Heart Like a Dog

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

Follow Up Friday

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For those new to the blog, my follow-up Friday provides me with an opportunity to update or revise a post from the previous week.

You know sometimes you post about something and you need an update but it doesn’t warrant a whole blog.  Or sometimes someone made a comment that really resonated with you.  Yup, Follow-Up Friday baby! :-)

She’s At It Again – Author’s Note

So far I’ve picked up a LOT of poop.  Honestly, I’m embarrassed and disgusted that there is so much poop in my yard.  I blame it on Hubby who did not remove the leaves this year.  Yes, the leaves which were not removed by Hubby have been preserving poop, either that or someone is jumping over the fence and pooping in my yard.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I’ve been trying to get out there and pick up the fresh poop every day.  It’s hard to go outside with them and pick it up immediately, you saw the yard, it’s big!

And those dogs are fast, so very fast.  They move much quicker than I do.  Heck she can get out there and snarf down a poop faster than I can get out the door.

I don’t have to tell you that it’s not always easy with everything else going on, but I’m trying.  I admonish her too when she steps outside, “No eating poop, you hear me?”

But we all know how well she listens to me. 🙂

The Dog I Need – Author’s Note

Well really I feel like I can’t even comment on this, based upon the posts that followed less than 48 hours later.

Coconut Oil – Author’s Note

I sautéed asparagus in coconut oil the other night, with just a little bit of garlic and it was yummo!

Coconut oil, it’s not just for dogs.

Oh and I also noticed something Koly pointed out, Sampson’s breath was really fresh.  It didn’t smell nasty at all, and it was in the morning (morning breath, is there anything worse?) 🙂

Defeated and Lost, Parts 1 and 2 – Author’s Note/Update

I just want to clear the air, Part 2 was written IMMEDIATELY after Part 1, it’s not like I thought about it for days.  Or I slept on it overnight, they were originally going to be one extremely long post, so I broke it into two parts. The posts were written when the incident was really fresh and raw.  I felt discouraged, it happens.

Truthfully it wouldn’t have been nearly as traumatic for me if she hadn’t gotten stuck.  It was (for me) a mortifying experience, along with the realization that she could have really gotten hurt.

My friend Mindy gave me a pep talk, Sara gave me a pep talk and some suggestions, all of you gave me encouragement and suggestions, I’m back on track.

What these two posts showed me was what a wonderful and strong support unit I have in my blogville family.  I want to thank you all again for hanging in there with me and reassure you, I have a handle on this and I am NOT, I repeat NOT giving up on Delilah.

Delilah and I will be working tomorrow and Sunday and I will let you know what we do and how it goes.

Our week was a little rocky, but we are back on track.  How was your week?

Book update: My book has 18,346 words.

The truth about long leashes….day One Hundred and Twenty Three

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A couple of years ago we took the dogs with us on vacation to North Carolina.  The drive is really long with two dogs but mine are pretty good, they do take up a lot of room and the little Hyundai Tuscon is challenging to pack but we managed by using a car carrier on top.

Delilah lying in the car. I love the way the sun is shining on her.

We bought 30 foot leashes so we could take the dogs down to the beach,  and give them a little freedom while still maintaining some semblance of control.    The thing to remember about dogs and 30 foot leashes is not to give them the entire leash all at the same time.  I found that out on our first evening at the beach.  Here’s what happened.  We got down to the beach right before dusk, when all the seagulls were out trying to see what the tide had deposited on the shore.  Chet had Sampson and I had Delilah; Delilah saw the seagulls and Delilah took off after those seagulls.  Delilah can run through a 30 foot leash pretty fast and I quickly found out what it feels like to be running behind a 100 pound dog at full throttle on the end of a 30 foot leash.  I also found out that when you scream, “Stop, help, stop” on a beach in North Carolina, you are pretty much on your own.   Even my husband, son-in-law and his sister just stood there.  Eventually she stopped and I reined her in, so these pictures are of the dogs after the incident.

Delilah in the ocean.

 

Sampson in the ocean.

Just keep in mind should you decide to try a longer leash for training, that you should slowly give the dog the distance of the leash,  just don’t clip it on and let them go!

Meet and Greet…(Day One Hundred and Twenty)

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What do you want your pet to do when you are walking or hiking and meet another person that does not have a dog?

What I want is for my dog to ignore that person unless they express an interest in meeting my dog.  The last thing I want (which happened to Chet on Sunday) is for my dog to go charging happily towards someone and jump at them.  Good thing Chet is a big guy, cause that chocolate lab could have really knocked him down and hurt him.

That being said, I would like to share two experiences that recently happened when we encountered “dogless” people.  The area we walk our dogs is owned by the town and has a small town garage on premises; as we were leaving the park we noticed that a man was at the garage removing some stored items.  Since we saw him well in advance, we called the dogs to us and leashed them.  Then we started to walk past;  Delilah got a little bit antsy, so Chet said walk on the other side of me, which we did.  I am here to tell you that if I could have picked my dog up and danced with her that is exactly what I would have done.  She was spot on perfect!  She walked slightly ahead of me, tail and head held high and never looked once at that man!  I wanted to buy her a filet mignon!   Exactly what I expect from her.

The other experience happened today; we met an older man on the trail, I saw him first so I called the dogs to me and made them sit as he approached.  I put one finger through each of their collars and told them to stay.  After the man had passed us, he stopped to inquire about the dogs, after a minute or so I let the dogs free and they ran on ahead completely ignoring him.  Of course, Sampson had to run back to the man and get a pat, but he did it very cautiously and respectfully; I couldn’t have asked for more.

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