Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow up Friday, this is where I highlight favorite comments, answer reader’s questions and generally wrap up my week.

You Make Me Laugh – February 2, 2014

Molly the Wally said, “LOL D there is no stopping you. Even the freezer?”

I’m not sure I can actually convey just how bold this dog is in regards to food.    She’s been after that bone for quite some time and has no qualms about trying to take it while you are watching her (which we correct) but this time she caught me off guard.

Emma said, “Remember last summer I did a series on the fine art of countersurfing? Delilah may want to do her own series as she seems to be a master!”

I do remember that series Emma! I think what we need is a Delilah cam.  Instead of watching cuddly pandas people could tune in and watch what Delilah is up to!

Dawn said, “Oh, Delilah! You’re so smart. Being sneaky is smart, right?”

Oh yes, we consider her to be very smart!

Stairway to Slumber

Pamela said, ” Honey takes stairs all the time. But when I try to get her to go up 2 or 3 outside somewhere, she’ll walk around them like they’re the freakiest thing ever.”

The only thing I can think of is that the stairs are out of context.  I figure if I leave them there long enough, they will start to get used to them and then they’ll realize the benefit of using them.  In fact, both of the dogs used the stairs to get off the bed once this week!

Winner, winner chicken dinner!

Roxy the Traveling Dog said, “I set up a box under the couch for Roxy to go up and down, does she use it. Nope.”

Have you tried using treats to lure her up there?

Alfie said, “Rooooo – you’re gonna need to put a fence around the bed before he choses the stairs over jumping”

LOL Aflie, that might be the only thing that works!

Jan K said, “We’ve got stairs to our bed too, we’ve had them for quite a while. We got them for Kobi when he started to have trouble jumping some, and our bed was so high. He and Cricket took to them very quickly, with very little training. But our golden Sheba would have nothing to do with them, even when coaxed with treats. We basically gave up. Then all of the sudden a month or two ago, she started using them! I have no idea why she finally gave in.”

Or she got used to them being there!

Kristine said, “When Shiva had surgery last year and wasn’t allowed to use stairs at all, the three steps at the front of our house were such a pain. I had to carry her inside and outside multiple times a day. I was so glad she is less than fifty pounds. I don’t know what I would have done if she was Sampson size!”

Yeah, I can’t carry him.  I can lift his back end if he needs help but he weighs 89 pounds and I can’t lift that.

Helping Sampson, the Holistic Response

Jana Rade said, “I was worried about animal chiropractic too, for the same reasons. It is quite different on dogs and it certainly helped Jasmine and now Cookie.”

I’m glad you had a good experience for your pups.  So far our experience has been very positive as well.

Animal Couriers asked, “Is Sampson’s spine aligned now or will he need further treatment on that?”

The Vet said he would like to see him in a couple of months, but I think for the most part, his spine is aligned.

Lauranne said, “So pleased the treatment went well, although for one minute looking at the photos I thought you had treated yourself to a new tattoo!”

LOL would you believe I have NO tattoos?

Kathryn Durno asked, “Have you tried acupuncture? ”

What the vet did was acupressure but he does do acupuncture as well, and treated Sampson with that for his lick granuloma last spring.

Pamela asked, “BTW, could you temporarily rearrange the bed so Sampson has to use the steps? Perhaps move the bed into the corner and make the stairs the only access to the bed.”

I don’t see how that would work, unless I put rails on the bed.

Jackie Bouchard asked, “I wonder if dogs can take turmeric?”

Good question!  I’ll ask the holistic vet the next time I see him!

I’m Stumped

Collars

Dawn asked, “Where did you get your instructions?”

JoAnn put her instructions here.

Poop on the Stump

Hawk said, “As for poop…deer poo is bigger rabbit poo. Fox and coyote scat (poo) look more like a smaller dog left it except it usually has fur and or small bones in it. Bobcat scat is similar, but more rounded. If you have a bear in the neighborhood it looks more like “plop”. Black bear leave behind scat that plops like a cow plop, but not as much. If you find scat in the middle of a trail that looks similar to dog poo but has fur and/or small bones in it, beware you have a panther or cougar in your midst. They leave their markings in the open to mark their territory.”

Good grief! I hope there are no panthers or cougars in our woods!  And I’m pretty sure it’s not bear poop.

Oz the Terrier said, “Hmmm, poo logs on downed logs…stumped by the poo on the stump?!? Could it be a raccoon?”

Until you mentioned it, I hadn’t thought of that, I suppose it could be raccoon or opossum.

Flea asked, “Are you sure it’s not people poo? A homeless person, or a deranges teenager? My teenage boys would totally do that if they thought they could get away with that.”

Um…yeah, I’m pretty sure I’d know people poo.  LOL But I bet some of the kids around here would be willing to do it.

Gabi said, “when I was scrolling down and got to the edge of the picture after you were talking about the mysterious poo, I actually thought there was going to be a picture of it! Lol glad you spared us.”

LOL Gabi, you lucked out.  It’s just because I didn’t think to take a picture of it.

Walkies

Donna asked, “Maybe the one on one time has helped a bit?”

I think you’re right Donna.  I’ve thought for some time that Delilah would do well as an only dog.  I think a lot of the things she does is because she’s competing for attention.

That’s it for me, thanks for playing along and have a great weekend!!

 

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, where I highlight comments, answer some questions and generally wrap up my week.  Let’s get to it, shall we?

Shit My Dog Eats

You guys, the comments on this could be a post all it’s own.  I can’t believe some of the shit your dogs have eaten!

Bichonpawz said, “We used to have a German Shepherd Puppy…she actually ate part of the drywall!”

Oh my gosh!

Sheena (my sister) said, “You forgot to mention she ate hubby’s watch case!”

Well there you go!  See I forgot about that!

Lauranne said, “Mity once ate a childrens mitten, he was out on a walk with my mum on her mobility scooter and picked it up and started throwing it around (like he sometimes does with socks, when he wants to be chased) just before my mum could get off her buggy to take the mitten off him he swallowed it down in one a bit like a seal does with a fish.”

I have no words except, Mity ate a mitten?  Is Mity short for Mitten?  If so, I find that extremely ironic. 🙂

Mollie and Alfie said, “I didn’t see cat poop on that list.”

That was a given my friends.  Every dog I know loves cat poop.  You want a cat poop story?  I’ll throw one in next week’s Barks and Bytes. 

2 Brown Dawgs asked, “Didn’t she eat the chocolate covered popcorn?”

Again, yup.  She’s eaten so much I can’t remember!

Emma was sharing a bit about her sister Bailie, “She is getting better about slowing down her eating but she still puts everything in her mouth. We think it is part puppy behavior and part just the need to eat everything. Last week at the office she attempted to eat a push pin and a button.”

O.M.G. Emma, thank goodness Mom was there to set her strait!

Donna asked, “I’m guessing the cooking oil in the pan wasn’t hot yet, huh?”

No it wasn’t too hot, but she will also drink it out a pan that has water for pasta.  (We add some oil to prevent sticking.)

Jan says, “She must have really hard working stomach enzymes to digest so many things. Or do they all just get turned into, you know, shit and expelled?”

Well the paper and cloth stuff comes out, so does the toothpicks.  It cracks me up sometimes when I look at her poop and find something I didn’t know she ate.  Some things are better that way.

Maggie said, “I’m honestly too mortified to list all the shit Emmett’s eaten…..Among the best-of-the-worst: a condom found in the park (I can’t think about that for too long or else I’ll barf), a Christmas wreath of evergreens and holly berries and wires holding the pieces together, two loaves of zucchini bread cooling on my mother’s kitchen counter, a full box of Crayola crayons, and now I have to stop because it brings on too much anxiety!”

Another. O.M.G.   Maggie, how is Emmett feeling?  We had to make Delilah vomit once when she ingested a ton of supplements.

Tori said, “When our 11 year old Lola was in her prime, she ate a whole tray of cookies that was cooling on top of the over, soup out of a pot on the stove, half dozen bagels, halloween pack of Resse’s Cups, bar of soap, kitty litter, cough drops… this list goes on!”

Holy smoke!

Jen K says, “Packing peanuts twice?! Separate incidents?
Moses’ non-approved eating keeps mostly to plant life – grass, sticks, bark.
Alma, on the other hand, is much more mischevious. She’s stolen:
– kibble from other dogs’ bowls while visiting them
– whole bag of brown sugar from the counter, consumed on a friend’s couch
– a jar of peanut butter from the counter, consumed on the spare bed
– french fries from the front of the vehicle, consumed in the back seat
– a Wendy’s frosty stolen from the coffee table, consumed behind the couch”

The packing peanuts was only once, I make a mistake in that post.  Oh Alma, you are devious aren’t you?

I sat reading this next one with my mouth wide open.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, “Shadow once swallowed my Dad’s hearing aid. She was only about 7 months old, and it was the Saturday just before Dad was going back home to Falls Church, Virginia. He had taken the thing out of his ear because it was buzzing and driving him nuts. He had put it in his lap for a moment, sparking Shadow’s curiosity. She “stole” it from his lap, and when Dad tried to get it back from her, she swallowed the thing whole — battery included. Though our vet had Saturday hours back then, it was way past the time he had closed. So I called our trainer who gave me the pet poison hotline phone number. They told me to try mixing some hydrogen peroxide into a bowl of milk. It worked. I was able to retrieve Dad’s hearing aid about 20 minutes later, with the battery still intact inside. We all felt sorry for her — she was miserable after lapping up the milk-peroxide mixture — but we were relieved that the hearing aid had not traveled further down her throat and into her stomach or colon.”

Holy shit.

Caption the Photo

You all have some wonderful captions.  But this post is getting on the long side, so I’ll highlight two of my favorites.

Caren Gittleman said, “Pee outside she said, the snow isn’t so bad she said. See how SHE would like peeing in all of this!”

Jackie Bouchard said, “Pretty sure I’ve heard the phrase ‘poop deck’ before, so …. I’ll just do my bizness up here!”

Here is the original picture with my caption.

I don’t know what an ACL is, but I’d sure like it to go away so I can play in the snow!

Damn You Polar Vortex!

Flea said, “A book! A book! How exciting! Did I know about this?”

Apparently not, OR you just forgot about it. 😉

Jan said, “A book you say? I’d like to hear more about what kind of book you are writing. Can you share some of what you are writing about.”

It’s hard to share what the book is about without giving too much away.  Let’s just say, I think my book has a unique approach.  It will be a mystery/comedy and the main character is a woman.

That’s it for me!  Thanks for playing along and have a wonderful weekend!