You Know You’re Living with DINOS™ When…
Ah, life with DINOS! It’s filled with quirks, isn’t it? If you live with DINOS you’re actually part of a super cool group of humans. I like to call them Team DINOS. We’re willing to do all kinds of oddball stuff in order to enjoy safe, happy dog walks. Are you part of the team?
You know you’re living with DINOS when…
Your dog walking equipment consists of a leash, poop bags, high value treats, a cell phone, and…a head lamp, so you can walk your dog before the sun comes up.
You’ve caught yourself browsing for Direct Stop on your lunch break.
You drive your entire dog walking route, to search for any trouble spots, before going for a walk.
The unexpected sound of keys jingling makes your stomach do a back flip.
You know
what a Happy Muzzle is and think they’re super cute.
Blind corners are scarier than a Hitchcock movie.
You’ve considered adding “excellent horizon scanner” to the skills section of your resume.
You’ve stood around, pretending to admire someone’s mailbox, while trying to keep enough distance between you and the slow moving dog ahead.
You’re considering teaching your Great Dane how to use the toilet.
If you win the lottery, you’re buying a private dog park.
You’ve criss-crossed the same block more than three times to avoid other dogs.
You have a pr
eference for the kinds of cars you like to hide behind.
Your hamster’s exercise ball is starting to look like a good idea for your dog, if only you could build one large enough for your Lab.
You know where all the fenced-in baseball fields, tennis courts, and other non-dog park spots are located. And you go there at 10 o’clock at night.
Your neighbor hasn’t looked you in the eye since “that time” you told her where she could stick her roaming off leash dog.
You day dream about what kind of privacy fence you’re going to install.
You’re excited to walk dogs in the rain or snow, since bad weather means fewer dogs to bump into.
You’ve whispered “be very, very quiet” to your dog, as you tip-toed past a sleeping dog in a yard.
You’re not afraid to jump a fence, squeeze behind a dumpster, or cut through someone’s back yard to avoid an oncoming dog.
You think Plastic Man and Inspector Gadget were on to something with those extra long arms. Perfect for catching off leash dogs at a distance!
You bought equipment for a home gym, but you already have a gym membership. The treadmill is for the dog.
On your walks, you wear poop bags on your hands, like mittens, so you can scoop and run.
You’ve got your trainer, your vet, and animal control on speed dial.
What else? Share the quirky stuff you do with your DINOS in the comments section!
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notes from a dog walker 
I want to get a Happy Muzzle for my chihuahua 😀 Those are so cute.
I know, right? Who would have thought that muzzles could be cute?!
Two I find particularly true:
Blind corners are scarier than a Hitchcock movie.
and
You’re excited to walk dogs in the rain or snow, since bad weather means fewer dogs to bump into.
To add to the last one… you get annoyed when other happy go lucky dogs are out on a rainy day… those days are for you and your DINOS to have a stress free walk!
OH MY YES, BLIND CORNERS. After running into the idiot with the offleash Staffie outside my own damn front door, I fantasise about putting those traffic mirror things on the tree in the car park.
My dogs don’t need space from humans but my collie in particular can’t stand other dogs. The Staffie wasn’t aggressive, but my dog (who was ON LEASH) reacted furiously to its sudden appearance right in his space and a fight happened. Yes, my dog started it. No, it was NOT MY DAMN FAULT.
just perfect
Just found your blog and love this post! I’m a trainer in NYC and still have some walking clients (who are mostly DINOS) and am very adept at jumping behind cars to avoid the array of dogs that we usually encounter. And I never leave without my Spray Shield!
Have you ever acually used it? Just curious about your experiences with it!
Unfortunately, the only time I ever needed to really use it, my own dog was being attacked (and almost killed) by an off leash chow, I didn’t have the presence of mind to whip it out (even though I had it with me and handy). Since then I’ve practiced pulling it out so that the reflex its more natural.
Sorry to hear that : ( I know what you mean about not having the peace of mind to respond the way you’d like to…practicing is a great idea!
Last week I climbed a cliff with 2 dogs (one is a DINOS)…we were on a pretty isolated beach and coming towards us in the far distance was a dog that looked like a rottie – my dog wouldn’t deal with that – so all we climbed up the cliff…the dog and owner turned back before getting to where we were…
FYI I fondled Direct Stop like air horn at the Dollar Tree this week. Head on over before they are gone. Here are a few more off the top of my head. Sure I will think of more.
Charlee was a DINO, and Beck is mild compared to her, but still I am careful where I walk him. I could add to this list….
– you walk your dog at the Airport because there are almost never other dogs there and if there are, they are my own training clients and we know to avoid each other.
-Your dog has an exit theme song “Charlee’s gonna git some treats…do dah do dah”
-your pockets all have holes because every thing you own has treat crumbs in it and your dogs are smarter than you about this
-your bait pouch has a super easy to access side opening, but you prefer the big ass ugly fishing vest as a bait pouch for the easiest access.
You have yelled over barking to the neighbors that you will be back in 30 minutes to pick up the poop after you take your dog home.
AND
You have walked the orphan poop walk of shame more than once
I’ve definitely had to leave poop behind and circle back when the coast was clear – eek!
Just found your blog btw, and I love it! Even though I don’t currently own a dog, I’m kind of the go-to girl for all of my friends as a house/dog sitter for their DINOS and so have quite a bit of experience with zigzagging across streets, perfecting the “look at me” with a tasty treat (or 7) to distract from that darn JRT yipping down the street, and projecting loud enough that the oblivious owner 100′ away with their off-leash lab sniffing all over knows that I’m coming and they’d better be prepared! My additions for the first note are a spray bottle for when you head around those blind corners… and right into another dog. And those blinky reflective clips for dog collars so you can let your Rottweilers loose in the 10 acre dog park, and know whereabouts they are as they relish in the occasional freedom! Oh, and glow in the dark balls for playing fetch are awesome too!
oh, spray bottles – that’s a good one! I’ve used them in the house and at the dog park, but never on a walk. Nice tip!
Love the blog and the comments are also interesting. I’d like to jump on the “poop” bandwagon. I have thrown full baggies of poop at loose dogs and didn’t feel the least bit bad about leaving the poop behind while we made our escape. Not my fault the dogs were loose.
But I often make pentance (sp?) at the dog park. I pick up lots of orphan poop there – where i can throw it away in a trash bin that isn’t my own 🙂
This made me laugh! I threw poop (in a bag) at an off leash dog once too! And I also try to have good poop karma by picking up after other dogs, to make up for any #2s I had to leave behind in a hurry! Aren’t we a funny bunch? : )
I’ve gotten so good at the poop karma thing that my girl now looks for other poops to poop next to. She thinks it makes me happy to pick up LOTS of poop.
Lol, my trainer just sent this blog to me and I can’t stop laughing cause I also have a Dino. He is a Daneiff and it is always quite the pleasure of walking him. Just getting out my front door is a very strategic process, lol. I have also done the poop walk of shame, his behind cars, bushes, trees and people backyards as they stared out there windows watching me. Lol, but I wouldn’t give him up for the world 🙂
Glad you found us Melissa – when you live with DINOS, it’s good to laugh about it!!
Love This! Found this through my dog trainer! Made me laugh and I needed it! I have 2 DINOS. We go on long walks at 4:30 am and !0 or 11 pm. Short potty breaks in between. I LOVE bad weather! No one is out! I hate crossing the same location 3 or 4 times trying to get back home and someone is still standing in the SAME spot with their dog….grrr! I must remember to Thank my dog trainer for teaching us to u turn away from situations!
You’ve trained your dog to lie down in the front seat so you can drive to the end of the street without her seeing anything. You drive the block to the end of the street twice a day so you can get to the relative open space of the empty lot.
You’ve circled the empty lot for as long as it takes to get it to yourself.
YES YES YES!
I don’t have a DINO anymore, but I can relate to most of all of these even with my non reactive crew now I still can’t stand bad dog/dog owner manners.
I sneak off to fenced in areas in the city all the time to my dogs can run unmolested by rude “friendly” dogs. 😉
You’re heart stops when you see a dog on a retractable leash.. Or it’s really hard for you to make friends with your neighbor because despite your own dog being muzzled, baited and lured with peanut butter, and your constant scanning of the street so you can walk your dog – the neighbor still doesn’t know how to keep their dog on leash or from escaping out the front door. I can’t count how many times my not-dog-friendly dog and I have been fleeing from off leash dogs and the owners are just staring at me like I’m some sort of idiot. Sigh..
Love this! My other one is hearing a garage door open when we are walking by!
Oh yes! That’s right on. I’m always hearing front doors, car doors, and garage doors open, Then I pause to see if a dog is about to fly out at us. Well done!
It’s good to know we’re not the only ones. I needed this laugh too!
Muzzle, harness, treats, clicker, toy, pooh bags, leash ….. The more pockets the better.
One of my most important tools though are Waterproof Runners/Boots so I can leave the paths to avoid the scary stuff (always wet here)
You try to tag-team walk with your dog. Not so much so you can bond with your SO, but so one of you can run and one can fend off loose dogs. You used to care about your walking/running pace, now you pray your dog sniffs the ground 10 feet off the trail long enough for another slow dog to walk by unnoticed.