Heart Like a Dog

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

The truth about long leashes….day One Hundred and Twenty Three

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A couple of years ago we took the dogs with us on vacation to North Carolina.  The drive is really long with two dogs but mine are pretty good, they do take up a lot of room and the little Hyundai Tuscon is challenging to pack but we managed by using a car carrier on top.

Delilah lying in the car. I love the way the sun is shining on her.

We bought 30 foot leashes so we could take the dogs down to the beach,  and give them a little freedom while still maintaining some semblance of control.    The thing to remember about dogs and 30 foot leashes is not to give them the entire leash all at the same time.  I found that out on our first evening at the beach.  Here’s what happened.  We got down to the beach right before dusk, when all the seagulls were out trying to see what the tide had deposited on the shore.  Chet had Sampson and I had Delilah; Delilah saw the seagulls and Delilah took off after those seagulls.  Delilah can run through a 30 foot leash pretty fast and I quickly found out what it feels like to be running behind a 100 pound dog at full throttle on the end of a 30 foot leash.  I also found out that when you scream, “Stop, help, stop” on a beach in North Carolina, you are pretty much on your own.   Even my husband, son-in-law and his sister just stood there.  Eventually she stopped and I reined her in, so these pictures are of the dogs after the incident.

Delilah in the ocean.

 

Sampson in the ocean.

Just keep in mind should you decide to try a longer leash for training, that you should slowly give the dog the distance of the leash,  just don’t clip it on and let them go!

Oh Delilah…(Day Ninety Three)

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Tonight was a frustrating night for me at obedience class.  During the “potty” break, Delilah decided she was going to join a group of dogs that were playing, trouble is she didn’t tell me.  She took off and was so fast and powerful that she completely pulled me about twenty feet before I got her under control.  I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what that did to my shoulder.

I was so ticked off that I pulled her back and immediately placed her in a down, which naturally she fought; but I stood my ground and held her down until she gave a big sigh indicating she had relaxed.  She stayed in that down position for a good few minutes by herself after I let her up.  I thought, maybe she has turned a corner, but that remains to be seen.

Chillin

Sampson of course hates the class and would do anything possible to avoid it.  While on the way home I told him pretty soon the weather will be nicer and you won’t have to go to class, you and daddy can go somewhere else and walk.  He licked my face.

Calgon, anybody...take me away!

I still really hate the way some people man-handle the dogs and it takes everything I have not to scream at them, what the hell is wrong with you?  But this is acceptable behavior for dog training, I think there is a better way, trouble is I just haven’t found it yet, but I will.

Stress, Stress and More Stress!! (Day Ninety)

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What does your dog do to relieve stress?  Some people will say that dogs chew to relieve stress and they would be right.  But some dogs also like to tear things up.

It took me a while to figure it out with Sampson.  He was always such a good boy and very rarely chewed anything (well except for that footrest on the breakfast bar but we didn’t like it anyway.)  Chet and I have a fairly quiet life and Sampson was raised in that lifestyle and he is probably one of the most mellow dogs you will ever meet. 

But I noticed one time after we had a house full of people, that Sampson had taken one of his toys and ripped a hole in it and pulled all the “fluff” out.  I thought for a moment and realized he always did that after we had a larger than normal crowd (such as what gathers for the holidays.)  Then it dawned on me that because of our normally quiet lifestyle a crowd with the noise and commotion that goes along with it, could be somewhat stressful for him.  Rather than locking him away from the crowd, we make sure he has plenty of inexpensive toys that he can pull the stuffing out of.  Sometimes I even pick the stuffing up and shove it back inside so he can pull it out again!

Delilah loves to pull the stuffing out too, but not in the same way Sampson does.  You can tell when he wants your help too, because he brings the toy to you and he tugs on it, when he hears the first ripping sound he pulls all the harder.  They both love to find the little squeaker and “disable” it; then they play with the plastic bubble and will actually toss it up in the air.

I don't know what happened; it came like that. Honest.

 I love the way he is looking at this out of the corner of his eye, as if to say, “I didn’t do it.”

Whoo, that relieved some stress and now I can sleep.

It never fails, as soon as I put the vacuum away they tear up a toy!

Mmmm that was one tasty toy!

As I said, Delilah even likes to get in on it; although I think she might be prone to eat the fluff!

So don’t get angry when your little bundle of fur if he/she tears something up, there may be something that is stressing them out or maybe they are bored; try to encourage them to chew their own toys and provide them with lots of inexpensive toys that they can tear up.

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