Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – August 17, 2014

Emma asked, “I wonder what Aunty does to make her so special to him?”

She loves him unconditionally, just like he loves her. 🙂

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom asked, “How’s he doing this morning after that sprint? Any noticeable discomfort?”

He didn’t seem to.  He is still stiff sometimes when he gets up, (which they tell me is normal)  but he didn’t seem to be favoring the leg at all. 

What the Fashionable Dog Walker is Wearing

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, “Well how about a doggie backpack with reflective strips on them?”

Good suggestion, I’ll keep that in mind.

Frankie and Ernie said, “Hunting and Fishing stores usually have some varieties of Lighted Hats and arm bands.”

Thank you!  I don’t know why I don’t think to go to Cabella’s in the first place! 

Jackie Bouchard said, “If we ever go at night when it’s dark, we only go if The Daddy can go along – and he carries the flashlight. And it’s a big ass light that doubles as a potential weapon.”

I like that.  Considering the off-leash dogs I run into, a big ass light sounds pretty good. I would need to clip it on me somehow though, I just don’t have enough hands.

Blueberry’s Human said, “As you know, I often hike in the dark this time of year. I know I may be slightly twisted, but I prefer nothing reflective. Do you realize how much fun it is to notice other hikers and their flashlights coming down hill and then quietly slip off the trail to let them pass and then have them gasp in fright when they finally notice the dog and human standing stock still?”

OMG you are hysterical.  I can see how that would be fun.  But my dogs would be making noise, so it wouldn’t work for me.    AND I wanted to tell you, I tried to comment on a couple of different posts on your blog, but for some reason, I could not. 🙁

The Grimm Business of Poopies

I e-mailed my friend David a link and he responded with this,

“LOL AWWWWWWWWWW  And I’m probably the only person you could dedicate a poopie list to, who is actually honored at the dedication! Most of my dog’s poops(especially when they go somewhere they shouldn’t, or when there is an audience) falls under the Aladdin Poop territory.”

Sand Spring Chesapeakes said, “Awesome, I think I love poop as much as you do, these were great!”

HAHAHA maybe one day I’ll dedicate a poop post to you. 😉

Frankie and Ernie said, “OKAY I (Frankie Furter) will tell on Ernie… he is a HANSEL.”

BWAHAHAHA Frankie, I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Delilah is a Gretel. 🙂

One Person’s View said, “How about the Goldilocks? “This spot is too high. This spot is too low. This spot is too east. This spot is too west. AH! THIS SPOT IS JUST RIGHT!” Aka, the Poopie Dance.”

Dang it, I was trying to figure out Cinderella, but totally forgot Goldilocks!!  Good one, I’ll have to go back and revise that list.

Pamela said, “I blew milk out my nose! I love your Grimm Poopie Tales. The worst one I’ve ever witnessed was Snow White and Rose Red, or the scary results when a dog eats your lipstick.”

Oh Pamela.  How long have you been reading this blog?  And you still eat and drink while doing so? LOL I checked for the Snow White and Rose Red post, but didn’t see it.  **hint, hint**

Guess What?

Jackie Bouchard asked, “Do you have any idea how many words the book will be when you’re done? ”

How many words do your books have Jackie?  I’ve read they should be between 80,000 to 100,000 words.  But I also feel like I’m petering out. 🙁

Frankie and Ernie said, “WE thought you had a Picture of our DAD there.”

OMG could you imagine a picture of old sure shot’s butt on this blog?  Your mom would not be HAPPY. 🙂

Hawk said, “Mushrooms do take on some weird shapes!”

They sure do!  A long time ago, I wrote another post about mushrooms…

As for the Round Robin, Pamela had a suggestion, “As for your round robin, how about going with a C alliteration: critters, caring, curing?”

I’m thinking Caring for Critters.

What do you think?

Dr. Rachele Baker said, “I checked out your Facebook page and I couldn’t find any information about your book. What is the title of your book and what is it about?”

And All Things Collie asked, “What is your book about?”

I’m not sure I’m ready to divulge the name of the book yet, I guess you would call it a mystery or detective/action type book.  Right now I think I’ve got all the action in the book, I just need to go back and enhance it.  

That’s it for me, look for your e-mail about the Round Robin, coming soon to an inbox near you. 🙂 

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – August 10, 2014

He’s really just a lazy dog.  Honestly, he will work at that Kong for like five minutes, then it drops to the floor and he waits while you pick it up and poke the fruit out of it.  So I thought, why not save him that step and just give him the little frozen paws of yogurt and fruit I made?  Nope, he looks at you with those sad eyes, as if to say, why are you punishing me?   So it’s back to stuffing a Kong for him.

Delilah on the other hand, cherishes her Kong and eats it as enthusiastically as Ethel eats her chocolates (brownie points if you know what that reference is) LOL  She will work on hers until it’s empty and if she gets the opportunity, she will go over and take his off the floor. 

They are polar opposites I tell you.

Controlled Freedom

What I love best about this awesome community is how we share in each others joy and sadness. I knew when I hit publish that you all would be cheering with us.

Emma said, “That’s great news! I bet you can really see that he is much happier too. I guess the last step is for you to start jogging with both dogs.”

Yes, I can tell he’s happier.  I actually think his sadness had a lot to do with how long it took him to recover.  As for the running…um, no thank you. LOL  Delilah would take me out at the knees.

Jessica said, “I am desperately behind on my blog reading, and this is exactly the kind of news I hope to tune back in to.”

OMG me too.  It seems I can never catch up.

I Could Use Your Help

My mom is a new reader to the blog and she will always ask me, “Did you read your comments?  So and So had a really nice comment.”

I always tell her, I have the BEST READERS ever!  When I ask you guys for help, you don’t just come through for me, you come through in spades!!   And I can’t thank you enough.

Here’s where I think I went wrong.

When we first started walking in the woods I got lax with working the dogs.  I mean, everyone around there has their dogs off-leash and I kind of fell into that ‘they don’t need manners’ mentality.  Then Sampson got hurt and at first he couldn’t take his walks.  I felt bad that he was getting so much attention and Delilah was kind of on the back burner, so when I walked her, I let her dictate the walk. 

Along comes Sampson’s surgery and he needs to be walked but her exercise needs are different than his, so I walk them separately.  I’m exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally and again I let her dictate the walk.

Bottom line: I became complacent and lazy with my dogs, and increasingly frustrated.

Enter you guys, you are so freaking awesome!!  There are so many excellent suggestions as to working Delilah that I began implementing a number of them immediately!!  And it’s helping!  In fact, I’d forgotten how much Delilah loves to work and learn.  I want to share with you what we are doing so I’m planning on a full post about what techniques we’re using and how they’re helping.

In the meantime, if you are struggling with an issue with your dog, please go back and read through these comments, I guarantee you can find something that will help you.    And it doesn’t have to be complicated, redirecting a dog for a sit to change their mindset works wonders!

Sampson’s First Muttgarita

Emma said, “As for the stuffing on the floor, I though maybe Bailie had been at your house. Lately it looks like that around here a lot and some young GBGV is in a lot of trouble over it!”

Oh Emma, I’ve been following Bailie’s exploits on Facebook, she’s really hitting her stride in her adolescence isn’t she?

Sue asked, “You do bring up a good questions though – what is the legal age for drinking for dogs?”

Would that be three? Or four? LOL

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s mom said, ” I have to hide Callie’s “stuffie” toys from Ducky, too, so I understand!”

Sometimes the minute he gets a new toy, she takes it and guts it.  Other times the toys just hang around until that wild hare comes back. LOL

Jan K said, ” Stuffing on the floor is a common sight around here too. Luke and Sheba’s latest project was tearing apart a Kong Wubba.”

Typically the stuffing does not bother me, unless I’ve just vacuumed. LOL

2 Brown Dawgs said, ” Our dogs would destuff and probably eat.”

They eat the stuffing?  Thankfully they do not eat the stuffing, but they will pull the squeaker out and eat the end off.  Buttheads.

Well that’s it for me, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – August 3, 2014

Hailey and Zaphod said, “I smile when Hailey finds something stinky to roll in!”

Really?  I don’t like when the dogs roll in stuff, that generally means more work for me! LOL

Cupcake, and Frankie and Ernie are wishing they were just a tad bit taller so they could enjoy the benefits of the garbage buffet.

Round Robin

I think right now I probably have 10 to 15 people interested in this.  I’m going to throw it out to some groups I belong to on Facebook pages.  I will be sending an e-mail out hopefully soon to those who indicated interest.  The good thing about the round robin is people will be able to jump in/on as we go along.

Nature by Dawn said, “I just thought of a clever name for this round robin… Healing Hounds and Hearts. Logo for the badge is your dog logo (or another dog logo) with a big red heart on the dog’s chest and a band-aid over the heart.”

Thanks Dawn, that’s very clever!! I’m not sure about the hearts though, sometimes depending on the diagnosis there is no healing for the heart. 🙁

Fix and Freeze

Sue said, “So stinkin’ cute! I’m gonna have to get a mold like this! (And once in awhile I’d just have to use it for human treats)”

Heck yeah!  The cool thing is it is silicone so it does go in the oven too!

Two French Bulldogs said, “Mom said she wants to eat them.”

Well she could.  I should warn her though, the pumpkin is just plain pumpkin with no sweetness to it, so she may want to experiment with that a bit.

Emma said, “You and Kefir are thick as thieves! We still aren’t sure where to get it, but yogurt would work just as well.”

My dogs love it and I love that it pours!  Plus my grandkids like it too!  You should be able to find it at your local grocery store, Emma.  In some stores it’s in the dairy case with the yogurt and in other stores it’s in the healthy food refrigerated section.

Dawn said, ” I can use plain yogurt instead of Kefir, right?”

Yes you can. In fact, one of the blogs in yesterday’s hop had a recipe to spice up plain Kefir.  Check out the Kefir Berry Smoothieby DZ’s Adventures HERE.

Bailey said, “Those eating pics hard to catch.”

With Delilah, they sure are.  Sampson is usually a bit easier though.

What Do You Do When You are Accosted by Off-Leash Dogs?

Most of you were right there with me stamping your feet and making a scene.  There were so many good comments on this one, I can’t choose which ones to highlight.  I would suggest you go back and check them out.  

Rachele Baker DVM asked, “Is there another walking route that you could take where this would not be a problem – even if you have to drive to that location?”

Yes there is, but I’d have to leave my neighborhood and most of the places we could walk would expose us to other dogs and people as well.

DZ’s Adventures said, “If you freak out, then she is more likely to get involved and potentially try to defend you.”

Oh I know this, but how, HOW do you keep from freaking out? LOL Realistically I know that I need to remain calm and show her we are okay but in the moment, I just panic and freak out! 🙁 Do you have any tips for keeping your cool?  I could really use some. 🙂

And some valium, if anyone has any to spare, shoot it my way.

That’s it for me, have a great weekend everyone!!