Heart Like a Dog

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

8 Photos of Happiness – Barks and Bytes

By

I’ve been tagged by three different people to participate in the 8 Photos of Happiness project hosted by Ariel’s Little Corner of the Internet.

Rules and explanation for participation:

  • Thank your nominator/s and link them in your post.
  • Link to the creator (Ariel’s little corner of the internet)
  • Post your 8 photos of happiness;
  • The photos can be anything that represents a moment, object, place or feeling that makes you happy.
  • Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it or let the photos do the talking!
  • Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers!

Now before we get to the photos, let me give thanks and pay homage to the peeps who nominated us. Paved by Pawprints, Clowie’s Corner, and My Brown Newfies.

I spent almost an entire day going through photos. You can probably find some (if not most of them) somewhere on this blog, but I like the idea of having my favorites all in one place.  Some of them are pictures of the dogs being happy, while others have deeper meaning for me.

Chocolate Lab with eye mask

Who doesn’t love a dog in an eye mask?

This photo makes me happy because it screams to me of trust. Delilah was pretty aloof when she first came to us, and the fact she not only let me put the eye mask on her, but she kept it on while I took the photo and then stayed in the room with it on for a few minutes…it showed me we were doing something right.

Muddy Golden Lab

A muddy dog is a happy dog.

I love this photo of Sampson. There is a muddy little brook that runs along one side of the field where we walk. In his younger days, Sampson would run back and forth in the brook, submerging his face, then he would roll around in the field. Just watching him was a joy to behold. In fact, you can see a video of it on my Youtube channel HERE, if you’re interested.

Water fetch with chocolate lab

She looks so serene and peaceful in the water.

Delilah loves to swim. Besides food, I’m not sure there is anything that brings her greater joy. She’s not a big fan of fetch on land, but throw a toy into the water for her, and she dives right in. Again, and again and again.

Off leash walks

Once upon a time our walks were relaxing.

I love walking and I love walking with the dogs. This was before a million other people started walking their dogs at the park and before Delilah started taking off on me. Looking back on this I remember how much joy we all got from our walks.

What lies ahead

I don’t know dad, seems to me it’d be better to use the bridge.

Speaking of walking, before Delilah joined our pack Hubby, Sampson and I used to walk every weekend. This is one of my favorites, as Hubby and Sampson contemplate the path ahead of us. This one is also bittersweet, because it reminds me of a time when I wasn’t alone in caring for the dogs.

Ocean swimming

Sampson’s not much of a swimmer, so I held him.

This picture was taken when the entire family went to Florida for our daughter’s wedding. Hubby and I stayed the week after the wedding to enjoy some R&R. One day we rented a boat and went out in Tampa Bay. We found this little cove where the water was clear and calm and we could get out and swim. You can tell by my smile how happy I was.

the joy of a dog with a bone

You can see how happy and relaxed she is. It took a long while, but we made it!

It took a while, but Delilah really started to relax and let her fun personality shine through. In this photo she rolls around on her back with a bone in her mouth. This dog who was so aloof with people and barely wanted to be touched, is offering her belly up for a rub. Another reminder to me of how far she’s come.

Smiling Dogs

That’s a grin if I ever saw one!

Last but not least. I love when a dog smiles. Some people will tell you that dogs don’t smile. Show them this picture because there’s no mistaking that grin.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this exercise as much as I have. Now I’m supposed to nominate a bunch of others to participate as well. I hate that part of these challenges because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, SO I’m nominating all of you who haven’t done this yet!

It’s a fun thing to do and don’t you want to have all of your favorite photos in one place?

Well don’t wait, get cracking!

Heart Like a Dog

This is the Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog Hop hosted by Heart Like A Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs. Grab the badge and the linky code and join us!

Please only link up blog posts and as a courtesy to the other hoppers, please add the linky to you post and/or link back to the hosts’ blogs.



The Devil On My Shoulder – Barks and Bytes

By

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.

I'm a happy dog since I started taking Omegease.

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!

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)

Heart Like a Dog

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.

The One – Barks and Bytes

By

Eleven years ago in a small town in Connecticut a litter of ten puppies was born to a beautiful Golden Retriever named Casey. Half the puppies favored their father with their sleek black fur, while the other half favored their mom and her beautiful golden coat.

.

.

A few towns over a lady waited. She had heard about the anticipated litter of puppies and was anxious for their arrival. This lady had lost her dog the year before and her children had all left home, she was lonely and wanted a puppy to share her life with.

When word reached the woman about the puppies’ birth, she instantly said, “I want a Golden male.” Since there was only one Golden male, he was “The One.”

The woman was so happy the day she brought the puppy home. His birth name was Toby, but the woman renamed him, “Sampson.”

.

.

Sampson was a happy, easy-going puppy. He and his Mama, (as she called herself) spent a lot of time together. Mama couldn’t wait to come home from work to take Sampson for a walk or cuddle up together.

The Mama took him to training classes and Sampson learned a lot of different things, but mostly he learned that his Mama loved him very much.

On the weekends his Mama didn’t want to do anything but spend time with him. She convinced her Husband (The Daddy) to start hiking together, and every weekend became a grand adventure.

.

.

Sampson loved hiking there were so many amazing things to see and smell!

Sampson’s Mama and Daddy loved him so much. They did many wonderful things together as a family.

Eventually the Mama got a companion for Sampson so he wouldn’t be alone during the day. The Mama sometimes questioned that decision because the new dog, Delilah, was challenging, but the Mama knew with lots of love and patience she’d win Delilah over.

Because Sampson had already shown her what love could do.

Happy Birthday Sampson.  You are the guy who gave me a reason to get up every morning, You’ve taught me to embrace life, and brought laughter and happiness into my life every single day we’ve been together. I really was lost before you, but you gave me hope, and helped me find my humanity when the world had beaten it out of me. You are my joy and inspiration and above all, you are the Heart in Heart Like a Dog.

.

.

.

.

I love you to the moon and back.

Mama

 

Heart Like a Dog

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.



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...