Heart Like a Dog

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

Follow-Up Friday….Day Three Hundred, Fifty Three

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For those new to the blog, my follow-up Friday provides me with an opportunity to update or revise a post from the previous week.  You know sometimes you post about something and you need an update but it doesn’t warrant a whole blog.  Or sometimes someone made a comment that really resonated with you.  Yup, Follow-Up Friday. 😉

Food Guarding – Author’s Note

What surprised me most about the incident was that it was Sampson that she snapped at.  They lie next to each other on their places every night while we eat dinner and they each have a couple of cookies.

Once they are released, they sit side-by-side in front of Hubby and he gives them carrots.

In the kitchen they sit next to each other while we prepare their breakfasts and dinners, and at snack time they both charge at me when I get their Kongs out of the freezer.

They have both snapped at the cat and Sampson has snapped at other dogs when I try to give treats out on the trail, but never at each other.

There were some GREAT comments with recommendations for games as well as some awesome training tips which I intend to incorporate into our training.  And now that I am aware of it, I will be extra attentive when we are around a high value food item. 🙂

Patience My Sweet – Author’s Note

Yes, even though she drives me to the brink of crazy, I love her to pieces.

Antlers – Author’s Note

One of my biggest concerns with the antler is not that Delilah will break a chunk off and swallow it, but that she will swallow the WHOLE THING!

Many years ago I had a cocker spaniel mix named Buffy, who died from ingesting a super ball.  The ball lodged in his esophagus and Buffy couldn’t get it out, his Electrolytes were thrown off and he died.

Ever since that experience 1) I’ve never had a super ball in my house and 2) I’ve worried about another dog having a similar issue.

I’ve witnessed Delilah trying to swallow a huge piece of raw hide and I’ve actually seen her trying to dislodge a chunk that was too big to swallow, I’m thinking the antler is too small for this dog.  Dear little Frankie suggested an Elk antler so now I’m on an elk antler hunt. 🙂

So how was your week?  Did you rock it like we did?

Antlers…Day Three Hundred, Fifty Two

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Ever since I read about Shiva and her antler over on Rescued Insanity, I’ve been itching to get one for Sampson and Delilah.  Okay, mostly Delilah because she LOVES to chew things up.

Sara knew how much I wanted to try them so when she placed her first orders for the retail area of The Mellow Mutt, she ordered antlers.

The Retail Area at the Mellow Mutt

One Friday on our way home from daycare, each of the dogs got an antler.  Antler’s in mouth, they rushed out to the car and laid down for the entire ride home, not moving until I stopped the car.  Normally when I stop the car, the dogs wait in the back until I open the hatch, and give them the release word.

I do this mostly to keep Delilah from darting out of the car and running into the neighbor’s yard, to scarf around for any crumbs the birds might have left on the ground.

This particular Friday though, I barely opened the hatch before Delilah jumped out of the car and tail wagging, head held high made a beeline for the door and directly into her crate where she noshed and gnashed on the antler.

Seriously, she made so much noise I had to look in on her.  What I saw scared the living daylights out of me.  She was chomping away and it looked like she was trying to SWALLOW the antler.  I knew I had to take it away.

Not always being the brightest of dog owners I did have the sense to grab a treat I could exchange for the antler.

“Hi pretty, want to give Mama the antler in exchange for this tasty biscuit?” I cooed.

She fell for it.  I gave her the biscuit and took the antler away.  She figured it out as soon as the biscuit was gone and followed me into the kitchen where I placed the antler in a plastic baggie.  As I did this I noticed the antler was tinged with pink.  Yes, much like her Sister from another mother Shiva , she chewed so enthusiastically she made her gums bleed.  I told Hubby I will have to find out how long you let the dog chew the antler.

So tell me. Do you give your dogs antlers?  Do you have an aggressive chewer?  Has a dog ever SWALLOWED an antler?  Is that even possible, what would happen if they did would they need surgery?  I can’t imagine passing an antler!

This is one of the antlers, it is about four or five inches tall.

Food Guarding….Day Three Hundred, Fifty

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I’ve had a couple of instances where the dogs have snapped at the cat as they all clamor around my legs at feeding time.   I found the best way to diffuse the situation is to feed Bob first.  Then Bob is out of the way and there are no issues.

Saturday I made a run for raw food, so I had a bathtub full of chicken necks.  After letting them defrost for a few hours I went in to separate them into individual baggies, naturally Delilah had to come with me, just in case I missed the baggie and dropped a neck on the floor, or I turned my back for a minute so she had an opportunity to lap the chicken water. 🙂

After about 20 minutes Sampson decided to check out the bathroom, when he tried to pass Delilah she snapped at him.  I didn’t hear her growl, she just turned her head and snapped at him.

I wasn’t in the least way prepared for this so I handled it all wrong. 🙁  I shouted “Hey!”  Then I said, “GET OUT.”  Both dogs tried to leave the bathroom, but eventually I sorted them out and got Delilah outside and Sampson in, and I shut the door and left her out there.

I sat there wishing I had a clear glass door so Delilah could sit outside it and watch Sampson and me in bathroom sorting chicken necks with me slipping him the occasional neck.  Which wouldn’t be the right way, since she wouldn’t understand why he was getting the necks and she wasn’t.

I’m really at a loss at the best way to handle the situation.  Normally Delilah does not guard her food, I can reach down and take her dish away if I need to.  I have in fact taken something from her mouth with no issues, so it’s not a typical food guarding issue.

So how about it?  How do you handle this?  Do you have a dog that guards a particular food, or any food at all?  If so, how do you manage the situation?

 

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