Heart Like a Dog

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

Delilah’s Reality Show and Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Day 11

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I’m not a big fan of reality TV.

Except for that one season I watched the Bachelorette, I could care less if Ice Loves Cocoa, Harry Loves Lisa or if I’m Keeping up with the Kardashians.  Really, before the show, just who the hell were the Kardashians anyway?  And someone, ANYONE tell me why do I need to keep up with them?

I know a lot of people are enjoying some kind of puppy cam, or eagle cam or bear cam, (I’m not exactly sure) and while I think small animals are adorable, and could really sit and watch puppies play all day long, I think people would get quite a bit of amusement watching Delilah’s Reality Show.

I mean let’s face it Delilah is amusing, she has her own mind set and does pretty much what she wants, plus she’s funny as hell.

The real amusement however would come from the human’s reactions.

Let me set the scene.

It’s Saturday afternoon, I have two 10 pound bags of chicken necks defrosting in the sink.  I’ve already chipped away at one and pulled off about three pounds, which have been bagged and refrozen for future breakfasts for Sampson and Delilah.

As I am want to do when I have too many ‘to do’ items on my list, I stop one thing and wander off to do another.  In this case it was to swap out a load of laundry.

As I’m putting the last piece from the washer into the dryer I have a sudden thought, “I’m going to go out and catch Delilah with her face in the sink, doing her damndest to grab herself a chicken neck.

I giggled slightly to myself at the thought.

I step out of the bedroom and look towards the sink, but there is no Chocolate Lab there staring back at me.  I take three tentative steps towards the living room and that’s when I see her.

Gnawing on the frozen lump of chicken necks on my living room carpet.

Now I don’t care what anyone tells you, but when you come out of your bedroom and find your dog has removed SEVEN POUNDS OF FROZEN CHICKEN NECKS from your kitchen sink and is eating them on your living room rug, your first thought is not, “Let me grab my camera and take a picture.”

Oh no.

Believe it or not, it’s not your second thought either.

I’m sorry if that disappoints you, but I’m human after all and my first thought was OH MY GOD, she’s eating raw chicken necks on my rug!

On. My. Rug.

My second (coherent, printable thought) was, I must stop her, so I screamed, “DELILAH!”

She turned and looked at me then whipped her head back around working all that much harder to gather whatever bit of juicy goodness that she could before I took her treasured prize away.

I on the other hand, had turned into one of those “Here’s Your Sign” people, I screamed “What the Fuck?” and then “What the fuck is wrong with you?”  Like I really expected her to answer me.

In case you’re wondering, she didn’t.

After I managed to pull her away from the chicken necks, I did snap a photo.

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Seven pounds of chicken necks on my carpet.

I loaned my crate out to someone for a new puppy so I didn’t have it to put her in.  I know, I know you are not supposed to use the crate for punishment but on rare occasions I do.  Dragging seven pounds of chicken necks through my house constitutes punishment.

Whatever, judge me if you will,  you don’t live with this dog.

So since I did not have the jail to incarcerate her in crate, I made her sit on the couch until she was sorry.

She’s still sitting there.

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When I see something I want I go after it. Saturday I wanted chicken necks.

Come on, she’s a freakin’ lab, she’s not sorry!

See what I mean about the real amusement coming from the human’s reactions?  If she’d had a camera like Miss Meadow does, she might have actually captured the look on my face, in that brief but shining moment she turned around to look at me.

What’s the craziest thing your dog has ever done?

 Can you believe it’s already the 11th day of December?  Check out the Advent Calendar information.

Win gorgeous, durable recycled glass PawNosh bowls in the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Giveaway Event It’s time for the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers hosted by Kol’s Notes, Heart Like a Dog, My Brown Newfies, My GBGV Life & Bringing up Bella! 24 giveaways in 24 days, plus a grand prize worth more than $800 – who wants to win? Today’s giveaway is sponsored by PawNosh. You could win a beautiful, durable recycled glass dog bowl. Click here to check out the Advent Calendar and enter today’s giveaway!

Thanksgiving Treats

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I don’t know about you but when I’m hosting a holiday at my house, it can get a bit hectic, especially with a dog like Delilah who absolutely LOVES food.

You can be sure at least once you will hear someone yell, “Delilah get off the table!” 

While we don’t willingly share our leftovers with the dogs (I say willingly because you can guarantee that Delilah will get something she shouldn’t) I still like to make a little something special for the pups.

I had to go gluten-free a couple of years ago and while I do fairly well without treats for most of the year, the holidays are hard.  Recently I discovered an awesome recipe for Gluten-free Apple Crisp.  I will share the human version first, then below it a way for you to make something special for your pups.

Filling mixture:
4 cups apples, peeled & sliced (such as Granny Smith)
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
 
Crisp Mixture:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup gluten free quick oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons softened butter (I use salted) plus a smidge more for the dish
 
Preheat oven to 350.  Take a smear of butter and coat your pie pan.   In a large bowl, toss together the apples, sugar, water, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined.  Set aside.
 
Oatmeal topping:  In a large bowl gently combine: almond flour, oats, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and butter until crumbly.  I usually melt the butter a tiny bit in the microwave, so part of it is runny and part is super soft.  You can melt the whole bit of butter, it won’t matter at all.
 
Place the apple mixture in the pie pan.  Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the apples are cooked through, the juices are bubbling and the topping is browned.  Serve hot, warm or room temperature.  For a little added treat, throw a dollop of ice cream on there.
 

When I was sharing this recipe with my sister, she said to double the crisp recipe because that is the bit that’s really good, so that’s what I plan on doing when I make this for our Thanksgiving table.  I’m also planning on incorporating some pecans into the topping mix.  I’ll let you know how THAT turns out.

Sadly I don’t have any pictures of the apple crisp because I didn’t think to take any, but I promise to take some on Thursday and I’ll share them in Friday’s post.

I will however share a sweet picture of Sampson.

Don't Mind Me Don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here waiting for a Thanksgiving treat.

So I told you there was an easy way to make a holiday treat for your pup. 

When you’re cutting and peeling your apples set a couple aside.  Once they’re peeled and sliced, take a set of small muffin tins or if you prefer use a a couple of ramekins.

Grab some coconut oil and a paper towel and using the coconut oil like shortening grease the tins or ramekins.

In a small bowl add your sliced (or if you prefer chopped) apples, a shake of cinnamon and a little bit of almond flour (a small handful) toss the apples until they are coated.  If need be add a bit of water just to help the process.

Pour the apple mixture into your ramekins or muffin tins and bake in 350 oven until apples are soft.

Cool and serve.

So will you make a special treat for your pets this holiday?  What are some of YOUR pet friendly traditions?

If you’re interested in some other recipes for your pups this is the Tasty Tuesday Blog hop hosted by Kol’s Notes and Sugar the Golden Retriever.

My Ever Growing List…

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Saturday found me in the car driving for dog food and leaving a convoluted message on my vet’s voice-mail.

Yes, I’m adding one more thing to my ever growing list of things to have taken care of at Sampson’s dental cleaning.

For those of you keeping score at home that would be

  • One dental cleaning
  • Removal of one Sebaceous cyst
  • Removal of one fatty tumor
  • X-rays of his back legs and lower spine
  • And one secret procedure I will tell you about AFTER the cleaning

My crazy, incoherent message indicated I wanted x-rays of Sampson’s back end.

So right now you’re thinking, Jeez, she really is the crazy dog lady.   And truthfully, I think you might be justified in that thought.  I think.  You can call me paranoid, over-cautious, and behind my back you probably do call me that crazy dog lady, but guess what?

I’m okay with that.  I really am.  Because this dog literally saved me from an abyss these last few years and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep him healthy and happy as long as possible.

I know you’re probably wondering what tossed me off the deep end thinking Sampson needs x-rays.  I’ve been noticing for a while that his back legs shake sometimes.  And not just at one particular time.  Sometimes they shake when he’s standing, sometimes they shake when he’s squatting and sometimes they shake when he has them up in the air.

In and of itself I suppose it’s to be expected.  Except when I posted this picture

S and D Animal Couriers said, “Lovely shot – looks like Sampson is doing a ‘lazy’ sit as we call it.”

I started paying attention and I noticed that Sampson sits that way a LOT, always tucking his left side in under him.  Okay, maybe he is just lazy.

Then he fell/slipped.  At least four times in the last two weeks.  Every time it was that left side.

One time we were walking to the park and he was walking through some leaves, stopped to tinkle and slipped off the curb.  It could have been the leaves and him not knowing where the curb was.

One time he slipped and sort of fell on his side (again in leaves) as he was making a turn from the trail to the field.

Last week he was tearing around the house and turned a corner and it seemed like his legs kicked out from underneath him.

One time he attempted to jump on the bed and missed,  dropping back to the floor.

Sampson has always been a what I call a lazy jumper.  He’d just prefer not to jump.  For years getting him into the car entailed him putting his front paws up and waiting for us to lift him.  He’d do this when getting on the bed too.  And for a while we did lift him (sometimes we still do.)

But now when I’m thinking back, his back legs seem stiff when I lifted him and I’m wondering if I’ve been missing the signs all along?

The guilt is coming.  It’s that nagging voice that says, “You should have added the pieces up sooner, what if it’s something bad and you’ve been oblivious to it all along?”  “What if you could have been doing something to help him?”

I hate that voice.

Heart Like a Dog Lesson:

Sampson doesn’t hang on to guilt.  He feels whatever the occasion calls for and moves on to the next event, he doesn’t let emotion about an event he has not control over consume him.  As long as he has his humans by his side he’s happy.  I’ve got to learn to enjoy the time I have left, instead of letting guilt cloud our time together.

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