Heart Like a Dog

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

Poetry in Motion

By

Sampson and Delilah don’t have the best greeting skills.   Their idea of greeting a person is to rush to the door and wait to be petted.

We do work on greeting skills when people come over, but it’s what I consider a work in progress.

Their dog greeting skills are similar.  If they are on leash when they see another dog, they go right to the end, straining and pulling.  If they are off-leash, they will rush full out to get their sniff on.

When we are walking, I try to be aware of other dogs.  Most of the dogs on the trails we walk on are off-leash and have the same greeting skills as Sampson and Delilah, making it difficult to work on our own greeting skills.

Occasionally we have what I refer to as a stalker dog.

You know what I mean, the kind of dog that follows you for a bit, never coming quite close enough and running the opposite way when my dogs try and approach.

Typically I let the dogs choose our route, unless I know there is a LaCrosse game in the field.  Whichever way they turn I follow.  Normally they go the same way, which is okay with me.

Last week we were heading up the main trail when I saw a small Jack Russell Terrier coming towards us at a quick pace.

I was quick, but not quick enough.  Sampson and Delilah saw him too.

Not "THE" stalker dog, but similar. (This is my sister's dog, J.D.)

Not “THE” stalker dog, but similar. (This is my sister’s dog, J.D.)

Both my guys stood stock still, watching.  The dog kept coming.

“Sampson come!” I called  He stood watching. The JR kept coming.

“Delilah here” I coaxed.  She stood still at the end of the leash, watching the troops advance.

“Puppy STOP!” I bellowed at the Jack Russel, not knowing his name. He kept coming.

“Puppy GO BACK” I yelled.  His little JR legs propelled him closer.

I dropped Delilah’s leash and released the hounds.

There was a little growling, but no sounds of a scuffle.  Meanwhile at no point in time did another person appear in the scene, this took place in about the course of a minute and a half.

I turned and walked the other way calling my dogs.  Once the initial greeting was over, they quickly came back.  But I watched, he still continued to follow us for a bit but once we hit the field, he left us.

Here’s what impresses me about my dogs.  They were both stiff and focused on the approaching dog, when I dropped Delilah’s leash, it was if I’d blew a whistle, somehow they both knew it was time to charge and they moved as if they were one.

Just like Poetry in Motion.

I'm keeping a lookout for Stalker Dogs.

I’m keeping a lookout for Stalker Dogs.

How do you handle uncontrolled dogs on your walks? Have you ever encountered a stalker dog?

A Dog Walker’s Chinese Star

By

It was a four bag walk.

When the first deposit was made, I carefully picked it up, looping the bag into a knot, juggling it between managing Delilah’s leash and dispensing treats.

When the second deposit was made, I repeated steps one and two, then tied the two bags together.

Sampson and Delilah each did their business one more time, each time I picked up the poo, sequestered it in its own bag and then tied the bag to the others.

As I tied the fourth one in place, it hit me.

No….not the poop, the idea.

Safety is always a concern for me on our daily walks in the woods.  I worry about Stranger Danger, uncontrolled dogs and wild animals.  I always travel with my trusty little pepper blaster pistol in my back pocket, ready and willing to unleash a powerful blast of burning fury at the offending perpetrator.

Now staring at the baggies in my hand, I realized I held what equates to a dog walker’s Chinese Star.

Behold, the dog walker's weapon of choice.

Behold, the dog walker’s weapon of choice.

Drum roll please…..

Yes, it’s true.

My dogs are capable of producing Weapons of Ass Destruction, or WAD’s if you prefer.

Who needs a pepper blaster when you can easily wind the baggies up and hurl them like a shot-put?

Don’t believe me?  I didn’t think you would, so I made a little video to prove the WAD’s capabilities.

(If the video does not work, click here.)

Warning you need really good aim though, because these baggies are versatile but they’re not tough, and while they are warm to begin with, they are not heat seeking nor do they have lock capabilities.  Too hard of a toss or bad aim and you’ve got a…… mess of ass destruction on your hands.

(If the video does not work, click here.)

What do you think, should I apply for a patent?

Sampson Loves Sara

By

I sometimes clip the dog’s front nails at home.  However, when they need their back toes clipped I take them to Sara’s.

The reason?  Sampson’s quick is very close on his back toes and I’ve made him bleed a couple of times.

A few weeks ago we took the dogs to The Mellow Mutt, so Sara could clip their nails.  Sampson and Delilah haven’t seen Sara in a while and were so excited when she came outside.

IMG_4820 Oh Auntie Sara, I’ve missed you so!

There was the obligatory sniffing of pee-mail with Sampson running like a lunatic back and forth towards Sara across the parking lot.

Delilah was on leash so Sara started with her nails first.

While she was clipping Delilah, Sampson ran to the door of the shop, pushed it open and ran inside.  You could hear him inside rooing with joy.

I looked at Hubby with my mouth open like a tree frog and said, “He just went inside.”

The three of us burst out laughing and Hubby had to go get Sampson and escort him out.

IMG_4823 Yo’ Sampson, when did you learn to open doors?  I could use some help at home.

 

IMG_4821 Eventually he settled down enough for Sara to clip his nails.

But not before he went into the shop a couple more times.

Silly puppy, who needs thumbs to open doors?

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