Saoirse's Primal Journal page 217

[Saoirse]

the dog is a pit bull. there were so many sweet labs who needed homes, but husband has some sort of prejudice against labs so we went with a pitbull named "rowdy." he's had obedience training and was very well-mannered while daughter and i visited with him. I just spent more money than i should have on dog supplies.

any suggestions for his name? we were thinking Kirby, short for the dog who guards the gates of hades.

Your videos remind me of doing step videos. I have pictures of my twins (2-3 years old at the time) using phone books as steps as I did my workout. That was about 20 years ago.

aww how cute!

[naiadknight]

Kal El?
Petey? (Short of Peter Parker)
Shark?

[Saoirse]

shark's pretty cute.

[magicmerl]

Yay for getting a dog. (although I am heavily prejudiced in favour of collies over pretty much any other breed).

We've kinda stolen our neighbours cat Bob (he likes to sleep inside our house all day, and had been curled up on bed with me for the last few hours until the wif put him out), and Miss5 just said recently 'when Bob dies, can we get a dog?'

Possible names suggested from the cheap seats here: lucky, bob (...), bruce

[Mud Flinger]

I like Kirby - it's good to have 2 syllable names as it makes it easier for the dog to catch on - or so I've read. Dogs are smarter than we give them credit for and I know you'll all figure it out soon enough. Congrats and good for going to a shelter to rescue a new friend

[Saoirse]

We've decided on a name now, but don't want to make it public due to security paranoia.

I've been a good primal girl, well except for that dinner out with the kids- i had the fresh foccacia and some creme brule after my primal Italian dinner. i'm also doing my bodyweight exercises everyday, and starting to read about gym equipment. So i'm thinking- pullup progression machine (forgot what it's called) and free weights for now, in addition to the bodyweight exercises at home and swimming a few times per week. I have no clue what free weight exercises to do, though.

Today:
make breakfast (well lunch)
run errands
visit my puppy!!

here's his profile pic:
rowdy.jpg

isn't he such a sweet, happy boy??

[namelesswonder]

Your pup is adorable!

Re-naming is fine. My family adopted a dog who was 3 yrs old and switched from "Grace" to Sasha (I would've been happy to keep Grace, personally).

[Mud Flinger]

He doesn't look very "pit" in that pick (which is probably a good thing) - his coloring looks a little beagle. Cutie though. Enjoy!

[drssgchic]

What a handsome boy! I like Rowdy, but what do I know- I named a horse Gregarious

I actually read somewhere that pits used to be used as babysitters, so, good choice

[Saoirse]

Drssgchc- i don't like "rowdy" for a pit's name because of the reputation of the breed. we're planning to have him around lots of kids and other dogs, so i want to give him a cute name to sort of emasculate him a little. i'm sure he doesn't care what his name is, but others might get the wrong impression from a name. i think gregarious is an adorable name for a horse.

mud flinger- yes he looks a little more "pit" in person than in that picture. He might be a mix, we have no clue.

Last night i was reading about pit behavior and training, and it lead to reading about neurological disorders, which led to me reading about "Springer Rage" (which some pits have). Scary stuff. Stupid internetz. So i finished the night feeling a little uneasy about our decision, even though i watched a bunch of "vicious dog vs. baby" videos on youtube (rottweilers giving babies laughing attacks and stuff like that). This morning i stopped at the shelter to take our dog for a run. All (well, most) of my fears completely vanished, what a sweet pup! Not only did i get a bit of exercise from running him, but also from trying to teach him to heel. every time i pulled on the leash to bring him back, it was more like stopping him and pulling myself forward. My core and glutes are a little sore. He's learning though, most of the time he actually did walk/jog with a short, lax leash. I'm also teaching him to sit and wait any time i open a door or gate. Strangely enough, he didn't respond to "sit" very well; we'll have to work on that. But he was very gentle taking treats out of my fingers.

Oh and my hiking shoes were just fine for the running sprints. Maybe i'll hold off on the shoe purchase; we've spent so much already on dog stuff and building materials (housing project).