Heart Like a Dog

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

Ding Dong the Walk is Done

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Since Sampson did a partial tear on his right knee back in January, I’ve been having to walk the dogs separately.

At first it was no big deal, because Sampson really couldn’t go that far at all. We would walk down two houses, then turn around and walk back.

Two houses is barely enough time for a guy to do his business.

Two houses is barely enough time for a guy to do his business.

After resting, anti-inflammatories, acupuncture and hydrotherapy, his walks slowly increased in time and length. For the longest time he’s been at seven minutes. Seven minutes in whichever direction we are walking, then turn around and head home. I decided it’s now time to bump the walks up to eight minutes, when time and weather permit.

Morning walks can be a bit rushed, as I have to get ready for work. Afternoons are a bit easier because back in January, my hours at work got cut. I arranged my schedule so I leave work at 2:00 pm and I’m done for the day.

With the separation anxiety that Sampson has been having, it’s just easier for him if I come home and stay home.

Honestly, I am really enjoying the individual time with my dogs. Not just because I am spending one of one bonding time with them, but because I can work on them with their individual issues (Sampson’s need to greet everyone and Delilah’s sometimes snarkiness with other dogs.) Still, it would be nice, if their morning walks could be together.

So that is my new goal. Get Sampson’s strength up so he can make it around the block. This means he probably has to get his walk time up to around 11 minutes.

I’ve mentioned this before, when Sampson and I head out for our walk, I set the timer on my phone and when it goes off, I coax him around and head back home. Some of you may recall Sampson’s been having some issues with noises lately, so I changed the notification on my phone to chimes, which doesn’t seem to bother him.

When Sampson and I walk, we always head down hill in the morning and up hill in the afternoon. Sampson has made a friend on the street that loops behind our house, so I try and make sure we head her way in the afternoons, when the probability is better that she will be outside.

Yesterday I set my phone for eight minutes and Sampson and I headed up the hill. As we reached a point we hadn’t been to in quite a while, I pulled my phone out to check our time and we still had about 25 seconds to go.

I always try and encourage and praise him, so I said, “Good job Buddy, you really went far today.”

At that point the phone, (which I’d left in my hand) went Ding, ding, ding, ding and Sampson, with no coaching from  me, turned around and headed home.

It reminded me of Pavlov’s dogs (minus the food of course) and made me realize that even when I don’t think he’s paying attention, he really is.

I wonder what other things he might be learning without me knowing? I wish he’d learn to pay the bills. 🙂

 

Close Encounters of the Feline Kind

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Some of you may recall we have a cat that lives two houses over.

The first time I noticed the cat was when it was still just a small kitten.  I was really surprised to see the kitten outside, considering all the wildlife in our area, but the kitten was in its own yard, and while it didn’t exactly bother us…it did make for an interesting walk, once Delilah saw it. (You can read that story HERE.)

King of all he surveys.

He was such a little guy!

The next time we encountered the cat, it was up close and personal. That was the day that Delilah chased the cat up the tree, where it sat all night lawn causing me all kinds of angst. (You can read that story HERE.)

Cat stuck in tree

The colors are lovely, but I felt bad for the kitty.

After our third encounter, I wrote the silly cat a letter. (You can read the letter, HERE.) Most of you found it amusing (as it was intended to be) because I would never, ever let my dogs loose to chase a cat. 1) I’d be afraid that my dogs wouldn’t stop chasing and I’d lose them. 2) I’d be concerned that they’d have a real close encounter with the cat and end up injured and 3) it’s just plain mean and I don’t roll that way.

Delilah likes chasing cats

I like cats.

Since the encounters I’ve written about there’s been two more instances where we’ve had closer encounters with this particular cat. The first incident since the post Dear Kitty letter, happened when Sampson and I were coming back from our walk. Kitty was in our yard and as we turned the corner into the driveway Sampson spotted him. Sampson is a very strong dog and even with his injury (which makes it that much more important to not let him run) he’s difficult to keep under control when something excites him. Thankfully Kitty heeded the warning and ran over to hide behind a tree to watch us. (Newsflash Kitty, that tree is coming down so you better find another hiding spot!) Sampson of course sniffed the driveway over and wanted to climb the hill to find the cat, but we managed to get inside the house.

Then came last Friday. Apparently Kitty decided my driveway is a nice spot to lie down in. The spot he chose gave Sampson a perfect viewing spot, of the cat. It would have given me the same advantage had I been looking. But I wasn’t.

No, I was more concerned with the webs that were hitting me in the face, so like I do every morning, I opened the gate.

Typically when either one of my dogs spots something they give a clear alert signal. I’m sure Sampson did this particular morning, but again, I wasn’t paying attention.

Instead, I opened the gate, and turned around to close it and that’s when Sampson started barking at the cat.

All I can say is thank Dog I was holding onto the gate, because the lunge that Sampson took, coupled with the fact that we were at the top of a small incline, could have been disastrous.  However, what added even more mayhem to the incident was the fact that I had left the back door open, so Delilah could go out and do HER business.

Of course, when she heard the commotion at the gate, she came barreling around the corner of the house.

There I was, 90 pounds of injured, but still strong dog trying to rip my arm out of its socket, while I stared down 70 pounds of brown fury.

What happened next was mind boggling.  WHY am I not wearing that GoPro? WHY?

We have a retaining wall on that side of the house. Because Sampson is not allowed to be doing any running, Hubby has placed some fallen branches across the lowest spot of the wall. It is enough to deter Sampson, because he has never been a jumper. But for our resident Diva, a wall is a minor inconvenience.

So there I am standing at the gate, watching Delilah barrel towards me and bracing my body for the impact. Right at the last second, she snaps to her right, and without missing a beat, runs up the hill and does a loop around the back yard.

I snapped the gate closed, and maneuvered Sampson down the driveway. Per his usual, Mr. Kitty had darted for cover in the trees/bushes at the side of the driveway.

Stop watching Merida Kitty, you do realize she has a bow and arrow on her side, don't you?

Stop watching Merida Kitty, you do realize she has a bow and arrow on her side, don’t you?

Do you have any bold and brazen cats in your neighborhood? How do you manage your dogs around cats?

The Mate Was A Mighty Sailing Man – TBT

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I’m really digging on Throw Back Thursday lately.  

This post originally appeared June 7, 2011.

It was a memory from two weeks we spent in Florida for our daughter’s wedding.

Florida, October 2005.

It had been a wonderful yet busy nine days, but the wedding was now over, everyone had left leaving just Hubby, Sampson and I.  It was time for mama to relax.

Hubby and I got this idea to rent a boat and take a nice relaxing ride in Tampa Bay.  We went to a local marina and inquired about a boat we could rent that we could bring Sampson on.  We were told dogs weren’t allowed because they could damage the boat.

“Okay, thanks anyway” we said. (Like we weren’t responsible dog owners!)

“Wait a minute” the clerk said.  “I have a pontoon boat that I am going to be renovating, would that interest you?”

Does a bear crap in the woods?

So we loaded up the boat and headed out in the bay.

It was a very relaxing ride that was enjoyed by all three of us.

I think you can tell by the pictures.

Hubby

 

Little Buddy aka 1st Mate

 

Mama and Sampson

 

This was a nice, quiet cove on an island in Tampa Bay. He really enjoys the ocean.

It was such an amazing time at that wedding. Our family had rented two houses that were next door to each other, and it was so fun and amazing. Sampson loved having everyone around him and we really just all enjoyed each other.

Have you ever rented a boat or taken your dog out on one? I was a little anxious, but Sampson did amazing!

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