He Said, She Said

One of the things Cesar suggests for Casey's type of energy is to walk with a doggie backpack. The packs sell for about $50, and are essentially saddlebags that strap to the dog around his chest and torso. Dogs were made to walk, and they love to work. They also like to feel like they're helping you. Putting a pack on the dog gives him a sense of purpose. If you weigh it down, he gets even more energy out, making a 30-minute walk seem more like an hour to him. This is a good thing. A tired dog is a happy dog (and a happy dog parent).

With today's gas and food prices, I have started making a habit of walking with Casey to the natural food store daily after work. I use less gas, we both get some exercise, and I end up spending less on groceries because I don't want to carry a whole bunch of stuff home. The other day, I got the idea to let Casey carry some of the groceries. We haven't tried the doggie pack yet, but I found a way for him to comfortably wear a human backpack. I let him carry my cloth grocery bags and his water dish. It worked great! He walked confidently beside me, and paid much less attention to distractions than normal. I secured him outside the store, gave him his water and went inside while he waited patiently.

Upon my return, I packed the following items into his backpack:
1 tomato
1 apple
1 banana
1 small bottle of vinegar
1 lb. ground beef
1 package hamburger buns

Now, that's not a lot to expect my beefy 70-lb. dog to muscle around. But, he's not used to the backpack and when he went to stand up, he laid right back down. I'm sure it felt quite strange.

This woman piped up, "Oh, it's too heavy for him!"

"Believe me, it's not. He can pull me around if he wants to," I replied, smiling.

She walked away as I adjusted the balance of the backpack's contents. Casey got up and began walking, a little precariously at first, but then resumed his proud cadence. The woman had been watching us and as we were leaving, said, "I mean, are you disabled or something? That just doesn't seem right."

I stopped and, again, smiled. "Do you have dogs?"

"Yes."

"Big dogs?"

"Yes."

"Did you know it's a good idea to exercise them and give them something to do to help get out some of their energy?"

"That just doesn't seem right to me."

"You should read up on it. Cesar Millan recommends putting packs on dogs..." She had turned her back on me before I had a chance to finish.

I could have just told her it was none of her damn business, but I like to take advantage of opportunities to share with people the things I have learned about dogs. There's a lot of ignorance out there, and if I can do anything to help someone better understand dogs as a species or, in my case, Pit Bulls as a breed, I will try.

Casey proved to me that he's the perfect candidate for a doggie pack, and I will soon buy him one of his very own.