Heart Like a Dog

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

Confirming Pavlov’s Theory

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Did you have a nice, long weekend?  It was a pretty chillax weekend at Stone Manor.

We had a cookout on Sunday, I always love having my family around me, especially the little ones.

Even though we teach our grandchildren, nieces and nephews to respect the dogs, they are dogs after-all and should always be watched.

I don’t want to say the kids are afraid of the dogs, although upon the initial entrance, they tend to shy away.  I think that’s mostly because the dogs are big and rambunctious and eager to greet everyone.

After a few minutes the kids are running around creating chaos and the dogs are looking for a safe place to hunker down.

Normally the kids can do whatever they want when they are at my house, but when it comes to the dogs I am very strict.

I don’t allow them to feed the dogs (unless we are with them) or to go near the dogs dishes when they are eating.

There is no hitting, only nice petting and absolutely no jumping over the dogs.

We do however encourage gentle interaction with the dogs. So imagine my delight when Hubby was preparing the dog’s dinner the other night and I captured this photo of my little niece.

I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to capture her with her arms around both dogs, but this one with Sampson is so adorable.

If you notice, she has her head turned slightly towards Delilah.  I’m not sure if you can see it in the picture, but Delilah was beginning to drool, which had my little niece totally engrossed.

Almost immediately after this picture was taken, she knelt down on the floor underneath Delilah and stared and pointed at the drool.

Auntie what’s that?

That my dear is Delilah confirming Pavlov’s theory.

Drama King

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Last week I shared a story about Sampson and a lick granuloma.

At the suggestion of our friend at the 2 Brown Dawgs Blog, I picked up some EMT gel.  If you’ve never heard of EMT gel, it is an all natural gel made of collagen.  The gel itself reminds me of a thick super glue, it is used to seal wounds, and is designed to aid in the healing process.  The package says it can be reapplied daily.

I’m not sure if the way the gel dries bothers Sampson or not, but Hubby was awakened yesterday morning by Sampson’s licking.

We needed a new plan of action.

We decided to wrap the paw at night, to deter Sampson from licking.  If this option doesn’t work, I will be switching to a collar. 🙁

I didn’t have any gauze, so I took a paper towel and cut it into fourths, then I folded the paper towel into a square, placed it over his paw and wrapped it with vet tape.

What are you looking at Bob?

Look at that pathetic face.  As soon as I finished wrapping his paw, he held it out as if to say, what is this?

When I coaxed him up the bed, he refused to use his paw.

When he walked, he walked with a limp.

Yes, my dog is a drama king.

And this is the Monday Mischief Blog Hop hosted by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, My Brown Newfies and Luna, a Dog’s Life.

Snoopy's Dog Blog

You can get your linky code at any of the host’s sites.

Happy hopping.

Dogs Can’t Add

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On our walk this morning I was formulating a lovely post about recalls and what Delilah and I have learned and applied in the last eight weeks.

The Key Lies in Repetition

It is naive to think your dog will come back to you from an enticing situation if you only recall occasionally.  I have been working Delilah constantly.  In the course of a 30 minute walk I probably recall her at least 30 times.

I reward her each time she returns to me with a piece of liverwurst.   I even reward her when she comes to me without being called.  Sometimes it is with a piece of liverwurst, sometimes with a lesser food reward and sometimes I give her a rub on the head and tell her what a good girl she is.

Our recall word is HERE.  I say it loudly and clearly.  When she turns toward me I say, YES in an excited voice, sometimes I encourage her, come on, you’re such a good girl.

On the rare occasion she doesn’t respond immediately, I’ve found if I say YES and continue to chatter while rewarding Sampson, curiosity will compel her to come and see what Sampson is getting.

Know Your Dog And His/Her Limitations

With Delilah, I know there are areas where the lure of what else is out there, is greater than the lure of what is in my treat bag.  When I am approaching these areas, I will call her to me and either leash her, or I will hold a treat in my hand down by my side and keep her in a heel position.

Once we have passed that danger zone, I will release her again.

Sometimes Even With All We’ve Learned, We Fail Our Dogs

In the last week I have been giving her a lot more freedom, in fact about 98% of her walks have been off-leash.  She’s done spectacularly…..until today.

Let me be clear, it is I who failed, not Delilah.

I gave her too much freedom in an area that is far too tempting for her.  Today as we approached a danger zone I recalled her, but I failed to secure her on leash or use a heel treat.  She ran out into a neighborhood and investigated Tia’s yard.

I tried to recall her, but the lure of the yard was far more interesting than what I had in my pouch.  Sampson and I had to go out and get her.

Yes, she spent the rest of the walk (about 40 minutes) on leash.

2 Plus 2 Do Not Equal Four To Delilah

At first I was angry with Delilah, she did not respond to my call and I’m ashamed to say when I finally got her back I called her a dumb dog.

I stewed about it for a while on the walk, but then I realized that Delilah does not know how to add, she does not understand, I ran off so I got put back on leash.

Back To Square One

I know she’s capable of learning.  Whenever she is on leash and we approach a steep downhill area, I say easy Delilah, easy.  She’s gotten to the point that even when she is off leash, she walks slowly down these hills.

If I continue to request a heel from her in the danger zones, before long she will automatically heel and stay close even if she is off leash.

Right?

It was lovely while it lasted.

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