Heart Like a Dog

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

Did I Say That Out Loud?

By

A couple years back I did a few posts about thoughts on a walk. To be clear, these were my thoughts as well as Sampson’s and Delilah’s.  (Thoughts from a Walk, More Thoughts from a Walk,  Thoughts from a Winter Walk, Still More Thoughts From a Walk, for anyone who’s interested in reading them.)

The majority of our walks, it’s just me and the dogs, and lately I’ve found myself saying things out loud. Like I’m not even thinking about it and my mouth opens up and BAM there it is!  If anyone heard me, they might think I was talking to a person. But I’m not. It’s just me. And my dogs.

I have to warn you, I cuss. A Lot. And I’m not P.C. I’m not that nice lady you think, “Oh how sweet, look at her walking her dogs.”

No. I’m the lady that says, “Why are you such an asshole? Stop that right now. You’re a jackass.”

Anywhoo, one day last week I was struck with the inspiration to share the things I’ve said. But since my inspiration came near the end of our walk, I had to think back.

Are you ready?

  • What the fuck? – This was because we step into the park and about fifteen feet from the dog poop station…you guessed it, there’s a pile of shit. WTF people? How hard is it to pick that shit up?
  • Thank God for trees – As I grabbed a small tree to keep myself from falling, after the dogs dragged me down a small leaf strewn hill.
  • I guess I better pick that up – Yeah, I siriusly contemplated not picking up the poop that Delilah left slightly off trail. But in the end, I did it.
  • Come on guys. It’s my walk too. – I’ve got two yankers on my hands. Mostly they’re pretty good, but sometimes they both pull at the same time and it’s tough on my arms.
  • Really? That really happened? Why does this really happen? – As Delilah went one way and Sampson the other…around a tree.
  • Good aim buddy – As Sampson manages to kick a bunch of damp, heavy leaves over the poop I’m trying to pick up.
  • Stop! Just Stop! – Delilah had the leash wrapped around her and I was trying to straighten it out…and she just kept walking.
  • You can only go as far as my arm goes – As both dogs strain to sniff at something off the beaten path.

If a tree falls in a forest

Up and over

  • Good job Buddy – A large tree has fallen over the path in the entrance and while Delilah jumps it easily, I thought Sampson might just walk over it, but he didn’t. He jumped!
  • Just walk Delilah! – Yeah, Delilah heard me say “Good Job” and she thought she was due a treat. So she kept slowing down and staring up in the hopes that I would cave.
  • Judas Priest! Come on! – Sometimes they are the pokiest dogs on the planet and we have to stop every five steps to sniff and it feels like I just can’t make any forward profess.
  • Really? – As Delilah wraps herself around me yet again.

Do you talk aloud when you’re walking your dog? What kind of things come out of YOUR mouth?

There Goes Delilah

By

I may have mentioned a time or two, that we do not live in a very friendly neighborhood. We do know our neighbors on either side of us but for the most part, the neighbors keep to themselves. Maybe we get a wave here or there, but mostly they stick to themselves.

We have met one lovely neighbor who lives across the street from us. We met her when a branch from her tree fell, and brushed Hubby’s Jeep as he was coming home from the park with Sampson in the car. Hubby and I went over to help clean up the tree and that’s when we met Ms. Erika.

She is an older woman who lives with MS and she is truly one of those remarkable people. Even though she has bad days, most days you’ll see her slowly making her way down her driveway with her walker in order to get her mail. In fact, the very first time we met her, she was outside picking up small bits of branches and carrying them to the trash using her walker.

Miss Erika is originally from Sweden and she lives alone. Her husband passed away before we met her and she recently lost her furry companion, her kitty Molly.  Miss Erika absolutely LOVES Sampson and Delilah and they love her in return!

Every time we walk past her house, Sampson and Delilah look up at it, hoping to see her. If she’s at the window and calls to us, we have to go see her. She’ll come out and sit on her steps and then the dogs go over to say hello.

If I run into Miss Erika without the dogs, like in the grocery store…she always asks after Simon and Delilah. LOL, sometimes she forgets and calls Sampson, Simon. But when she sees him, she remembers his name.

Miss Erika has a friend that brings her to the grocery store every Sunday. She pulls up to the store and lets Miss Erika out, then they both do their grocery shopping.

Sunday, the dogs and I were just coming back from our afternoon walk when Miss Erika and her friend Denise passed us. They both waved excitedly and since we were almost home anyway, and Miss Erika’s house was just one house up, I thought I’d take the dogs over to say hello.

Miss Erika was sitting in the car when we got to her driveway, while Denise was setting up the walker. Sampson quickly said hello to Miss Erika and then started ‘chatting’ with Denise. I was paying attention to Sampson and Denise, while Delilah was saying hello to Miss Erika.

Suddenly Miss Erika said, “And there goes Delilah.”

I turned in time to see Delilah pushing her way past Miss Erika’s legs as she climbed into the front floor of the car. Before you could say, “DELILAH” she was over the front seat and into the back one, inspecting the groceries.

I had to drop her leash, run around the car and extract her via the rear passenger door. Yeah. You read that right. My dog climbs OVER a disabled woman to try and eat her groceries. There goes my hopes for the Canine Companion certificate.

No! Of course, I didn’t pull out the camera to snap her picture. Can you imagine? “Um, excuse me Denise? Would you mind holding Sampson’s leash while I take a photo of Delilah scavenging through your groceries?”

Because clearly, Delilah is so food motivated that she is fearless in her attempts to find food.

Need proof?

This was Delilah checking out an empty crate after one of our training classes. Note, the crates are stacked on top of each other and she’s working on the top one.

I'm sure someone was getting fed treats in here. If I could just reach a little further back.

I’m sure someone was getting fed treats in here. If I could just reach a little further back.

Or how about the time Delilah decided to ‘inspect’ our trainers car trunk?

Excuse, I need to inspect this trunk for any crumbs of food.

Excuse, I need to inspect this trunk for any crumbs of food.

Just a little bit further, we can't take the chance of missing something.

Just a little bit further, we can’t take the chance of missing something.

Labrador in car trunk

Sadly, you’re clean. Really, what’s a dog got to do to get some food?

Yup, there goes Delilah.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...