Heart Like a Dog

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

Close Encounters of the Feline Kind

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Some of you may recall we have a cat that lives two houses over.

The first time I noticed the cat was when it was still just a small kitten.  I was really surprised to see the kitten outside, considering all the wildlife in our area, but the kitten was in its own yard, and while it didn’t exactly bother us…it did make for an interesting walk, once Delilah saw it. (You can read that story HERE.)

King of all he surveys.

He was such a little guy!

The next time we encountered the cat, it was up close and personal. That was the day that Delilah chased the cat up the tree, where it sat all night lawn causing me all kinds of angst. (You can read that story HERE.)

Cat stuck in tree

The colors are lovely, but I felt bad for the kitty.

After our third encounter, I wrote the silly cat a letter. (You can read the letter, HERE.) Most of you found it amusing (as it was intended to be) because I would never, ever let my dogs loose to chase a cat. 1) I’d be afraid that my dogs wouldn’t stop chasing and I’d lose them. 2) I’d be concerned that they’d have a real close encounter with the cat and end up injured and 3) it’s just plain mean and I don’t roll that way.

Delilah likes chasing cats

I like cats.

Since the encounters I’ve written about there’s been two more instances where we’ve had closer encounters with this particular cat. The first incident since the post Dear Kitty letter, happened when Sampson and I were coming back from our walk. Kitty was in our yard and as we turned the corner into the driveway Sampson spotted him. Sampson is a very strong dog and even with his injury (which makes it that much more important to not let him run) he’s difficult to keep under control when something excites him. Thankfully Kitty heeded the warning and ran over to hide behind a tree to watch us. (Newsflash Kitty, that tree is coming down so you better find another hiding spot!) Sampson of course sniffed the driveway over and wanted to climb the hill to find the cat, but we managed to get inside the house.

Then came last Friday. Apparently Kitty decided my driveway is a nice spot to lie down in. The spot he chose gave Sampson a perfect viewing spot, of the cat. It would have given me the same advantage had I been looking. But I wasn’t.

No, I was more concerned with the webs that were hitting me in the face, so like I do every morning, I opened the gate.

Typically when either one of my dogs spots something they give a clear alert signal. I’m sure Sampson did this particular morning, but again, I wasn’t paying attention.

Instead, I opened the gate, and turned around to close it and that’s when Sampson started barking at the cat.

All I can say is thank Dog I was holding onto the gate, because the lunge that Sampson took, coupled with the fact that we were at the top of a small incline, could have been disastrous.  However, what added even more mayhem to the incident was the fact that I had left the back door open, so Delilah could go out and do HER business.

Of course, when she heard the commotion at the gate, she came barreling around the corner of the house.

There I was, 90 pounds of injured, but still strong dog trying to rip my arm out of its socket, while I stared down 70 pounds of brown fury.

What happened next was mind boggling.  WHY am I not wearing that GoPro? WHY?

We have a retaining wall on that side of the house. Because Sampson is not allowed to be doing any running, Hubby has placed some fallen branches across the lowest spot of the wall. It is enough to deter Sampson, because he has never been a jumper. But for our resident Diva, a wall is a minor inconvenience.

So there I am standing at the gate, watching Delilah barrel towards me and bracing my body for the impact. Right at the last second, she snaps to her right, and without missing a beat, runs up the hill and does a loop around the back yard.

I snapped the gate closed, and maneuvered Sampson down the driveway. Per his usual, Mr. Kitty had darted for cover in the trees/bushes at the side of the driveway.

Stop watching Merida Kitty, you do realize she has a bow and arrow on her side, don't you?

Stop watching Merida Kitty, you do realize she has a bow and arrow on her side, don’t you?

Do you have any bold and brazen cats in your neighborhood? How do you manage your dogs around cats?

A Story of Dogs and Pancakes

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The following story originally appeared on my free WordPress blog back on June 4, 2011. Facebook reminded me of this post yesterday and I thought it might be a good time to share it again.

I love going back and looking at old posts, both to see where I was with my writing and blog (the original post had no SEO title, no SEO description and no SEO key words) and also to remember stories and fun times with the dogs.

For this particular post, I’d been blogging for just about 7 months.

Looking back on this post I can see that my writing has changed a bit, but Delilah still retains a lot of her quirkiness.

Yum Yum Pancakes…Day One Hundred, Eighty Six

We had just moved in to our current house, when I had the urge to make pancakes.  Being the ever resourceful person that I am, I pulled out a box of Bisquick and whipped up some pancake batter.  (Do you ever wonder how something that makes pancakes, can also make biscuits, dumplings, shortcake and pot pie batter and all taste different?)

I had the griddle on the stove and while I waited for the pan to heat up, I ran into the den to check something on the computer.

I left Chet sitting on the couch, not more than 15 feet from the stove.

Thoroughly engrossed with whatever I happened to be doing,  it took a minute for the slurp, slurp, slurping noise to permeate my brain.

“What the hell is that?” I thought.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I left the computer and made my way back to the kitchen area, where I found Delilah, front paws on the counter, face in the batter bowl, slurping happily away.

By the time I got the camera, she had licked off a majority of the batter. (I have since learned to keep my camera handy.) **I may have learned it then, but you all know that right there is no longer true. 🙂

Meanwhile, Chet (who once heard me whisper something to my daughter from one floor away) was sitting watching TV, oblivious to what was taking place barely 15 feet from him.

Yes, we still ate pancakes and yes Chet got the first one. 🙂

So there you have it. What do you think? Has Delilah changed a lot? Do you see a difference in my writing? Do you ever go back to the beginning to see how your blog and voice have evolved?

The DADO Report for May 2016

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So here’s the latest DADO report for last month. (For those that might be new to the blog, DADO stands for Dumb Ass Dog Owners and believe you me, there are a number of them in my neighborhood.)

Last Thursday I was taking Sampson for his morning walk. We did our six minutes and then I turned around and crossed the street like I usually do. I noticed one of the houses with an e-fence had their garage door open and I had a brief thought that I should cross the street, but I didn’t.

I should know better because the woman who lives in this house always takes her dog in the car with her when she takes her son to the bus stop. And she passes us almost every day.

I looked carefully and didn’t see a dog and really, what should it matter, the dog’s on an e-fence, right?

Sampson and I are taking our time as is his our custom. Just as we pull level with the driveway, I hear the distinctive sound of a dog on a mission. I look up to see the dog (Roxy) flying out of the garage and across the lawn.  (You may remember Roxy, she’s the little puppy that didn’t want to poop while on leash, so the woman left her off and in doing so, her brand new puppy ran across the  street to greet Delilah.)

Sampson (of course) starts jumping around, which is horrible for his leg, so I start walking to the other side of the road. Just as we reach the safety of the other side, Roxy gets to the end of her yard, pops out into the street, realizes she’s popped out of her yard, spins around to head back in, then realizes she didn’t get zapped and barrels across the street at us.

I hear the mom call Roxy and then I hear the son say, “Told ya.”

I don't always leave my yard, but when I do, it's to sniff a handsome lad.

I don’t always leave my yard, but when I do, it’s to sniff a handsome lad.

And there I am standing on the side of the road with my dog, who is now being sniffed over by Roxy.

The mom comes over and tries to grab the dog, but Roxy thinks it’s a game, so she darts away as the woman tells me that her husband ‘edged’ through their electric fence.

And yet, you took your dog outside without a leash?

Roxy dances close beside me and I say, “I’m afraid to grab her collar, I don’t want to startle her and I don’t know how she does with strangers touching her.”

The woman ponders that, “She’s never bitten anyone before…”

Yeah, I’ll keep my hands to myself.

I reach into my treat bag and hand the woman a few tiny pieces of kibble.

“Wow, you’re good” she responds as she takes the kibble and holds it out to her dog, who turns her nose up at it and darts away again.

Sampson’s grown bored with the whole process since he’s already met the dog by now and sits down on the side of the road.

What can say? The lassies all love me.

What can say? The lassies all love me.

Meanwhile, people in the neighborhood are leaving for work and cars start moving along the street, while Roxy continues to dance about and play the keep-me-away-from-my-mom game.

Finally, after what seems like 10 minutes, but was probably more like three, Roxy gets close enough for the woman to snag her and the son comes out into the street and carries the dog into the car.

I gather up my wits, my treats and my dog and stagger home clutching my heart.

Really, you can’t make this stuff up.

Does this stuff happen to anyone else? Or is it just me?

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