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

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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

May 12, 2012 By Jodi

A couple of nights ago I was lying in bed reading, Delilah was stretched out across my feet and Sampson was stretched out between Hubby and me.

I shut the light off, lifted Delilah’s head so I could shift my feet and rolled over onto my side, sticking my face into Sampson’s. We lay there like that for a few minutes, our chests moving in perfect sync as we inhaled, exhaled, inhaled, exhaled, each taking what we needed from the other.

Ok, so it was really me getting what I needed, Sampson could have cared less.

All of a sudden with no warning Sampson blew out his breath and rolled over onto his back, legs up in the air.  I obliged him by reaching over and rubbing his belly.

As I did, I had a thought about how very different my dogs truly are from each other, even in sleep.

Delilah has rarely spent the night anywhere else besides our bed.  When she first joined our pack I fought a nightly battle with her.  I would wake up and she would be on the bed and I would get up and drag her off.

All. Night. Long.

Eventually I gave up and gave in, it was just plain easier.

For all her issues, Delilah is a very quiet and still sleeper.  She normally curls up on either my or Hubby’s feet and that is generally where she remains all night.  If she gets up to shift position, it’s not noticeable at all.

This big, pushy, won’t take no for an answer, I demand you pay attention to me, bull in a China shop dog, is very dainty, quiet and feminine when she sleeps.

Sampson on the other hand is a very restless sleeper, he changes positions frequently, not just rolling over but getting up, turning around and most of the time he simply flomps down.  If your body part happens to be in the way, well he just lies on it.  When Sampson moves we generally know it.

There are two dog beds in our room, one at the foot and one on my side of the bed.  The one at the foot is one of those really big, over-sized beds.  The one on my side has seen better days, it’s getting low on fluff and probably should be replaced.

Sampson now will sleep in our bed only in the cooler weather, and by that I mean winter.  Even with the cooler weather we are having now, it gets too warm for him.  Don’t get me wrong he always starts out on the bed but sometime within the first couple hours, after tossing and turning, he will get up and go sleep on one of the beds on the floor.

Even with him off the bed, Delilah still remains curled up in a ball or stretched out across the foot of the bed.  She rarely if ever ventures further.

It’s almost like they switch personalities when they sleep.

Do you notice anything about your dog’s sleeping patterns as opposed to their every day personality?  Do you have a peaceful sleeper or a restless sleeper?

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Filed Under: Delilah, Sampson, Sleep Number Tagged With: Delilah, Dog, dog training, Humor, Jodi Stone, Labrador Retriever, Obedience training, Pet, Pet Writing, Pets, Recreation, Sampson, sampson and delilah, W.T.F. Wednesday, Writing

Follow-Up Friday

May 11, 2012 By Jodi

For those new to the blog, my follow-up Friday provides me with an opportunity to update or revise a post from the previous week.

You know sometimes you post about something and you need an update but it doesn’t warrant a whole blog.  Or sometimes someone made a comment that really resonated with you.  Yup, Follow-Up Friday baby! :-)

Lab Adoption Event – Author’s Note

I did request an update from my friend, asking how many applications were received because of this event, but so far I haven’t heard back from her.

I will be seeing her tomorrow though and hopefully will be able to extract the information from her.  (Doesn’t that sound evil?)

It Takes A Blogville To Raise Delilah, It’s Been A Great Monday, The Post Where Delilah Amazes Me – Author’s Note

This three posts had a similar theme, so I decided to lump them all together.

Yes I threw it out there asking for suggestions for help with Delilah and you responded, I thank you and appreciate each and every comment.

I also realized I was missing a prime opportunity to work on her stays.  Every morning while I’m getting ready for work the dogs come in the bathroom.  Sampson will normally just lie down on the floor, but Delilah is constantly underfoot.

I started placing her in a down and telling her to stay.  It’s a great way to work on her stay since I am usually not more than 3 to 5 feet away from her.  Since the best way to perfect a stay (from what I’ve read) is to do it in baby steps, I think this is helping her.

I did enroll Delilah in the obedience class I mentioned and I signed up for their newsletter so as soon as they schedule the nosework class I can sign her up for that too.

In the meantime, they have stayed out of daycare this week and may stay out for a while.

I have been walking them every day and I feel she is doing pretty good on the walks. I will continue to bring her to drop in agility class when my schedule allows.

Last night she amazed me in a good way and this morning she was……Delilah.  Running and dancing all over the place as I tried to prepare her breakfast.

I’m not worried about it, we shall get there.  She has already come so very far and I am 100% positive she can go the rest of the way.

I’d like to end with one of my favorite quotes.  Wiki answers attributes the quote to John Lennon.

“Everything will be okay in the end, if it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”

But this is.

The end of the blogpost I mean.

We hope you rocked your week.

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Filed Under: bad dog, Delilah, Follow-Up Friday, Positive Dog Training Tagged With: Delilah, Dog, dog training, Humor, Jodi Stone, Labrador Retriever, Obedience training, Pet, Pet Writing, Pets, Recreation, Sampson, sampson and delilah, W.T.F. Wednesday, Writing

The Post Where Delilah Amazes Me

May 10, 2012 By Jodi

My Delilah is a constant source of amazement to me.  As most of you know it’s not always a good amazement either. 🙂

I had a post all formulated for tonight, in fact most of it was already written, all I had to do was tweak it just a bit and it would have been ready.

Delilah had a different post in mind for me.

Tonight Delilah was amazing and in a good way.  I’m so darn proud of her I just felt the need to share it with all of you.

Our walk.

Tonight during our walk we encountered Tia (the GSD) and her moms while they were taking a walk.  I heard and saw them before they approached us.  We were on a side path so I had Sampson and Delilah sit and wait while the Tia and her moms passed.

Delilah sat perfectly.  She didn’t strain at the leash, she wasn’t barking or lunging, she simply sat and watched as they walked by.

Our Dinner

Normally Hubby and I fix our dinners and bring them into the living room to eat while we watch TV.  Sampson and Delilah usually lay on the rug in front of the couch.  Well okay, Sampson usually lies on the rug, Delilah may or may not, depending on her frame of mind.

We always used to laugh at Sampson because we would take the dishes out of the cabinet and he would go lay down on his place.

Lately we’ve been kind of lax about them waiting in the living room, so they’ve both been hanging around the kitchen while we ready our dinner.   Judge me if you will, I know it’s bad.

Tonight I set my plate on the counter and went to use the bathroom and looked over, there was Delilah sitting on the rug in the living room.

WITHOUT BEING TOLD.

After Dinner

After dinner, Hubby and Sampson went outside for something.  Delilah sat in the doorway of the kitchen watching as I cleaned up.  Since I had a light load of dishes I decided to clean out the fridge.  I had a plastic shopping bag on the counter and dumped a bunch of food in there and put the dishes in the sink.  Since I was taking it out to the trash I decided to scoop Bob’s box as well.

I left the food on the counter and went and scooped the box, came back out and she was still sitting there.  She and I took the bag out on the porch to toss down to Hubby and then we went back inside so I could finish the dishes.  She laid down in the doorway.  This is practically unheard of in our house.

This crazy, in your face all the time, can’t behave herself dog, was spot on tonight.

When I was done in the kitchen I said, “Delilah you were so awesome, I’m throwing you a party!”  I gave her some special treats, lots of rubbies and danced around the kitchen with her.

She really does amaze me sometimes.

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Filed Under: Delilah, Dogs, Positive Dog Training Tagged With: Delilah, Dog, dog training, Humor, Jodi Stone, Labrador Retriever, Obedience training, Pet, Pet Writing, Pets, Recreation, Sampson, sampson and delilah, W.T.F. Wednesday

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About Jodi

jodiHi, my name is Jodi. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog! I have all kinds of fun writing about my two crazy pups, Sampson and Delilah. Find out more!

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