Heart Like a Dog

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

Who’s Been Pooping in my Bed?

By

Delilah and the Baby Gate:

Sampson and I have been sleeping in the Recovery Room that Hubby and I made for him.  Anytime we aren’t home, Sampson is locked in this room via a walk through baby gate.  Last week we were told we could give him a bit more freedom, so I tried using a plastic baby gate in the hallway.  I shut the bathroom door so he couldn’t go in and slip and I wedged the gate between the walls.  This would give him access to his room and the den.  Typically the den is Delilah’s.  She has a little bed in there and she lays there watching for us to come home.  But I figured, hey she has access to the entire house including the bedroom, so she can suck it up for a few weeks.

The first morning I heard my mom getting ready to leave so I called Sampson in to the den so we could go out on the small deck and say good morning.  I slid open the door and there was this humongous crash and Delilah came tearing into the den.

Scratch the plastic baby gate in the hall.

Who’s been pooping in my bed?

You all know by now that I’m a worrier.  It’s what I do best.  If I could get paid to worry, I’d be richer than Bill Gates.

Monday I came home from work and went to let Sampson out and I noticed something in the bed.  It looked like a small rock so I went in and picked it up.  Upon closer examination I realized I was holding dog poop.  I was puzzled. How on earth did dog poop get in the bed?

And then the following thoughts raced through my mind:

  • Could Sampson have pooped in the house and then cleaned it up himself, even though he’s never pooped in the house before? (You missed one dude.)
  • Why would Sampson poop in the house?  Oh god, what if he really does have Degenerative Myleopathy and he’s losing feeling in his back end and doesn’t even know he’s pooped?
  • What about Delilah?  You know she’s a shit eater.  She was snuggling in here this morning.  What if she brought something in from outside to enjoy in bed, like most people enjoy crackers?
  • Sampson did poop this morning.  Maybe he didn’t get it all out, what if he had a little one left in the chamber and when he went to sleep it shot out?

Then I decided it wasn’t worth worrying about, I left the room to dispose of the poop and I met Delilah in the hall.  What the hell, I thought.  She eats shit anyway.  I held out my hand.  She gave me the nastiest stink-eye and turned her head.

My DOG woman, you never cease to amaze me. Poop eating is discretionary. At MY discretion.

My DOG woman, you never cease to amaze me. Poop eating is discretionary. At MY discretion not yours!

What? (For those of  you not in the know, the poop of raw fed dogs is very different from non-raw fed dogs.  It is very hard and compact.  This poop looked like a small rock or a very large piece of kibble.  I think the fact it looked like kibble is that gave me the above idea.) 😉

Where does the Mama sleep?

Please take note of this photo.  Can you see where the pillow is?  That’s typically where I should be resting my head.  Do you also see where Sampson is?

HLAD 4-17-14

Yes, I take my job of keeping the Mama warm very siriusly.

Yes, most nights I wiggle my way between the dog and the wall.  The things I do for my dogs.

Welcome to this week’s edition of Barks and Bytes..  Hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog, Barks and Bytes is the blog hop for bloggers of any genre.  Grab a badge, add your link and join the fun.

Heart Like a Dog

Loud and Clear

By

The staples are out!!

Yesterday was the big day.  The day that Sampson got the staples out of his leg.

Really, the staples are coming out? And I can stop wearing the cone? Can Delilah eat it?

Really, the staples are coming out? And I can stop wearing the cone? Can Delilah eat it?

The surgeon took my leash and I said, “Can’t I go with him?”  I was told that typically owners aren’t allowed with the dogs because sometimes the dogs get protective of their owners when they are removing them.

After the staples were removed we met with the Physical Therapist.  We discussed our strategy for Sampson’s recovery.   When she asked, I told her I want him to be able to run and hike off-leash again.   After watching him walk, she feels like he’s still favoring his leg and not walking properly on it.  (I really wanted to say, well when you lay around for 23 hours and 50 minutes a day, it doesn’t surprise me that he’s not walking properly on it.   But I didn’t.)  She gave him some cold laser treatment and we got him in the water treadmill for a few minutes.

I will be working on stretching his hip muscle out, work towards increasing his walks gradually up to fifteen minutes twice a day and continue working with him on his weight bearing exercises.  In two weeks he will begin a two times a week for four weeks therapy program with her.

He has also been cleared to have a bit more freedom in the house as long as we can monitor him and yesterday for the first time in over a month, he got to walk up the street.

He was a very tired, but very happy dog.

Someone, anyone please tell me why I wanted a Lab?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  My dogs are going to be the death of me.  Whether it’s worrying me to death, doing something outlandish and giving me a heart attack or tripping me, sooner or later it’s bound to happen.

You all know what a clown Delilah is.  The truth of the matter is I really need a video camera to record every crazy thing she does, because most of her crazy antics aren’t captured on camera.  And there’s really no way I can describe some of the things she does.

Take yesterday.  I noticed Delilah’s nails were horribly long, so I grabbed the nail clippers and took her outside. She does great with the front paws, in fact I say “Paw” and she places her paw in my hand and lets me trim her nails  BUT when it comes to the back feet, she about loses her mind and I’m not sure why.  She thrashes about something fierce, not in an “I’m afraid” kind of thrashing but more like, “Holy Woof I’m pretty sure I’ll get a treat after this is done,” kind of way.

Well I managed to get her first back foot trimmed and then it happened.   She jumped up, smashing her head into my face and jamming my glasses into my eye.  It hurt so bad I immediately started crying.  And then I started cussing. And then I asked myself, “Whatever made me think I wanted a Lab?”

I’m pretty sure makeup will cover the bruising.

As if that weren’t enough, the LaCrosse season started and our field has been turned into a practice course.  Yesterday on our walk Delilah decided to let them know in no uncertain terms exactly what she thinks of them using the field.

I think she was pretty clear, no?

I think she was pretty clear, no?

Don’t worry!  I cleaned it up.  But I had to laugh first.  I couldn’t help it.

Has your dog ever left a loud and clear message?  Did you know this is Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog?  Grab the badge and join the fun.

Heart Like a Dog

Life Outside the Gate

By

I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with me.  Perhaps it’s my lack of sleep, perhaps it’s exhaustion or stress from dealing with a post surgery Sampson, maybe it’s just blogging burnout but right now I feel like I can’t manage to string two sentences together to make a blog post.

None-the-less I’m going to take my best shot for Thursday’s Barks and Bytes.

Sampson – A post surgery Sampson is exhausting me.  He wants to run, and he’s tired of being confined to a little room, in fact yesterday he made his way down the STAIRS.  If I’d put some thought into it, I would have led him out the garage and back into the yard, BUT in my blind panic, I led him back up the stairs!

I’m still kicking myself and praying he didn’t damage anything.

Since he and I are sleeping on a futon mattress in the office, and he’s pretty bored, he’s taken to waking me up shortly after 3:00 am so I can take him outside where he stands forlornly at the gate staring out into the great outdoors.  I think he’s dreaming of life outside the gate.  Once back inside he seems resigned to his fate and snuggles up with his head under my chin.

He’s also wise to how we are giving him his pills.  He used to take them willingly in a big ball of coconut oil and then that stopped working.   I switched to Ricotta cheese and when that stopped working, I started rolling the Ricotta Cheese in some dried beef liver.  He’s wise to that now too.  Yesterday I started out the day with him spitting pills on my wall.  My comforter was covered in Ricotta, he was covered in Ricotta and when I got in the car I realized I too was covered in Ricotta.

Yesterday we had a great conversation on my Facebook page and Carol Bondy suggested Liverwurst.  I stopped by the grocery store and picked some up (I can use it for training if need be) and last night he took the pills without a problem!  Thank you CAROL!

There were lots of good suggestions, such as peanut butter (which I’m trying to stay away from because of the calories and his limited exercise,) Tripe, Vienna Sausages and would you believe Marshmallows?

On a positive note, Delilah and I have been getting out and enjoying some nicer weather with some half hour walks.  It’s a start.

And because I can, some photos I’ve been wanting to share.

Sampson and me the day after surgery when I picked him up.

Holy Woof, please tell me my hair doesn't really look like that from the back!

Holy Woof, please tell me my hair doesn’t really look like that from the back!

When he first came home we worked super hard to keep the dogs separated.  Let’s face it, Delilah can be a bit of a bull in a china shop.  But the first morning she came in to check on him and it was SO cute.

You gonna be okay Bubba?

You gonna be okay Bubba?

VOTE NOW

Remember that pancake I dehydrated?  Well now is the time to vote.  As of right now, I’m getting my ass soundly handed to me by a BICHON.  WTF?  Please, please for the love of dog, CLICK HERE and vote for #9!

I did mention that it was Thursday’s Barks and Bytes, didn’t I?  The blog hop for pet bloggers and non-pet bloggers and everyone in between!  Hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog.  Grab the badge, add your link and join the fun!

Heart Like a Dog

 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...