Heart Like a Dog

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

I Feel Lost…..Day Two Hundred, Ninety Three

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This morning didn’t start out all that well.  For reasons I won’t bore you with, I was in a foul mood when I got up.  Today was the Red Sox make-up  game from the rain out in May; and I had plans to walk the dogs early and throw together a meal in the crock pot before heading out.

Autumn has shoved Summer out early this year so the air was clear and crisp, the field wet with dew and our breath hung in the sweet Autumn air.  I started in the field attempting to engage the dogs in a game of fetch in hopes of completing K-9 Kamp’s week two challenge.  The dogs had other ideas so we headed off into the woods. 

I had carrots and cheese in my bag and Delilah was returning every time I called and even checking back when I didn’t.  I made the mistake of letting her off the leash.  If your unclear about dogs and mistakes, check out Pamela’s explanation over at Something Wagging This Way Comes.

We got to the hinky area where Delilah likes to take off and Sampson saw a chipmunk or squirrel and started off into the woods to chase it and Delilah followed and kept right on going.

I called her and she kept running, I called Sampson and he and I turned around and ran in the other direction.  I was so upset with myself and with Delilah that I cried.  I cried the entire time I walked through the woods, into the field and back up the main path.  I stopped to call and whistle for Delilah, I thought I heard the tinkle of her collar and I waited.  Eventually I heard her crashing through the woods and she finally caught up to us.  I gave her a treat (because she did come back to me) but then I clipped her on the leash and we went home.

I am so frustrated with her right now and I don’t know what to do.  I’ve been working with her on sitting at the edge of the kitchen while we are working in there and she still keeps getting up!  Sampson just sits or lies where he is supposed to and I make sure to give him treats as he waits,  she Just. Doesn’t. Get. It.  Finally I shouted “Don’t move!” And she didn’t.

I give up.  I don’t know what to do anymore.  Anybody want a chocolate lab?

I'm really not THAT much trouble.

Blogland Help….Day Two Hundred, Ninety Two

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Hello Blogland,

I was hoping to enlist your help today.  One of my dear friends Laura has turned into a dog magnet.  Laura and her husband Don have built a retirement home in a rural area; one morning they were surprised by a dog in their yard.  Long story short Candy; a sweet little pittie mix, has wrapped herself around their hearts.

Two weeks ago another dog showed up, exhibiting signs of being totally starved and having recently had a litter of puppies.  Laura and hubby were getting ready to return to their home, but happily fed the dog two large bowls of food and left some food out as they left.  Their one week trip home turned into two weeks but when they got back and Candy had scouted the yard, guess who she brought with her?  Yes, the other dog.  So far no sign of the puppies.

Laura and Don have pretty much decided to keep this little gal, but so far haven’t invited her into the house (they want to have her checked by the vet first and see if she is chipped) but she has been hanging around the deck.  Laura reached out to me  about introducing a new dog to the pack and also questioning some of the behaviors she is seeing.  Originally Don was calling her Sandy, but they have since decided that is NOT the best name for her, I am calling her Twinkle Toes because she does a little dance when she sees them.

These are snippets of our FB conversation.

A couple of Laura’s concerns were Candy growling or barking in a not friendly way when they were feeding the new dog; and Candy going “nuts” when the new dog jumps on Laura.

My response was enlist Don’s help when feeding, one feed the new dog while the other treats and pets Candy giving positive reassurance that it is ok.  Switch it off so it is not the same person feeding either dog.  That way Candy doesn’t feel like the new dog is being favored over her.

Reminder I am NOT an animal behavior specialist and if it gets out of control you should consult a professional or find someone who can take Twinkle. Generally they can work it out themselves.

The next correspondence went like this:

Don wants to know if you know WHY these two female dogs keep humping each other. Also, they seem to be playing BUT they are always biting AT each other. They lick each others noses, but then they start, for lack of a better word, wrestling. They each grab the others hind leg OR they seem to be biting each others lower jaw. No one whimpers or yikes or acts like it bothers them – it probably bothers me more. But it seems like odd behavior.

My response:

Humping is done for one reason and one reason only, it has nothing to do with sexual, the humper is trying to show dominance. They are basically trying to establish who is the “top dog” no pun intended.

My dogs “play” the same way, some day I will get a video of the two of them playing. The noises are unbelievable, they play with their mouths open and often times almost look like they are french kissing. They run and wrestle about and at times they have looked like two deer challenging each other; chest to chest. When Sampson frustrates Delilah, she goes for the back of his hind leg.  BUT here is the key, the first time one of them yips the playing stops.

It sounds to me like they are just establishing the pecking order and (without seeing it) I’m guessing they are playing. Some dogs play a bit rougher than others, but I don’t (as long as no-one is getting hurt) think it is anything to worry about.

So there you have it.  I know some of you have more than one dog and some of you foster, so you are very aware of what transpires when a new dog joins the pack.  I’m not entirely convinced I introduced Delilah in the correct way (but it did turn out) so I am appealing to you for your advice and thoughts.

Laura, Don, Candy, Twinkle and I would be ever so grateful.

K-9 Kamp….Day Two Hundred, Ninety One

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With the work I am putting into the 31DBBB challenge keeping my mind extremely busy, I forgot to mention this week was the first week of Koly and Kelly’s K-9 Kamp.

Week 1’s challenge was to walk for 60 minutes with your pet.  It could be a straight hour or broken up into smaller increments, just get out and walk with your pet.

I almost felt like we were cheating because we do walk a LOT during the week, but since daycare started up again and Sampson and Delilah are going to The Mellow Mutt on Tuesdays and Fridays as well as Thursday night obedience class, we did have to make sure we got in a whole hour of walking.  I decided instead of keeping our walks to a half hour which is about normal, I would push them.

The dogs got their gear on and off we went last weekend.

 

Bring on the K-9 Kamp; we're ready!

 

50 minutes on Saturday and 40 minutes on Sunday and we managed to get a half hour in each on Monday and Wednesday!  We totally kicked it!

We wrapped up week one on Wednesday and I was so consumed with the 2nd 31 day challenge, I forgot to check the Kamp’s page for this week’s assignment until yesterday!  60 minutes of fetching!!

This is definitely going to be a challenge for Sampson, he is not a fetch kind of dog.

We hope you kicked whatever you did this week!

This is the Saturday morning blog hop.  Get your link and see who else is participating here.

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