Heart Like a Dog

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

No Dogs On the Bed – Throw Back Thursday

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It’s hard to believe, but when this little pumpkin first came home, Hubby said, “No dogs on the bed. He has a crate, he can sleep in there.”

From the minute I snuggled him, he and I set out to break that rule. What can I say? We like to dance to our own drum.

Sampson Stone, three weeks old.

Three-week-old Sampson Stone. Can you stand the cuteness?

While I think crate training is an amazing tool to help teach dogs the house rules, I hated having him in the crate at night. When he first came home and didn’t know where he was supposed to pee, he HAD to be in the crate when we weren’t there to supervise. I worked full-time, and was gone from the house 8 hours a day, and so it seemed cruel to put him in the crate for 6 or 7 hours at night.

Like a ball and a blank can replace a nice, warm Mama. What the actual woof?

I started staying up late. I’d fall asleep on the couch and then I’d wake up at 12:00 or 1:00 and put him in the crate.

Then I coaxed Hubby into letting him snuggle with me in the mornings after Hubby got up to get ready for work.

Thankfully, Hubby started work super early, so he left the house around 5:00 – 5:30. This meant he got up at 3:30.

Now I had Sampson’s overnight time in the crate down to about 3 1/2 hours.

This went on for about a year. Then, as it happened, our daughter was getting married in Florida, and of course, we all went.

When we drive long trips, we like to start late at night, early in the morning. As I recall, we left about 1:00 am.  Sampson was all cuddled up in the back seat snoozing and then the cutest thing happened.

3:30 rolled around, and just like clock work, my little puppy crept his way to the front and laid his head on my arm that was resting on the armrest. He knew it was cuddle time.

We had rented a house for our daughter’s wedding, because we were there for the week before and the week after, and had a lot of last minute items to attend to.

Since we weren’t in OUR bed, I convinced Hubby to let Sampson sleep in the bed WITH us.

Now it’s a lonely night for me, when Sampson chooses to sleep somewhere else.

I will take as much of this as I can get.

T

 

Creatures of Habit – Throwback Thursday

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This Throwback Thursday I thought I’d go back to August of 2011. At that time I’d been blogging for just over 8 months.

Interesting note, there were still no SEO words. LOL

Dogs are such creatures of habit.

Every night around 9:00 pm, hubby and I have a snack.  We extended this habit to Sampson and to Delilah when she joined our pack.

It immediately became clear that the dogs must be separated when treats were around.  I handed Sampson his treat and Delilah hers.  Delilah swallowed hers and then took Sampson’s right out of his mouth.  He and I both stood there for a second in complete and utter shock.  Then I walked over to Delilah and wrestled the treat from her mouth and handed it back to Sampson.

This did not phase Delilah in the least, she went right back to Sampson and again took the treat from his mouth.  I was furious and determined.  I went right back to Delilah and re-wrestled her for the treat.  At which point I grabbed her collar to prevent her from repeating her faux paw.

In retrospect, I realize how ignorant I was to 1) assume that she would act the same way Sampson did and 2) take for granted that she wouldn’t bite my hand off for taking food away from her.

Sampson was the dog I nurtured from puppyhood.  I wanted to make sure he was raised in the appropriate way, we always hand fed him, we played with him and his treats, we played with his feet all to make sure he was a well-natured, well-mannered dog.  In my naiveness it never dawned on me that all dogs are not raised by responsible pet owners.

Delilah was my first-hand experience of a dog that didn’t have a caring owner.

Flash forward to present day.

I am reminded beginning about 8:45 pm by Delilah that snack time is approaching.  She does this by walking up to me and staring at me; sometimes she barks, but I stand my ground!  Not a moment before 9:00, because if I do then she will expect it and before I know it, snack time will be before dinner. 🙂

The Lab Death Stare, not to be confused with the Death Star.

The Lab Death Stare, not to be confused with the Death Star.

 

Delilah thinks she’s won the lottery at snack time, she runs to the pantry, jumping and leaping for joy, almost tripping you or knocking you down to win the prize.  This happens every single night.

Most nights I give Sampson his treat first and he runs off to the bedroom, snack in mouth.  If for some reason the bedroom door is shut, then he comes back and looks at me and I go and open the door for him.

Delilah runs into the living room with her treat and inhales there.  Once she has finished her treat she goes into the bedroom and waits for Sampson to move so she can inspect the bed for crumbs and clean up after him like the good mama dog that she is.

Last night Sampson headed off for the bedroom and then turned around and came back.  Hubby said, “What’s the matter big boy?”

Labrador's treat looks like cigar

And it dawned on me, the cat was on the bed.  If the cat is on the bed before him, Sampson will NOT get on the bed.  If Bob jumps up on the bed while Sampson is sleeping, then it is ok but not vice versa.

I reminded Sampson he is a 90 pound dog and Bob weighs 10 pounds dripping wet as I walked past him into the bedroom.  Luckily Bob was already on his way out to see what all the fuss was about.

Silly dog.

I love that photo of Sampson, it makes me think of someone with a cigar in their mouth.

Throwback Thursday. It’s a reminder that the more things change, the more things stay the same. 🙂

Delilah STILL practices the Lab Death Stare. Although, now she can make it until almost 9:30. 😉

 

Throwback Thursday – Lessons Learned

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This post was originally published six months into my blogging career.  Looking back I can see I had already started trying to make the blog a humorous one.

To set the background, we had spent the weekend at my sister’s house in New Hampshire.  Usually we stay in my sister’s spare room, but in this instance she had a friend staying with her, so my sister and brother-in-law slept on the bunks in the basement, while Hubby and I stayed in their room.

Apparently there were adjustments all around. 😀

Life is about learning. I like to think I learn something new every day. You don’t always know where the lesson will come from, but it comes none-the-less. Sometimes it comes from the least likely source. I learned some fairly important lessons this weekend, which I would like to share here tonight.

Dogs and Food – A dog who will ignore his kibble and refuse to eat while on vacation approaches raw food differently. He will eat raw food on someone’s deck or even on an access road at a rest area. Lesson learned from Sampson Stone-Golden Lab.

Some things are worth burning your tongue for (like bacon grease.) Lesson learned from Delilah Stone-Chocolate Lab.

Dogs trying new things – A dog that runs an agility course like a champ will refuse to use a ramp outside a doggie door. If you try to force the dog down the ramp by tugging her, you will slip on a dead mouse and slide down the ramp on your ass. Lesson learned from Delilah Stone.

Dogs and sleeping – Dogs know where their beds are; even if their parents have given up their bed for guests, they want to sleep in their bed. Lesson learned from Gordon Kelly-Golden Retriever and J.D. Kelly-Jack Russell Terrier.

If you refuse to let a dog sleep in their bed, they will wait you out in the hall outside the bedroom door, causing you to trip when you get up in the night to use the bathroom. Lesson learned from Gordon Kelly.

When there are dogs sleeping outside your bedroom door; your dogs will not sleep. Lesson learned from Sampson and Delilah Stone.

Dogs that haven’t slept for three nights….

 

delilah-eyemask-July

 

Golden Labrador eye mask

Like to be pampered.

Lesson learned.

When you’ve been blogging for almost seven years, you tend to forget certain things. I’ve been enjoying going through posts for Throw-back Thursday. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did.

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