Heart Like a Dog

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

Follow-Up Friday 3-15-13

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I dropped the ball again.  I waited too long and then I couldn’t find a co-host.  So once again I’m flying solo.

Follow-Up Friday, because some posts just need a little update.

I Hear You Knocking – Update

Remember that snow we got last Friday?

IMG_4347 Our field with about a foot of snow on it. (3-10-13)

IMG_4381 Same field after 2 days of 55 degree weather and one crazy day of rain.  (3-13-13)

Yesterday it got super cold again, I tell you Winter is hanging on tight and trying not to let Spring in, but we know better.  I’ve actually seen a couple of bugs and you can’t tell the birds that Spring isn’t here, they are singing her wake up songs first thing in the morning.

Simple Mathematics and Spring Fever – Update

Just to be safe, I’ve started leaving a chair against the cabinet where the garbage can is stored.  Which doesn’t mean she can’t create mischief, trust me she can.

She drank water from a pot on the stove this week and blew off a recall on Wednesday’s walk.  What to do, what to do?

She Wears a Mask – My thoughts

I was going to respond in the comments but decided to I would do it here instead.

While I agree this woman may be protecting her dog from attacking another dog, I’m still not sure it’s the best idea to have her muzzled in an unfamiliar area, she is giving her dog no chance to protect herself.

How do I know she is walking in an unfamiliar area?  Because she has no clue that people walk their dogs up there off-leash and don’t worry where their dogs are.

I’m one of the good ones!  I keep my dogs close, pick up their poop and leash them when I see other people.

There are at least seven people (that I’m aware of) who do not leash their dogs, and whose dogs run helter skelter all over those woods.  Some of them don’t even have collars on to grab if the situation called for it.

She might be protecting other dogs from her dog (who may or may not be acting appropriately) but she is putting her dog at risk to not be able to defend herself should the need arise and if the dog is fearful, she is taking away the dogs only method of coping.

In my opinion she would be better off keeping her dog on leash so she could turn around to avoid a confrontation, in this way she has better control of the situation.

I have the same problem with the invisible fence.  Yes, the fence will keep most dogs in, but it does nothing  to keep something from coming into your yard and hurting your dog.  It happened to my next door neighbor in my old neighborhood.  A dog came into her yard and bit her dog in the face.

I understand those of you with unaltered males, I totally do but I would never take my dog into a situation where they could be hurt and not give them the opportunity to defend themselves.

Nosy Girl – Author’s Note

Yup, here it is Friday and we’ve yet to practice our scent work at home.  Maybe some time this weekend.  Don’t worry I’ll take pictures. 🙂

Way Back

Way back in January, we won a contest at Dakota’s Den.  We received this really cool sheep toy made by Kyjen.

IMG_3913 Remember this guy?

The dogs absolutely love this toy.

IMG_4386 This is what he looks like now.

Almost every day one of the dogs plays with this guy and most days Delilah greets me when I get home with this guy in her mouth.  Can you tell how well-loved he is?

That’s it for me, this is the Follow-Up Friday Blog Hop




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She Wears a Mask

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I’m not quiet when I walk Sampson and Delilah.

If you’re walking with me and hoping to enjoy the quiet of nature and scenery like

IMG_4347 this

IMG_4353 or this

You may want to choose another walking partner.

My whole purpose of walking with my dogs is to interact with

IMG_4346 these two.

In order to do this, I talk to them and at times I need to call them.  In other words I’m very loud.

So when I catch someone unaware it surprises me, I mean sound really carries in our little neck of the woods.

We were taking our walk on Sunday when I noticed someone ahead of me on an adjacent trail.  I called the dogs to me and waited, watching.

From the distance we were at I couldn’t tell who it was.   Then all of a sudden I saw a brown dog with an orange collar come into the picture.

Ah, it’s Brady and one of his moms I thought.  So I let the dogs go, and started walking towards them.

This was a big mistake.

The dog in question was not Brady at all.

The dogs were fine with the other dog but as soon as I realized my faux pas, I started walking towards them calling my dogs as I walked.  As I got closer I could see a woman holding her dog, while telling my dogs to “Go.”

My dogs did.  They came back and I hooked them up, then shouted over my apologies.

“I’m so sorry, I saw your dog off-leash and assumed it would be okay.”

“Are you speaking?”

“Yes, I said, I’m super sorry, I saw your dog off-leash and assumed it would be okay to allow them to say hello.”

“She wears a mask, because sometimes she doesn’t like other dogs, not all dogs, just some.”

Let me remind you all of what ASSUME means.

Yes, I felt like a complete ass.  Here is her poor dog, in the woods wearing a muzzle and the two galloping goofs are rushing over to say hello.

I’m going to make another assumption right now.  That assumption is you’ve read Suzanne Clothier’s article He Just Wants To Say “Hi.” If you haven’t read this amazing article, take the time to do so, if you don’t have the time, bookmark the page or print it off and stick it in your pocket for future reading. It is a must read for every single dog owner.

I. Kid. You. Not.

And I want to thank Pamela Douglas Webster again for sharing the article.  I cried when I read the article, thinking of the times I corrected my dog for reacting like a dog.  I also printed it off to put with my dog material and I intend to make at least one copy to carry with me, for sharing purposes.

That article sprang to mind as this woman and I shouted back and forth across the trails.  I thought of her poor dog and the frustration and fear her dog must feel, being muzzled and unable to let another dog know that she wants to be left alone.

And then of all the other dog owners who will misunderstand and misread the signals their dogs are sending to them.   Other dog owners who have consulted with professional dog trainers.

I did.  The first time Delilah reacted to a dog, we went back to class.  I worked with her on reactivity and as I worked her, I really started watching just exactly when and what she reacted to.

Yes, she was selective in her reactions.  Dogs who are rude, or misbehaving are the dogs she snipes at.  She’s letting them know she doesn’t care for their behavior.

The problem is, that many owners misunderstand her ‘reactions’ as aggression and I have to be careful.  I can’t have her reacting to a dog whose owner is not going to understand what’s going on.

Have you read the article?  What do you think?  Is it a reactive dog, an aggressive dog, a fearful dog or a dog with normal expectations of how other dogs should behave?

Spring Fever

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Delilah has spring fever.

That’s the only explanation I have.  If I went back through my posts I’m sure I’d discover that last year and the year before at this time, Delilah was getting into mischief.

Technically it’s not like she contains her mischief only to the spring, but it just seems, she’s more active at this time of year.

Our walks normally run about half an hour during the week, and I try to increase them to over 45 minutes on the weekends or on a day off.

Last Wednesday I came home on my lunch and took the dogs for a half hour walk in the woods.  I gave them each a treat and left them to sleep on the couch until I returned home shortly after 5:00 PM.

It worked in my head.

Once I walked in the door however, I immediately noticed that all had not gone according to plan.

IMG_4251 I KNOW I didn’t leave that door open or that trash on the floor.

IMG_4249 Nor did I shred a Pop Corners bag and leave it on the living room floor.

I looked at my dogs.

IMG_3810 I ain’t no snitch, I didn’t see anything.

Delilah was surprisingly quiet, sitting off by herself and not interacting with me.

IMG_4252 Why do you always look to me?  Is it because I’m a rescue dog?

No Delilah, it’s because you’re a mischief-maker and this is the Monday Mischief blog hop, hosted by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog and My Brown Newfies.

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