Partnership Pet Peeves

Oh my lanta, the changes life gives you! This past month has been full of them and there are only more to come! I’m currently about a week (hopefully less!) away from becoming an aunt as my incredibly preggers older sister is waiting for the arrival of her first son. This will be the first baby of my immediate family, so I know we’re all anxiously awaiting the moment we meet the little man. As if that weren’t enough of a life change, I started a new job last month and I’m absolutely loving it! I’m now a Communications Manager at a local association, so it’s awesome to actually be doing what I went to school and spent thousands of dollars for…funny how that works. And as if THOSE weren’t enough, my older brother has recently gotten engaged and will be getting married this fall to his lovely fiancée! With two weddings and a baby, 2018 is shaping up to be a big year for the family.

A few weeks back, I asked my Facebook friends for any blog topics (Blopics? Is that a thing? Can it be a thing? Let’s make it a thing.) and I was given some pretty good ones that I can expand on! The one I chose for today is one that I’ve wanted to write about for a few years, but have been tiptoeing around because I want to be sure the tone is firm, but not rude; serious, but approachable; and informative, but filled with grace. We’re going to take some time to investigate some of the “Pet Peeves” I have as a service dog partner. Obviously, I don’t speak for ALL partnerships, but from the threads I’ve seen and the conversations I’ve had, I’ve gotten the sense I’m not alone in these. Rather than just list all the “OMG” moments of my day-to-day life, I want to be sure to include some alternatives that non-partners can turn to when faced with a service dog partnership.

Doing the exact opposite of what I ask and having a little ‘tude about it

Fun fact, I’ve found that children are THE best when it comes to interacting with Zido and me. Nine times out of 10, they’ll ask if they can pet him (+100 points for asking!) Then, when I say no, they just go "Oh okay" and walk away (+1500 points for listening!) My assumption is that this is because they live in a world where every other sentence to them is: “No, don’t touch that.”

Adults, on the other hand, are prone to just reaching right out to him (-10 bazillion points) and then when I say “Oh he’s working. Please don’t,” they’ll do 1 of 3 things:

1. Stop and apologize (you get your 10 bazillion back)

2. Get offended and give me “a look"

3. Wait until they think I’m not looking and go for it again

In the age of the “Me Too” movement, we should just conclude that in all situations involving personal property and personal space, ask first and if the answer’s no, move on and respect the person.

The best thing you can do if you come up to a service dog partnership is to first look for any signage on the dog that says, “Do Not Pet/Distract.” If you don’t see that or if the dog isn’t wearing any kind of a uniform, just assume you can’t interact with it. There ya go, it’s as simple as that. If the dog is able to be touched, the partner will more than likely tell you that and give you the permission.

Asking what’s “wrong” with me

A lot of times, this question comes up like this:

Random Randy: “What’s he for?”
Me: "He’s a medic alert dog."

Now the conversation will take 1 of 2 turns:

Option 1:
Randy: "Oh awesome!"
Exit stage right

Option 2:
Randy: "No, like what medical condition is he for?"
Me: "A medical condition."
Randy: "What medical condition?"
Me: "That's actually really personal."
Maintain awkward eye contact until one of us can leave.

Most people get the hint after that, and they apologize for asking a complete stranger what their medical history is, however I’ve had a number of people that STILL go further with the questioning and say, “Oh I’m a nurse” or “I’m a doctor” or “My cousin has a service dog.” While these help me understand a bit more about why they’re asking, it’s still a very personal question to be asking a complete stranger. They’re not MY nurse and they’re not MY doctor, so I don’t feel comfortable going into detail about my medical history, and I doubt they would be either.

In my last post, I mentioned that when you’re wondering about WHY you can’t pet, think about how you would interact with someone with a cane or oxygen tank. The same applies when wondering why someone has a service dog. You would never (hopefully…) ask someone why they’re in a wheelchair, why someone’s limb is missing, or why they have an oxygen tank with them. I understand that when I made the decision to get a service dog, I made the decision to stand out a bit in public. I did not, however, make the decision to give the public a right to my personal information.

The alternative to this is like the last alternative: just don’t do it.

We are so blessed to live in a time where “Google It” has become a sentence in and of itself! If, for example, you see me on the metro and I’ve told you that he’s for a medical condition and you see a sign that says, “Cardiac Alert Dog,” go home and research “What is a cardiac alert dog?” or “What kind of service dogs are there?” I guarantee you’re going to find the answers you’re looking for and then maybe even some more!

 LOUDLY pointing us out to children

This weekend, I went to a coffee shop for a little “me” date. While standing in line, this man came within 2 feet of me and LOUDLY started talking to his daughter who was definitely under a year old about “See THAT? THAT’S a SERVICE DOG. He HELPS HER with a PROBLEM she has” I wanted to list this as a pet peeve, because not only is it embarrassing to be pointed out like that by someone being very loud, but it was to a child that probably doesn’t understand what you’re even talking about.

Now, I understand that I don’t have a child and I don’t really know what it’s like to face a “Teachable Moment” with one, however I’ve had a few experiences like this one, and it becomes very clear that it’s become a moment for the parent to show others that they know what they’re talking about, rather than teaching their child a lesson. What I would suggest as an alternative is to wait until you think the service dog partnership is out of ear shot, get on your child’s level and explain what they see. During that time, I think you have a great opportunity to start the conversation on how to treat people who might seem “different” to you, one of which is to not make a scene or embarrass the person when you notice them. If I ever hear a parent doing that, I always make a point to thank them for explaining it and for doing it in such a polite way. You really have no idea how much it means to see the next generation being taught that different isn’t weird.

Contradicting what I say about service dogs to children

Back to the coffee shop scene, after this man politely stepped off his soap box and dropped the mic, he told his daughter “Now you can’t pet but you can say hi.” At this point, I understood that he was talking more so to me about what he’s allowed to do versus talking to his daughter because again, she was literally a baby. I said, “Well, actually, you can’t. Since he’s working he can’t be distracted at all.” To which he said, “Well yeah, but you can wave.” and I said, “No, you can’t. He’s working, and he can’t be distracted.” This grown man rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, sure.” and walked away. I’ve had parents say, “He bites.” To which I quickly try to clear that up. I’ve also had a mother take her child out of the cart at a store, set it on the ground and say, “Go say hi to the puppy!” When I stepped in the way, the mother got very offended and told the child that I was, I kid you not, “a mean lady.”

If you see someone with a service dog, it’s probably best practice to think they know about how to handle a service dog and that they’re saying what they’re saying for the good of all parties involved. Please don’t teach children that to be told “no” is equivalent to the person being a “Mean Lady.”

Starting in on a question without following conversation protocol

What does this even mean? Well, one time, I was on the metro with my headphones in when the lady next to me tapped me on the shoulder. I took my earbud out and she pointed to a woman ACROSS THE CAR and said, "I think she's trying to ask you something?" I turned to the lady and she very loudly said, "WHAT'S THAT DOG FOR?"

This touches on a few of the above pet peeves, but let's look at it under the scope of "Conversation Protocol." Normally, if you want to ask someone something, you'll first make sure you're within normal conversing distance. Then you'll probably start it with something like, "Excuse me..." Once you have mentally confirmed that they've acknowledged your effort of getting their attention, you'll then begin your question.

What I find many people will do is just jump right into their question, without trying to get my attention. I've been standing in line, and someone a few people back said, "How old?" Even though I heard it, I had no clue they were talking to me so I didn't say anything. I heard them ask it again, and again no response. Finally, they said "How old is your dog?" and sounded very annoyed that they had to ask so many times.

If you have an appropriate question to ask someone with a service dog, please use the same steps you would take in asking a question of anyone else! While I know a lot of people on a train might be staring at us, I don't assume that every question asked is aimed towards me.

Talking to Zido, not me

While you shouldn't talk to a service dog at all anyway, one of the interactions I've had a few times have been people literally talk to Zido instead of me. One time, I was on an elevator and a lady said, "What's your name?" I knew she wasn't talking to me, but I still said, "Courtney." She then looked at Zido and said, "Hi Courtney!" I said, "Oh, no, MY name is Courtney." She looked at me and said, "Oh I was asking what his name is..." I replied, "I just thought since you said 'your' name, you were talking to me since he's a dog." Then I smiled and you could tell it kind of hit her, too, and she started laughing.

As crazy of an alternative as this might sound, here it goes: Talk to the human. Not the dog. Dogs can't talk.

I firmly believe that having Zido in my life has served as an AMAZING icebreaker in social situations since everyone can talk about dogs, but I'm still the person in this partnership. I've had job interviews where so much of it was spent on Zido's training that we hardly touched on my abilities! When you're engaging in a conversation with someone with a service dog, just remember to focus on the person and understand that while we can talk about our dogs all day, every day, we still like to show the world that there's more to us than our furry companions.

Telling me that my dog is sad or that I’m hurting him

This is probably one of the most hurtful things I could hear from someone. It seems like such a small comment, but for some reason it really hits me. I’ve had countless experiences where people have said the harness is hurting him, or that he looks sad to be working, or that I’M hurting him. If you’re someone that thinks this, let me clear up a few things.

First, the harness Zido has was actually designed by a canine chiropractor and was created specifically for him so that it only rests on the strongest parts of his back. While it looks heavy, it’s not - it’s created to only be about 7lbs. I love this dog more than I love myself, and while I know a stranger wouldn’t know that, I hope to get the word out that legitimate service dog partners will do ANYTHING to protect our dog. They are our lifeline and they are our best friends. I would never put Zido in a situation that I know would hurt him.

Second, Zido doesn’t look sad. He looks serious. I think I’ve said before that you probably don’t sit at your desk and smile all day. No, that’s kind of creepy. Zee is the same because he takes his job seriously. Dogs were MADE for work! Think about all the things you see dogs do and think of how happy they look. I mean, seriously, I’ve never seen anything as happy as a dog herding sheep. While Zido’s face may look sad, take a look at the rest of his body: his tail’s high, his walk’s peppy, and his ears are forward and relaxed. He loves his job and he’s good at it! While, yes, he loves coming home and taking the harness off, it doesn’t mean that he hates having it on! My favorite part of the day is getting home and changing into my pajamas (at 5:30pm…don’t judge me.) but that doesn’t mean I hate my job!

"I just love dogs so much. This is so hard for me to not pet him."

I debated adding this one, because it's such a benign comment, but it's still one that gets under my skin. When someone says it, I never know what they want me to say. Are they looking for a "Good job!" or me confirming my understanding on how hard it is? Or are they looking for an "in" that I might say, "Oh since you did so well up until now, go for it!" Most people are dog lovers. Most people find it hard to not pet him. What I find super respectful, however, is to not even acknowledge he's there. If you know you can't pet him, it's so much better to just follow through with what you know rather than pointing out that you're feeling tortured.

"I wish I could take MY dog with me everywhere!"

I wish I didn't have a medical condition that requires me to take my dog with me everywhere. Enough said.

The main points in all of these are pretty simple:

1. Listen to the partner
2. Respect their privacy

I’m super excited for the next post (no promises on when it’ll be!) but my husband, Zack, has agreed to do a guest post on what it’s like to be “the third-wheel” in a service dog partnership! I can’t wait to share his perspective with all of you!

Love and blessings,
Zee and Me

But WHY Can't I Pet Him?

Something weird, but strangely common happened the other week that inspired this post. I was on an elevator and a man in a wheelchair got in. He said the usual "Nice dog, what's his name?" I gave him Zido's "Undercover Name" which is Charlie (I'll talk more about that in a bit.) He then turned to me and said ...

Side note: This was a one-floor elevator trip, meaning I spent all of 5 seconds with this man whom I have never met in my entire 24 years of life.

Anywho, he turned to me and said "I know it says don't pet, but can I pet him?" I just smiled and said "No, he's working." and the guy said "Oh okay just thought I'd ask." We got out of the elevator, scanned out of the metro and then ended up needing to get on another elevator to the street level. While waiting for the 2nd elevator, he said "So what is he?" I said "Yellow lab" and he said "No what service does he do, if you don't mind me asking." I replied "Oh, he's a medic alert dog." To which he then said ...

Side side note: At this point, I've known the strange guy (let's call him Ned since I don't really know his name and Nosy Ned is all that comes to mind) for about 90 seconds.

Back to the story: He said "So what's your medical condition, if you don't mind me asking?" Now, I try to take a really understanding approach to people who see Zido and me. I get it, a service dog is an oddity and super interesting! I remember exactly what it was like before I got Zido when I would see a dog at work. They're living, breathing, furry, adorable heroes! So when people have questions about him, I tend to give them an answer without getting too personal. This question, though, is one that I get a lot, and I always respond with "That's actually really personal." This normally shocks the person into realizing that they've just asked a complete stranger what their medical history is. We got on the elevator and waited the next one-floor ride in slightly super awkward silence.

Now, the whole asking a total stranger what their medical history is really deserves a post all on its own. SPOILER ALERT: Don't do it. It's awkward and it's kind of creepy. So yeah...just don't. But the asking to pet him has inspired this particular post which will hopefully answer the question that we all learned at the ripe old age of two and asked our parents incessantly: Why?

One thing I've found is that when there is more than one person in a group and someone asks if they can pet him, another person will often times answer for me. Which is super awesome and incredibly helpful! Except for when they're wrong about why. So here are two of the "Why Myths" when it comes to petting a service dog:

1. "Oh, it's because he bites. See his muzzle?"

FALSE! While this is a major reason that you should teach children to ALWAYS ask before petting any kind of dog, it's not the reason that a person with a service dog should be using. A well-trained service dog is one that should in no way show aggression towards other humans or animals. In fact, Zido is so non-aggressive that in the few instances when we've been lunged at by other dogs, he has simply gotten in-between the other dogs and me and stood there, not fighting back.

The second part to this response is also wrong, pertaining particularly to Zido. He wears what's called a Gentle Leader while he's on duty. It goes around his snout and is what his leash is attached to. The reason for this is not to stop him from biting (he can fully open his mouth while wearing it), but it instead serves as something very similar to a horse's reins. I have no way of steering Zido with the handle on his harness, but the Gentle Leader allows me to let him know which way we're turning.

2. "She just doesn't want to share him"

Granted, this is one that's not actually said out loud, but I know it's a thought because, to be perfectly frank, it's one I thought before I was partnered with a service dog. I'm not sure if it's just a thought that most people are greedy, but I think it's why people tend to become offended once I've said that they can't pet him. One time, a guy asked, "Well that's not fair. Why do you get to pet him and we can't?" There are no selfish motives when I tell people they can't pet him, and I can probably guarantee it's the same for 98% of the other service dog partners out there. The only "selfish" reason would be safety related, but we'll get there soon.

Now for the facts. When someone pets a dog, what does the dog normally do? It starts wagging its tail, licking the person's hand, and basically any other way that they can tell the person that in that moment, that person is the most important thing in that dog's life. While a service dog is an incredibly well trained and disciplined dog, it's still a dog. They aren't robots in any way, shape, or form. So, when a working service dog is pet, for that moment the person doing the petting is taking the attention of the dog FROM the partner. Even if that pet lasts for all of three seconds, it could take much longer than those three seconds for the dog to refocus their attention back on their job.

Think about it: you're sitting at your desk working on a report that is the make or break of your entire company. Everything that you went to school for is riding on this report being done exactly right and exactly on time. If you miss even one number, the business falls. Now imagine all of your focus is on that report, and in walks a coworker (let's go back to Ned) and Ned says, "Hey I know you're really busy and all, but what are you doing this weekend?" You can't help but have some of your attention turn to Ned, so you stumble out an "Oh...uhhh...gosh let me think....I mean I think maybe I have some laundry to do...?" Your boss walks in and says "Ned, stop talking to him. I really need him to finish this report in the next five minutes." So you turn your attention back to your computer and stare at the screen thinking "Wait, where was I? I just found something but I can't quite remember. Ummmm...."

DING

Your five minutes are up. The company is bankrupt.

Okay, so let's bring it back to a service dog. While you may think that a quick pet can't really do much harm, during the time it takes the dog to focus back on their person, they could miss a key function of their job. If it's a seeing eye dog, maybe the dog isn't able to notice a curb and their partner falls. If it's a diabetic alert dog, maybe the dog doesn't catch the drop in blood sugar in enough time and their person passes out. If it's Zido, maybe he misses a quick jump in my heart rate and I fall and hit my head on the sidewalk. You might be thinking this seems a little over dramatic, but it's really not. These dogs are more than just an adorable companion (and trust us; we know they're cute!) These dogs are living, breathing, necessary pieces of medical equipment. Would you unplug someone's oxygen tank because you want to see what it's like? No. Would you stick your foot out and knock over a blind woman's cane? Gosh I hope not. Service dogs are no different. You should just practice as much self control as you can muster in that moment, and let. them. do. their. job.

On Zido's harness, there are four signs that say "Do NOT Pet. Working Service Dog." So that should make it pretty clear that petting is a no-go. However, it's important to let people know what else can be distracting for a service dog:

• Talking to them. You never even have to touch them, but talking directly to a service dog or saying their name is just as distracting. Hence (I always love an excuse to use the word "hence") Zido's under cover name. When we're out in public and someone asks what his name is, I tell them it's Charlie. This is because nine times out of ten, the person will immediately follow that up with "Hi Charlie." It sounds nothing like his real name, so Zee has no clue they're talking to him!
• Making eye contact. For dogs, eye contact is just as much a form of communication as words are. Have you ever heard about staring into your dog's eyes, yawning, and seeing if they yawn back? It's supposedly a way of determining a bond, but it all starts with taking their attention by making eye contact.
• Kissing/Whistling/General creepy noise-making. Okay. I think this goes without saying, but it's really never a good idea to do this even if a dog is literally nowhere to be found. There's probably few things worse than walking on the street and hearing a stranger make smooching noises as you walk by. If it catches your attention, you can better believe it catches the dog's attention.

There are plenty of memes out there about how hard it is to ignore a working service dog, and please believe me when I say I know what it's like. It's hard and it's tough, but it's necessary. My old neurologist said that this dog has done for me what some of the best doctors in the country couldn't do. He does it by staying attentive and focused on me, and me alone.

I hope this post has given you a little more information on why a service dog should be left alone! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below!

Love and blessings,

Zee and Me

Counting On

For those of you that know me or follow me on social media, you probably know that there have been two major dates that I've been counting down to and counting up from. Well, I'm here to tell you that the countDOWN is officially over! As of last Saturday, January 13th at about 1:30pm, I am now officially MRS. Courtney Williams. That's right! Zido and I walked down the aisle to the man of our dreams and walked back with a husband (and a dad!)

Our pictures should be ready in a few weeks, but until then, we received a few sneak peeks from the big day. Our photographer, Taylor Rose Photography, was an absolute and total Godsend. From the very first time we met her, we knew she was the perfect woman to capture our big day and some of the major days leading up to it with an engagement session AND a bridal session. Seriously, if you're getting married, check her out. She. Is. Amazing.

Now the thing to remember as an engaged couple is that no wedding is perfect. Ours had a song malfunction which made me walk down the aisle to silence, we had a unity cross that just did NOT want to get built, we had another song malfunction that made us not too sure when to leave the chapel, AND I got an alert that night which caused the reception to end about 30 minutes early! BUT, because of the imperfection, we had an absolutely perfect day that we shared with our friends and family. It was the ultimate day of displaying the love God has given us and celebrating the amazing journey we're now on.

Huge shoutout to Hitchcock Creative for the perfect invitations and programs!

Flats...because I can trip barefooted....

I cannot thank our friend, Danielle, and her service dog, Rollo, enough for creating the absolute most perfect bow tie and cufflinks for my main dog

Yeah...my husband's fun to look at... :)

The other major date that I've been counting UP from has been October 25, 2014 which was the day of my last episode. While our wedding was absolutely perfect and everything we could have dreamed of, it didn't come without some hardships. Only my parents, siblings, and Zack know about this, but I want to be sure that my followers can truly see what life with a service dog and a medical condition is like. At about 3pm on January 12th, my count-up restarted.

Weddings and wedding planning are by far one of the most stressful events someone can go through. Even though we had a year to plan and an incredibly supportive set of parents and friends who helped us every step of the way, there were still some stressers that just could not be avoided. Now, unfortunately, one of the only things we know for sure about my condition is that it's stress-induced. As I mentioned a while ago, happy stress, bad stress, and shock lead my body to overcompensate by just shutting down. The day before the wedding, there was a perfect storm of, to be quite honest, totally normal stresses that would make the average person just lay down for a bit and keep going. The other thing to note is that my way of handling the random disappointments or stresses of life is often times through crying. I cry when I'm happy, I cry when I'm sad, I cry when I'm confused and frustrated, I cry when Zido does something that's so cute I just can't handle it. Well, at this particular moment, I had already been upset at two events and was close to tears. When the third event happened very shortly after, it all turned. I was sitting on a bed with Zido and my sister and the buildup of everything quickly led me to hyperventilating. No, Zido didn't alert before this, but there was honestly nothing to really alert to. My body went from upset to catastrophic in a matter of seconds, but as soon as that shift happened, Zido was on it.

I was trying to catch a breath, but at the beginning of an episode my muscles start to stiffen. Your diaphragm is a muscle, so breathing becomes incredibly difficult. At this point, Zido had gotten in front of me, jumped up to his back legs and landed his front legs on my shoulders to force me to lay down before he began licking my face. For some reason, my hands, arms, feet, and legs become catatonic-like and are unable to be easily moved, but are incredibly painful. As my sister and parents began massaging each of the body parts, Zido went from laying on my abdomen, creating a kind of heated pressure blanket, to licking my face, to laying his head on the leg that was hurting the most. At one point, my family saw that both arms, both hands, and one leg were relaxed, however Zido would not get off of my right leg when they tried to call him. My parents looked and saw that he was laying on my ankle, which was still stiff and incredibly painful. Once they were able to get it to relax, Zido finally moved and came up to lay by me.

I was able to rest for a little bit, but still had to get to the church for our rehearsal. It was an incredibly disheartening moment for me because it was a smack in the face that this condition isn't going anywhere. It may have been 1,175 days since my last episode, but it's still there lurking. I've never wanted to be someone that looks for pity or who flaunts having a medical condition, but the reality is that this thing is sticking around.

HOWEVER,

the blessing of knowing that there is an army of support behind me and the most amazing service dog beside me gives me the hope of knowing that it's going to be okay. I may be back down to day 9 of being episode free, but hey, that's 9 days of health and freedom!

I want to thank everyone for all of the amazing love and support as I've stepped into this new role as a "wife" (seriously, what?) and I'm really looking forward to all of the adventures and stories that are to come. As always, feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or topic suggestions!

Love and blessings,
Zee and Me

These Are a Few of Our Favorite (and Not so Favorite) Things

Hello everyone and Happy 2018!

Recently (as in last night) a friend asked if I was thinking of keeping up with this blog. I told her that I really wanted to, but that it had just been so long since my last post that I wasn't sure if it was even worth it. She told me that time between posts doesn't matter; what matters is to just do it! So, Erin, thank you because we're back and ready for a new year!

The topic I'd like to get at today is a fun but crucial one from my partnership with Zido: safe toys and not-so-safe toys. I never really thought about dog toys until I was in training with Zee and they taught us about what our dogs can and can't have. I worked it into our daily lives, but found that when I would mention them to friends and family, they were shocked! Almost every time I bring up a toy that I try to keep away from Zido, someone says "I never thought of that!" Some of the toys I mention may come as a surprise, but together let's keep your dogs safe, happy, and healthy.

**Fine print: I'm not a toy or dog expert. I'm a Zido expert, and you are the expert of your dog. Take the advice you want but please talk to your vet or dog professional before making ANY toy, food, or treat changes. They'll help you with the process of finding what works for your furball**

**Larger fine print: No matter what toy your dog is playing with, they should ALWAYS be supervised. I know how tempting it is to want to just give them a bone so they'll stay out of your way, and I'm not saying you have to stare at them the entire time they're gnawing away. Just keep them in the same room as you so you can hear or see if anything starts to go awry.**

The Naughty List

1. Rope Toys

The first toys that I keep far far away from Zido are any toys that have rope, but it stinks because they tend to be the cheapest and can be found anywhere. They're awesome for tugging and gripping, but as you may expect, they start to shred. Those tiny fibers can either get caught in their teeth and harm their gums, or get swallowed and wrap around intestines. When someone gives us a toy that has rope elements to it, there's no reason the whole toy should go to waste. I'll just snip off the rope before giving it to him.

If you know me, you know how hard it was to say no to this sloth toy...but the rope around its body would have been impossible to remove and too dangerous for him to play with

2. Chewing on Tennis Balls

Zido LOVES tennis balls. He loves catching them, squeaking them, throwing them for himself (weird but adorable...) and don't even get me started on if we throw more than one for him. So, overall, tennis balls are a great and cheap option for these guys, but I take it away once he starts chewing on it. I had no idea about this until we were in our Team Training class, but tennis balls have similar fibers to rope toys. While the fibers don't necessarily wrap around their intestines, they do hurt their gums. Think about it - the hair on a tennis ball is essentially a ton of tiny little pieces of floss. When a dog sits and chews and chews and chews, those tiny floss bits start to eat away at the lining of their gums, leading to potential dental issues. Basically, while ropes are an immediate no-go, tennis balls are more of a supervised toy that should be removed once the dog is no longer just catching or squeaking it.

3. Rawhide Bones

Rawhide bones are another one of those toys that are incredibly cheap and available EVERYWHERE. They seem like a great option for a fun little treat for your dog, but unfortunately they are ones that we stay away from completely. The problem with a rawhide is because they aren't necessarily the highest quality, they can become mushy very quickly once the dogs start chewing. When they become mushy, they then become incredibly pliable, giving the dogs the ability to mold them into sharp edges or accidentally swallow whole pieces. The upcoming "Nice List" will give some of our favorite alternatives, but anytime your dog is gnashing away on a good bone, you'll want to keep an eye on their productivity. Once sharp edges show up and especially if you hear a piece crack off, go take a look at it and decide if you think play time is over for the time being.

The Nice List

While it may seem like I've just eliminated the most popular dog toys from our shopping cart, there are still plenty of other amazing toys out there that I know our little guys will love! Here are a few of Zido's favorite:

1. Tuffy Dog Toys

These toys can stand up against Zido The Ultimate Chewing Champion. They're strong, fun, and easy for either you or other dogs to hold onto. We like to get these as a replacement for traditional rope toys because they're tough (hence the name), they're easy to find, and they don't shred. Two of Zido's favorites are the shark and the lobster. Zido rating: 2 dewclaws up

2.. JW Dog Toys

These fun squeaky toys are a great alternative to tennis balls! They still bounce, they squeak, and they're smooth so no floss fear! This brand has a ton of different styles of toys and so far all of them have been a major success with the Zeester.

3. Antlers

Instead of rawhide bones, antlers are a super fun (albeit slightly expensive) chew toy for your dog. They're super tough and the marrow in the middle tastes delicious. If you know any hunters, you can always ask them to bring home any antlers they may find on the land. Some toy companies, like Nylabone, also have synthetic antlers that have all of the flavor and durability of a real antler, but with a slightly cheaper price tag.

I'm excited to be back up here and to start off the biggest year of my life (my wedding is in 7 days!!!) Feel free to leave a comment with any other topics you'd be interested in and thank you all for sticking with us!

Love and Blessings,

Zee and Me