Heart Like a Dog

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

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

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Life with Sampson and Delilah has been keeping me very busy of late.

Sampson gets a walk in the morning and a walk at night, while poor Delilah has been limited to one walk in the evening.  The other night I was totally insane, feeling adventurous, thought maybe I could walk them both at the same time and then I could up Delilah to two walks a day also.

Walking one injured dog and one healthy dog.  Epic Fail.

Sampson is on a special harness designed to help him with not pulling, it is shorter than Delilah’s leash.  That’s the first challenge.   It works (mostly,) unless it’s a person that Sampson really wants to see or a bush he really wants to pee on and then nothing in the world will keep him from pulling me.  Delilah who walks amazing when it is just she and I also becomes a pulling machine when she’s competing (in her mind) with Sampson.  I found myself cursing profusely, came close to tears at least once and am pretty sure I yelled a couple of times.  I decided it was not worth the aggravation to try and save myself 20 minutes of time, so I went back to walking them singly.

With Delilah’s jaunts around the neighborhood I’ve been noticing all the little signs that indicate spring has arrived.  From the lush green of the grass that sparkles like diamonds after the rain, to the daffodils peeping their yellow faces upturned towards the warming sun, to the lovely forsythia bushes that take me back to my childhood having our Easter photos in my grandmother’s back yard.

So intent have I been on watching other people’s yards, I failed to notice the beauty in my own yard.

Saturday I was walking Delilah up the hill towards our house when I noticed my one of my rhododendron trees had flowered.  The poor trees took a horrible beating from the heavy winter snows and Hubby and I had to trim them quite extensively, yet they resiliently returned this year.

Sunday after a frustrating morning where Delilah 1) sat on me pinning me to the bed 2) licked at the box of necks I was defrosting and 3) drank my Irish Whiskey laced coffee, I determined to try and get a photo of her in front of the rhododendron tree.

She watched as I took two cookies and put them in my pocket and then she quickly followed me out the door and up the stairs to the back yard, where I positioned her underneath the tree and told her to stay.  I climbed down over the wall and she jumped down after me and looked expectantly for her cookie.

I brought her back up and told her again to stay.  This time she did.

You Mama, are a cookie tease. There are no cookies on this tree so why, pray tell am I setting here?

I was told there would be cookies.

I was trying to get as much of the tree as possible in the photo, but it required Delilah being too far away.

Still no cookie. WTD Mama? I want a cookie.

Still no cookie. WTW Mama? I want a cookie.

Even though she can be totally frustrating at times, there are other times when she shines like the diamond that she is.  Diamonds really are a girl’s best friend.

Thanks For the Warning

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“Thanks for the warning!” The woman called after me as Delilah and I negotiated away from her dog who was following us across the road.

I wanted to shout back, “Pull your head out of your ass where your dog is concerned,” but I wisely (unwisely?) kept my mouth shut.

I’ve written about this before and so have many others, and yet here I am again incensed that I have to intimate my dog is ‘un’friendly because another dog owner is totally clueless.

It began innocuously enough, Delilah and I were taking a nice stroll on a beautiful spring Saturday. Delilah was casing the houses in our neighborhood for possible future forages leading the walk, while I was helplessly being dragged along, wandering aimlessly behind her, following along leisurely enjoying the lovely weather and keeping my eyes ever alert for other dogs.

Yup, sure enough.  Dead ahead, I saw a group of people at the edge of a lawn chatting and standing there with them, a dog.  I crossed to the other side of the street and kept walking.  As we approached, the dog, Bella took a few tentative steps into the street.

“Bella, Bella” her male owner called, then walked over and gently led her back to the yard.

“She never leaves the yard” I heard the woman tell her visiting neighbors, “That’s the farthest I’ve ever seen her go.”

I reached into my treat bag and Delilah who was focused on the grass on the side of the road, lifted her head and focused on me.

“Bella, Bella!” The male called again.  I looked back to see Bella stealthily creeping up on Delilah’s right flank.  Delilah, darling dog was sniffing the grass and not paying a lick of attention to the approaching Bella.

I felt the familiar panic rising up, like a cobra ready to strike.  What do I do? Do I stop and try to initiate a greeting?   Do I keep on hustling and pray Bella doesn’t reach Delilah’s rear end?  I looked down at the sweet face, intent on me, and unaware of anything transpiring behind her.  I can’t take a chance of setting her up to fail.

“She’s not always friendly to other dogs” I tossed over my shoulder, resisting the urge to pull out my pepper blaster and give the owner a taste of my wrath.

“Who, your dog?”  The woman called after me.

Yes my dog you dipshit, I would hope you’d know if your dog wasn’t friendly to other dogs.

“Yes, she doesn’t like being surprised.”

Like when your dog comes up behind her and shoves her face in her ass, she’s likely to get  a face full of Chocolate the likes of which will put your dog running for cover and brand my dog as ‘aggressive.’  All because you can’t be bothered to keep your dog in her yard.  

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I just don’t like surprises, that’s all. You try having someone stick their nose in YOUR ass when you aren’t expecting it. I didn’t think so.

 

“Thanks for the warning,” I heard follow me as I stomped my way seethed my way up the street thinking of all the other things I could have/should have said.

Delilah Peed on a Frog

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Typically my dogs pee in the woods, the grass, leaves, gravel, trees, fire hydrants and occasionally a curb.

Once when Sampson was about 15 months old we were traveling to Florida and stopped for the night in North Carolina.  Our intent was to get a room and then take Sampson for a nice walk so he could relieve himself and stretch his legs.  For some reason we got out of the car and stood in the parking lot a tad too long for Sampson’s needs.  So he peed right there in the parking lot and a good long time if I remember correctly.  Besides that occasion, I can’t remember him ever peeing on pavement or sidewalk.

And then there was Delilah.

When I walk both dogs I usually head up to the park.  It’s easy because Sampson can usually be off leash, which leaves me free to manage Delilah.  Of course there were times before Sampson’s tear where I walked both dogs on leash, both around the block and at the park.  It’s not my ideal walk but it was doable.

Since my All Star hit the D.L. Delilah’s walks have been largely up to her.  I decide when we walk and Delilah decides where.  While Sampson is a dog that loves the woods, Delilah is a dog that loves houses.  I suspect before she came to us that she spent some time on her own, scavenging for food.   When opportunity has presented itself, she heads to a yard and usually be found grazing like a cow.

So it comes as no surprise when Delilah chooses the walk, we usually end up walking around our neighborhood I’ve begun to suspect she’s casing the houses, waiting for her opportunity to strike.

Our neighborhood has no sidewalks, so I walk in the street.  Delilah can either walk in the street or she ventures just a tiny bit onto the grass of the neighborhood houses.

She’s surprised me lately because she’s taken to peeing in the road and I had no idea why.  Sounds far fetched, right?  Here’s your proof.

Mama! Remember what happened to you the last time you put a picture of me peeing up? Two words. Human Shaming. You've been warned Mama.

Mama! Remember what happened to you the last time you put a picture of me peeing on the blog?  Two words. Human Shaming. You’ve been warned Mama.

The first time she did it, she peed on  a newspaper that someone had left on the road.  (At first she tried to roll on it, then she changed her tune and peed on it.)  I suspect many animals have peed on that paper, which is why she continues to pee on it every time we pass it.

I wouldn't pick it up either, Dog knows how many animals have peed on it.

I wouldn’t pick it up either, Dog knows how many animals have peed on it.

I couldn’t figure out WHY she would pee in the middle of the road, on what to my eyes was nothing but pavement.  Until one day when she peed on this.

I'd like to tell you no frogs were harmed in the making of this post, but that would obviously be a lie. I can assure you I did not squish the frog.

I’d like to tell you no frogs were harmed in the making of this post, but that would obviously be a lie. I will say IT WASN’T ME!!

So now I’m suspecting that with her superior nose, she’s smelling things that have long since disappeared from human eyesight.

Unless of course she’s simply being Delilah and just likes peeing in the road.

Have your dogs ever peed on anything you found strange?  I know a lot of times my dogs are “marking” but why in the world would she mark a frog?

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