Heart Like a Dog

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

Whaddaya Think?

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I have an observation to share.

I’ve mentioned before how Sampson and Delilah must lie on mats while we eat dinner.  A typical night starts like this.

Either Hubby or myself brings them into the living room, (yes we eat in front of the tv) and tells them place.  If it’s me, I wait patiently while Delilah decides when she will “down.”  If Hubby is the one placing her, he stands towering over her, hands on hips demanding that she down.  Once both dogs are in the down, we tell them “Stay.” 

We go into the kitchen and prepare our plates, we also get some carrots and a couple of biscuits for the dogs.  When we get back to the living room, Delilah has moved.  She is still near or partially on her mat, but the fact is that she has moved and is no longer where we left her, when put her there and said “Stay!”

We give S & D the two biscuits and sit down to eat our dinner, somewhere after this point Delilah will 1) stand up and stretch, placing her two front feet forward and down while her back end goes up in the air or 2) just stand up and attempt to move.  This infuriates Hubby who will glare and point and if necessary tower over her again until she lays back down.  Meanwhile I sit there and roll my eyes.

When dinner is done, Hubby will give the release word which in our house is “OK.”  Sometimes if we don’t eat fast enough Delilah will whimper, whine or sigh.

This scenario takes place night after night in our house.

Except for last night.  Last night Hubby had one of his Christmas parties.  He was gone after work and dinner was just me…and the dogs.

Here’s what happened.

When my dinner was ready, I grabbed my dinner, a couple of biscuits and a bag with some small treats in it that I would use instead of carrots.  I went into the living room and using the biscuits as the lure, I put Sampson and Delilah in a down position. 

I sat down and started eating my dinner.  About five minutes into my dinner, Sampson got up and curled up on the couch.  A few minutes later Delilah got up and went into her crate.  And that’s where they stayed.

For the entire time I was eating, and I took my time.

When I was done, I said “Ok, it’s time for dinner.”  I picked up the bag of treats and my dishes and went into the kitchen, where I fed them.  I didn’t even use the 2nd set of treats to release them, I just said “Ok, it’s time for dinner.”

When Hubby came home, I told him I thought he was the problem with her.  (And really My Inner Bitch was very gleeful, although my Outer Self was very dignified throughout the telling of the story.)  The trouble is I don’t know how to fix it. 🙁

So whaddaya think?

I think this is the Saturday morning blog hop hosted by Two Little Cavaliers, Life With Dogs and Confessions of the Plume.  You can get your code here.  Hop on if you choose. 🙂

Saturday Morning Blog Hop

Things I Learned In 2011

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It’s that time of year where every time you turn around someone is recapping SOMETHING.

Surprise marriages and divorces, top cheating scandals, celebrities we lost in 2011, ten dumbest things congress did this year. 

I’m pretty sure you know what I mean.

For my last post (of 2011, don’t panic) I thought I would recap the top blogging things I’ve learned this year.  I know I’m probably going to sound really dumb when I reveal some of these things, keep in mind I didn’t know the first thing about blogging when I started.  And for the record, I prefer to think of myself as naive. 🙂

Categories.    Categories are words which you choose, that help people find your blog/blog post in a search engine.  For instance if someone googles ‘rescue dogs,’ somewhere down at the bottom of that list you will find one of my posts about Delilah. 🙂

Be The Change.  Be the change for animals is an event that happens four times a year in Blogville, on the 15th day of January, April, July and October bloggers EVERYWHERE write a pet related post.  It could be anything that has to do with making a change for the betterment of animals.  One of my first BTC posts was a copy of  a letter I sent to the Governor of CT regarding a change in law for rescue organizations.

Pingbacks.  Pingbacks are still a subject I’m kind of wonky about, but the best I can figure is if someone makes a reference to a post you made, you get a little note in your comment section letting you know that someone mentioned you.  So far most of my pingbacks are from myself 🙂 but that is something I hope to change in 2012.

Writing Prompts.  Yes there are blogs out there that will help you become a better writer (if that is something you are aspiring to.)  Write on the Edge is one of these blogs.  Every Tuesday and Friday there is a different challenge.  You can choose to participate or not, no pressure.  A few weeks back I did participate and wrote a short story that got a lot of comments.

Comfort Zones.  Step out of your comfort zone.  Try something new, this past year I participated in a “Back to school blog party.”  Hosted by Frankie and Sarge, this was something way out of my comfort zone.  The post was supposed to be from the pet’s point of view and I don’t normally write in that form.  But I took a shot anyway.  If you haven’t seen it, you can find it here.  I think it came out decent if I do say so myself.   

I also participated in the Social Media event hosted by Two Little Cavaliers.  It was a great event that got me a bunch more followers (mostly Twitter.)

I’m thinking for 2012 I will be taking part in the Pet Blogger Challenge hosted by Edie at Will My Dog Hate Me and Amy at Go Pet Friendly. 

Yup. Stepping. Out. Of. My. Comfort. Zone.

Linky Tools.  Linky tools is a blogging tool used in Blog Hops and links you up to other bloggers.  Linky Tools does NOT work with the free WordPress account.  Which leads me to kindness.

Kindness.  Bloggers are very kind people, if you need help or seem to be struggling with something, chances are there’s a blogger ready to lend a helping hand.  Case in point when I did my first blog hop, I couldn’t figure out how to make that Linky Tool work.  A very kind Pamela from Something Wagging This Way Comes sent me an e-mail explaining exactly how I had to use the Linky Tool.  How kind is that?

Blog Hops.  Blog Hops link you up with other blogs and help you easily manuever from one blog to the next, hence the term Blog Hop. 

Right now I know of three regularly scheduled blog hops.  The Monday Mischief blog hop hosted by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Luna a Dog’s Life and My Brown Newfies.

The Wordless Wednesday blog hop hosted by BlogPaws.

And of course, the one that I struggled with in the beginning, the Saturday Morning Pet Bloggers Blog hop hosted by Two Little Cavaliers, Life With Dogs, and Confessions of the Plume.

I am looking forward to the challenges of 2012, and as we bid adieu to 2011, we pray you have a safe, healthy and happy new year!

You guessed it, this is the Saturday Morning Pet Bloggers blog hop, hop on.

From The Dr.'s Mouth…Day Three Hundred, Thirty Three

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Last night was Sampson’s yearly vet check-up and I promised I would get back to you about vaccinations.

But before we get to that I want to let you know that Sampson weighed in at 86.5 pounds!  He is down just about 20 pounds from his last annual appointment.  Our vet is super excited about his weight and though she would like him to lose a few more pounds, she says “I can live with this.”

We discussed vaccines. In CT they must have Rabies every three years and Sampson was due for it.  Leptospirosis is on the rise and we have a lot of “wild” life in the area so Leptos was really a no-brainer.

I then asked about Distemper and this is the answer I got.

When a puppy has had the Distemper series and had the booster at one year, my vet is very comfortable doing a booster every three years.  Research shows that MOST dogs that have had the puppy series and the first year booster are safe from Distemper.

BUT roughly four percent of dogs that have had that protocol, can contract Distemper.  Because there is no way of predicting WHICH four percent are susceptible they go with the three year booster, until the dog’s age hits the double digits.

FROM HER MOUTH

She went on to add, by following the three-year booster series they have seen very little vaccine related cancers.  Dogs are still getting cancer, but it is not the kind that comes from OVER VACCINATING.

Sampson got the Distemper booster because it has been four years since his last booster.  As he has just turned seven, it is more than likely his last Distemper shot.

Last night he had three shots, one in his upper back and one right around each hip area.  The vet said he may be drowsy and have a little discomfort.

After dinner I let him out while I did dishes.  After about 10 minutes I realized he was still outside and I grew a bit concerned since we had a bit of snow Thursday night and the temperatures have really dropped.  I went outside and called and called, but I couldn’t hear him and it was dark so I couldn’t see him.  I decided to go in and get a jacket and flashlight.

That’s when I saw him……

Hubby let him in. 🙂

This is the Saturday Morning Blog Hop hosted by Two Little Cavaliers and Life With Dogs….you can get your code here.……well don’t just sit there.  HOP.

 

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