Heart Like a Dog

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

Ten Things I Love About Sampson

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Two years ago, I wrote a post, Ten Things I Love About Delilah. (You can read it HERE if you missed it.) It was a fun and uplifting post to write, and I truly hope you all do it for your pet. Especially if you are struggling with a challenging dog, because truly, focusing on their positive traits really does help.

Jan indicated that she wanted a list about Sampson, and I really dropped the ball. Part of this post has been sitting in my dashboard for two years. But today, I really didn’t know what I was going to write about and so I thought it might be time to finish this post.

Please keep the typing to a minimum…I’m trying to sleep.

Sampson is my heart dog and with the exception of a few traits where he acts like an asshole, most of the time the sun rises and sets with him. So here, in no particular order, are ten things I love about Sampson.

    1. Devotion – This is not to say that he doesn’t love his Daddy, or other members of our family, but he is devoted to me. When I am away from him, he sleeps in my bed and typically when I come back he is plastered to me. One day I brought him to visit our disabled neighbor and I wanted to help her out by grabbing her mail. She was sitting on the steps in her garage and Sampson settled in on the floor in front of her. I told him to “Stay”, dropped the leash and walked to the end of the driveway. As I was walking I could hear her talking to him, telling him to stay with her and that it was okay, so I looked back, thinking he was getting up, but no, he wasn’t. He was still right where I had left him, but his head was up and his eyes never left me. That’s devotion.
    2. Friendliness – Yes, it’s true this can sometimes be a huge pain in the ass because he thinks every car and every person are there just for him. He will stop whatever he is doing to look at person/car and then surges forward with a jaunt in his step anxious to greet his new or old friend. I think I can count the times he has growled at someone on one hand. Once it was directed at Delilah (I laughed, because really….all the times she has sniped at him, I admit, it gave me a little pleasure to see him standing up for himself), one time in North Carolina on vacation he growled at a man walking the beach. I later found out he wasn’t very nice man at all.  And I think one time he may have growled at one of the grandkids when he was hurt, but I can’t say that with certainty.
    3. Laid-back attitude – For real you guys, this dog is so easy-going. I can literally roll him, shift his back-end, look in his ears, and it doesn’t bother him a bit. Except for nails, he hates having his nails clipped, or filed.
    4. Snuggle ability – This happens on his terms. When he wants his snuggling, you will comply. He loves his ears rubbed, and he will lie next to you (on the bed, or floor) moving his head into your hand for what seems like hours. I’ve actually fallen asleep trying to satisfy his need for ear rubs.

      Golden Lab

      Snuggle bug

    5. Confidence – Sampson is a confident dog, in that he knows his peeps love him, and he normally does not compete for attention. Although I will say, there are times, when one of us is loving on Delilah and Sampson will push his way over and want some attention, but for the most part. He knows he’s the top dog.
    6. Sweetness – People continuously remark to me what a sweet dog he is. Truthfully, I was wondering about counting this, because I wonder if it’s a redundancy of friendliness, but since this is my post, it stays.
    7. Patience – Sampson is such a super, patient guy. He knows he will get his walk, snack, or dinner. He will remind you, but in a very gentle way. Instead of giving you the Lab Death Stare, or barking at you, he simply gets up, moves closer to you and watches, and patiently waits.
    8. Obedience – Sampson is a good boy. He learned his manners, and he learned them well, and he remembers them. You could set a plate of food down in front of him, tell him to “leave it” and walk away. You can come back 5 minutes later, and that plate will still be there. Intact. Of late, he’s losing “Wait,” but any of the others. He’s spot on.
    9. Charm – This dog can charm the socks off just about anyone. Granted there are a few people in our neighborhood who have managed to snub him, but for the most part, he sets his sites on you, and he Roos you. It starts with the Roo and the tail wag, and sooner or later, they are speaking to him, then before you know it, they are petting him, and now it’s a daily stop on our walk.
    10. Adaptability – You want to walk? He’ll walk. You want to cuddle on the couch? He’ll cuddle on the couch, he’s almost like having a camouflage dog.

It only took two years, but I finally got it done!

Have you ever listed your favorite things about your pet? Did you find it easy or hard?

If You Can’t Join Em!

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Tuesday, my friend Mindy came to stay with us for a bit.

A little back story. Mindy is the reason we have Sampson. Mindy and I worked together, and I had mentioned we were looking for a puppy. Mindy’s niece had a dog that was having puppies and the rest is history.

When Sampson was six weeks old, we went to visit him, and we took him through he woods to Mindy’s house where we hung out and played. Sampson is quite fond of Mindy, and was so glad to see her.

You know how when the grandchildren come over, he sleeps right where they are sleeping and won’t let them out of his sight?

Well, Mindy is staying in a room that has no carpet on the floor, so Sampson cannot go in there, for fear that he will slip and do more damage to his legs.

Since Sampson can’t sleep in the room with Mindy, he did the next best thing.

I actually had to coax him away and into the bedroom the first night. Thankfully, he’s settled down since then, and now only waits outside her door in the morning.

He is such a loyal guy and he loves with his whole heart.

Which of course, makes me smile.

You make me smile (or laugh,) the sweet, funny, loving things my dogs do that bring a smile to my face, or a laugh to my lips.

What did your pet do that made you laugh or smile this week?

Dear Neighbor – Part 2

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In March of 2017, I wrote a post titled, “Dear Neighbor.” I thought it was pretty funny, and based on the comments, you all did too. In case you miss it, (or want a refresher), you can read the entire post, here.

The last ‘letter’ was to a person named Dan. Truthfully, I’m not sure if I can make this story funny, because the entire incident left me feeling sad, and I wasn’t sure how to write about it, BUT I do have a future post in mind that will refer to this story, so that’s why I’m sharing it now.

This incident took place in November of 2016, but it actually started a few months before when I notice one of the houses on our walk had a new puppy.

The first time I saw the Husky puppy, the family was out in the yard with him, I watched the puppy chase one of the young children, jumping and nipping at her while she screamed, and I put on my judgy pants. The household has three to four children, and the mom runs a home daycare.   I thought, well shit, here we go. A busy family, a new puppy, I can see how this is going to go down. But then that little angel that sits on my right shoulder (YES SHE DOES!) said, you should at least give them a chance, it’s very possible that they have their shit together, and understand the demands of a dog.

At first, it seemed my fears were not justified, I saw the mom and dad out walking the puppy and I had hope.

But before long, I saw the mom was too busy, so one of the kids would take the puppy out after school, run him three houses down, and run him back. The puppy loved to run, and happily did so, straining on the end of his retractable leash.

Then one day, I saw the young boy outside with his friend, and the puppy. The puppy, now much bigger, was chasing the friend, and nipping at him.  The young man was clearly a willing participant in this ‘game’ and kept running into the road with the puppy right on his heels. Then he would ask his friend, “Why does your dog keep biting me?” And they would do it again.

I stopped Delilah a few houses away and observed this ‘game’ for a good 5 minutes. I was nervous about passing the house, because many times when the puppy got to the end of the retractable leash, the boy would get yanked out into the street. The kid was stick thin, and he was also looking at his cell phone.

I finally got the nerve up to pass the house, and as I did I said to the boy, “You need to have your dog under control.”

He responded, “I do.”

“I don’t think so.”

That’s when the real dilemma started. I knew I had to say something to the parents, but I wasn’t sure the best way to approach it. Do I call Animal Control and have them go out? Do I call her up on the phone? (She had a daycare sign on the front lawn.) Or do I try to catch them outside, and speak to them in person, so they can see I’m not just being a bitch, I am coming from a place of sincerity? I didn’t want the kid to get in trouble, but I just knew I had to try and educate, at least for the puppy’s sake.

Hubby said, “Stay out of it.”

But that’s not how I roll. Especially when…Puppy!!

I decided I’d try and address it in person, and every day on my way home, I’d swing past the house. One Friday I hit pay dirt and the dad was outside doing leaves.

I stopped my car, and introduced myself, and told him I had concerns about his puppy. I explained how I wanted to do it in person, so he could see I was coming from a place of caring.

To his credit, he listened to me, and then he said, “Ryan (I’m not sure if that’s the kids name or not, but for the sake of this post, it’s Ryan.) weighs 50 pounds soaking wet, that’s why the dog is pulling him. And he’s just a puppy. He doesn’t understand.”

Insert eye roll. “That’s why you train them. They can learn what to do and what not to do.”

Then, “They’re teenage boys, what can you do?”

“You tell them that they can be setting that puppy up for failure or damaging the puppy.

“They don’t listen.”

Then don’t let them have charge of the dog you fucking moron.

” You tell them, what’s cute at 20 pounds isn’t cute at 60. If I’m not mistaken, he’ll get to be a large dog.”

“Yes he will, but then it will be my wife or I walking him.”

And the conversation continued this way for a few minutes before I realized I wasn’t getting through that thick head of his. I got in my car, and cried.  I cried for that sweet little puppy who was not getting the proper training, and for the poor little kid the dog ends up biting. I pictured the dog living in a crate, or getting surrendered to a shelter, or euthanized because he bit a child.

Shortly after that, I saw the dog with a cone around his neck, and I assumed he’d been neutered. That day, Ryan was once again taking him for a ‘walk’, except they were running and the dog was jumping alongside the boy when he ran.

And I thought, Jesus H. that dog should NOT be running, let alone jumping.

Shortly after that, I saw another friend of this young man, and he was walking home from school.

“You know my friend’s dog?”

“You mean the husky puppy?”

“Yeah. That dog is crazy.”

“No, that dog is not crazy, that dog needs to be trained.”

As far as I can tell, the dog still has not been trained. He does not get regular exercise, they don’t have a fenced yard or even an e-fenced yard, so the dog only goes out when they take him out to potty, and I never see them walking him.

It makes me so damn sad for that dog.

 

Dear Dan, you need a hard punch in your stupid head!

 

 

 

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