Heart Like a Dog

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

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back….Day Two Hundred, Sixty Four

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There’s a theory when you are trying to adjust a behavior with your child that as you change one behavior, they may act out in another way.  I think the same theory holds true for dogs.

I have been working really hard with Delilah to get her to sit when I am working in the kitchen.  She has been doing really well with it, trouble is she is acting out in other ways and it is becoming very frustrating.

Three days in a row I have come home to scenes such as this

And this

Two days in a row, she ran away from me on our hike and investigated some neighboring houses on her own; totally ignoring me calling her.

I’ve had to put her on the thirty foot lead, until we are past the “danger” area.

As luck would have it, today my sister I went to a psychic fair.   I wanted a card reading, the woman I choose was also an animal communicator.  After we discussed career and relationship she said is there anything else you want to know about.

“That dog.”

She asked a couple of questions,”What kind of dog? What color?  What’s her name?”

Then she picked up a little glass ball and closed her eyes and she smiled.

She is tearing things up because she is bored.

She is running away on the trail because she is tracking…a prowler.  According to this medium, the coyotes are getting more brazen and are leaving the woods and checking out the surrounding houses.

“Is the house white?” she asks.  “I see a white house with stone steps.”

I told her I have no idea what color the house is, because I don’t leave the woods and apparently I don’t pay much attention either.

This afternoon when we went for our walk, I paid attention….to the white house.

Follow-Up Friday…Day Two Hundred, Sixty Two

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For those of you new to the blog, I recently started my own feature/theme called Follow-Up Friday. 

Sometimes you write a blog and your forget to mention something or you write about an event and it needs a little bit of a follow-up.  Hence Follow-Up Friday.

Click or Treat – Author’s Note

I stopped clicking and treating for a couple of days, because Sampson wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t supposed to be getting a lot of food.  Delilah pretty well has the sit down, although she is still barking at me when I am working on her food. 

As soon as she moves or barks I immediately stop what I am doing and wait until she stops barking and sits. 

I hope to finish the clicker training book this weekend, so we can proceed to the next obedience command.  I will continue to keep you updated on our progress.

Versatile Blogger – Author’s Note

There are so many of you whose blogs are worthy of awarding.  I know many of you have had this award in the past and I was trying to recognize some previously unrecognized people.  If I read your blog and comment on it, you can rest assured I think you are award worthy. 🙂

Creatures of Habit – Author’s Note

I’m not sure how clear I was in the post, Delilah does NOT take the treats from Sampson anymore.  She did the first time we gave treats, but since they have been separated during treat time, I believe she has come to know better.

I hope she knows better.

Poor Punkin – Update

First I want to thank you all for the comments and concerns about Sampson. 

I believe Sampson is feeling better.  He held down the beef and rice last night and instead of his normal treat I gave him a bit more beef and rice.   He even managed to eat a few bites of carrots at bedtime.  He was not ill during the night and held down the beef and rice he had for breakfast.

I did not take him for his normal run in the woods yesterday, instead Hubby and I took them for a quick walk around the block.  Sampson seemed to be very happy to get out of the house and he enjoyed his walk. 

Today I did take them for their normal walk and Sampson seemed fine.  I even got a quick look at his poop when he did his business and it was normal.

Delilah was not well-behaved during the day or in the woods, but that is a post for another day.

Tomorrow (at the request of Diane) I will be blogging about our venture into the Raw Food Diet.

Last (but not least) I read about a back to school/Labor Day Bash from Frankiefurter , there will be all kinds of classes and yours truly will be holding a class (blog) about Pawm Eat a Kit (Prom Etiquette) as the back to school doggies will be attending Pawm (prom);  if you are interested you can get all the deets here.

Creatures of Habit….Day Two Hundred, Sixty

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Dogs are such creatures of habit.

Every night around 9:00 pm, hubby and I have a snack.  We extended this habit to Sampson and to Delilah when she joined our pack.

It immediately became clear that the dogs must be separated when treats were around.  I handed Sampson his treat and Delilah hers.  Delilah swallowed hers and then took Sampson’s right out of his mouth.  He and I both stood there for a second in complete and utter shock.  Then I walked over to Delilah and wrestled the treat from her mouth and handed it back to Sampson.

This did not phase Delilah in the least, she went right back to Sampson and again took the treat from his mouth.  I was furious and determined.  I went right back to Delilah and re-wrestled her for the treat.  At which point I grabbed her collar to prevent her from repeating her faux paw.

In retrospect, I realize how ignorant I was to 1) assume that she would act the same way Sampson did and 2) take for granted that she wouldn’t bite my hand off for taking food away from her.

Sampson was the dog I nurtured from puppyhood.  I wanted to make sure he was raised in the appropriate way, we always hand fed him, we played with him and his treats, we played with his feet all to make sure he was a well-natured, well-mannered dog.  In my naiveness it never dawned on me that all dogs are not raised by responsible pet owners.

Delilah was my first-hand experience of a dog that didn’t have a caring owner.

Flash forward to present day.

I am reminded beginning about 8:45 pm by Delilah that snack time is approaching.  She does this by walking up to me and staring at me; sometimes she barks, but I stand my ground!  Not a moment before 9:00, because if I do then she will expect it and before I know it, snack time will be before dinner. 🙂

I can stare her into submission.

Delilah thinks she’s won the lottery at snack time, she runs to the pantry, jumping and leaping for joy, almost tripping you or knocking you down to win the prize.  This happens every single night.

Most nights I give Sampson his treat first and he runs off to the bedroom, snack in mouth.  If for some reason the bedroom door is shut, then he comes back and looks at me and I go and open the door for him.

Delilah runs into the living room with her treat and inhales there.  Once she has finished her treat she goes into the bedroom and waits for Sampson to move so she can inspect the bed for crumbs and clean up after him like the good mama dog that she is.

Last night Sampson headed off for the bedroom and then turned around and came back.  Hubby said, “What’s the matter big boy?”

And it dawned on me, the cat was on the bed.  If the cat is on the bed before him, Sampson will NOT get on the bed.  If Bob jumps up on the bed while Sampson is sleeping, then it is ok but not vice versa.

Help me mama, help help me mama, help me mama , help help me mama, help me mama yeah, get him offa the bed.

I reminded Sampson he is a 90 pound dog and Bob weighs 10 pounds dripping wet as I walked past him into the bedroom.  Luckily Bob was already on his way out to see what all the fuss was about.

Silly dog.

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