Heart Like a Dog

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

What's Lost is Found…Day One Hundred, Ninety Three

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As if to mock me because I said I missed my puppy yesterday; Delilah was back today…with a vengeance.

My niece is visiting with my great-nephew.  Delilah went into her room first thing this morning and woke her up with a wet nose to the face.

Then while we were blissfully enjoying a quiet morning with a cup of coffee, Delilah went into her room and into her bags and came out with… Esther’s bath foofie, and then she proceeded to tear it up, until I took it away.

A short while later, the baby’s fork bit the dust….

Then everyone came over for a cookout, and the food came out.

Yes you guessed it, the rest of the day was spent shouting “DA-LIE-LAH!”

Welcome back puppy!

Plan B…Day One Hundred, Ninety One

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We’ve had a couple of really hot days, and the weatherman promised thunderstorms were coming today to push the hot out and usher in some cooler weather.  Well the weatherman was right and the storms came through with a fury right around 5:00 pm and lasted a good couple of hours.  Our planned walk washed away with the rain so we needed to come up with Plan B.

We decided to take the dogs around the block, like we use to do before we discovered the park at the top of the street.

I was at once excited but anxious.  Delilah always presented a challenge on our walks because 1) she use to pull really badly on the leash and 2) when confronted with other dogs she became aggressive.

We started out, Chet, Sampson, Delilah and I.  Delilah was on leash and Sampson was not.

I was really impressed with her leash walking, she barely pulled at all; but there was still the matter of other dogs.

Naturally I remembered where all the dogs were and I was afraid that she would too.

There is one particular house where there are two dogs; inside an invisible fence.  One of the dogs usually just stands and watches and occasionally barks.  The other dog likes to run back and forth across the lawn, barking and posturing.

In the past, Delilah has reacted to the posturing dog by barking and growling and basically lunging from the end of the leash.

As we approached the house I could see that both dogs were outside, I indicated as much to Chet so he would be sure to rein Sampson in.

As predicted one dog just stood and watched, Delilah seemed to not even be aware that there were dogs outside, until the Posturer made himself known.

Her head lifted and her ears perked up, she started walking towards the other side of the street, but I remained calm and guided her back to my side.  I told her to “leave it” and  reassured her she was a good girl and I continued forward.  With the exception of that one little bark, and the slight pull we had an incident free walk.

I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of Delilah, she has come so far and I want to reassure you, if you are struggling in any way with your dog, there is hope.

You too can have a relaxed and happy dog.

Places Everyone…Day One Hundred, Eighty Eight

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We like to eat our dinner in relative peace.  In order to procure peace, and eat our meal without someone’s nose on our plates, the dogs must be on their “places.”  I bought some quilted material, cut it to the size I wanted and sewed the seams to form a “place mat” of sorts; where the dogs must lie while we eat our meals.

When we sit down with our food, we give the dogs a treat.  After we have finished eating we release the dogs and reward them with some carrots.

Sampson has been on his “place” since he was about six months old.

Delilah has been a challenge.  When we first started setting Delilah on her place, we would turn around and walk into the kitchen and Delilah would get up and follow us.  Eventually Delilah conceded to sitting on the mat until we came back with our plates but she wouldn’t lie down.  Then Delilah would lie down but as soon as we left the room, she would sit up.  Lately I have been really working hard on getting Delilah to “down” on her mat.

A few months back I read a book by Jennifer Arnold entitled “Through a Dog’s Eyes.”  Ms. Arnold trains service dogs for people with disabilities and she does all of her training with food as a motivator; she uses no force.

Delilah is pure lab, in English this translates to “highly motivated by food.”  So tonight when I brought Delilah to her place I also brought a small piece of carrot with me.  I used the carrot to entice Delilah to “down.”

When I came back into the living room, here is what I found.

I think this might actually work.

 

 

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