Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Delilah’s Reality Show and Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Day 11

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I’m not a big fan of reality TV.

Except for that one season I watched the Bachelorette, I could care less if Ice Loves Cocoa, Harry Loves Lisa or if I’m Keeping up with the Kardashians.  Really, before the show, just who the hell were the Kardashians anyway?  And someone, ANYONE tell me why do I need to keep up with them?

I know a lot of people are enjoying some kind of puppy cam, or eagle cam or bear cam, (I’m not exactly sure) and while I think small animals are adorable, and could really sit and watch puppies play all day long, I think people would get quite a bit of amusement watching Delilah’s Reality Show.

I mean let’s face it Delilah is amusing, she has her own mind set and does pretty much what she wants, plus she’s funny as hell.

The real amusement however would come from the human’s reactions.

Let me set the scene.

It’s Saturday afternoon, I have two 10 pound bags of chicken necks defrosting in the sink.  I’ve already chipped away at one and pulled off about three pounds, which have been bagged and refrozen for future breakfasts for Sampson and Delilah.

As I am want to do when I have too many ‘to do’ items on my list, I stop one thing and wander off to do another.  In this case it was to swap out a load of laundry.

As I’m putting the last piece from the washer into the dryer I have a sudden thought, “I’m going to go out and catch Delilah with her face in the sink, doing her damndest to grab herself a chicken neck.

I giggled slightly to myself at the thought.

I step out of the bedroom and look towards the sink, but there is no Chocolate Lab there staring back at me.  I take three tentative steps towards the living room and that’s when I see her.

Gnawing on the frozen lump of chicken necks on my living room carpet.

Now I don’t care what anyone tells you, but when you come out of your bedroom and find your dog has removed SEVEN POUNDS OF FROZEN CHICKEN NECKS from your kitchen sink and is eating them on your living room rug, your first thought is not, “Let me grab my camera and take a picture.”

Oh no.

Believe it or not, it’s not your second thought either.

I’m sorry if that disappoints you, but I’m human after all and my first thought was OH MY GOD, she’s eating raw chicken necks on my rug!

On. My. Rug.

My second (coherent, printable thought) was, I must stop her, so I screamed, “DELILAH!”

She turned and looked at me then whipped her head back around working all that much harder to gather whatever bit of juicy goodness that she could before I took her treasured prize away.

I on the other hand, had turned into one of those “Here’s Your Sign” people, I screamed “What the Fuck?” and then “What the fuck is wrong with you?”  Like I really expected her to answer me.

In case you’re wondering, she didn’t.

After I managed to pull her away from the chicken necks, I did snap a photo.

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Seven pounds of chicken necks on my carpet.

I loaned my crate out to someone for a new puppy so I didn’t have it to put her in.  I know, I know you are not supposed to use the crate for punishment but on rare occasions I do.  Dragging seven pounds of chicken necks through my house constitutes punishment.

Whatever, judge me if you will,  you don’t live with this dog.

So since I did not have the jail to incarcerate her in crate, I made her sit on the couch until she was sorry.

She’s still sitting there.

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When I see something I want I go after it. Saturday I wanted chicken necks.

Come on, she’s a freakin’ lab, she’s not sorry!

See what I mean about the real amusement coming from the human’s reactions?  If she’d had a camera like Miss Meadow does, she might have actually captured the look on my face, in that brief but shining moment she turned around to look at me.

What’s the craziest thing your dog has ever done?

 Can you believe it’s already the 11th day of December?  Check out the Advent Calendar information.

Win gorgeous, durable recycled glass PawNosh bowls in the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Giveaway Event It’s time for the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers hosted by Kol’s Notes, Heart Like a Dog, My Brown Newfies, My GBGV Life & Bringing up Bella! 24 giveaways in 24 days, plus a grand prize worth more than $800 – who wants to win? Today’s giveaway is sponsored by PawNosh. You could win a beautiful, durable recycled glass dog bowl. Click here to check out the Advent Calendar and enter today’s giveaway!

Off-leash Chatter and Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Day 10

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You may remember we had an incident in class where Delilah completely ignored me and went off and did her own thing.  Our trainer’s thought is that the leash is a connection for Delilah and I and once that leash is unclipped Delilah feels like she doesn’t need to interact with me anymore.

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That statement brought up so many great thoughts and comments, so I thought I’d respond to them here.

Jan said, “There is usually some logic and consistency in the way a dog brain operates, It’s great that you were up for the challenge.”

Yup, there’s Delilah the Mr. Spock of the dog world, logically she thinks when we aren’t connected by the leash, we aren’t connect at all.

Beam me up Scotty.

Pamela asked, “Curious. I remember you doing some off-leash heeling practice at home. Do you do something special to signal her that you’re working together off leash?”

Well the first thing that was different is at home I had food in my hand.  Granted it was ONLY a chick pea, but it was food none-the-less.  In Nosework class I don’t have the food in my hand, it’s in my treat pouch.

She is also not on leash at home nor is she wearing a collar.  Typically when I release her to find in the class room, I simply drop the leash and let her go.  But this particular time I unclipped the leash.  You may recall I struggle with her taking off on me on our walks if I don’t keep her on leash.

That is really the only difference I can think of.

Jessica said, “You can also use two leashes–unclip one leash and see if the dog tries to run off. No risk if they do, because you still have the other one attached.”

That is an awesome idea!  I have a 15′ leash I use on our walks and I think I might just try that, although I wonder if she can sense the weight of the leash on the collar?

Kristine said, “I am so glad you were able to come up with something that helped! Though I am kind of bummed there was no magic cure all. *sigh*”

Ah Kristine my dear, you’ve been working with the Tornado on a leash long enough to know there is no magic cure all.  🙂  I am however hopeful that now we know what the issue is, there will be a way to work on it.  Never fear, I will share as we go.

Dawn said, “Keeping that connection for off leash work can be tough (says she with terriers). It’s been a longtime since I’ve trained for the obedience ring, but I used to do a little routine where I would get my dog into heel position, look at them to be sure they were paying attention to me, then say ready when they were. This was to help keep that connection and let them know that we were in working mode. In training class, I worked to keep my dog engaged with me whenever there was downtime (other dogs working, instructor speaking, etc.). I would just ask them to do simple behaviors like puppy pushups, spins, nothing that would get to rowdy.”

You bring up a great point Dawn.  Typically I have Delilah focus on me while Arianne is hiding our find.  I also work to keep her busy while other teams our searching, just as you suggested.  We play target games, I have her sit, down or spin BUT for some reason that night I was short on treats, so I was stingy.  And I did not keep her occupied during our ‘down time.’

I might have played a part in this particular incident.

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You’re crazy woman, I am a searching machine!

So what do you think?  Does it make sense?  Is there off-leash hope for Delilah?  Sound off in the comments.

Now are you ready for the Advent Calendar information?

Win Acadia Antlers moose antler pet chews in the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Giveaway Event It’s time for the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers hosted by Kol’s Notes, Heart Like a Dog, My Brown Newfies, My GBGV Life & Bringing up Bellat! 24 giveaways in 24 days, plus a grand prize worth more than $800 – who wants to win? Today’s giveaway is sponsored by Acadia Antlers. You could win durable moose antler chews and treats for your dog. Click here to check out the Advent Calendar and enter today’s giveaway!

Meet The Bloggers and Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Day 9

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Friday I told you we’d be talking about Delilah’s off-leash behavior today, but something awesome came up that I just had to share!  So I’m saving the post on the leash talk until tomorrow.

So are you ready for the BIG announcement?

There’s a special blog hop taking place on the 18th of December!  Siriusly you guys, this is a blogging EXTRAVAGANZA!

The brain child of AJ from I Still Want More Puppies and Amy from Go Pet Friendly and co-hosted by Jodi from Kol’s Notes, Leslie from Bringing up Bella, Jenny Jugs from My Brown Newfies, Dawn from NEPA Pets, Mel from No Dog About It, Julie from The Daily Dog Blog, Lauren from Life With Desmond, Kim from Cindy Lu’s Muse, Kristine from Rescued Insanity, Peggy from Peggy’s Pet Place and yours truly, this is one blog hop you aren’t going to want to miss!

So are you ready for all the deets?

Here is everything you need to know, to prep your post for the 18th.

1. The post must include a current photo of yourself.

2. Answer at least five, (but more if you’d like!) of the following questions:

What’s your favorite non-animal related book?
What’s your favorite non-animal related movie?
What’s your favorite non-animal related food?
Who’s your favorite actor?
What’s one thing you have to do every day?
What makes you feel fabulous?
What do you wish you were more skilled at?
What’s your favorite holiday?
Favorite meal?
What do you like to do in your free time?
What one word would people who know you use to describe you?
If your pets could talk, what one word would THEY use to describe you?
What is one thing you’ve done that you’re most proud of?
How is your pet most like you?
What can your body do for you that makes you most proud?
If you could change one thing about your life what would it be?
Other than blogging, what are three things you do that bring you joy?
What’s one thing you could do to be more kind to yourself?
What drives you nuts about your pets?
What melts your heart?
If you didn’t have your current pets, what pets would you choose to have?
 

Grab a badge below and display it on your blog to let others know you are participating in the hop and then come back here on the 18th to get your linky code and join the hop!  Sounds like fun, right?  I’ll be participating, will you?

PET CRAZY BADGE

Meet the Pet Bloggers Hop

CAT CRAZY BADGE

Meet the Pet Bloggers Hop

DOG CRAZY BADGE

Meet the Pet Bloggers Hop

 

And if that isn’t enough excitement in your day, today is the 9th day of advent, and your calendar giveaway is here!

Enter to win Wags'n'Wiggles dog accessories in the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Giveaway Event It’s time for the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers hosted by Kol’s Notes, Heart Like a Dog, My Brown Newfies, My GBGV Life & Bringing up Bella! 24 giveaways in 24 days, plus a grand prize worth more than $800 – who wants to win? Today’s giveaway is sponsored by Wags and Wiggles. You could win adorable handcrafted accessories for you & your dog. Click here to check out the Advent Calendar and enter today’s giveaway

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