Since I’m back to work I’ve got to either 1) walk the dogs on lunch or 2) walk them after work. I really do prefer to walk them on lunch, but when it’s this hot, I opt for after work.
It was still hot yesterday but thank God the humidity broke. There’s nothing like walking in 90 degree heat with 90% humidity. It feels like you went swimming with all your clothes on and you’re just waiting for them to dry.
My pants seem to have a mind of their own and that’s to sag as far down as they possibly can. I seriously considered putting a pair of boxers on so they could hang over the top.
You don’t believe that do you?
Good because I would never consider that.
Where was I? Oh yes, the walk.
I normally let Sampson and Delilah pick our walk, I figure it’s their walk too so why shouldn’t they go where they want? I keep a pretty good eye on them and if it looks like one of them has really committed to a certain path, I gently encourage the other one to go in the same direction.
What really surprises me is how frequently they go to the same trails, all kinds of possibilities yet they still follow the same paths. I think they are checking their pee mail and waiting to see if they will run into some friends.
We were getting on towards the end of our walk last night when I saw what I thought was a deer running through the trees off to my left. It caught everyone’s attention and I shouted to Sampson, “No, don’t do it.” Thankfully he followed instructions and stopped what he was doing.
When I looked up, Bruno (who the dogs know well) was standing staring at us from about 25 yards away.
I shortened Delilah’s leash and told Sampson NO.
He took off after Bruno.
Delilah whined and pulled but I held fast.
Bruno is a big dog, but he’s also a big baby. As soon as Sampson took off after him, Bruno took off too.
Sampson chased Bruno around a really large rock and I saw Delilah gear up to go and I knew I was a gonner. So I dropped the leash.
I figured it’s better to chase her through the woods, than get pulled along the trail…on my face.
The dogs all converged at the rock, sniffing each other and I clapped my hands and called, Here, Here, come on let’s go.
What do you suppose happened?
Yup, she came right back to me. I did the happy dance, gave her some yummy liverwurst, praised and petted her and we finished our walk.
I don’t think I am ready to take her off-leash but it’s nice to know I can give her a small bit of freedom.
WooHoo Delilah you ROCK girl, keep up the good work, oops sorry Jodi you did good too 😉
Thanks Misty, I was pretty happy. But we need that to happen every time!!
Yay!!
Those are the moments when you say to yourself, I’m so proud of my kid, and feel so happy lol
Yes, you know what I’m saying!!
Chuckling – we choose dragging hu-dad on his face because he knows we do not handle that off leash thing well.
I came by because you asked a question the other day on our blog – but then your comment got stuck in our spam folder and we never saw it. We are so sorry. Anyway, your question was, “What is coat blowing?” We answered on the blog, but thought we would share our reply here . . .
Coat blowing is a very Siberian Husky thing to do (and other nordic breeds). You see, we have this thick fluffy undercoat below our guard hairs (the guard hairs keep us dry – the undercoat keeps us warm). Twice a year, we lose that undercoat in our shedding. Except, shedding means we lose all of that undercoat in 2-3 weeks. So we are exploding hair balls – blowing coat – during that time.
Of course, we conspire here so that we spread the timing of blowing coat around so that hu-dad is always dealing with one of us doing it. As he likes to joke, we shed twuce a year. January through June and then July through December.
Thank you for answering my question both here and on your blog! That spam thing sometimes gets funky on me. I have been dragged by Sampson and Delilah and it is no fun. Your poor Hu-dad.
Yuck- I’m not a fan of humidity either!! So happy to hear that Delilah is doing so well on her recall, I know it makes all of the hard work totally worth it!!
They say it’s coming back again too! YUCK I can handle the heat, but not the humidity. Yes it does make it worthwhile when you see the results. 🙂
Hey Sampson, Hey Delilah, Jet here. Hi Miss Jodi.
We here ya… today is’s 93, 100% humidity, heat index 106… and Mom has to take us out at LEAST 4 times… Mom said you described EXACTLY what happens to her clothes too. She asked if she might borrow your perfect description (giving you credit of course!)
Congrats for Delilah’s great behavior!
Hey Jetty,
Oh you poor things, how do you handle it? Of course mom can use anything you find on this blog. We are all here for each other!
Hey Miss Jodi.
I think we’ve gotten accustomed according to Mom…well sort of… we stay inside when the yellow ball is in the sky and head out at dusk and dawn and before bed… with the exception of afternoon potty. Also we drink water like fish!
Mom says thanks and agrees completely!
I know far too well what you mean about the humidity. It finally broke in NYC too. It was starting to make me and Mazzie really cranky and tense!!!!
And I’m so glad that you weren’t pulled through the woods face down!!!! It’s a real risk. I say this because your concern reminded me of an episode with Mazzie at the vet.
Mazzie had stayed overnight at the vet’s for a procedure. I was in the lobby waiting for her and I could hear her chomping at the bit to get to me. I had warned the vet about how strong she is, reminded him that she had knocked down multiple vet techs over the years and told him to proceed with caution. I could hear him trying to get Mazzie to sit and calm down. You can imagine how successful that was….
Next thing you know, Mazzie is full on charging into the lobby and en route to me leaped up to try and snag a treat from a jar on top of the reception desk, at which point the vet fell flat, face down on the floor!
There he was, face down, silent and still holding the leash, while Mazzie was just wagging her tail at me. I was of course concerned and just as I was about to ask the vet if he was OK, he said: “Don’t worry. I’m OK. I landed on the side of my face so that I could keep my nose and teeth.”
Luckily for me, he still sees Mazzie and always tell us how much he loves us. He’s an amazing vet and an even better sport!
OMG I don’t know what I would do! He’s so lucky he didn’t get hurt and you are lucky to have him. 🙂
The humidity really makes me cranky, something I’ve just realized of late. Their is only so much a person (or dog) can handle. 🙂 Glad you got a break from it too!
Pulled along on your face?
Yes, yet another reason for me to have little dogs.
You make a very valid point Jan. 🙂
I’m with Jan in the “thankful for my smaller dog” camp. Although he’s very, very strong for 33 pounds.
But yay for Delilah!
LOL! Some dogs are just strong, usually I can control them, but sometimes you just have to know when to let go, right?
Thank you for stopping by and commenting, I checked out your blog and left you a comment but I think it went into spam, would you mind checking?
That’s my Delilah!!
You want her Al? 😉 She’d love it down at the beach. 🙂
Anytime! I’d love to meet her (and Sampson) (and you, of course)
We’ve had those moments on trails when a dog turns up unexpectedly and everyone just freezes, followed by the bolt! My heart would just drop, thank goodness The Other Half was always calm. Well done Delilah! You’re definitely on the way to becoming A Lady.
I’m usually the calmer one, Hubby says…she’s going, she’s going. I say relax, she’ll come back or spend the night at the pound. But seriously I would be a nervous wreck!
Ah but first she pulled you and got her way. I am glad she came when you called her, but I worry that one day she might really hurt you. 🙂
That makes two of us! LOL yes, first she pulled and we are working on that. I think it is more me remembering what I need to say or do than it is her.
I’m so proud she came when you called! *Happy dance* Aladdin has now been restricted to the leash (got a new collar and leash out of it too). He isn’t listening when dad is around, and we’ve been working with dad to be more involved. I can tell he misses all those trees and their pee mail!
Keep up the good work Delilah! 🙂
It is so frustrating isn’t it? When you have a well trained dog one minute and the next BAM! Where’d my sweet little dog go? I’m sure you’ll get him under control quickly. He is an adolescent though, no?
we think he’s around two, so still correctable, unlike the boyfriend who’s on the older side 😛
Woo hoo! You had a big training break through and you get to kept your face. 🙂
BTW, I’d love to see you in a pair of boxers with your baggies hanging off your hips. If all of us old enough to be moms to people who wear that style took up the look, we’d never see another teenage boy doing it again. 🙂
It almost be worth wearing it to get the idea across! Have I ever told you how brilliant you are?
It was amazing and so worth everything we’ve gone through. As I said, I’m still not brave enough to take the leash off entirely, but it’s nice when the occasion arises to have a bit of confidence. 🙂
Woo-hoo Delilah! Good girl!
First, I have to laugh because I was walking the dogs last night and I was wearing my scrubs, I could feel them slipping, but I had both dogs so I really couldn’t do anything, I just let them slip-lucky for me they stopped slipping right before they got to my butt!
Second, I wish I would learn to drop the leash, I hold on for dear life:)
LOL oh that would have been sight wouldn’t it? You with your scrubs down around your knees. 🙂
I usually do hold on to the leash for dear life, letting go is hard for me, I’m learning that many things need to be let go. Trust me if I hadn’t been paying attention I would have been dragged on my face! LOL
Hooray for Miss D!! I bet that liverwurst did not hurt you one bit there, huh? That’s actually a GREAT idea. I’m thinking of those little cans of liverwurst and chicken spread they sell at the supermarket (or they used to at least)…Devil’s something I think is the name… What kind do you use?
I, like Jen, hold on to the leash for dear life when things get sticky. Desmond’s prey drive is greater than his recall, for sure. Even if he were occupied with dogs, all I need is a cat or squirrel to come by and it’s all over. Bye Des!
I totally understand. I am normally a hanger onner, but not when I could smash into a rock! LOL I buy the liverwurst from the deli, Mother Goose I think, it costs me about $2.65 for half a pound. Have them slice it a bit on the thicker side and it cuts up very small. 🙂
I know the cans you are talking about Underwood deviled ham?
Wowzers, that’s fantastic! Go Team Delilah and Jodi!
It was probably a smart decision to let her go, really. I always forget how lucky I am that Shiva only weighs 40 pounds. If she had even ten more on her walking her would have been harder than it already was. Luckily I am (mostly) stronger and she isn’t capable of pulling me down.
BTW I totally believed you about the boxer shorts and am now depressed. That would have been awesome!
Kristine, your comments always bring a smile to my face. Thank you for the support,, she is a rockstar at times. She weighs about half what I do and normally I can control her, but there are those occasions when she catches me off guard and has the strength of 10 Delilah’s! Might as well just accept it and let it be, no sense in maiming myself because I couldn’t let go of a leash.
Actually Pamela had a pretty awesome idea, “If all of us old enough to be moms to people who wear that style took up the look, we’d never see another teenage boy doing it again.”
Who’s with me on this?
So impressed she came back. Regarding the deer, I don’t think I’d stand a chance of keeping my dog from chasing. You always make me giggle – thanks
Amazing! Well done Sampson and well done Jodi – your perseverance is paying off!
Exciting! Sounds like fantastic progress. Sadly, I’ve never been able to get a good recall out of Bella – hence the fact that I will never, ever, let her off-leash!