Heart Like a Dog

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

The Dog I Need

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I was having trouble deciding what to blog about tonight and decided I would chug through my google reader and see if one of you could inspire me.

Sure enough, Pamela at Something Wagging This Way Comes had a post titled, “Do You Have Dreams For Your Dog?”  After reading the post I went to leave a comment, and as I started to write I realized, damn I’m gonna write a blog post.  So I shortened my comment and headed home.  Do you think that’s cheating? (Ok. Maybe.  But would you really want a 500+ word comment?)

This was the line that really resonated with me, “I know several people who never anticipated competing in dog sports until they realized their dog needed an outlet for their intelligence and energy.”

She hit the nail on the head.  Some dogs such as Sampson are quite content to live the couch potato life.  Hanging with his humans, sitting out in the yard while daddy works in the garage, and while he really does like his walk/hike, if he didn’t get it he would be okay with that too.

Delilah is the kind of dog that not only needs physical activity, she needs mental stimulation as well.  Even though there are many times I call her stupid (in my head of course) I realize that she really is extremely intelligent, which is where her need for mental stimulation comes into play.

I admit it took me a while to figure this out, but once I did I think she has become a happier dog, which in turn makes us much happier.

Truthfully I think I should probably do a bit more training or game playing with her every day, but I don’t always have the time.  When I do, or when I can tell that she is really bored, I will take out her Paw Hide toy or play hide the carrots.

Paw Hide

We have a schedule that includes physical exercise with a little mental stimulation thrown in.  On Saturday and Sunday we take at least an hour’s hike each day, with lots of running and sniffing.

In the winter on Mondays and Wednesdays they get a twenty-minute around-the-block leash walk, once the time changes and the days are longer, they will get at least a half hour hike.

Tuesdays and Fridays they get a half a day of daycare, and yes it’s true most days they don’t play a  lot, but they are awake the entire time and it is a different type of mental stimulation.

Thursday nights are obedience class, which is where Delilah really gets her mental stimulation.  Sampson just doesn’t care for it at all and I think I’m going to have Hubby start walking Sampson somewhere else, because I don’t think he should have to do it if he’s not enjoying it.

Last year the training center had drop-in agility classes on Saturday morning and I’m hoping Sara will start those up again, because Delilah really likes those classes.  Sampson of course does not, but I will take him with us just so he can socialize.  If we do the agility class then I won’t walk them for quite so long, but they will still get a walk.

So I guess the point to this blog is you need to find something your dog loves, that (s)he can have fun with, it will strengthen the bond you have with your dog and make for a happier everyone.

Thanks for the great idea Pamela, I think I got the dog I need, it just happens to be in two very different dogs. 🙂

She's At It Again

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Delilah has a nasty habit.

I really thought we had broken her of the habit, in fact last week at obedience class I proudly said, “She doesn’t do that anymore.”

This Thursday she proved me wrong by burping in my face, I can’t even begin to tell you how disgusting the smell was, it lingered for at least five minutes.

Yes, my dog eats poop.

I had been using Solid Gold S.E.P (Stop Eating Poop) but the supplement was expensive, and since we feed them raw well I had to cut expenses somewhere. I heard that pineapple will make the poop undesirable so I’ve been packing their kongs with pineapple chunks.

Someone suggested that I should put hot sauce on the poop, but I figure if I’m going outside to sprinkle hot sauce I might just as well pick up the poop.

Which is what I did this afternoon.

This is our yard.  As you can see (which somehow we missed when we looked at the house) it’s really not all that functional.  It is fenced in so the dogs can be outside without us.  But it also has a lot of low, scrubby growth out there so we really don’t use it a lot.

I’ve told you before I am a lazy busy dog owner.

My friend Sherri once told me, “I don’t worry about the poop, it dissolves on its own.”

Well that doesn’t really seem to hold true with my dog’s poop.  At least if you are judging by the amount of poop I picked up today.

I’m pretty sure there is still some poop out there, but I got a LOT of it up.  After about a half an hour out there my back was killing me and I’d had enough.  Plus we were leaving for my grandson’s 4th birthday party.  (Between picking up poop and an hour at Bounce Town, I’m just about ready for a hot tub.)

So now my treat bag, and clicker are next to the back door along with my boots and I am going to see if I can teach Delilah to “leave it.”

After picking up so much poop I told Hubby today

1) I want a pooper scooper

2) I want one of those Doggie Dooley’s

3) I know why she eats it, there are bones and chunks of carrots in there, it is just another food source for her.

I realize she will probably always eat deer poop, she couldn’t possibly pass that up.  But I thought we’d broken her of the habit of eating dog poop.

Hubby said it best today, Delilah is in survival mode.

ALWAYS.

Knowing she came from Louisiana around the time of Katrina and Rita it’s very possible she had to survive on her own for a period of time.

How do you help a dog with these issues overcome them?

I’m open to suggestions.

 

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! :-)

Yahoo – Author’s Note

As you know Delilah is a work in progress.  As well as she did on her recalls last Saturday, yesterday she didn’t do as well.

I met my walking pal after work for a quick twenty-minute walk and we let the dogs run around in the field.  In the blink of an eye Delilah was gone.  I’m always concerned when she runs through the woods that her leash will get caught somewhere and she will strangle herself.   Normally she stops when she feels a strain on the leash, but you just never know.

My friend had seen Delilah enter the woods, so we attempted to follow her.  Thankfully I had the foresight to put their reflective vests on because it was snowing, and my friend easily spotted Delilah.  She was in someone’s back yard grazing on God knows what.

Even though I had been calling her from a distance she was preoccupied with what she was doing.  When I got close enough I called her again and she looked up.  As soon as she saw me she came running.

Our twenty-minute walk turned into forty. 🙂  As we were wrapping it up the dogs saw or heard something, I had Delilah’s leash at that point but when Sampson and Brady took off at a full run, I dropped the leash.  That was my bad.  I should never have done it considering how she had taken off earlier.

Sampson and Brady came right back but someone else was MIA.  It was close on 6 o’clock and I was freaking out a little because it was starting to get dark and I did not want to try to search for her at night.

We started walking down the hill towards the field which is the direction she was headed and I somehow found the sense to scream Wooo Hoooo, well that did it and she came tearing back to me.  But I can tell you I will probably not be giving her that kind of freedom again any time soon.

What Would You Call Him – Author’s Note

Many of you left comments indicating your cats do similar if not the same things.  That makes me feel better. 🙂

While this is mostly a blog about dogs, I did write a story about Bob last year that I thought was pretty amusing.  If you’d like to read it you can find it here.  I will have to warn you, I did use the “F” word in that post.

Dog Responsibility – Author’s Note

So as I related just a few minutes ago, we went up to the park last night.  After Delilah took off for the second time we headed home.  As we approached the field Sampson  paused and when I looked I could see there was someone in the field with their dogs.

I couldn’t tell if the dogs were leashed or not, so I just headed out.  The dogs were off leash and they came running down the path.  One of the dogs was a yellow lab and the other looked like a Springer Spaniel.

I exchanged quick hellos with their dad and then he headed up the hill and I headed out of the park.  The little Springer followed me….all the way out of the park.  In fact, I think (s)he was contemplating getting into my car.  The dad had kept walking.

It was full-blown dusk at this point and I was a little freaked out for the poor dog, but didn’t want to drag my guys back into the woods, so I cracked a window and locked the car and headed back towards the field.  The dog followed me.

I walked far enough in, encouraging the dog to go “find your dad,” and at last the dog headed off up the hill.

But again I was left stunned at the irresponsibility of this guy.  He literally just walked off and left his dog.  Alone.  In a park where there are coyotes and fishers.  I hope the little dog made it back without any issues.

I don’t know how we are going to get people to understand that owning a dog includes responsibility, especially to the dog!!

That’s it, I ‘m done now.  Looking forward to the weekend and some nice long walks with the dog.  We hope you enjoy yours.

Book Update: My book has 17,746 words.

 

 

 

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