Heart Like a Dog

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

Memories….Day Two Hundred, Sixty Six

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The date was October 6, 2004; Sampson was 9 1/2 weeks old and had been living with us for 12 days.

I got up that morning to find him in his crate covered in filth; he looked so sad and scared and I felt horrible that he had been alone and sick. I gave him a bath, cleaned up his crate and waited for the vet’s office to open.

I got the first available appointment, I was afraid that he had something really bad and I would lose him.  I remember thinking I don’t care if it costs $5,000.00 I need to save this dog.  He had already wrapped himself completely around my heart.

I drove the 10 minutes to the vet with him draped across my lap; vomiting.  The stool sample (if you could call it that) was handed over to the vet tech who said, “Oh yeah, he’s got gastritis” or something along those lines.

Thankfully, it was something very treatable, we went home with antibiotics and instructions to keep him on cooked hamburger and rice for a few days, at least until he had a solid bowel movement.

I cooked a huge box of Minute Rice with a bunch of ground beef and stored it in a plastic container in the fridge.  After a few days, he was well enough to go back to his normal puppy food and I thought, “What am I going to do with all this beef and rice?’

I decided I could add some sauce to it and make a version of the stuffing you put in peppers. When I took the container out of the refrigerator, Sampson barked at me, and he kept barking because he had already associated the container with his food and didn’t know why I wasn’t feeding it to him!

Hey, that's my food!

We laughed at that.

I was reminded of this memory last week when Sampson wasn’t feeling so hot.

As I prepared his dinner, I wonder how will he receive this bland beef and rice when he loves his raw food so much?

But as I placed the bowl in front of him, he looked at me; smiled and wagged his tail.

Then he dug in. I wonder if he was remembering like I was?

 

Let Me Show You How It's Done…Day Two Hundred, Sixty Five

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We are back to clicking for treats again.  Since I didn’t find the time to finish the book and we haven’t gotten to the ‘stays’, I decided to try to teach Delilah the ‘high-five’ command.

To start with I am trying to get Delilah to look at my hand, if she does then I click and treat.  I will eventually work her up to ‘high-fiveing’ my hand with her paw.

We started out on the edge of the kitchen which is normally where I want her to stay when I am working in there.  I had the container of green beans on the counter, a handful of green beans and the clicker in my left hand and I had my right hand palm open at about chest level.  Remember my goal here is to get her to look at my right hand.

Sampson meanwhile was lying on the floor waiting for his turn.

When you are trying to ‘shape’ a new behavior, initially you will click and treat for the slightest acknowledgement (meaning if she even shifts her eyes to my right hand I will click and treat.)  Delilah was so focused on my left hand with the food, that she was having trouble even glancing at my right hand.

I decided a change in tactic was necessary, I moved my right hand down to waist level and wiggled my fingers to try to direct her attention.  She remained focused on my left hand.

At this point Sampson decided to take over the training, he sat up and high-fived my hand with his left paw; as if to say, “This is what she wants you to do, watch and learn girl.”

“Good Boy!” Click and treat.

Then the lightbulb came on in Delilah’s brain and she went immediately to raising her paw and tapping my hand.

There is no better teacher than an old dog. 🙂

This is how it's done Delilah.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back….Day Two Hundred, Sixty Four

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There’s a theory when you are trying to adjust a behavior with your child that as you change one behavior, they may act out in another way.  I think the same theory holds true for dogs.

I have been working really hard with Delilah to get her to sit when I am working in the kitchen.  She has been doing really well with it, trouble is she is acting out in other ways and it is becoming very frustrating.

Three days in a row I have come home to scenes such as this

And this

Two days in a row, she ran away from me on our hike and investigated some neighboring houses on her own; totally ignoring me calling her.

I’ve had to put her on the thirty foot lead, until we are past the “danger” area.

As luck would have it, today my sister I went to a psychic fair.   I wanted a card reading, the woman I choose was also an animal communicator.  After we discussed career and relationship she said is there anything else you want to know about.

“That dog.”

She asked a couple of questions,”What kind of dog? What color?  What’s her name?”

Then she picked up a little glass ball and closed her eyes and she smiled.

She is tearing things up because she is bored.

She is running away on the trail because she is tracking…a prowler.  According to this medium, the coyotes are getting more brazen and are leaving the woods and checking out the surrounding houses.

“Is the house white?” she asks.  “I see a white house with stone steps.”

I told her I have no idea what color the house is, because I don’t leave the woods and apparently I don’t pay much attention either.

This afternoon when we went for our walk, I paid attention….to the white house.

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