Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally, just wrap up my week.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

You Make Me Smile – April 17, 2016

Emma said, “We do perimeter searches every time we go out. We don’t want to be surprised by anything! It’s serious business.”

It sure is serious! What would we do without you?

Sue said, “Rudy hurries to the corner of the deck to survey his kingdom for intruders, then makes a huge loop to get rid of the birds before he begins a perimeter patrol. Rosie? She hurries off the deck to pee, then watches Rudy.”

Bah ha ha, I love Rosie. She knows Rudy has hit covered.

Jan K said, “That’s just about every morning at our house. We get the dogs outside, and both Cricket and Luke are running (racing) to the fence with their noses in the air!”

What is it about the fence that they love so? Mine love to run the fence line, but now that Sampson is injured, I have to be so careful opening the door when Delilah is riled up. He’s snuck out before and slipped. 🙁

Lauranne said, “Mity and BD both used to do this. However my favourite story is when a particularly annoying cat got his comeuppance. This cat would mock Mity, cause he was little when he would go out and bark the cat would get out of harms way but then just look at him as he barked his little head off. In the end one of us would have to go and move the cat along…However, one time it was BD and not Mity that got out to bark at said cat. You should have seen the look on the cats face when a large ginger dog appeared, not the small grey one it was expecting. Karma is a … large ginger dog.”

Cats can be so brazen can’t they? Where are the cameras when you need them?

Misty Shores Chesapeakes said, “That would be Maia at my house and she talks (tells off) the neighbor dog all the time 😉”

Oh Maia. I tell my guys that we don’t bark at our neighbors, but they don’t listen. 🙂

I Always Feel Like…

Taryn Tipton said, “The first Christmas in our house (eons ago and with long-gone Dylan), I shoot out the door for a quick walk because I know the day will quickly get away from me. I want to be sure Dylan is at least comfortable. Of course I forget the bags! Almost home, he takes a dump on someone’s lawn. I do the frantic bag search. Of course it is the one time there is no litter around. What can I do, I move on, fully intending to return immediately with a bag. The home owner, a loud man who did not own a “filthy dog”, starts screaming at me. Not just “you need to pick that up”, but a whole yelling lecture. I tell him I am coming right back but he keeps yelling at me until I am in tears. Wonderful way to start Christmas….”

I don’t understand people like that. If you tell them you will be back,why can’t that be enough? 

Genevieve said, “Ha! What an audience. I can see him judging.”

I could see it too, he was definitely wearing judgy pants.

Jan K said, “I forget them too often, but luckily we don’t walk in neighborhoods, we’re mostly along the woods. So if I can find a stick I will just push it out of the way where no one could step in it.”

Hehehe, I’ve done that too. Shhh, don’t tell anyone. 😉

Lauranne said, “I once went out without a poo bag but managed to beg one from a fellow dog walker. It’s always the way isn’t it you either have 50 or nothing. Even now I put on trousers I haven’t worn for a while and find about 5 poo bags (usually washed) in the pockets.”

I find them everywhere! In pockets, purses, jacket pockets, I even have one in the bag I take back and forth to work. WHY? I have no idea.

Emma said, “We can’t remember the last time we didn’t have a bag, but we can remember doing our business on the edge of a lawn, Mom with bag in hand, and the owner of the house yelling at us because they spend so much money for a nice lawn and dogs just ruin it, blah, blah, blah. I don’t think poop is like pee, but whatever. We walk by that yard a lot and Mom always says “asshole alert” in a soft tone to us.”

Ha ha ha, it’s like the douche canoe that told me he didn’t like dogs on his lawn. Whenever I pass his house I think to myself, “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let my dogs on your lawn to piss on you if you were on fire.”

Monika and Sam said, “Far too many times we’ve been caught empty handed, luckily there are a few neighbors close by with bag containers for communal use so I could go back and clean up. People crack me up in my neighborhood…they fuss about left poop but all too often, leave it themselves. Bastards. Lately I’ve tried tying a couple newspaper bags to the leash since I may forget to add one to my pocket so that’s keeping those un-bagged moments to a minimum and love it when someone asks to ‘borrow’ a bag because they’re out. Uh…no you can’t borrow one, but you can have one…with my blessings.-no need returning it after borrowing. 🙂”

🙂 No, please keep it. Siriusly? They have bags that they share? That’s pretty darn nice. We have a bag dispenser right inside the park and wouldn’t you know, 98% of the time, there’s a pile of poop within 20 feet of that dispenser.

Lexy said, “I usually just go up to the house Gwynn pooped at and ask for a bag. People are usually thrilled that I haven’t just abandoned his business on their lawn. It’s usually a grocery bag, but people are nice about checking for holes before giving them to me 😛”

Well that’s because you live in Canada, you Canadians are far nicer than we are. I can’t even imagine what one of my neighbors would say if I knocked on their door looking for a bag. LOL

Jen Gabbard said, “And thanks for getting the song stuck in my head… 🙂”

Misery loves company. 😀

Beth said, “I’ve definitely forgotten bags, too. Usually, I realize before we get too far and Barley only protests a little when I make her turn around and go get some with me, but once it happened when we were a couple miles from home with no one to come to our rescue–luckily, it was in the yard of an abandoned house where the grass was really overgrown, so we ran away as quickly as possible and didn’t walk on that road again for a few months in hopes that anyone who might have been watching would forget us!”

Hehehe, I mean, what else could you do?

DZ Dog Mom said, “I’ve forgotten before too!! I hate it when that happens. 🙁 One time thought I managed to find a “big gulp” cup someone had littered behind so I used that to scoop the poop and toss in the trash. LoL”

The next time I forget a bag, I will remember this and be scouring the area for cups. 

The Fox and the Hound

Lauren Miller said, “That’s so cool! I love foxes! We’ve come across deer, squirrels, bunnies and currently we have a cougar running around our neighborhood. I haven’t seen the cougar yet, though… and yes, I live in the city. We have no idea how it got here. One time we were driving in the mountains and we saw a badger. That was pretty cool!”

I worry about certain wildlife, we’ve had Bobcat sightings and just a few weeks ago two dogs were attacked by a pair of coyotes on a trail about three miles from my house. It’s why I always carry the pepper spray, you just never know.

Emma said, “We’ve seen a fox walking down our neighborhood street in the middle of the day a few times now. One morning Bailie and Mom were on their run about 2 miles from home when a fox came towards them on a street. It turned and sat down in a yard. They kept running, but Mom turned after about a block and was shocked to see the fox jogging right behind them. Bailie saw it and wanted to meet it. It was a scary thing for Mom as she didn’t know what to do. It was really early, no one was around, she had to pull all 40lbs of Bailie because she wanted to go to the fox. Finally, the fox stopped and sat down. A few days later we saw a fox on our morning walk very close to us, but he had a kill in his mouth and was on his way somewhere. Mom is scared a fox might go after Bailie. Bailie is bigger, but all the germs, fleas, diseases? Hopefully no more fox will be seen when we are on foot.”

That’s very scary Emma. Does Mom carry any sort of defense? Like pepper spray? We had a pair of young bears approach a woman walking on a wooded trail One of the bears went up to the woman and touched her leg. The bears were caught and euthanized. There was a quite an uproar, because the woman video’d the encounter and did nothing to discourage the bears. ;-(

Jan K said, “We had fox families around at our old house. They can be pretty ballsy. We once had one sitting outside the fenced in yard, in my garden, watching the dogs play ball! We often saw them strolling through the yard in the middle of the day, just outside the fence. A friend also had a standoff with one when walking her dog. It sat right down in the road and wouldn’t move! She has a yorkie so of course that made her very nervous too…she ended up turning around and going back home.”

Wow, I just can’t believe how brazen that fox was! The one we saw was running hell bent for election!

Julie said, “We saw a fox I the field and he looked at us and I was concerned that he was going to engage Cocoa. Or the other way around, haha.”

I hear your concern, I’m glad Delilah didn’t see him cross her path.

Meagan and Merlin said, “On walks I’ve come across kangaroos, a snake and a cute seal pup out sunbathing.”

Aw, that sounds awesome, except for the snake, I don’t care for them. But I’d love to see a kangaroo or seal! You must have an incredibly awesome area to walk in!

Taryn said, “A fox sighting gives me my aerobic work-out for the day! I run trying to give the boys a chance at a good chase! Here’s a post I did about 5 years ago…… Back then the boys had off-leash privileges, but after losing Wilson for over 3 hours to a fox, those days are gone!”

I’ve lost Delilah for 15 minutes and that was terrifying, I can’t imagine what you must have gone through! Thank goodness you got him back! Where Would We be Without Wilson’s Wordless Wednesdays?  

The link on Taryn’s name brings you to a post she wrote about fox sightings. Thanks for sharing that Taryn, I’m with you, if I see something I’m going to reel in my pups!

That’s it for me folks, have an awesome weekend!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and just generally wrap up my week.

You Make Me Laugh – April 3, 2016

Meagan and Merlin said, “Lol Merlin likes to spin on the bed straight after i made it. While it frustrates me it also makes me laugh. Silly boy.”

Yes, it can be frustrating, but how can you not laugh at them?

Hailey and Zaphod said, “I am laughing because Hailey “remakes” the bed to suit her often!”

In my house it seems like they don’t make the bed UNTIL I make the bed!

Jan said, “Three of my dogs insist on sleeping under the covers. It doesn’t make me laugh, I wonder how they don’t suffocate.”

Yeah, I wonder about that myself, how do they do it?

Jan K said, “The battle for covers is ongoing at our house! I usually lose. I usually throw an old sheet over our good quilt at bedtime to keep it clean. If Cricket beats us to bed, which she often does, she’ll have the old sheet all moved out of the way so she can lie on the quilt!”

LOL, I have to keep an extra blanket just to make sure my butt gets covered! I throw a sheet on the dog’s couch and Sampson will pull it enough so he’s sleeping on the sofa.

Maryann said, “Our Lila likes to sleep on a different floor from us – she can only take so much snuggling – which works for all involved. I don’t know how you get any sleep at night. :-)”

Some nights are better than others. 😉

Peyton said, “When my son was young (5-6), he slept in a lower bunk bed. At that time we had a huge Great Dane and he would like to sleep with my son. We would go in the room and my boy would pushed up against the wall with this huge dog taking up almost all of the bed.”

Oh my! Did your son love having the dog with him though? I bet he felt so safe.

Misty Shores Chesapeakes said, “My biggest laugh came the other day when I was working on a product review post and decided doing it with the three girls sounded like a good idea…well at least in my head it did. Anyway as I was holding the treats with one hand and trying to manipulate the camera with the other I have Riva and Cheyenne yelling at me “give me the treats” I did mange to get photos of this and noticed that the one of Riva she has her mouth open so wide I can almost see her tonsils.”

LOL did you post the photo?

All Points Bulletin

Cupcake said, “Gah! Mom and I are looking for them, too! But she can’t see with her scarf pulled up over her eyes and I can’t even keep my eyes open because of the 50 mile an hour winds! ”

I can’t pull up my scarf, it fogs up my glasses!

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “Bwahahahaha! Cute! So winter came back and bit you on the ass, huh? ”

Yup, for like four days, now most of the snow is melted and temps will be in the 50’s and 60’s.

Jan said, “I would describe the weather here, but why make enemies?”

I know, I know. Beautiful weather all of the time, but there is that little earth shaking thing, that sort of scares me. 🙂

Jen Gabbard said, “Oh dear, and to think I was complaining about a half inch of snow yesterday. But my complaining is nothing compared to my boyfriends “smart people don’t go to the park when it’s below freezing” statement. Yeah, it was 31 F this weekend and Laika & I still had fun regardless of the bf’s poop face.”

LOL I have to disagree, smart people do go to the park when it’s below freezing, and the reason they do is because it’s too cold for the DADO’s. 🙂

Peyton said, “Hilarious post. I will admit that I actually thought you were being serious for a short period.”

Ha ha, sorry to scare you like that. 

Hailey and Zaphod said, “They are calling for another foot here tomorrow too. Sigh! It is the winter that never ends!”

UGH, poor you, that really stinks!

Pamela said, “Bwa ha ha! Mother Nature is a cruel bitch…I’m very thankful for warm temps in South Carolina. But I’m itching so much from no-see-um bites that I’m certainly not feeling cocky.”

I hear those little no-see-ums are nasty. I think I can tolerate the snow. 🙂

Monika and Sam said, “I’m with you-it was in the 60-70’s March 28-30. Then bam…a snow storm. There’s no accounting for that stupid rodent and his handlers but I think Mother Nature is suffering from menopause symptoms.”

I saw that, I hope it’s all gone by now. I don’t mind it so much when it’s winter, but once the warmer weather gets here, I hate going back. 

Lindsay said, “Some crazy weather you guys have had! Here in San Diego … pretty boring 72 degrees or so pretty much every day. I miss the snow!”

I love that temperature, I wish I could find somewhere with those temperatures on the east coast.

It’s a Pissing Contest – Barks and Bytes

Misty Shores Chesapeakes said, “Will you be posting something else on Thursdays?…I don’t think my guys really do that but I do have one that has a very nasty little habit and it is especially worse in the winter…a poop eater!!”

Right now I’m planning to continue the schedule I have of posting Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Follow-Up Friday. Of course, everything’s subject to change, but I’ll keep everyone posted.

And poop eating is SO disgusting and for some reason they love the frozen stuff.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, “I just hope you’ll continue sharing your stories on the blog!”

Of course I will!

Taryn asked, “How do blog hops work? Is it a paid subscription to use someone’s server? May I ask what it cost for a year? My favorite is the Blog paws Wordless Wednesdsay blog hop. Lots of bang for the buck so to speak! Black and White Sunday is a nice one for getting creative.”

Here’s the way I understand it. A blog hop is sort of like a theme party for your blog. (Typically blog hops have ‘themes’ (Wordless Wednesday, Black and White Sunday)). The hosting blog inserts a ‘code’ into their post which allows other bloggers to add their post, or ‘link up’.  The idea then becomes all links to participating blogs should show up on every participating blog. That way a person should be able to start at the first blog and ‘hop’ their way along all of the participants. Sometimes people don’t add the code properly and some blogging formats don’t support the code in the same way. But that is the way I understand it.

As for the subscription, Linda and I used LinkyTools and that was $24 per year. There is also one called InLinkz but I don’t know what that costs. And I also don’t know if there are any others out there. Does that help?

Emma said, “Sorry your hop is ending, but as with FitDog Friday, we have all noticed hop participations are dwindling.”

I’ve noticed a big drop off in most blog hops. I’m sorry your blog hop ended Emma, I think blogging is changing and you will see less and less hops, but that is just my opinion.

Lauren Miller said, “Zoe is a huge marker and she’s even peed on Phoenix’s head before!”

Ha ha ha, Delilah did that to Sampson once too!

Sue said, “Most of the hops I’ve ever participated have called it quits. Sorry to see so many go. Tuesday’s Tails is headed that way, too.”

I’m sorry to hear that Sue, Lisa had such a great idea in starting that, hopefully it did help some pets get adopted.

Jan said, “I think of it as protecting each other. Timmy pees over the girls’ pee so any predator will sniff his pee and be very afraid. Or something like that. Who knows what goes on in little doggie brains.”

Wow, Timmy must be one tough dog!

Jan K said, “Oh, pissing contests are constant around here. It’s mostly the girls, but Luke joins in sometimes too. Usually Sheba goes, and then Cricket has to go in the exact same spot. I just observed them outside right before reading this…normally it’s just twice, but this time it was Cricket went, Sheba went on top of where she went, and then on the way back in the house, Cricket had to go on the same spot again! They really do crack me up with that…Sorry to hear that your hop is ending, but I guess they are kind of dying out as a thing?”

I don’t get it. LOL So Delilah didn’t end up peeing beyond his, BUT she did go out yesterday morning and poop right next to it. 🙂

As to the blog hops, I think blog hops are mostly for bloggers. They are great for finding new blogs and making connections for networking, but my opinion is that non-blogging readers don’t really understand what a blog hop is.

What I observe by watching B&B as well as other hops, is that a lot of people just link up and never bother visiting the hosting blog or any of the other participants. In my opinion, that is not what the nature or spirit of blog hops is.  I could write a whole post about it, but I’m pretty sure it would piss a whole bunch of people off. 🙂

That’s it for me folks, have a great weekend!

 

 

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

Happy Easter – March 27, 2016

Are you all getting tired of Delilah trying to eat the imaginary props in the photos? I admit trying to get both my dogs to pose for a photo is challenging and so I tend to take one that’s decent and edit it.

That’s not really cheating is it? 😉

I HAVE PROOF

Lorian Lipton said, “Around here there a people that walk off lead and let their dogs come all the way up on the lawn, making Louise and Sofie go ballistic. Don’t get me started on the people who see you turn around and then keep coming at full speed.”

You’ve got the DADO’s too. We have one with two little Yorkies on retractable leashes and she lets them run all over the place including people’s yards where they have e-fences. I call her, “Clueless and the Yappers”.  And we’ve had the chasers too. One that jacked up on me squeaking a too. Sigh.

Cupcake said, “A retractable leash would be my dream leash. No such luck. Mom watches me like a hawk! I’ve never been that far away from her since she adopted me. At this rate I’ll never get run over by a car or eat a chicken bone or a dead squirrel or a cigar butt…. Lucky Yorkie. Wait. What?”

LOL Cupcake, you like to live dangerously, don’t you?

Sheena said, “I would have shouted out: “my dog is NOT friendly and will eat your little dog as a Scooby snack!””

Here’s why I didn’t. I don’t want people saying she’s aggressive or vicious and reporting us to animal control.

Sue said, “Some people should not be allowed to have dogs 🙁 I’ve always believed you, too, Jodi, but a picture really does speak a thousand words. Wish you could come walk at our house. In my neighborhood there really are no DADOs like that.”

Oh Sue, I’d love nothing more!

Mary Hone said, “You need to make up some DADO signs and hand them out. “Here’s your sign!””

I’ve actually thought of making up some flyers I could put in people’s doors. Specifically the ones with dogs. 🙂

Lauranne said, “Oh take the dog off her and send it to me… and only you could boast about the fact you have a successful and thriving sex life in the middle of a DADO post (and yes I may be a little jealous!)”

Ba ha ha, I’m not sure I was boasting. (I wish I could send the dog to you, (s)he and Poppy would be great friends!)

Jan said, “We actually did think you might be making up all these DADO’s that you encounter, but your picture is worth 1000 words. And you are right, you must live in the DADO capital of the world.”

You can’t make this shit up. Most times I would try and take a photo, but I’ve usually got my hands full. 🙂

Jan K said, “OMG, they even have their backs to the poor dog in the middle of the road! I’m glad for you it was in a place where you could skirt around them, and that Delilah did so well. That one really takes the cake…unbelievable… PS…I’d love to read a post you might write about abstinence…LOL.”

That’s why it took me so long to figure it out! The two women were just looking at the house and I could see something in the road, then close by them and at first I thought it was a cat!

As for the post on abstinence….well I’m not sure it would be the right fit for this blog, but maybe a private Facebook post. 😉

Julie said, “I do not believe the stupidity of some people. I mean, the dog is in the ROAD!! Hello people!! Like, do they really think that is an appropriate thing??”

I was just as flabbergasted as you are! I thought I’d seen it all.

2 Brown Dawgs said, “I can’t imagine allowing my dog to hang out in a road. I would never teach my dog that was an acceptable play area.”

Me either! On the rare occasion we stop to talk with someone, I pull my dogs off onto the grass and they will either sit or lie down.  I think some day that woman might be in for a surprise. And not a pleasant one.

Maggie said, “Ridiculous. No common sense whatsoever. We had a similar DADO in our old neighborhood who walked her Collie on a retractable. She thought her dog should meet every single dog in the world and let her roam into the street to cross towards a dog on the other side, or let her wander up to a group of dogs at full extent of the leash, or even once up our porch. No clue. Then Lucas would flip the eff out, and she’d do this irritating giggle and say something like, “Well, that’s not nice.” Asshat.”

Asshat is right. I’d probably say something if she came up on my porch. 🙁 

Taryn said, “While it is not surprising that they didn’t rein in the dog for you, a car is a whole other story. Not all drivers are paying attention to the road! What if that preson had been texting! Gah,”

Right? I couldn’t believe it. I should have video’d it.

Swamped – Barks and Bytes

Lauren Miller said, “I get inspiration from all sorts of things. Sometimes it’s my annoying neighbors with their annoying dogs, sometimes it’s something bad or good that my dogs did. Sometimes I just have something I NEED to say. It just really depends!”

As you know, a LOT of my inspiration comes from the DADO’s. 🙁

Taryn said, “Almost all my ideas come when I’m out walking. It is the only time my mind has time to wander enough. And there is nothing worse than a long blog post that gets eaten by the computer (blogger is famous for that!) No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to capture the original zest of the first writing!”

Walking is typically where I get my inspiration for the same reasons as you. My mind is busy. WordPress isn’t usually glitchy like that and I’m not sure if it was my computer or what. But it was late and I just didn’t have the energy to try and replicate it.

Emma said, “Mom gets most of her writing done in her head on walks and runs, or just be watching me. She says I’m very inspirational.”

Mom and I are very alike in where we get our inspiration Emma. 🙂

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, “If it was a swamp, you’d know it by the smell – ewwww! – and there would be plenty of water that you wouldn’t want D-Dog to drink or even play in – big ewww! – but I love the twisted trees! In the summer it must look like a haunted forest!”

Part of the post was about those trees. They are Mountain Laurel, (which is our state flower) and the Mountain Laurel in this area have been battling a fungus for about three or four years now. SO in the summer they aren’t fully green, but it looks like they are beginning to battle back!

Jan said, “Why didn’t you write about that creature who is coming at you through the trees? You do see him, right?”

AHHH, don’t freak me out like that! It’s bad enough I imagine someone running through there in the dark chasing someone.

Lauranne said, “Oh, and my gift to you. Walking up hill tones your bum, so feel free to focus on that next time you head up hill a long way. :-)”

Tell my bum that, would you? 😉 I’ve been walking up that freaking hill for four years and my bum still isn’t toned!

Jan K said, “Walking often clears my mind and inspires me. But I probably do my best “writing in my head” when I’m lying awake at night unable to sleep! LOL”

Oh no! Not sleeping is the worst! I’ll have to share some of my techniques with you.

Well that’s it for me folks, have a wonderful weekend!