Heart Like a Dog

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

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

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Life with Sampson and Delilah has been keeping me very busy of late.

Sampson gets a walk in the morning and a walk at night, while poor Delilah has been limited to one walk in the evening.  The other night I was totally insane, feeling adventurous, thought maybe I could walk them both at the same time and then I could up Delilah to two walks a day also.

Walking one injured dog and one healthy dog.  Epic Fail.

Sampson is on a special harness designed to help him with not pulling, it is shorter than Delilah’s leash.  That’s the first challenge.   It works (mostly,) unless it’s a person that Sampson really wants to see or a bush he really wants to pee on and then nothing in the world will keep him from pulling me.  Delilah who walks amazing when it is just she and I also becomes a pulling machine when she’s competing (in her mind) with Sampson.  I found myself cursing profusely, came close to tears at least once and am pretty sure I yelled a couple of times.  I decided it was not worth the aggravation to try and save myself 20 minutes of time, so I went back to walking them singly.

With Delilah’s jaunts around the neighborhood I’ve been noticing all the little signs that indicate spring has arrived.  From the lush green of the grass that sparkles like diamonds after the rain, to the daffodils peeping their yellow faces upturned towards the warming sun, to the lovely forsythia bushes that take me back to my childhood having our Easter photos in my grandmother’s back yard.

So intent have I been on watching other people’s yards, I failed to notice the beauty in my own yard.

Saturday I was walking Delilah up the hill towards our house when I noticed my one of my rhododendron trees had flowered.  The poor trees took a horrible beating from the heavy winter snows and Hubby and I had to trim them quite extensively, yet they resiliently returned this year.

Sunday after a frustrating morning where Delilah 1) sat on me pinning me to the bed 2) licked at the box of necks I was defrosting and 3) drank my Irish Whiskey laced coffee, I determined to try and get a photo of her in front of the rhododendron tree.

She watched as I took two cookies and put them in my pocket and then she quickly followed me out the door and up the stairs to the back yard, where I positioned her underneath the tree and told her to stay.  I climbed down over the wall and she jumped down after me and looked expectantly for her cookie.

I brought her back up and told her again to stay.  This time she did.

You Mama, are a cookie tease. There are no cookies on this tree so why, pray tell am I setting here?

I was told there would be cookies.

I was trying to get as much of the tree as possible in the photo, but it required Delilah being too far away.

Still no cookie. WTD Mama? I want a cookie.

Still no cookie. WTW Mama? I want a cookie.

Even though she can be totally frustrating at times, there are other times when she shines like the diamond that she is.  Diamonds really are a girl’s best friend.

Follow-Up Friday – May 2, 2014

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

Some Dogs Just Walk Bow-Legged

You want me to do WHAT?

You want me to do WHAT?

2 Brown Dawgs said, “He looks so worried about that water tread mill, but I know it will help him.”

I know he did.  It about broke my heart, but the good thing is that he wasn’t panicking about it, and he actually did quite well.

Rebecca said, “I’ve used a ladder laid on a bricks (to get that height off the ground) for Teach in preparation for agility training. That is very similar to Cavalletis but for Sampson the rungs of the ladder may be to close together.”

That’s a great idea, but I think you are right.  The rungs would be too close together for him.

Sand Spring Chesapeakes asked, “Norman loved the water treadmill cuz she put peanut butter on the front is that what I see on the picture?”

No, there is no peanut butter on there.  In fact, he cannot even touch the door because a bar is in his way.  I think you may be seeing the leash.  I am standing in front of the door holding his leash.

Cupcake said, “Sampson, your face says it all. “What in the world are these demented lunatics up to???””

This was only his second time on the treadmill so I’m not really sure what he thought about that!

Jan K said, “I think you have that DIY instinct of a lot of native New Englanders…I wouldn’t have been surprised if you DID improvise the underwater treadmill.”

Well thank you Jan and now you’ve got me thinking…..

Jen said, “I do small hills with Sherman to try and help keep his muscle mass up but I might have to give this a try!!!”

We are smack dab in the middle of a hill and so he goes up hill at least twice a day.  I’d like to do more, but right now I can’t.

Thanks for the Warning

Okay, here’s how I SHOULD have ended that post.  “Thanks for the warning is right.  Now I know where another dumb ass lives in my neighborhood.”

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I just don’t like surprises, that’s all. You try having someone stick their nose in YOUR ass when you aren’t expecting it. I didn’t think so.

Keri Dominguez leaves a link to a great Suzanne Clothier post and then says, “Maybe print it out and leave it in their mailbox?”

I would love to do that, but I wonder if it would really work or they’d just get offended or scoff it off?  My experience has been most people aren’t receptive to what they perceive as criticism by others.

Lauranne asked, “You did pre-warn her and nothing transpired?” and then “Have you heard of the yellow dog campaign?”

I did pre-warn her and nothing transpired but Bella did not get close enough for Delilah to react/not react.  And yes, I’ve heard of the Yellow Dog Campaign but sadly that doesn’t mean she has.

Emma asked, “Why are some people just so ignorant?”

Oh  Emma my love, if I knew the answer to that, what a wonderful world this would be.

Jenna, Mark “HuskyCrazed” Drady says, “You have such a great way of putting a comical spin on a story that angers all of us!”

Thank you.  I like to think that humor breaks the ice, if people can laugh about something, even if it’s a frustrating topic, perhaps once the laughing is done, they may be able to see another side or at the very least open a line of communication.

Roxy the Traveling Dog asked, “Why oh why, is the world full of dumb ass people? And why are they allowed to raise kids and dogs?”

Well in Jodi’s world, they would need a license for both. 😉  But Jodi doesn’t rule the world…yet. 😉

Rebekah asked, “So rude! Is there not a leash law where you live?”

Yes there is!  But without someone enforcing it, what’s a person to do? 

Jan K said, “Whenever this happens with Cricket I find myself apologizing and trying to explain, but I know I shouldn’t do that.”

But why should we do that?  Their dog needs to respect our dog and their needs!

Things You Shouldn’t Tell the Physical Therapist

Jana Rade said, “Well, I believe you should tell everything to your surgeon or physical therapist. You might get the stink eye but you know what? More often than not they need to know such things.”

You’re right, I just cower at the thought of telling her. 🙁

Animal Couriers asked, “How late in the year have you had snow?”

Well it is not typical, but we have had snow in April and May.  Of course it doesn’t stay, but it has happened!

Jenna,Mark “HuskyCrazed” Drady asks, “A Grim? As in the show Grim? Or something else?”

It is a Harry Potter reference. 🙂 “The Grim is an omen of death, which is reputed to bring about the demise of the person who encounters it. The Grim takes the shape of a large, black, spectral dog. Perhaps the most well-known of omens,[1] the Grim has earned infamy throughout the Wizarding world and is considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst, omens around.” (Source, Harry Potter Wikipedia)

Jan said, “Hail can come any time.”

Yes it can.  We can get it during a thunderstorm in the summer, but the hail is usually larger!

Jan K asked, “You know what I thought? I thought the deer ran in front of where your car might have been had you not turned around to see if it was the neighbor’s dog, thereby possibly avoiding an accident and meeting the Grim after all. Does that make any sense?”

It sure does!!  And you very well could be right!

Well that’s it for me!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks For the Warning

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“Thanks for the warning!” The woman called after me as Delilah and I negotiated away from her dog who was following us across the road.

I wanted to shout back, “Pull your head out of your ass where your dog is concerned,” but I wisely (unwisely?) kept my mouth shut.

I’ve written about this before and so have many others, and yet here I am again incensed that I have to intimate my dog is ‘un’friendly because another dog owner is totally clueless.

It began innocuously enough, Delilah and I were taking a nice stroll on a beautiful spring Saturday. Delilah was casing the houses in our neighborhood for possible future forages leading the walk, while I was helplessly being dragged along, wandering aimlessly behind her, following along leisurely enjoying the lovely weather and keeping my eyes ever alert for other dogs.

Yup, sure enough.  Dead ahead, I saw a group of people at the edge of a lawn chatting and standing there with them, a dog.  I crossed to the other side of the street and kept walking.  As we approached, the dog, Bella took a few tentative steps into the street.

“Bella, Bella” her male owner called, then walked over and gently led her back to the yard.

“She never leaves the yard” I heard the woman tell her visiting neighbors, “That’s the farthest I’ve ever seen her go.”

I reached into my treat bag and Delilah who was focused on the grass on the side of the road, lifted her head and focused on me.

“Bella, Bella!” The male called again.  I looked back to see Bella stealthily creeping up on Delilah’s right flank.  Delilah, darling dog was sniffing the grass and not paying a lick of attention to the approaching Bella.

I felt the familiar panic rising up, like a cobra ready to strike.  What do I do? Do I stop and try to initiate a greeting?   Do I keep on hustling and pray Bella doesn’t reach Delilah’s rear end?  I looked down at the sweet face, intent on me, and unaware of anything transpiring behind her.  I can’t take a chance of setting her up to fail.

“She’s not always friendly to other dogs” I tossed over my shoulder, resisting the urge to pull out my pepper blaster and give the owner a taste of my wrath.

“Who, your dog?”  The woman called after me.

Yes my dog you dipshit, I would hope you’d know if your dog wasn’t friendly to other dogs.

“Yes, she doesn’t like being surprised.”

Like when your dog comes up behind her and shoves her face in her ass, she’s likely to get  a face full of Chocolate the likes of which will put your dog running for cover and brand my dog as ‘aggressive.’  All because you can’t be bothered to keep your dog in her yard.  

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I just don’t like surprises, that’s all. You try having someone stick their nose in YOUR ass when you aren’t expecting it. I didn’t think so.

 

“Thanks for the warning,” I heard follow me as I stomped my way seethed my way up the street thinking of all the other things I could have/should have said.

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