Heart Like a Dog

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

What the Fashionable Dog Walker is Wearing

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The thing I dislike about this time of year is it begins to be dark earlier and it stays dark later in the mornings. Many times the dogs and I are walking in the dark.

In the colder months, I have an ear muff with a visor and I have a little light that clips on the visor. (Perfect to keep your hands free for rewarding or picking up….um…stuff.)

Let there be light.

This little light of mine…

Except at the end of last winter one of the clips on the light broke AND I can’t find the visor or the light.

So far I haven’t needed a light to walk the dogs either in the morning or evening.  Except for last Thursday.  Last Thursday we woke up to rain combined with a little bit of fog.  Sampson and Delilah don’t care, as long as I’m willing to walk in the weather, they are too.

Some mornings when we walk we never see a person or car.  Other mornings there are many people out and about.  Because it was darker than normal I needed something to light me up in the darkness.  I have no reflective clothing, which is something I really need to get.  Sampson and Delilah have reflective vests, but I can only find one.

So we improvised.

This little light of mine....

Yeah, I’m fashionable! 

It’s Hubby’s headlight lamp adjusted to fit over my neck.  It worked as a temporary light, but it’s not really functional for walking when it’s dark.   And it only highlights me. 🙁

While I typically pay attention to my surroundings and either place the dogs on the inside between my body and the curb, or bring them up off the road, I’d still like them to have something that is either reflective or lights up.

Amy from Go Pet Friendly shared a post last week highlighting some great new products she found at SuperZoo, one of which is a new line of reflective gear from Alcott, and these are definitely on my list of items to check out.  

I know many of you walk your dogs at night or early morning, and I was wondering, what do you use for your dogs to make sure they are visible to any cars you might encounter?  For me it’s not feasible to carry a flashlight, I’m not coordinated enough. 🙂  

I Could Use Your Help

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Calling all positive trainers!!  I need your help and I need it fast.

How do you deal with a dog that is so treat motivated that the thought of a treat drives her lab shit crazy?

Of course I’m speaking about Delilah.

Delilah typically walks on the left side of me and the treat bag is clipped to my right side.  The moment I reach for the treat, she spins around and shoves her nose at my hand/the bag.

Don't listen to her, she likes to tell tales.

Don’t listen to her, she likes to tell tales.

Yesterday we were walking past two dogs in their yard and I reached for the treat bag, Delilah whipped around and plowed into me, knocking the treat out of my hand and practically knocked me on my ass.  This was all after I’d already pulled a few treats out in preparation.

Here’s what I’ve tried:

  • Pulling my hand away when she reaches for the treat bag and telling her no. (She keeps doing it.)
  • Turning my body away from her. (She follows me.)
  • Treating Sampson first. (She will shove her face between Sampson and my hand.)

As you can see, none of these options work.  

Last night after I regained my senses I thought about how I could possibly work her using the clicker but I drew a blank.

You see, I could really use your help.  Please, please,  give me your best ideas for working with a dog that’s lab shit crazy.  Oh and while you’re at it, any thoughts to keeping her from chomping on my fingers?

Controlled Freedom

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I’ve been hesitant to write about this, since it seems like every time I indicate Sampson seems to be getting better we have a set back.

BUT, the truth of the matter is that Sampson does seem to be doing better.

We are now almost 20 weeks post surgery. Four and a half long months.

During this time we’ve done two rounds of physical therapy, many variations of medication therapy, cold laser treatments, and acupuncture.

Sampson’s initial injury began in January.  We tired to treat it conservatively and failed.  So for the last seven months, Sampson’s activities have been restricted.

We are now at the point where he can begin doing many of the things he did before his injury.

As our Physical Therapist says, “We introduce him to the activities with as many controls as possible.”

How exactly do you do that?

We started removing the couch restrictions and putting our mattress back on the futon frame.   Sampson was never a jump on the couch dog, he’s always climbed, so he’s begun climbing on the couch again.  He does jump on the futon though and so far he doesn’t seem to be bothered by it.

Our yard is very hilly and at some point I’m going to have to let him out and have a run in it, but for now Hubby’s sectioned off the deck, and blocked off certain areas of the yard.

One area right near that gate that would allow access to the back yard.

One area right near that gate that would allow access to the back yard.

We can now leave the back doors open and if Sampson chooses he can go outside to potty by himself.

He’s been doing pretty well on his walks, so the next thing to introduce is a little bit of running.

To introduce this I took him up to the field on the fifteen foot leash a couple of times.  I chose the field because I can scope it out first and make sure there are no people or dogs around.  Once I watched him trot around on the long leash and could tell he was comfortable and didn’t seem to be straining anything,  I took off the leash.

Siriusly, you mean it? I'm free?

Siriusly, you mean it? I’m free?

At first he just stood there, like he couldn’t believe it, or he was unsure, but he soon got the hang of it.

It didn't take him long.

It didn’t take him long.

After he had done this a couple of times, I brought Delilah along.

Come Delilah, drag Mama and try and keep up.

Come on Delilah, drag Mama and try and keep up.

So far we have only been on the path that leads into and out of the park.  I think we’ll stick with the field for a bit before we venture off to the trails.

But we are finally at the stage where there’s a little bit of controlled freedom.   

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