed with our longtime friend, jason, who has a bullneese (French bulldog/pekeneese mix) pup. Beef & Bruno got along famously & wrestled all night long & all day long. they played so much that when we took him to the dog park, they were too tuckered out to play with most of the other dogs & barely wanted to play ball fetch.

heres a vid og bruno & beef wrasslin

also that trip, we went to the kathanika decompression party. basically, just a party in the desert with close friends. beef stayed int he car for the majority of the time, happily in his kennel. it was a really windy night & day in the mojave & the temperatures were waaaay chilly.

here he is in his argyle sweater happily chewing on his bone, looking like a little angel.

and one of beef & i when we took him out in the morning.

dog park!

2007-11-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

october 14th was beef's first trip to the dog park. berkeley has many in the area, but we chose Caesar Chavez first. it was a huge park with green grass & an off leash area with hay bales where dogs can jump & run & go crazy.

here's beef running & jumping on the hay bales, impressing us both!

and beef just looking spiffy walking along the shore with his mom.

beef was so tuckered out on the way home he passed out in daddy's arms before we even made it to the first stop light.

and of course, the rest of the sleepy face pics are here.

Beef at 14 weeks

2007-11-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

So beef was born on July 3rd, 2007. he was freshly 14 weeks old after we got him on October 9th.

here is a set of photos taken on October 11th.

At this point, beef in weighs just at 10 lbs. i didn't think to measure him then. His ears didn't stand up all the way, still floppy at the tips, which i loved... looked like this:

he came with all but his last round of shots, including rabies. his first visit to the vet had him checked out just fine & they remarked at how well behaved he was then, too!

here's a few videos of beef learning to sit & fetch.

how it all began...

2007-11-29T01:24:00.001-08:00

i found beef online one day in august 2007 from a breeder as i was looking for a boston terrier puppy to call our own. i wanted a male puppy & one with a specific look, a good muzzle, something original in his colorings that would make him stand out from the crowd. I wasn't interested in breeding or showing, so the deviation from the "standard" colourings were what i was after.
these are the first few photos i saw of beef, who was called 'speckles' by his breeder:

i called the breeder, interested also in beef's brother, who had beautiful markings, too. Satisfied after a few conversations, they sent me more updated photos of beef in early september 2007 & i was sure this was the puppy i was going to actually put down the money for & commit to.
after discussing & confirming this with mackenzie, i made the purchase. beef would soon be put on a plane & shipped to us from Missouri. unfortunately, at that time, there was a heat wave happening in the Texas area and beef was delayed week after week because it was too hot for us to put him in the cargo hold of the plane. week after week the breeder called apologetically explaining they'd try again in a few days, but it was still just too hot to send him. While i understood, almost a month was passing since my decision & i was getting impatient.
i joked with mack one day that i should just fly out to Missouri one day & bring him back myself. shortly after making that joke, my mother (who was excited to have a grandpup) suggested i do the very same thing and i began to realize that wasn't the worst of ideas, especially as i continued to check the weather forecasts.
before i knew it, i was on a jet from san francisco, ca to springfield, mo. at the airport, i met the breeder who introduced me to beef. i brought beef's collar & leash & some toys for the flight home. there was some time to kill before the return leg of the journey, so beef & i spent some time in the grassy areas of each airport we stopped at. he was such a good boy the entire trip. apprehensive & scared at some things, including me, we warmed up right away. beef slept in his carrier the majority of the flight, tucked under the seat in front of me. it was during our layover in dallas before boarding that i realized beef snored when he slept...it was so darn cute.
when we landed, mack picked us up at the airport. it was raining & apparently was a rainy day in the bay while i was gone. mack was impressed at how well behaved he was while riding in the car. we put him in the crate after playing with him, walking him & showing him his new apartment & he slept thru the night with no potty mistakes.
this blew our collective minds that beef was instantly crate trained with nothing for us to do except pay attention to his eating & drinking & work on the housetraining part.

-gabby