Heart Like a Dog

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

Follow-Up Friday…Day Two Hundred, Sixty Two

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For those of you new to the blog, I recently started my own feature/theme called Follow-Up Friday. 

Sometimes you write a blog and your forget to mention something or you write about an event and it needs a little bit of a follow-up.  Hence Follow-Up Friday.

Click or Treat – Author’s Note

I stopped clicking and treating for a couple of days, because Sampson wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t supposed to be getting a lot of food.  Delilah pretty well has the sit down, although she is still barking at me when I am working on her food. 

As soon as she moves or barks I immediately stop what I am doing and wait until she stops barking and sits. 

I hope to finish the clicker training book this weekend, so we can proceed to the next obedience command.  I will continue to keep you updated on our progress.

Versatile Blogger – Author’s Note

There are so many of you whose blogs are worthy of awarding.  I know many of you have had this award in the past and I was trying to recognize some previously unrecognized people.  If I read your blog and comment on it, you can rest assured I think you are award worthy. 🙂

Creatures of Habit – Author’s Note

I’m not sure how clear I was in the post, Delilah does NOT take the treats from Sampson anymore.  She did the first time we gave treats, but since they have been separated during treat time, I believe she has come to know better.

I hope she knows better.

Poor Punkin – Update

First I want to thank you all for the comments and concerns about Sampson. 

I believe Sampson is feeling better.  He held down the beef and rice last night and instead of his normal treat I gave him a bit more beef and rice.   He even managed to eat a few bites of carrots at bedtime.  He was not ill during the night and held down the beef and rice he had for breakfast.

I did not take him for his normal run in the woods yesterday, instead Hubby and I took them for a quick walk around the block.  Sampson seemed to be very happy to get out of the house and he enjoyed his walk. 

Today I did take them for their normal walk and Sampson seemed fine.  I even got a quick look at his poop when he did his business and it was normal.

Delilah was not well-behaved during the day or in the woods, but that is a post for another day.

Tomorrow (at the request of Diane) I will be blogging about our venture into the Raw Food Diet.

Last (but not least) I read about a back to school/Labor Day Bash from Frankiefurter , there will be all kinds of classes and yours truly will be holding a class (blog) about Pawm Eat a Kit (Prom Etiquette) as the back to school doggies will be attending Pawm (prom);  if you are interested you can get all the deets here.

Creatures of Habit….Day Two Hundred, Sixty

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Dogs are such creatures of habit.

Every night around 9:00 pm, hubby and I have a snack.  We extended this habit to Sampson and to Delilah when she joined our pack.

It immediately became clear that the dogs must be separated when treats were around.  I handed Sampson his treat and Delilah hers.  Delilah swallowed hers and then took Sampson’s right out of his mouth.  He and I both stood there for a second in complete and utter shock.  Then I walked over to Delilah and wrestled the treat from her mouth and handed it back to Sampson.

This did not phase Delilah in the least, she went right back to Sampson and again took the treat from his mouth.  I was furious and determined.  I went right back to Delilah and re-wrestled her for the treat.  At which point I grabbed her collar to prevent her from repeating her faux paw.

In retrospect, I realize how ignorant I was to 1) assume that she would act the same way Sampson did and 2) take for granted that she wouldn’t bite my hand off for taking food away from her.

Sampson was the dog I nurtured from puppyhood.  I wanted to make sure he was raised in the appropriate way, we always hand fed him, we played with him and his treats, we played with his feet all to make sure he was a well-natured, well-mannered dog.  In my naiveness it never dawned on me that all dogs are not raised by responsible pet owners.

Delilah was my first-hand experience of a dog that didn’t have a caring owner.

Flash forward to present day.

I am reminded beginning about 8:45 pm by Delilah that snack time is approaching.  She does this by walking up to me and staring at me; sometimes she barks, but I stand my ground!  Not a moment before 9:00, because if I do then she will expect it and before I know it, snack time will be before dinner. 🙂

I can stare her into submission.

Delilah thinks she’s won the lottery at snack time, she runs to the pantry, jumping and leaping for joy, almost tripping you or knocking you down to win the prize.  This happens every single night.

Most nights I give Sampson his treat first and he runs off to the bedroom, snack in mouth.  If for some reason the bedroom door is shut, then he comes back and looks at me and I go and open the door for him.

Delilah runs into the living room with her treat and inhales there.  Once she has finished her treat she goes into the bedroom and waits for Sampson to move so she can inspect the bed for crumbs and clean up after him like the good mama dog that she is.

Last night Sampson headed off for the bedroom and then turned around and came back.  Hubby said, “What’s the matter big boy?”

And it dawned on me, the cat was on the bed.  If the cat is on the bed before him, Sampson will NOT get on the bed.  If Bob jumps up on the bed while Sampson is sleeping, then it is ok but not vice versa.

Help me mama, help help me mama, help me mama , help help me mama, help me mama yeah, get him offa the bed.

I reminded Sampson he is a 90 pound dog and Bob weighs 10 pounds dripping wet as I walked past him into the bedroom.  Luckily Bob was already on his way out to see what all the fuss was about.

Silly dog.

Versatile Blogger….Day Two Hundred, Fifty Nine

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Wow!  Our  friend over at 2BrownDawgs awarded us with the Versatile Blogger Award!    Thank you dear friend, we are honored to accept this award.

There are four simple rules:

Post a link to the person who gave you the award.

Tell your readers seven random things about yourself.

Award 15 newly discovered blogs.

Send them a note letting them know you nominated them.

Here goes…

1)  Sometimes it takes me a really long time to figure things out.  The first time I received this award I didn’t know 15 bloggers.  I didn’t know about having links to other bloggers on your web page (blogrolls), or about gaining exposure for your blog by commenting on other people’s blogs.  The first time I had a ping back in my comments, I deleted it as spam. 🙁  I spent that first day (after being bestowed the award) frantically looking for blogs I could give the award to.  If you were one who received this award from me back then, please don’t be offended; I found a lot of great blogs that day. 

2)  Because of the experience with the first award, I am proud to say every day I make it a point to read a blog I have never read before; and comment on it.  I have found some really neat blogs because of this.

3)  My greatest desire is to have the money to build a sanctuary for animals; similar to the one at Glen Highland Farms.  Mine would not be breed specific, instead we would take dogs, cats, horses and other domestic animals.   There would be a large training facility for dogs including rings for agility, areas for dock diving and loads of hiking trails.  Under-privileged children would come on school vacations to live in the country and experience caring for and loving an animal.  The facility would be open to all animal lovers to come and enjoy.  There would be a large Bed and Breakfast, for those who long for traditional comfort as well as cabins for those who crave the more rustic life.  This would be a place where all who came would enjoy the beauty of nature and the type of soul healing that only comes from the privilege of loving an animal.  I would run this with my daughter Lynn, whose love for animals inspires me.

4)  The dogs have formal names, the names I use (just like your mama did) when they get in trouble.  They also have nicknames.  Sampson has a myriad of nicknames some of them include “Buddy,” “Bubba,” “Puppy,” “My Baby,” “Big Boy,” “Pooter,”  “Monkey Face” but the one I use the most (that he does answer to) is “Punkin.”  His formal name is Sampson Aragorn Stone.  Yes, he is named from a Lord of the Rings character; yes it was my decision and I would have named him Aragorn if Chet hadn’t put his foot down.  

Delilah only has two nicknames “Sweet Pea” and “Pretty Girl” although sometimes I do call her “Baby Girl.”  Her full name is Delilah Rose Stone.  Her middle name was supposed to be Arwen (yes, yes I know) but somehow it just didn’t fit.  I call her my second-hand rose, because someone tossed this beauty aside.

5)  I love to read, and I read very fast.  I finished the last Harry Potter book (The Deathly Hallows) in 27 hours; and that included sleeping, eating and cleaning my house.  When I set my mind to it (and have the down time) I can finish a book off in less than a day and retain it enough to discuss in-depth.  Which is why I traditionally don’t like to read the book before the movie, because I sit there and say, “That didn’t happen.”

6)  I am very competitive.  I call second place, “The First Loser.”  I do try to be gracious whether winning or (gasp) losing, but winning is the ultimate goal for me.  This probably makes me sound very petty, but I must be honest with you and expose the good things about me as well as the not-so-good.

7)  I now know of at least 15 blogs deserving of this award, but because some of you have already received this award, I am passing it off to nine others.  They may have received this award in the past, but if they have I am not aware of it.

So without further ado, and in no particular order here are my nominees for the Versatile Blogger Award:

Life at Golden Pines – I recently found this blog and just fell in love with it; I love the way she writes and found myself scrolling back through previous posts just to catch up. 

Peaceful Dog – I fell in love with picture of the brindle colored dog in the header and just kept reading.

That Mutt – I’ve seen a variety of topics on this blog, all interesting and very well written.

A Boston Photo Blog – I found this blog on Freshly Pressed, the post was a tribute to her dogs (which is what initially attracted me) but I like her style.

Bullfrogs and Bulldogs – Another Freshly Pressed find, a city girl relocates to the country and seems to love the life.  Her blog is about all her experiences in the country.

thecvillean – I found Big Al on a comment on someone’s blog (sorry I can’t remember who) and his name intrigued me so I clicked on him.  He writes about different subjects but they are always interesting.

Life with Sophie – Patty found me somehow and left a comment, so I checked out her blog.  She does a lot of agility and flyball with her Sophie.  Come on, it’s a blog about a lab; how can you not love it?

Tart to Heart – Another one of my Freshly Pressed finds, this lady is a killer baker!  Her recipes rock (I have tried two so far) and her food pictures look awesome!

The Single Cell – This gal writes about everything, you never know what her topic will be, but you can bet it will make you think!

My Reality Show – This is one of my newer finds, the first post I read was about women wearing the same outfits and the feelings this invokes.  The next posts were about her Lila, who she adopted from the local Humane Society. 

I hope you get the opportunity to check out some of my favorite blogs, if you do pop on back and let me know what you think.

Thanks again to our friend at 2 Brown Dawgs, we appreciate you thinking of us!

Happy reading.

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