Heart Like a Dog

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

That Which Makes The Heart Happy

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How are you doing with the darkness of winter? Weekdays I get up okay, I say okay, because some days the struggle is real, ya’ know? On the weekends though, even if I’m awake, I have a hard time getting out of bed when it’s dark. Of course, it doesn’t help that I have heavy drapes that keep my bedroom…dark. 🙂

Yesterday, I had plans with my daughter to go into New York City to see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the New York Historical Society. My intention was to get up early, so I wasn’t rushed in the morning, but enter that pesky darkness and I got a late start walking the dogs.

Sampson usually only potties on his walks, so by the time I dragged my butt out of bed and started getting layering up (yes, it’s currently cold in the Northeast) he was standing at the door. I let him out thinking he could at least pee in the yard while I finished up, but instead, he simply stood on the deck outside the door.

I finished prepping myself, and I grabbed his harness to put on him. The minute I stepped out the door, the darn fool bolted for the gate. So there I went, chasing after him, trying to get HIM prepped for his walk. I caught him at the gate, put his harness on and turned around to go get his leash, and there was Hubby.

I said, “He just took off on me.”

Hubby said, “I know, I watched you chase him.”

And then that bastard laughed.

Naturally, I didn’t see the humor in the situation at the time, but I know how much Sampson loves the cold weather, so I said to Hubby, “Watch him go out the gate.”

Sure enough, I opened the gate and Sampson charged out like the cars taking the green flag at Daytona.

Since I was going into the city, I knew his evening walk was going to be short, (or as it turned out, not at all since I didn’t get home until 10:00 pm) I coaxed him to head to the woods.

Because of his bad legs, Sampson doesn’t run like MOST dogs, but he can still move when he wants to, which always makes my heart happy. I could tell by the way he was ‘hustling’ that he knew he was going to the woods, and the combination of woods and cold was making for a very happy dog.

When we hit the top of the street and were safely in the Cul-de-sac, I took him off leash and he made a beeline for the park. I honestly wish I’d had my phone ready to grab that video, because you can tell by the way he’s moving how happy he is.

It was a great start, to a great day, and I’m pretty sure I was smiling all the way home.

What did your pet do that made you smile or laugh this week?

(FYI, I walked 6.8 miles yesterday.) 🙂

Dogs on Lounge Chairs

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Happy New Year everyone! No matter how 2018 treated you, I hope 2019 treats you better!

As I said last week, my grandchildren moved December 28th. You could say, I had a very emotional Christmas. To compound the emotions, I decided to make a photo collage of Sampson to gift to my sister and one of Sampson’s favorite neighbors. This put me through years of photos, of my kids, my grandkids, the dogs, etc.

There were a lot of tears.

But there were a lot of smiles too.

I came across the photos of my grandchildren’s parent’s wedding. The wedding took place in St. Petersburg, Florida and it was a family affair. Hubby and I rented a house, and my sister and mom rented the house next door to us. We were there for two full weeks, and naturally, Sampson came with us. (This was before Delilah.)

The house we rented had an in-ground pool. One of the ways to access the pool was through a sliding door in the master bedroom. I’d get up every morning and the first thing I did was take a dip in the pool.

Sampson’s only water experience had been lakes and streams in our area, so the first day we were there, he stepped off the ledge of the pool. He was expecting to walk in like he did in our local water, so the sudden drop startled him and it took him a while to get back into the pool. It was actually my brother-in-law who was able to coax him back in. After that, he’d go into the pool, but only when one of us was in there.

He did love laying out in the sun though and many was the time I’d step outside and he’d be laying on a lounge chair sunning himself.

Towards the end of the vacation, there was one very hot day when Sampson was sunning himself and I was busy in the house, when I heard a splash outside. I looked out to see that Sampson had used the pool steps to take a quick lap around the pool to cool off.

A close up on the lounge chair.

That face. On a lounge chair. 🙂

Going through the photos and reliving these memories really brought a smile to my face.

Do you have any special pet memories that make you smile?

The Sweet Things in Life

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This week, I had the hardest, saddest day I’ve ever had in my entire life. Friday morning, I watched my grandchildren get into their parent’s cars for the 700 mile ride to their new home.

All their lives, my grandchildren have lived within 10 minutes of me. At some point every weekend, I would see my grandchildren. We did Home Depot workshops together, were together every holiday, I’ve hugged and kissed them on their birthdays, seen them off to their first day of school, picked them up on half days.

To say I’m wrecked is an understatement.

My grandkids grew up around the dogs, but I have to say, my granddaughter is the one who is closest to them.  One of her favorite things to do is to walk Sampson.

On Thursday afternoon, my granddaughter walked Sampson for her last time. On the walk we talked about the very real possibility that Sampson might not be here when she comes up this summer.

Just a girl and her dog.

One of the things I love most about Sampson is his ability to draw people to him. He’s gentle and easy-going and most people fall in love with him. My granddaughter is no exception.

Wednesday and Thursday night my grandchildren and their parents (my daughter and son-in-law) stayed at my house because their furniture was loaded onto a truck.

That is how I happened to witness my granddaughter kneeling down and kissing Sampson on his head and telling him goodbye. I’ve kissed him on his head thousands of times myself, but my granddaughter never has.

Even in the midst of my sadness, knowing my sweet boy has touched my granddaughter as deeply as he’s touched me, made me smile.

What did your pet do this week that made you laugh or smile?

You make me laugh (or smile.) The sweet, funny, loving things dogs do that make us laugh or smile.

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