Heart Like a Dog

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

Walking a Fine Line…Day One Hundred, Forty Eight

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The neighbor’s dog (Gunner) escaped from their house yesterday.  It was actually fairly fascinating because my neighbor was out there calling the dog and he was running through the neighborhood totally ignoring her.

While the dog was running through the neighborhood, two ladies were walking their little pit bull.  It’s a nice little dog, and friendly as far as I can tell.  About two weeks ago, I pulled into the yard and opened the car door and Sampson bolted out and charged down to the street to greet the two ladies and their little dog.  I apologized because I didn’t even see them;  if I had I would never have opened the door because I know how Sampson is.

Flash forward to yesterday and the two ladies and their little dog.  The ladies walk the dog on a gentle leader, which as you know is not my favorite type of dog ‘collar’.  I guess the woman was nervous about her dog and Gunner because she kept yanking up on her dog’s leash.  Chet was out there and he kept telling her to relax but she wouldn’t.  Apparently what she did do was to take the end of her leash and smack at Gunner with it while she repeated, “Go home Gunner.”

I’m not really sure what I would do in a situation like that, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be smacking at somebody else’s dog; especially if the dog wasn’t aggressive.  To my way of thinking, this would be a situation where a dog would bite in defense; but then of course it would be the dog’s fault; (at least according to the legal system.)

When I was a child we had a German Sheppard that was a bit aggressive, particularly with strangers.  One day the dog got out of the house and he bit the paperboy on his shoulder.  The paperboy, was a really tall boy and he was riding a bike; a 10 speed. My father’s argument (that saved the dog) was the paperboy had to have kicked at the dog because otherwise the dog would have bit him on his leg.  I don’t think that argument would ever fly in today’s society.  In today’s society we are too quick to blame the dog instead of the owner or the ‘victim’ that messed up.

What that means for us as dog owners is we need to find a way to control our dogs and give them boundaries and limits, while still allowing them the freedoms that make them happy.  It is at times, a fine line we walk but the love and devotion we receive more than makes up for any balancing act we perform.

Look at that sweet face; I WOULD walk a fine line for him!

Food Fight…Day One Hundred And Thirty Eight

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We’ve had a couple of incidents in our house that revolved around food; trouble is I wasn’t certain until this weekend.

I wasn’t even really sure what happened the first time or who was involved.  I did know that I had two dogs waiting for breakfast in the kitchen and one cat crying in the doorway.  I had my back to them and I heard a growl and a snap and when I turned around Sampson was on the floor, Delilah was in one corner and Bob the cat was in the doorway.  I wasn’t sure if one of the dogs went after the cat or if one of the dogs went after the other one.

The second incident happened Friday between Delilah and Bob.  I was making pizza in the kitchen and Bob was crying in the doorway for food.  I opened the pantry door and Bob thought he might check it; trouble is that is Delilah’s job (at least according to Delilah.)  She told him verbally and with her body language that the pantry was off limits.  Naturally I told her to back it down.

The third and defining incident (at least for me) happened this morning.  We feed our dogs the raw diet, which consists of ground meat at night and turkey necks in the mornings.  Because we buy in bulk, every three weeks or so I have thirty pounds of turkey necks defrosting in my bathtub; today was one of those days.  Of course the door to the bathroom has to be shut tight, otherwise Delilah would be in there eating frozen turkey necks; all thirty pounds.

I went in this morning to package up the defrosted necks and naturally Delilah came with me, but this time so did Bob.  I saw her turn and let him know once again that he was treading on hallowed ground.  That was when the light bulb went off and I realized the dogs are becoming a bit possessive with Bob about their food.  At that moment, Delilah and Bob were banished from the bathroom while I did what I needed to do. 

Now I know what is going on and as the saying goes, “Knowing is half the battle.”

I think I will try feeding Bob first in the morning so he is out of Sampson and Delilah’s space, and if necessary I will implement a “No dogs in the kitchen rule.”  We can’t have the dogs going after the cat.

The House Of Bounce…Day One Hundred and Thirty Seven

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Walk into any room in my house and you are likely to come across a shredded dryer sheet on the floor.   Why you ask?  Delilah.  Delilah loves dryer sheets; they are like a drug to her.   She will dig in the laundry garbage or through a clothes basket to find a used dryer sheet.  Then she takes the dryer sheet and holds it between her paws, and using her teeth she shreds it.   Once the dryer sheet is “dead”, Delilah rolls in it.

First comes the shredding.

 If you hand her a dryer sheet, she gets a dreamy look in her eyes, and she lifts her head back, and opens her mouth and takes the dryer sheet and shreds it; and then she rolls in it.

Then comes the rolling

Aw Mom....did you have to tell everyone?

 

We think the reason she does this is to mask her scent; as she has rolled in other items that smell when we are on the trail.  Animals in the wild; particularly wolves will roll in something foul smelling (usually something that is decomposing) in order to mask their scent from other animals, so they can sneak up on them and capture their prey. 

The dryer sheets are a wasted effort, because if there is one thing Delilah doesn’t do; it’s sneak up on anything!  When Delilah sees something that attracts or interests her she is not quiet about it.  She is full throttle, intense and focused. 

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