The Devil On My Shoulder
Sampson and Delilah get walked together, twice a day. Ideally I would love to walk them separately but most days I just don’t have the time.
During the week our first walk is before I leave for work in the morning and our second walk is on my lunch hour.
Both of my dogs can be dog reactive.
Sampson sees a dog and wants to run up and greet it. Depending on the dog he will often times jump about showing his enthusiasm and desire to greet said dog.
That’s what dogs are supposed to do.
Delilah’s trigger is mostly if a dog comes up to her and sticks its nose in her nether region when she’s not expecting it. Okay, really, are you ever expecting a nose in your nether region? (If you are, please don’t comment, that’s really a rhetorical question.) She will also sometimes react when Sampson reacts and this is mostly if it’s a dog we haven’t seen before.
We’ve worked really hard at getting past the yard dogs, but we’ve had little to no success in passing dogs that are walking on the street. Let me clarify that by saying, I’m pretty certain Delilah could do it, but I really need to work on Sampson. If Sampson wasn’t reacting, I’m almost 100% certain, she wouldn’t either.
Most of the time when I see someone heading towards us with a dog(s), I turn around and go the other way, usually urging Sampson and Delilah with “Go, Go, Go.” And I’m not quiet about it. (I’m also frantically looking over my shoulder, so if you’re paying attention you probably realize I want to avoid you.) 🙂
I’ve recently discovered there are two women in my neighborhood that also walk two dogs, but they walk them separately. I assume it’s because walking two dogs is challenging and not because they only have one leash.
One of these women has two small dogs. I’m going with Yorkies, but I’m not 100%. This particular woman walks her dog on a retractable leash, and she doesn’t pay much attention. We had a run in with her during the winter, where her little dog was zig-zagging all over the road, and I had to pull my two over into someone’s driveway and ask her to take her dog across the street. Since that encounter, when I see her, I turn right around and head the other way. I know this is going to sound harsh, but really, I don’t have time to deal with her or her dog.
Okay, the stage is set.
One day last week the dogs and I headed out for our morning walk. As we headed down the hill, I saw the woman ahead of us with one of her dogs. She was walking away from us going back towards her house. Sampson saw her and naturally increased his pace, but she was way ahead of us. I drew a great sigh of relief in and continued on our walk.
Hang with me peeps, I’m getting to the mean part.
We were returning home with only one way to go, when I saw her again, walking a little dog. (It was then that it dawned on me she was walking them separately.) The woman had her phone in hand and was concentrating on the phone, the little dog walking behind her. I stopped where we were to give the dogs some space. Her little dog stopped to stare up at my dogs and Sampson of course, issued a verbal greeting.
Up there, up there, I see a dog!
The woman stopped, saw us and started walking again. At that point I started walking towards her.
Her little dog stopped again, but the woman didn’t. She reached the end of her leash and felt the weight resistance, turned around and looked at her dog, then she called her dog but the dog didn’t move. Meanwhile the little devil on my shoulder urged me to keep on walking, so I did.
She looked up at me again, snatched her little dog up from the road and hurried home.
The little devil smiled.
Authentic Blogging
Have you heard about the new e-book by the brilliant Maggie Marton? Those who attended Blog Paws knows that Maggie did a presentation on Authentic Blogging. I attended the session (I sat with Jan K) and it was really good.
Many of you know that two of Maggie’s pups are currently battling cancer, so Maggie thought she’d write a book about her presentation as a way to raise some extra funds to help with the veterinary expenses. If you’re interested in purchasing it, Maggie has it for sale at her blog. Currently it’s priced at “pay a fair price”. If you’re interested, you can purchase it by clicking on this link: Authentic Blogging” (How to Find and Use YOUR Authentic Voice)
This is the Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog Hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog. Grab the badge and the linky code and join us! While Barks and Bytes is for everyone, we request only blog posts be linked up and as a courtesy to other hoppers, please add the code to your post or link up to Linda or I.
I know I don’t have the energy to walk 2 dogs separately!! 😛
I bet you little devil gave them a big ole stink eye. That one thing I love about the country I only have like 2 peeps with dogs and they don’t walk them, he’ll I don’t even walk. Have a great day.
Mom has been having to do double walks for a couple years now, and it definitely is time consuming. It started when she was marathon training on her own and then had to walk us, then Bailie arrived and it was the short puppy walks, now it is Katie who is so slow and can’t go very far but it still takes a long time. The two double walks a day take at least an extra hour of time which is frustrating for Mom, but she feels the need to make sure we all get our walks, so she is just short on time every day. Mom also has the devil on her shoulder as she doesn’t back off and lets others either face us or get out of our path 😉
You are too funny, I’d love to know what that woman was thinking as she realized that you weren’t going to turn around this time!
I have the most enjoyable walks with Sheba, because she is the only one of the three that is never reactive….she is such a dream, she loves everyone dog and human but is just shy enough that she doesn’t have to see everyone. The other two I have to plan when/where to walk them to try to avoid too many encounters.
Maggie’s presentation was great, wasn’t it? I hope she does well with her e-book. There’s too many blog friends out there right now dealing with cancer, it really sucks.
My two are walked at the same time, but my mum often accompanies on walks with them, she enjoys the walk. I often walk Ethel as I am the one training her up, and my mum walks the obedient Earl, haha!
Good for you. That devil is right sometimes.
I agree with Mary: Good for you. We live in a very rural area and only one neighbor (about 1/4 mile away) ever walks their dogs. We rarely run into them, but when we do it’s pretty funny. She has 7 dogs. Yep. Seven. 2 labs are walked off leash. It’s sort of like approaching a circus 🙂 However, they’re very well trained. She sends them all to one side of the road while we head for the other. By mutual agreement we never stop to chat. I wish the whole world operated this way.
I am reaching the point with my guys where I need to do two walks. Wilson turned 12 in May and is definitely slowing down. Add hot weather to that, and we walk slower than a snail! Jimmy hates the heat as well, but as a super-high-energy 8 year old, only going at Wilson’s distance and pace leaves me with a wild monkey in the house. Not good. So now I am doing a bathroom walk for both, followed by a couple of miles for Jimmy. It works better for all of us as I rely on dog walks to provide at least some of my exercise, too.
Ha, the little devil was probably thinking why the hell don’t you just put a dog in your pocket and leave it off the leash? Way to go, Sampson! Sometimes I want to take those retractable leashes and wrap them around the owner’s neck and then beat them with their phones! Argh. Either walk the dog or stay at home and chit-chat, cuz you clearly can’t do both at the same time while not dealing with your dust bunny. Too harsh? 🙂
LOL I love your little devil! hahahaha!
I know what you mean about reactive dogs. I have them too. And yes, I “prefer” to walk them each seprately, but theres just not always time for that. So I know how you feel!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I love that little devil on your shoulder. He really brings the fun.
I love the little devil on your shoulder! Good for you not turning around again!! I laughed when I read how Monika feels about retractable leashes cuz I feel the same way. Pretty much the way I feel about people who text while driving, too.
It can be a challenge to walk 2 dogs for sure. I only really do it at the cabin when no one is around.