Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – August 16, 2015

Lauren Miller (ZoePhee) said, “That’s awesome she’s doing well! My dogs make me smile when they come racing back to me!”

There is nothing better than to have your dog return to you!  It makes all the struggles so worth it.

Jan K said, “That is great! I do let Sheba off leash some, and do the same thing, calling her back frequently. We always smile when they behave well, don’t we?”

I think to have a good recall you really need to call them back constantly, so they don’t think they are just getting called to go back on leash. And yes, I have to smile when they are so well behaved.

Hailey and Zaphod said, “I love it when I can have Phod off leash. Unfortunately Hailey can’t be trusted.”

I don’t think I’ll ever trust Delilah off leash, which makes me sad. She could have so much fun if she could just be trusted. I SO feel your pain.

Emma said, “We can’t be off leash, but we do go off leash at the dog park. ”

You have some really nice dog parks out your way. Our dog parks are typically smaller, fenced in areas, with no hiking trails for off leash walking.

Jan said, “I liked the posts of yesteryear when she led you on some hilarious misadventures. Funny for us, not for you.”

Oh trust there are still adventures, don’t count us out yet. 🙂

Dodge Dog

Lauren Miller said, “I actually did pretty much what you were talking about (pulling a jill on the hill) on Sunday and I’m so sore!”

I’m sorry to hear that and do hope you are feeling better. I had a bad fall one New Year’s Eve where I had the wind knocked out of me and was pretty sure I dislocated my shoulder. (Thankfully I didn’t.) Be careful, it’s a jungle out there. 

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, “I trip over my own feet, so I don’t need any help from wet leaves and dirt.”

LOL I trip over my feet, over roots and small stumps and there are occasions when I hit a small rock just right and almost go rock skiing.

Pamela said, “But you made so many, so happy–Sampson, Delilah, the bugs, us. Surely that makes it all worth it.”

Oh yes, I mean come on Pamela, I have to try and make you shoot milk out of your nose at least once a week. 😉

Blueberry’s Human said, ” You know, I really want a yellow lab some day, but you have me rethinking that dream…”

Don’t give up your dream!! Labs are amazing, they are so much fun and SO lovable.

Jan said, “There was a time when I really envied your having a woods to walk your dog….I forget why…”

Come on Jan, I promise, you come to CT and we’ll have a great adventure. 🙂

The Umbridge Pen – Barks and Bytes

You guys are the absolute best. Your comments on this post were really amazing. Sadly I really try to keep Friday’s posts under 1500 words, so I could only highlight some. If you have time, go back and read them because they are all awesome!

Genevieve said, “Dogs in hot cars, kids in hot cars – WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE???”

I wish I knew. I can’t even fathom it.

Sheena said, “I called the police just the other day on some fool at Walmart who had done the same thing.”

Did they come? Cause’ last year I called and waited over 40 minutes. I was tempted to call them back and say, never mind, I shot the window out and got the dog. I bet they’d move their asses then.

Taryn said, “What you need to do is make a sticker out of your image, one of those really hard to remove kind (I’ve seen them made to indicate someone is illegally parked) and place it right in the driving view.”

That’s a great idea. I was also thinking of just printing off that picture and sticking it on their windshield. WTF is wrong with people?

Sue said, ” Well, and a couple of times I’ve drawn a crowd in the parking lot and we all shamed them when they come out. “I was only gone 10 minutes.” There are dog lovers and then there are people who claim to be but are only people who have dogs…”

I’m too afraid to hang around. I might just get arrested for taking a swing at the stupid ass.

Jen Gabbard said, “I really have no idea why people continue to do it.. I mean we’ve even had numerous stories about police officers doing the same thing recently. I just don’t get it. How much more obvious can we make it?”

I wish I had the answer.

Monika said, “It is just incomprehensible on a number of fronts-first why are you taking a dog shopping???? Second, why are you leaving your so-called treasured friend in the car with windows barely cracked? Even when windows are down, the temperatures inside cars are broiling. A recent NFL player posted a video of him in a car for less than 15 minutes showing what can happen in just a few minutes. ”

And we all know how much value people put on our athletes, and yet they still leave their pets in the car. 

Rama’s Mama said, “As someone who leaves dogs in my van a lot (dog shows, etc), I am always thankful for people keeping an eye on my vehicle. While I do always leave the a/c running and check it often, I recently heard of a device that monitors the temperature inside your vehicle and sounds an alarm if your a/c fails and the temperature rises above a safe point. I will be ordering one!”

Thank you for weighing in on this. I’ve been to dog shows myself where dogs have been left in cars with the a/c running and I have no problem with that, as long as the car is cool, I won’t say a word.   I didn’t know that made devices like that, but it makes sense to me and sounds like it might be worth checking out. 

Blueberry’s Human said, “I would like to see a law enacted where people that want to adopt a dog first must prove they a) know how to properly work a Flexi-lead if they plan on using one; b) will sit in a hot car for 15 minutes to understand just how uncomfortable and dangerous it can get; c) will prove they know how to use a poop bag by walking a loaner dog; d) will prove that once they have the poop bag full, they are able to walk around with it until a proper receptacle to dispose of it is located.  I can probably get even more specific because I have a lot of pet peeves with dog owners, but I think those are the top 4.”

Have you thrown your hat into the ring for the Presidency yet? I can really get behind you especially if you run on that format. 🙂

Chelsea Price said, “However, in certain circumstances, I’ve truly considered breaking the window. That’s one of those things that I would smile proudly in my mugshot for if I got arrested…”

Oh yeah, that would be a smiling for mugshot for sure. Do you think it’s allowable to show your middle finger as well?

Jan K said, “Delilah does the best PSA’s! ”

Thank you and thank you for sharing her photo. I had been thinking of that saying for a while and needed a photo that would get the point across. 

Jan said, “What I totally can’t understand is that every summer there are stories about police dogs being left in cars to roast to death. I hope they are all fired and have to reimburse for the dog.”

I hope they are prosecuted for assaulting an officer! How can you work with a dog for 8 to 10 hours a day and then leave it in the car?

That’s it for me my friends, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!