Elvis and Jude’s Day Out

November 17, 2014

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Sorry for the lack of posts last week. Sometimes, I get caught up with my days and when I actually have time to write, I draw a complete blank. But it’s Monday and I’m back. I actually have lots to talk about this week but I thought I would start Monday off with something light. And it doesn’t get much lighter than spending the day with Elvis and Jude…

Last week, I got a call from Casey (Jude’s mom) asking if I would like to accompany her and Jude out to Oak Glen. So I basically did an “eenie, meenie, miney, mo” on the dogs and Elvis won! So off Elvis and I went to go spend the day with Casey and Jude.

I had never been out to Oak Glen. I always thought it was just apple orchards (which it is) but I didn’t know there were trails to walk through and it is dog friendly! I’ve had other dogs growing up and taking them places is nothing new to me but the looks you get when you’re walking a “pit bull” are very different than the ones you get when you’re walking pretty much any other dog. The trail we walked through was full kids on field trips. While the kids were admiring Jude’s ears and Elvis’ pouty face, some of the teachers had some pretty uneasy smiles, almost as if they were waiting for a “switch” to go off and all of a sudden Jude or Elvis would turn into this monster. If you own a pittie you know exactly what I’m talking about, if you don’t you probably think I’m exaggerating.

Slowly but surely, our walk turned into a photo shoot, because that’s what us dog people do. We took pics of Jude. We took pictures of
Elvis. We took pictures of Jude and Elvis…and then of us with our dogs. And slowly, those uneasy smiles turned into looks of amazement as they watched Elvis and Jude literally pose for pictures. I could see the wheels turning in their head with looks on their faces as if to say, “Well, maybe these dogs aren’t so bad”.

As the day went on, we had people approach the dogs and ask us questions. We actually had an elderly lady ask us if we were afraid of our dogs…as she was petting Elvis. But then we had another lady who was so impressed with them that she wanted to hire us to train her dog. It almost felt like our dogs were on display but that’s ok. Part of educating people about our dogs is getting them out in public and just letting them be the great dogs they are.

On our way home, we stopped by the, Lazy Dog Café, for a bite to eat. Again, we were greeted with smiles from some people and looks of fear and disgust by others. As we were sitting on the patio, young couples sat next to us with, well, let’s just call the dog “America’s Dog” and he did nothing but bark and try to lunge at Elvis and Jude. The more the dog barked the more people looked at Elvis and Jude, again waiting for them to “snap”. But Jude and Elvis just minded their own business and ignored the dog. And if you’ve seen Jude’s ears, the boy can probably hear anything within a 3 mile radius (just kidding, Jude!) but pretty soon the attention turned to the dog that was barking the whole time as he was beginning to interrupt people by being so loud. By doing absolutely nothing, our dogs made their message loud and clear that any dog can act up and any dog can be well behaved. It’s not just a certain breed.

It’s crazy to think that both Elvis and Jude came from the same pound (Jude because of his extreme skin allergies and skin conditions, Elvis for being “aggressive”)…both were set to be euthanized, both saved by Priceless Pets, both former fosters of mine, both CGC Certified, and now both huge ambassadors of their breed. The best part is they’re both young and I expect them to be around for quite a while. I’m excited for their future.