Heart Like a Dog

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

My Dog is a….Counter Surfer (GASP!) Day One Hundred and Twenty Six

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We never had to worry about counter surfing with Sampson, there are only two things that I know of that could possibly make Sampson get up and take something off the counter; filet mignon (and who could possibly blame him for that) and butter.  Yes Sampson absolutely adores butter!  In fact, that is the nickname that my sister and niece use for him.

Delilah on the other hand, gets a 10 in counter surfing.  Delilah will go onto the counter or even the stove for food.  I can’t tell you how many times I have been standing at the sink preparing something and turned around to find Delilah standing at the stove eating something that is cooking!  She has taken hotdogs and chicken right out of pans!  A couple of years ago I was doing some Sunday baking and Delilah ate 3/4 pound a butter, wrappers included!  I waited all day for her to get sick but would you believe she didn’t?

This picture is of Delilah after she got into the pancake batter, while she had already licked off most of the flecks of batter, if you look closely you can still see a few.

Batter Up!

So what can you do if you have a counter surfer?  There are a couple of things you can try such as “scat mats” which basically provide an electric shock or emit a loud noise when the pet touches or comes in close contact with it.  Or you can make your own deterrent, once I put some tasty treats on the back of the counter and then in front of the treats I placed a cookie sheet that had about 6 clean soda cans, that I had filled with pennies.  The thought process is when she goes up on the counter, she will knock the cookie sheet with the penny filled cans down and the noise will scare her enough to keep her off the counter.  Delilah knocked over one can and still got the treats. 

So when that doesn’t work, what do you do?  In my opinion,  a good offense is your best defense.  Don’t leave anything out that you don’t want your pet to eat, don’t tempt them and set them up to fail.  Because they will.  Therefore, we try to never leave anything on the counter or if we have to, we put it as far back as we can.  When I cook dinner I usually make enough for us to take lunches the next day, so in order to avoid having Delilah eat our lunches, we make them before we sit down to dinner. 

Naturally if I see her up on the counter, I tell her “No” and I make her get down, but realistically, Delilah will probably always have food issues and the best way to make all of our lives peaceful and stress free, is to take a little bit more time and make sure that we all win!

Poisonous Plants and Dogs….Day One Hundred and Twenty Five

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Earlier today I was reading an article about ten plants (that you might have in your yard) that are poisonous to dogs.  Of course I am aware of the common foods that dogs shouldn’t have; chocolate, coffee, onions, grapes and raisins, but I was surprised by a couple of them, for instance Black Walnuts, while the nuts themselves aren’t dangerous, if they drop from the tree and lie on the ground where they begin to rot; they grow molds which are highly toxic to your dogs.  The article is a quick read and it’s good to know simple things to avoid that will help keep your pets safe.

Of course once I read that mushrooms were on the list, (albeit only certain ones) I knew I needed to pay attention to what the dogs were doing when we were on the trail.  Tonight during our hike as we were descending down some rocks, we found some broken glass and lots of it.  I was concerned about an animal hurting themself on it, so Chet and I began picking up the pieces and putting them in one of the baggies I carry.  While I was tentatively making my way across the rocks, Delilah suddenly rushed forward and began digging furiously in a crevice in the rock. 

The Crevice

At first I was startled and I worried that she was onto a mushroom….but almost immediately a chipmunk shot over the rock and took off into the woods.  Thankfully, Delilah didn’t see the chipmunk but she was on the lookout with her nose to the ground for the rest of our hike.

Which way did he go?

We know Delilah constantly runs with her nose to the ground, but we could never figure out why.  Since we know basically nothing of her background (before she came to live with us) we don’t know if she was trained in hunting or retrieving.  We often wonder if she would make a good tracking or cadaver dog.  We’ve actually talked about taking a couple of items up to the trails with us; scenting and hiding them and letting her “do her thing.”

Medications, Vaccinations, and Vacations…Day One Hundred and Twenty Four

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How do you keep track of your pet’s medical history, his/her vaccinations, medications, formal training?  What do you do when you travel with your pet, are you prepared for any medical emergencies while traveling?

I keep Sampson and Delilah’s medical histories in a three ring binder.  They each have their own binder and the first page has their name, their date of birth, the name, address and phone number of our vet; as well as our emergency contact information.  Inside the binder in order by date, I have copies of their vet records showing dates for vaccinations, any illnesses they might have had, along with the medication they received, certificates for any obedience classes they attended and copies of their town licenses.  These are slipped inside sheet protectors (so I don’t have to punch them) and they are easy to move about, if you’ve got one out-of-order, or have forgotten one.  In the back of Sampson’s book, I have a print out of symptoms of bloat in dogs, as well as what to do should you suspect your dog has bloat.  Bloat is the 2nd leading killer of dogs after cancer.  Since I have two rather large dogs, bloat is always a concern for me, so I want to be prepared.

When we travel with our dogs, their binders go with us.  The dogs have their own bag in which I store, their food bowls, some toys, any medications they are on, some treats and their binders.  If a situation ever arises where I need to prove that my dog has had their rabies shot, I have copies of it.  When Delilah took ill in New Hampshire three years ago, I grabbed her binder and took it with me to the emergency vet.  In an emergency situation you may not always be able to think clearly enough to answer questions, but if all the information is at your finger tips, all you have to do is flip to the last couple of pages.

It probably takes me all of two minutes to add their latest records to their binders, and those two minutes are so worth the protection it provides my sweet babies.

Say Delilah...when was your last rabies shot?

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