Heart Like a Dog

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

Does Anybody Rally Know What Time It Is?

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Delilah and I started a new class.

Rally.

I’ve heard so many people tell me how easily I could Title Delilah in the sport of Rally.  Let me go on the record as saying Delilah could probably Title in Rally, I just wonder if I’m the right person for the job.

I’m not just self-deprecating (VBP.) Have you ever looked at a Rally sign?

                        

     

Those are just a few of the NOVICE signs.

WTF?

The first night of class I stood and stared at the top two for about five minutes trying to figure out just exactly what I was supposed to do.

Delilah was no help, she was raiding the treat bag while I was reading.

Arianne came over to help us out and it took me most of the class to really get it.

We practiced heeling and stopping.  When I’m heeling my dog and I stop, I expect my dog to sit.

And she does, she just sits in such a manner that her body is turned so she’s facing me.  She’s not sitting by my side.

I asked Arianne how to fix that.

IMG_3803 There’s a trick to this folks.

And the trick is this.  Some of us (ME) keep our treats close to our sides because we want a nice close heel with our dogs, which is why Delilah tends to be facing me when I stop.

In order to correct this, when you stop, you actually move your treat hand away from your body, this will automatically correct the sit.

I kid you not.

IMG_3804 Notice how my hand is a good distance from my body.

The other thing I’ve been doing incorrectly is holding the leash in my left hand.  You probably already know this, but humor me for a minute, you actually have better control of your dog with your leash in the opposite hand of the side you are heeling on.

Why?

Because if I’m heeling my dog on the left with the leash in my left hand and my dog decides to lunge, my right hand has a way to go in order to grab the leash.  If my leash is in my right hand and my dog lunges my left hand is already there and can quickly reach out and assist my right hand.

See why I think Delilah is doomed?  I don’t even know the proper way to hold her leash, how can I give her the proper signals and set her up to succeed?

We’re participating in the Vocabulary Building Project blog hop, hosted by Texas, A Cat in New York, Savannah’s Paw Tracks, and Hey It’s Jet Here.

Check out the other participating blogs and see how you can increase your vocabulary.

Author’s Note: The rally photos are taken from a handout I received from my trainer, they are AKC registered and available on their website.

Co-Hosted Follow-Up Friday

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Welcome to this week’s edition of the Co-Hosted Follow Up Friday Blog hop, the blog hop that let’s you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.

Follow-Up Friday Blog Hop

My co-hostess this week is a repeat offender. 🙂

I really wish she and I lived closer because I would love to hike with her, in fact her post yesterday has me siriously considering taking the dogs Geocaching.

It seems I’m always learning something when I visit her blog, whether it’s about geocaching, butterfly gardens or architecture.

Guessed it yet?

It’s Gizmo and Beth from Terrier Torrent!!

Thanks so much for co-hosting with me this week, Gizmo and Beth, it’s good to have you back.

Waist Not, Want Not – Author’s Note

I’d like the dogs to lose just a little bit more weight, Sampson more than Delilah.  She’s actually pretty close to her perfect weight in my eyes, but we’ll see what our vet says in June.  In the meantime, I’ll continue to cut a tiny bit more from their raw food and see how it goes.

If anyone is interested in trying raw and need a good nutritionist just let me know, Sandy doesn’t mind if I share her e-mail.

Monday Mischief – Update

I was pretty sore Monday and Tuesday but nothing that wasn’t expected with the hard body slam I took. 🙂  I kept my wrist wrapped for Sunday and Monday night and by Tuesday it wasn’t bothering me in the least.

I’m truly grateful it wasn’t worse.

Kefir Madness – Author’s Note

I was surprised that so many of you already knew about Kefir, where have I been?  Why am I always last to the party? 🙂

I was asked if it’s not a bit messy, and yes sometimes it is.  Delilah eats her treat on the throw rug in the living room and that’s easily washable.  Sampson gets his on a towel on our bed.  Normally it’s not very messy at all.

If I Could Turn Back Time – Author’s Note

I guess I get more training in then I realized.  Somehow when I think of training I think of teaching the dogs something new.  But there’s nothing wrong in reinforcing your foundation commands, you never know when a good sit or wait will save your dog.

Looking

The Art of a Dog Fart – Author’s Note

I was surprised to hear some of you say your dogs don’t fart.  While my dogs don’t fart a lot, there are times when they do.  As evidenced by yesterday’s post.

What really made me laugh and what so many of you echoed in the comments was that the dog doesn’t realize what the fart is and that it actually came from them.

Oh the things that amuse me.

That’s it for my Follow-Up Friday post, many thanks for Terrier Torrent for co-hosting this week.

This is the Follow-Up Friday Blog hop, co-hosted by Terrier Torrent and Heart Like a Dog



The Art of a Dog Fart

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Am I right in saying all dogs fart?

What do you do when your dog farts?

If you’re like me, you either cover your nose or you laugh.

Most dogs I know of have those quiet but (mostly) deadly farts.  The kind that stinks up on you and takes you by surprise, because there is no notice.

Not Delilah.

Delilah farts like a human.

I was sitting on the couch, eating a snack.  Sampson and Delilah were sitting in front of me, patiently waiting for me to drop or give them something.

All of a sudden there was a loud noise, like someone blew a raspberry.  I looked at Delilah, my eyes wide and she, ever so casually, turned and looked at her butt.

I busted out laughing and Hubby said, what did she do?

I couldn’t talk, I was laughing too hard.

Seen about town.

We’ve had some decent snow here in the northeast.  When I went over to watch my grandchildren last Saturday I took a picture of the snowman my sweet little grandson made.

IMG_3812 Good thing I took it on my way in, it had fallen over by the time I left.

They live in an area where the front yard gets a lot of sun, and it was quite warm last Saturday (which is probably why Frosty bit the dust.)

Back where I live, our front yards don’t get a lot of sun.  As I drove past my neighbor’s house, this sea serpent/dragon caught my eye.

IMG_3814 Sea serpent or dragon?

I thought it was super cool that my neighbor and her grandsons built it around the telephone pole and they colored the snow too.

IMG_3815 A close-up of its head.

When I walked up to take the picture I commented to my neighbor how very cool it was and she drew my attention to the Husky Dog they’d also made.

IMG_3817 Besides the fact it’s a dog, I love their attention to detail.

IMG_3816 Okay, from this angle it looks like a llama to me.

Today I’m joining our friends at the 2 Brown Dawgs blog for This ‘N That Thursday.

Courtesy of 2 Brown Dawgs Blog
Courtesy of 2 Brown Dawgs Blog

Because sometimes you have a little of this and a little of that, but neither one is enough for a full post. 🙂  Many thanks to 2 Brown Dawgs blog for letting us tag along.

Siriously, have you ever HEARD a dog fart?

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