Heart Like a Dog

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

Happy Labor Day….Day Two Hundred, Seventy Nine

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Today is Labor Day, which means we had a three-day weekend.  Whooo Hoooo!  It turned out to be pretty good.

Since Delilah ran off on me a couple of times last week, I’ve had her on the thirty foot leash.  This made me hesitant to take them hiking in the woods, I was a bit nervous she would run off and snag herself on something.  So early Saturday morning I took Sampson and Delilah up to the field to play with a bumper.

Delilah was so cute, she took the bumper and it was almost as if she were flirting with Sampson, she ran up to him and pushed the bumper at him then ran away, but she looked over her shoulder at him.  I got my phone out in enough time to get a quick video.

After our walk, my daughters and I took my grandchildren to the local Farm Day, where my grandson got to do a lot of bouncing in the bounce houses.  Then my daughter, niece and a bunch of friends went to NYC to see the Harry Potter Exhibition.  After the exhibit we went to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and then caught the 10:20 train back to CT.  After dropping everyone off, I got home about 1:45 am.  The dogs didn’t care, they were still up at 6:00 am yesterday.

Yesterday was tough, I finally got my butt off the couch and went grocery shopping, then called my walking bud to see if she and Brady were free.  As luck would have it, she also had Kodak and so the six of us set out walking; in the woods.

Delilah did amazing!  It is almost like she likes having the leash attached.  Even my WB said she’s like a different dog, much calmer and more relaxed.  She did get stuck one time, but we were right there and I untangled her.  She never went too far from us, and a couple of times she looked like she wanted to go, but she returned to us every time we called her.

After our wood hike we went to the field to let them run and play a little.  Two interesting things happened here.  1) While I was giving all the dogs a bit of roast beef, Sampson snapped at Kodak.  This took me completely by surprise, because he has never been a dog that had food issues.  My WB seems to think that Kodak is a dominant dog and Sampson was putting him in his place but it did give me a little concern.  It happened with Kodak and roast beef again today; so I’m wondering if she might be right because so far it only seems to happen with Kodak.

The second interesting thing that happened yesterday was while Delilah, Brady and Kodak were playing in the stream.  Sampson was hanging with WB and me watching the dogs play.  Kodak was trying to mount Delilah and she was doing a mighty fine job of letting him know it wasn’t happening; when all of a sudden Sampson took off after them and chased Kodak off!  He has never done that before either, and I’m not really sure what that was about but it made think that he does care about her (in whatever way dogs care about each other) and wants to protect her.

Today was another day I felt very lazy but I did manage to get some vacuuming and laundry done and the dogs and I got another walk in, we cut through the woods on a deer path and Brady found a tree that is formed so water is caught in it.

Doesn’t it look like his head is stuck?

But the best thing of all happened early this afternoon.  I got a text from Sara letting me know the training center is opening TOMORROW!  So Sampson and Delilah are back at daycare tomorrow.  I know they will be so excited to go.

So how was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?

Seven Links Challenge….Day Two Hundred, Seventy Eight

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The last month or so I’ve watched a number of you post your seven links challenge, I read all of them popping back to the posts you felt fit the categories presented.  Part of the challenge was to present the seven links challenge to seven other bloggers.  Each time I read a post that didn’t have my name in it, I breathed a sigh of relief. 

Recently my luck ran out and I was challenged by Just Ramblin’ to the seven links.  I admit, as I read the blogs participating in the challenge I did think back to some of my favorite posts, and there were a couple that really stood out for me as fitting a particular category, but I really wanted to do this blog justice, so I went back and skimmed through all my posts.  

The first two months I was voicing my opinion about a variety of things; I did not consider those, I only chose posts which were about dogs because the blog is Life With Sampson and Delilah.

I was in the same boat as many of you who have already taken this challenge because there were certain categories that I could not choose just one post.  So here is what I came up.

Most Beautiful Post  – this was hard for me, I had two that really resonate in my heart.  Happy Birthday Sampson, and  Delilah’s story, on Sampson’s birthday I tried to articulate in a letter, the love and gratitude I have for my Heart Dog, and Delilah’s story was very emotional for me to write.

Most Popular Post – Poor Punkin according to WordPress statistics the day I posted this, was the day I had the most traffic on my website.  Indeed that post had 28 comments (half of which were mine) which was the most comments I’d ever had.  Pawm Etiquette had more comments but because it was a blog party, I expected more traffic.

I don't feel well.

Most controversial post – Delilah Stone Role Model  I have very little controversy on this blog this was the closest I could come to finding controversy.  An anonymous person posted that I didn’t have my facts correct, which ticked me off.  I want people to respond and I have no problem if you disagree with what I say, but own your words and be respectful.  After that comment, I finally set about making rules for my blog.

Delilah on the See Saw

Most helpful post – this was one of those categories that I couldn’t decide upon.  I’m really adamant that my dogs have a tag on them at all times  The Importance of Tags explained my position. I also thought  New Experiences was beneficial in regards to trying to prepare your dogs for something they haven’t experienced before and  Medications, Vaccinations and Vacations explained how my dogs medical records are organized and why.

Post you are most proud of – It’s all about perspective, I thought this was creative because it told the story from the perspective of all involved.  It encouraged me to think outside the box see the situation from the animal’s eyes.

Post that didn’t get the attention it deserved – The Legacy of Michael Vick, I fully expected flack from this post, in fact I so concerned it would sound like I was taking Michael Vick’s side that I called my daughter and read her the post before clicking “publish.”  I tweaked and re-wrote and surprisingly had only 6 comments on the post.  I was certain I was going to have some negative comments or at least someone debating against me, but it was published with very few responses.

Post whose success surprised me – If you read a post and leave a comment I am surprised (well mostly excited) so any post that receives a comment is a success.

Part of the challenge is to pass the challenge on to seven other blogs; since I know many of you have already done this I will not ask you to do it again.  HOWEVER, if you would like to take the seven link challenge I am passing it along to you! 

It is an interesting journey looking back through your posts and figuring out what fits where.

What do you think of my choices? Would you have chosen something different?

Hurricane Delilah….Day Two Hundred, Seventy Seven

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We battened down the hatches and weathered Hurricane Irene, but somehow we weren’t prepared for Hurricane Delilah.

Delilah has continued in her seek and destroy mission.  Lately she has been targeting the recycling items.  I have a tendency to wash out the recycles and let them sit on the end of counter, I know bad form Jodi.  I set her up to fail.

This morning Hubby asked, “Did you have any little square brown treats in a plastic bag?”

“Yes.”

“Where were they?”

“On top of the refrigerator.”

“Hmmmm, it seems Delilah has a little help in her demolition work.”

I know for a fact Delilah CANNOT get on top of the refrigerator, besides I am her alibi, she really was with me all night; curled up at the bottom of the bed.

Now I wonder if she really has been the one instigating all the destruction, I know for sure she has been the destroyer on some items, but has she been the one getting up on the counter?  I’m not really sure.

Our daughter and her family were staying with us in the beginning of the week because they lost electricity, my SIL came home to find Delilah’s thyroid bottle chewed and pills all over the floor!  He picked up what was left and alerted me.  I immediately called the vet, Dr. Soutter actually chuckled!  Thankfully she hadn’t eaten enough pills to harm herself, we skipped her evening medication and her next morning dose and she was fine.

She was also running off on our walks.  I thought perhaps the change in the household had thrown her off, but they went home Wednesday.  Yesterday morning I opened the pantry to get a bit of oil for my salad and look what Delilah did.

Yup, that’s a can of Crisco.

Last night I came home to this.

A full box of tissues, a beef broth container, a Pomi tomato container and what was left in the salt canister.

I’m beginning to wonder if she isn’t having separation anxiety.  She usually hangs wherever I am, and can sometimes be clingy, but I don’t get the running off bit if she has separation anxiety.

Last night we had her in the field on the 30 foot leash and she was so well-behaved.  We even dropped the leash to let her play with her bumper and she came back every time.

It was almost as if she liked being on the leash.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

This is the Saturday morning BlogHop, hop…hop.

http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2011/09/the-saturday-pet-blogger-hop-doggone-fishing/

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