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.

You Make Me Laugh – March 20, 2016

Taryn said, “When the deer run behind my house or the squirrel runs along the powerline strung back there, nothing will call the boys off of those!”

Those ARE tough ones. Hopefully I see them first, LOL because if I don’t, all hell can break loose!

Meagan & Merlin said, “Merlin usually focuses on inanimate objects lol. The last standoff he had was with a bucket of all things.”

BA HA HA, I hear that. Christmas time is awesome, when all the peeps put out their lawn ornaments. 🙂

Monika and Sam said, “There have been a couple of occasions when I couldn’t get Sam to not uber focus on a passing dog. He even walked into a pole because he was so focused on one particular dog he just couldn’t take his eyes off of no matter what I tried to distract him. No wonder that dog is so dimwitted. And yes, I did laugh my butt off at his crash cuz that’s the way I roll. :-)”

OH. MY. DOG. I would have laughed too. In fact, I’m laughing now. Yes. I am.

Misty Shores Chesapeakes said, “Cheyenne’s focus is on me always. 🙂 ”

THAT is so sweet!

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat

Genevieve said, “It’s all about patience. I stand there watching and wait out the digging and tossing of dirt clods. Breathe. Check the sky. Plan the day. Twiddle my thumbs. When Miss-all-of-a-sudden-I’m-the-neatest-tidiest-dog-in-the-world is finished, then and only then will I bend down and pick it up.”

Yes, do all of those things. But try, just once to take a picture and see what happens. 😉

Emma said, “Our only problem according to the mom is when she is focused on picking up and we take off after something like a critter rather than holding our stay.”

Been there, done that. If only we spoke each other’s language. 🙂

Julie said, “Sometimes after Cocoa poops she gets all crazy and wants to run. So I will be picking up poop and making sure it gets in the bag and she is running around me and I am spinning in circles while closing the poop bag and hoping people do not think we are totally nuts, haha.”

Ha ha, it sounds like when Delilah thinks she will be getting a treat. Sometimes it looks like I’m competing in the Olympics and doing a triple.

Jan said, “Years ago I moved to a place where it never snows, so to answer your question, no…”

BUT you have those pesky times when the earth shakes. That sort of scares me.

Lauranne said, “Mity used to do that, once I think it was my sister who ended up with a mouthful of leaves as she had bent down before he had finished doing his “feet wiping” routine.”

Perhaps Mity had a premonition of what she might be doing right about now. Karma for future events? 😉

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “Your poop stories always give me a severe case of the giggles! And the expression on Delilah’s face is priceless!”

Good, I don’t want to be the only one giggling. Delilah IS priceless.

WHY – Barks and Bytes

Sometimes I feel like I should change my tag line to “Encounters with clueless dog owners.” Honestly, it happens so frequently I can barely believe it myself.

Taryn Tipton said, “I guess some people are just clueless. They have a dog that doesn’t react (or a tiny dog that does but they think it’s cute) so it never occurs to them all dogs aren’t that way. It is esp. bad at the vets office where 99% of the dogs are already stressed out more than usual.”

I agree and I guess I’m most shocked that the people that work at the Vet’s office don’t know this and aren’t advising people to use their heads!

Lauren Miller said, “It happens in dog training class, too! I’ve had to step between so many dogs because their owners let them go nose to nose with dogs they don’t know. People don’t realize that these things can go so badly.”

I know, it happens just about everywhere. Honestly, you’d think people would think about things, wouldn’t you?

Sheena said, “I always say “he’s NOT friendly! And I am even less friendly!” Most people catch the clue and get out of the way and not try to let their dog near us! “He’ll bite you” (or your dog) works well too!”

I don’t like to “label” her with that, because I don’t want someone in the neighborhood reporting me for having a dog that ‘bites.’ If I’m given the opportunity, I’ll typically say, she can be snarky sometimes on leash.

Emma said, “I find those incidents all unacceptable, especially at the vet! Even the friendliest dog can be stressed at the vet causing bad reactions.”

I agree. I expect when I take my dog to the Vet or to the training center that the people in charge understand dogs and work to keep my dogs safe. Honestly,  I don’t think it’s a lot to ask.

Sue said, “Whatever happened to common sense? I mean, isn’t common sense to keep your dog on leash at the vet’s? Ditto restraining your dog from approaching others until the other dog owner gives an okay of some kind? This is one thing my vet has right. They keep a bunch of slip leads on a leash hook by the door with a big sign saying all dogs must be on leash (and furthermore, cats must be crated.)” …”In our case Rudy is absolutely terrified being in the vet’s office. It literally scares the shit out of him. Would he attack another dog? I really don’t want to find out.”

I don’t know, it boggles my mind sometimes. I like the idea of having the slip leads readily available. Maybe I’ll ask my vet if they would use them if I donated some. And you shouldn’t have to wonder if he would attack another dog because the Vet’s office should be using their heads!

Jan K said, “I haven’t seen an off leash dog at our vet, thank goodness. I have seen dogs acting out, lunging and pulling towards us, and then MY dog gets criticized for growling at theirs!
It’s not all that surprising that everyday people are clueless, but the vet techs and vets? That’s unbelievable, because as others said, even your best dog can be stressed out if they are sick or injured. The people there are in the position where they need to strictly enforce their rules.”

That would make me mad if someone said something about my dog, when (s)he was provoked. And yes, you could have the most wonderful dog in the world, but if they are sick or injured they might react differently than when they are well.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “Except for a few very young puppies held in their owners’ arms, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any dog off its leash at our vet’s office. ”

Even then, I would still want them on leash. What if they squirmed and ended up being dropped? What if that dog that the lady was holding freaked out and bit me? My face would have been just about perfect height for that.

Jan said, “I haven’t seen off leash dogs at my vet, but they have big signs and extra leashes and people monitoring the dogs for compliance.”

Well that makes sense and if people won’t comply then they should be told to wait in their car. That’s all I’m saying, don’t put my dog at risk because of someone else’s stupidity.

Lauranne said, “I never get people who let animals interact at the vets… my dog could be here cause he is ill and I don’t know what’s wrong with him, sure lets have him pass the germs to yours as well!”

EXACTLY! Typically if the Vet’s office suspects something contagious they would usher the ill dog in right away, but what if they don’t? That person could be exposing their dog to something that has the chance to be deadly.

Julie said, “Someone once yelled to me as their dog was running up to us that they are friendly. Well, good for them but Cocoa may not be!!”

THANK YOU. I want to scream at them, “Pull your head out of your ass!”

Misty Shores Chesapeakes said, “My vet example happened with Riva with an older woman in the waiting area of the office. She could see Riva was anxious and I was holding her close to me on leash but when the lady walked by us (and there was plenty of room for her to avoid us) she reached out and touched her, so Riva reached out and touched her. No one was hurt but she proceeded to tell my vet that Riva jumped at her but I guess she forgot to tell her that she as the human did not abide by the warning signs and body language of my dog, do not touch me or encroach on my space.”

That just made me do a head whip. For real? I think I might have been tempted at the moment myself, to reach out and touch that woman. WTF is wrong with people?

DZ Dogs said, “Vets know the body not the brain or behavioral stuff, as i’ve come to find out the hard way…There is one nurse at our office who has been there forever but Dante hates her, which I can’t blame him. First time I ever brought him in she man handled him, freaked him out, and then had the nerve to tell me he was dangerous and needed to be muzzled!!

I just think if you work in that field, you should have some general knowledge. And that would piss me off if someone man handled my dog too!

Beth said, “We’ve gotten several new vet techs recently (we miss our old ones desperately!), but they’ve been very good about dealing with Barley when I’ve said, “She doesn’t do well with other dogs.” I think it might also help that I refuse to budge from the entryway if there is another dog in the waiting room–on or off leash–and I stand there next to the door in case we need an escape and there’s a divider blocking Barley’s view of the other dogs.”

I am always vigilant and if I see someone coming in the door with a dog, I will move to the cat area or ask to be put in a room. If need be, like you, I’ll leave. 

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

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.

You Make Me Laugh – March 13, 2016

Cupcake said, “So brave and so sweet. I mostly stare straight ahead and go to my happy place in my head. I also shiver a lot.”

How does your mom stand it Cupcake? I bet she laughs a lot. 🙂

Monika and Sam said, “Those easy going pups are the best. One of the sheepdogs used to try to ‘eat’ the air coming from the dryer if she couldn’t escape the infernal noise. Sam just sulks. Can’t decide if he hates water or the blow dryer more. 😉”

I think that would make me laugh, unless she was scared. Then I’d feel badly for her. 🙂

Emma said, “I’m the same way. Mom blow dries my ears and beard a lot and I just sit there and wait for her to finish with her nonsense!”

You are easy going like Sampson Emma. It’s very nice.

Elaine said, “I might be looking into doing this for Haley too since it seems to help a lot.”

From what I understand from the Physical Therapist, the underwater treadmill is THE best thing for the CCL recovery. I think it works best if you can combine it with some cold laser therapy as well or even some PEMF.

Alexa88 said, “usually hubby and I take lily to the vets together. one person to take lily in to the vet while the other, usually me, stays in the waiting room. thus able to explain to people in the waiting room that its our dog they hear and no she’s not in pain or having her leg taken off, she is just having her ears checked. I’m serious. that’s how much she hates the ear scope. we have had her from a tiny puppy so we know no trauma ever took place.”

Oh the poor sweet thing! I wonder why she hates it so?

Julie asked, “How did hydrotherapy go??”

I think it went very well. He’s had it twice now, the first time we kept the time down, but on Wednesday he did 10 minutes and didn’t seem to be tired afterward!

Pamela said, “That look on Sampson’s face in your picture? That’s Honey’s exact look when we lowered her off the side of the boat into the dinghy.”

One of resignation? LOL

It’s Always The Last Place You Look

Meagan and Merlin said, “The treat on miss D’s back reminds me when i was playing fetch with Merlin and the ball bounced and landed on his back and he was spinning in circles trying to get it and it stayed there til he stopped spinning. I wish i had that on video lol.”

OH MY DOG! I wish you’d gotten a video of that too. I bet I would have wet myself watching that!

Sheena said, “Daylight savings time has never bothered me, but I did hear yesterday on the radio it is the biggest day for accidents while driving!”

I also heard that there are a lot of heart attacks with the time changes as well!

Emma said, “We vote to abolish the time change nonsense! As for walking in the dark…did you not get the memo about the current correct way? Always wear black and keep your back to the traffic and the dog out in the street…people just have no common sense anymore! We always face traffic, and have our neon blinking lights on, so we cannot be missed. I guess if you have a death wish do whatever, but we prefer to live and walk safely in the dark.”

Oh no! I must have missed THAT memo. I usually FACE the traffic and keep the dog (or child if I’m walking with a child) on the INSIDE. Silly me. 🙂

Jan K mentioned the link wasn’t working and said this, “I am SO with you on DST…it takes me a week to catch back up on my sleep, no matter which way it goes.”

Thanks for the heads up about the link, I fixe it! It takes me a long time to catch up with sleep.

Monika and Sam said, “As for kids nowadays…there is no explanation. We have created an entire population where rules don’t matter and heaven forbid we stifle their ‘creativity’ for fear of wrecking their precious little tender souls. Blech. Yeah, I’m becoming that “get off my lawn!’ kind of lady apparently. :-)”

Shit sister, you’re preaching to the choir on that one. 😉

Mary Ann said, “I don’t like DLS either. It keeps getting harder for me to get adjusted. I almost missed my bus stop last night because I fell asleep!”

Oh my gosh!! Thank heavens you weren’t driving. 🙂

Jan said, “I always imagine one senator saying to another: “If we can make the American people switch times twice a year we can make them do anything.””

He he, you are probably right on that one!

DZ Dogs said, “And yes, my mom taught me to face traffic while walking and I do it when I run too.”

You HAVE to! How else can you see what’s coming at you?

Hey Universe – Barks and Bytes

Melf said, “I hope mom is okay and you caught up on some much needed sleep. The universe needs to say “I got this” for once.”

Mom is hanging in there. Still not able to walk or care for herself though. The Universe was good to me with the no change on Sampson’s adrenal, so I try not to complain too much. 🙂

JanK said, “Oh geez, the universe does like to mess with us, doesn’t it? Who needs sleep anyway, right? But your first sentence….well, you know I’m the same way as you about the positive outlook and stuff….the universe is really messing with us right now too. I’ll fill you in once we know how the story ends (don’t worry, it’s nothing life or death or anything like that).”

Oh gosh! I’m on pins and needles now. 🙂

Sue said, “Real life is often stranger than fiction 🙁 Hope your mom is recovering with speed and you’re able to get some rest. Rudy suddenly became afraid of storms (lightning and thunder) last year and I’ve spent a lot of nights up with him. I’m hoping he’ll grow out of this fear (Jeffie did).

Sleep? I hear it’s over-rated. 🙂 Oh I hope Rudy outgrows the fear, it’s so horrible to watch them afraid.

Misty Shores Chesapeakes said, “Not to laugh at your expense but the way you describe some of the events did make me smile…oh the pictures that run through my head!”

Laugh! PLEASE! I tried to make it comical when I wrote it. (I’m not always sure I succeed.)

Pamela said, “Y’know, in the cosmic battle of life, I’d put my money on you every time. :-)”

Oh Pamela, thank you for that confidence. I wish I had even a tiny bit of it. 🙂

Taryn said, “It’s a good thing you have your strong sense of humor for times like that! Plus, it’s blog fodder. :-)”

Truly if I didn’t laugh, I’d be a freaking puddle on the floor, and it does help me in finding stuff to write about. 🙂

Well 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.

You Make Me Smile – March 6, 2016

Emma said, ” I love to sit in my front window and watch, but I often fall asleep there too.”

Do you have a bay window, or a window with a seat in it? Our old house had that and I do miss it.

Jan K said, “Luke and Cricket both love to lie on the top of the couch in the office and watch out the window. Sheba prefers to go outside on the deck and lie on the steps to watch the other side of the house from there. I guess they’ve got most of it covered!”

Sheba is like Sampson, if he had his choice, he’d lay out by the front gate or in the front yard and watch the world go by.

Cupcake said, “I watch out the window all the time. Who else will protect Mom from evil mail carriers, noisy lawn guys, deranged kids riding skateboards, the putt-puttering golf cart, and people walking by minding their own business? She’s lucky to have me.”

She sure is Cupcake, she sure is.

Taryn said, “My guys, and Wilson especially, have the neighborhood comings and goings down to a precise schedule. He knows when to get in the window to watch for his archrival, the akita from across the street. They hear the UPS guy from a couple blocks off!”

Aren’t they funny? They don’t have watches, but yet somehow, they just know!

Julie said, “There is a kitty across the street that comes up to our windows and it makes Cocoa crazy. She does not like kitties!!”

LOL it sounds like my guys. If the cat is in the house, most of the time they tolerate him well, but let us see a cat on our walk, or have a cat in our yard and all hell breaks loose!

Alexa88 said, “I often sit on the porch right beside lily. she will move right up to my side and lean on me. Like a big warm hug.”

Oh my, that sounds so wonderful. I love it when my dogs snuggle up to me.

Is It Just Me?

Taryn said, “I’ve had that happen many times. I’m actively trying to get out of the way and the DADO is actively trying to catch up. I eventually get grouchy, stop and sit my dogs, and let the ass pass. They get a nasty “my black dog is NOT friendly” snarl out of me and I get an ‘Oh, mine just wants to say hi, he’s so friendly……..’ If they continue to push it, they get what they get!

It’s so frustrating. You work so hard with your dogs and then clueless people just muck up the whole thing! With Delilah being such a large dog, I worry about her hurting a smaller dog. Although the animal control officer has told me that as long as she was on leash, she wouldn’t be in trouble. Still that’s a risk I’d rather not take, you know?

Lauranne said, “It is not just you I lost count of the number of times things like this happened to me and BD. One of my favorites was when I very obviously crossed the road to get away from a man and his dog and they decided to cross the road to come and join us just as I was passing a parked car leaving BD and me trapped…I think in the end I had no option but to turn tail and run.

Ugh, I hate that! I will dart into someone’s yard without a second thought. LOL I am constantly looking and plotting ways to get away from dogs/people on our walks. Just in case.

Emma said, “No, doesn’t happen to us much around here. Would love a video of you and Tigger jogging up hill, though!”

LOL one of these days I’m going to get that Go-Pro camera on me, so I can video it. I suspect a lot of people would subscribe to a YouTube channel with Delilah and her crazy antics.

Jan said, “There should be such a thing as Dog Rage with stories of DADO having awful things happening to them from responsible but deranged dog owners.”

Right? The sad thing is, it’s probably the dogs who end up paying for their owner’s stupidity.

Lexy said, “I used to run into that a lot with my neighbour’s (very very dog unfriendly) beagle. People seemed to think that because he was small and calm-seeming, that I was, I don’t know… lying about his being not friendly. He would literally play bow and act friendly right up until another dog was within teeth distance, and he shredded another dog’s ear once because his owner got surprised by someone sneaking up on them. When I ask someone if their dog is friendly, and they start with, “ummm… well…”, I don’t let Gwynn meet them. If your response isn’t ‘hells yes!”, then it’s “No, we don’t want to meet you”, i don’t need to know that your dog only likes black german shepherds who were neutered in the past 6 months, or get grilled about whether my dog is old/young/male/female/fixed/etc. I really want to know the end of your story! Because I really can imagine you stalking back down the hill, snapping “SIT” (and the dog listens, because you’ve got boss-voice on), and then telling the woman exactly what’s what.

LOL OH, if only I had the courage! I typically try NOT to have confrontations because my experience has been that most people really aren’t open to being educated about what they’re doing wrong.

Monika and Sam said, “Hahahah! I snorted chai all over my screen with the image of ‘lighting that woman up like a grill in springtime.” What a vision! After I stopped laughing, my reaction became WHAT THE [fill in the blank] IS WRONG WITH SOME PEOPLE?! Sheesh. And for the record, trust me running downhill is much harder on the knees plus the ‘brakes’ don’t work. at. all. because of this thing called inertia.”

Ba ha ha, I love when my humor comes across. Sometimes I’m just not sure if people are finding it funny or not. As for the downhill bit, I have to agree. I was thinking of that yesterday on our walk, I thought it’s easier to be dragged uphill, than down. 😉

Mary Ann said, “On the bright side, these things make for interesting blog writing and reading. :-)”

Well thank you, I try to make it entertaining. 🙂

Misty Shores Chesapeakes said, “Naw, not just you. I think most of us have been there and here is my theory…responsible pet owners notice the not so responsible pet owners more than the average person because we just can’t believe they walk upright.:-)”

I think your theory is spot on.

Jackie Bouchard said, “Ugh. This has happened to me a lot! I feel like turning around and yelling, ‘Are you BLIND? Can you not see that I’m exhibiting all the universal signs of trying to flee?!” Like, I’m speeding up, I turned and went a different direction, I keep glancing back at you then picking up my speed. WtH??”

Oh I hear you!! I want to scream, “Are you stupid?” But I’m usually running so fast I can’t talk. 😉

Dachshund Nola said, “My favorite thing about small dogs is that you can just pick them up and move on. People are dicks!”

That would be a great benefit to having a small dog. And you are right, people are dicks.

Meagan and Merlin said, “It’s not just you. I was walking Merlin on the foreshore and i see a couple with their tiny dog so i move out of the way to let them pass. Oh no they drag their dog over to mine and this little dog growls at Merlin and they said something along the lines of “it’s always like that” but they on purpose dragged their reactive dog to mine when they knew it was like that.”

Don’t you want to say, “Buy a vowel, Vanna! Stop trying to make your dog into something its not!”

KB said, “I certainly have met my share of clueless dog owners. Because Shyla can be so fearful, I don’t let her meet dogs who appear like they might be overbearing or aggressive. However, I can attest that I have no stories as funny as yours. I’m sure it was terribly upsetting while it was happening but you turned it into a hilarious story.”

I hear you and think you are wise to protect Shyla that way. And thank you, I try to shine humor on the crazy situations so other people with challenging dogs don’t feel so alone.

Barks and Bytes – March 10, 2016

For those that missed yesterday’s post, I had a brain fart and forgot to wrap up the story. LOL So, what actually happened was this….Once Delilah and I got out of the dog’s sight they stopped following us. Whether the dog lost interest or the person turned the dog around, I don’t know. I siriusly considered dropping Delilah at home and then going up to the park and punching her in the face.

Lauranne said, “Is it wrong that I am a little bit gutted that you didn’t go back and punch her in the face? She’s gotta learn somehow! :-)”

HELL NO! If you had written that post, I’d have wanted you to punch her too. LOL

Jan said, “I think a good face punch would have been in order. Negative reinforcement works well on stupid people.”

I want to like this comment a million fucking times!

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