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

You Make Me Smile – March 29, 2015

Blueberry’s Human said, “Blueberry is soooo different from my last dog Shadow. Shadow wasn’t really under foot, but she was very vocal about how long it would take me to get ready. Have you ever tried to urinate while having a dog howl/whine/bark at you? It’s very unnerving. I called it “extreme peeing”. I don’t do well under pressure, so it was very challenging.”

LOL Have you ever tried to pull down your pants to pee with a dog’s head between your legs? Delilah loves to come up behind you and shove her head between your legs.  It’s comical but is also stressful if you are trying to drop  trou. 😉

The Nose Knows

Molly the Wally said, “The nose sure knows. Here it is the foxes that are driving all the dogs mad. ”

Oooh foxes, we saw one last year, but thankfully, there aren’t a lot of those around us.

Emma said, “Bailie is tracking all the time when she is outside. She is amazing! The first full day she lived with us, Mom took Katie and I for a walk and then took Bailie out. She followed our path to a tee!”

That Bailie is one smart little dog, you wait, Emma, she is still young but once she really matures, I bet she gets lots of titles.

Leah said, “I swear Zack can sniff out a discarded slice of pizza crust on the side of the road from 2 blocks away :->”

He must be related to Delilah!  I swear she starts sniffing a crumb of bread from about 30 feet away!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Winter

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “You left out one of my favorites though. The way the male cardinals stand out in their bright red bodies on the snow-covered tree branches. They are soooo gorgeous, especially if the sun is shining and reflecting off the snow.”

Oh yes, the cardinals, I love those too.  And Delilah.  I love taking pictures of her standing in the snow, you can really see how beautiful she is.  Here is one of my favorites.

Frankie and Ernie said, “We can’t find ANYTHINGY to like about Winter… NOPE… NOTHING… Dark Cold Gloomy and just plain AWFUL…”

I don’t find it quite that bad, but I do admit, it wears on me after a while.

Jen said, “Well I can get all those good things about Winter, except for the snow, in the Fall here. I’m done with Ohio winters. My 5 year plan now includes moving to Texas.”

You know it gets super hot in Texas right? And they have cockroaches as big as your dogs. 😉 Let’s talk about where WE’LL relocate when I see in you Nashville next month.

Pamela said, “Generally, I find spring and fall harder than winter. Once winter comes, I know I need to wear heavy socks, lots of layers, and a warm coat. But in the spring and fall, I’m tempted to get away with less. And I always freeze.”

I can agree with that.  There are many times I think it’s nicer than it really is and find myself undressed for walking.

Elaine said, “Hate the wet, slushy underbellies too, but I really hate when my nose is constantly running and I’m fumbling with gloves, kleenex and the leash.”

That’s what they make gloves for. 😉 For me, I wake up with a stuffy nose and the cold helps loosen everything up.  (Too much information?) 🙂

Jan K said, “I especially dread the bugs coming back.”

UGH, the bugs.  They are probably the thing I hate most about nicer weather!

Lauranne said, “I have missed you so much!!”

I have missed YOU too my dear, it’s nice to see you back!!

Once Upon a Time

Blueberry’s Human said, “Firstly, I am sincerely glad that you weren’t seriously injured …Secondly, Bahahahaha!!!!!”

Hahaha, I knew you would love it, I tried to make it funny, but I did need to sit on it a few days because I didn’t find it at all funny on Monday. LOL

Lauren Miller said, “When I was stuck with strictly leash walks only, I HATED it. I’ve always struggled with loose leash walking with Zoe because the environment is way more rewarding than anything I could ever offer her. There are squirrels, rabbits and deer oh my and she couldn’t give a crap about what I’m doing. I also get the whole front clipping harness woes. They step on them and get even more tangled in them and it freaking sucks. I have not found the magic answer. We work on it as much as possible and moving back to Oregon and right next to a big off leash hiking place has seriously helped because I can just let them run free and be dogs without being dragged around.”

I think I could write a whole post in response to just this one comment.  Yes, I love off-leash myself and until Delilah started running off, that is how we worked, but like Zoe, the environment is way more rewarding than anything I can offer her.  And of course, recently she’s taken to eating disgusting things.  The last time I let her off for a minute, she ate poop.

As for the leash part, I’m thinking of modifying my leashes to work the way I want/need them to.

Kari said, “I have a pretty cool tandem leash from Xtreme pet products that doesn’t get tangled in itself… but that doesn’t keep Mia and Leo from wrapping me up in it.”

Thank you for sharing that link with me.  I am adding this to my wish list.

Sheena said, “I hope you’re going to wear that head protection in the summer as well!!!”

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, ” Maybe you should start wearing a bicycle helmet instead of that baseball cap, just to be on the safe side.”

Mary Hone said, “I saw cute helmet on Facebook the other day you could get.”

I’ve actually considered getting a helmet, honestly, it won’t be the first time I’ve worn something totally crazy on a walk.

Emma said, “Mom only falls when running and always lands face first on the pavement and it is a bloody mess”

That’s awful!  Honestly, I realize how lucky I was.  I didn’t fall in front of a car, I didn’t hit my head on a curb, I didn’t fall on my face or knock myself out or break anything.  It could have been SO much worse.

2 Brown Dawgs said, ” I have a review coming up next week of a book about how to train your dog to walk on loose leash. I am hoping there will be a discount or even a free sample.”

I’m looking forward to that review, fingers crossed for a free sample. 😉

Jan K said, ” I’ll never forget lying flat on the ground with our neighbor’s German shepherd in my face (thank God he’s friendly). I was holding onto the leash and Luke’s harness and Luke was no longer in it.”

Oh lord, I can only imagine.  Did Luke run a long ways off? 

DZ Dogs asked, “Any chance you could practice some solid walk training with each dog one at a time? …Treats and clicker really do help, we just have to practice semi-regularly to keep the dogs in the habit of walking nicely. ”

I actually have a post coming up about what I’m going to do about this.  I just have to get the clicker thing down. I need someone to show me how to train the right way with a clicker.  Any takers?

Monika said, “Once I was walking all 3 dogs I owned at the time (2 Old English Sheepdogs and Sam), and through no fault of the dogs-just stepped off the curb to cross the street, stepped into a small divot, rolled my ankle and went down like a ton of bricks and realized later than morning I had broken my leg. The dogs all looked at me like WTF are you doing down there?”

OMG!  I’m so glad you were okay!!  Yes, I always carry my cell phone and most times I carry my pepper blaster as well…just in case.

Sherrie Petrie asked, “was it Sampson that had the knee surgery ????? My girl Trixie a 6 year old Chihuahua jumped off the couch about 2 weeks ago and tore her ACL and and a seriously luxating patella so we took her to the vet because she wasn’t bearing any weight on it at all and she was put on Rymadyl and Tramadol and was told she needed surgery. So we made an appointment with the Ortho Doc for the practice and by the time the appointment rolled around she was bearing full weight and didn’t act like anything was wrong. We were told that on small dogs under 15 pounds the ACL can scar over and surgery isn’t needed.”

Yes, Sampson did tear his ACL and we tried conservative management (similar to what Trixie went through) on him and it did not work for him. My understanding is it sometimes works for larger dogs as well, I know it did for Jen from My Brown Newfies.  Well not Jen herself, because she’s a wee bit of a thing, but it did work for her dog Sherman.

I’m so glad that it worked with Trixie!  As you may recall Sampson had a very hard time with it.

That’s it for me folks, I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Easter!

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

You Make Me Smile – March 22, 2015

Jan K said, “Luke sits at the door as well if we go outside without him. Cricket will usually get on the back of the couch in the office to watch. They are usually in those same positions when I get home from work too. I wonder….do they stay there all day, or do their inner clocks tell them when it’s close to time for me to be coming home?”

Many times my guys are waiting for me at the top of the stairs when I come home. But there are just as many days where they come out of one of the bedrooms when I come home, so I know they are not there all day.  I think they somehow know when it is time for their peeps to come home and then get up and wait.  I know when I’m home and waiting for Hubby to come home, there are many times they just get up and go wait for him, either at the top of the stairs or in front of a window.

Jan said, “It’s taken a long time to convince my dogs that there is no back door in the bathroom. I would prefer not having eight eyes watching me do my “business.””

You’re so lucky! They only watch you?  I swear sometimes I can’t do anything without Delilah 8 inches away from my face, and that includes the potty!

Damn I Wish I’d Gotten THAT on Video

Cupcake said, “Mom laughs her head off when she is in the kitchen and hears running, sliding, banging, and squeaking coming from the living room. When she peeks in, she sees me playing with 3 or 4 toys at once – zooming and jumping on and off the couch and chair and throwing toys to myself along the way. She calls it playing with the jackasses in my head.”

BWA HA HA, the jackasses in your head.  I LOVE IT!!

Daisy said, “We often say we wish we had shoulder cams like cops do so we could record all those who-saw-THAT-coming moments of Daisy’s. The best stuff never makes it to the camera. ”

Monika said, “I’m sure Go-Pro cameras were created especially for characters like D-Dog! ”

We do have a Go-Pro Camera!  I’ve got to figure out how to record her, she is a freaking hoot sometimes!

Jan K said, “Our beagle Kobi was never really a big mischief maker, but the time he spit out a dead mouse at my feet was definitely a classic!”

OMG what did you do?  One time Sampson actually had a LIVE mouse in his mouth.  If I remember the story, my daughter found it, was showing it to my mom when the mouse jumped out of her hands.  Sampson must have thought it was a game of catch, because he caught the mouse as he made the leap.  He stood there with the mouse’s tail hanging from his mouth, while my daughter freaked out.  My mom had the presence of mind to say, “Drop it.” And he did.  Then they had to find the mouse because it hid. 

Sand Spring Chesapeakes said, “Holy cow, glad it was just a butter knife and not a real one. ”

Me too!  Since we didn’t get it on video, we are guessing she didn’t have the whole knife if her mouth, and that some of it might have been sticking out on the side we couldn’t see.  Still as I said to my vet, I’m down to three spoons…

Frankie and Ernie said, “So was Delilah saying…… “Come on you two… SPREAD that food around” ?”

BOL oh Frankie and Ernie, you guys are so witty!

Sherrie Petrie for Pepper said, “I was very, very bored one day because Mom & Dad weren’t playing with me so I was looking for something to do. My favorite pastime is ripping Kleenex to shreds. So I put my front paws up on the coffee table where they are kept and Mom yelled at me to get down. I waited until they weren’t looking and jumped up ON THE COFFEE TABLE. Boy did that get a response out of Mom, I just stood there while Mom turned RED and Dad was gasping from trying NOT TO LAUGH.  ”

Oh my word Miss Pepper, please don’t tell Delilah or give her any ideas she could actually stand on such places as tables, counters, stoves.  I shudder to think about it!

Glacial Status

Emma said, “That is usually the story of our life here in Minnesnowta. We had grass for a few weeks, but got a fresh load of 10″ of snow on Sunday night. We all love it since we didn’t get much snow this winter, but it is melting fast…this year from the top and bottom. It will be gone soon and I bet you will see grass soon too.”

Minnesnowta, LOL Emma.  Actually, we’ve had some warmer days, and are no longer at Glacial Status, but you can keep your snow, I’m waving the white flag.

Elaine said, “Oh, I hate it when that happens. The poor dogs start to walk on the crusty top and then break through. Haley ripped one of her dew claws from that.”

That is definitely concerning. In our case, the snow was very solid and could hold my weight. I try and keep the dogs off the snow if I’m not sure it’s stable.

Shhh, Stop Barking

Frankie and Ernie said, “WE confess…. We are Yard Yappers…. We need to join BA . That is what Mom says, anyway.  PLUS Ernie Barks at EVERY Animal he sees on the TV… and THAT gets on M & D’s Nerves… Hello I am Frankie and I’m a BARKER… Hello I am Ernie and I am Also a BARKER

You guys always make me laugh.  Yard Yappers.

Hey how about a song about it?  Sing it to the tune of the Dr. Pepper song.
I’m a barker, he’s a barker, she’s a barker we’re all barkers, wouldn’t you like to be a barker too?

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