Heart Like a Dog

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

It's a Dog's Life….Day One Hundred, Eighty Seven

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In October of 2005 our daughter Lisa was getting married.  In Florida.  We made the decision to drive.  So about a week before the wedding, Chet, Sampson and I packed up and headed for the sunshine state.

I had searched the internet and found a vacation home in the area where dogs were allowed.  The house had a pool and we were looking forward to a little R & R in the midst of the wedding celebration.  As luck would have it, the owners of the house also owned the house next door, so my sister and my mom rented it.

As soon as got to the house, I put my suit on and jumped into the pool.  Unfortunately we hadn’t prepared Sampson.  Sampson had only ever been in a lake, where you walked in and slowly the water got deeper.  Poor Sampson, he took one step and BOOM he was in over his head.  I don’t want to use the term FREAKED OUT because he didn’t flail and flomp, but it did scare him and it took him a few more days before he could be coaxed back in.  We did show him the steps, and he did sometimes lay in the water, but mostly he stayed on a lounge chair.

The pool area had a bar, the day our future son-in-law arrived, Chet and Steve went out to The Home Depot and purchased some styrofoam which they used to line the outdoor sink, so they could keep the beer cold.  Chet, Steve and Sampson as well as a host of various guests spent a LOT of time outside at the pool/bar.

The ladies (Lisa, Lynn and myself) spent a LOT of time with the wedding preparations.  One day while we were out of the house, my brother-in-law got Sampson into the pool.  After that, he would go in the pool if someone was in there with him.

We did try to get him on one of the pool floaties, but how do you explain balancing yourself to a dog?  We had also brought a bright orange retrieving toy, which we would throw in the pool.  He loves playing fetch with that toy, but he was so fast I couldn’t get  a picture of him with it.

Most of the time Sampson just enjoyed laying outside in the warm Florida sunshine.  But one day toward the end of our stay, Chet was down on the dock fishing when he heard a splash in the pool.  When he went to investigate he found Sampson taking a cooling off swim.

It’s a dog’s life.

The Dog Takes the …Mouse?….Day One Hundred, Eighty Four

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When I was a kid we sang this song called “The Farmer in the Dell,” I’m sure you know the song.  The Farmer takes a wife, the wife takes a child…etc and on down the line until the cat takes the rat/mouse (depending on who’s singing it.)

We had an instance in our house, where the dog took the mouse. 

UM yeah, you read that right.  The dog took the mouse.

Ollie (our daughter Lynn’s cat) caught a mouse in the house.  Lynn is a big animal lover.  She wanted to save the mouse from the double paws and gnashing teeth of death, so she took the mouse away from the cat.  On her way out of the house, she decided to show Mike (yes, she named the mouse) to my mother. 

As mother, Sampson and Ollie gathered around,  Lynn opened her hands to expose the mouse;  Mike mustering all the courage his little mouse heart had, decided he would rather take his chances in the wilds of Stone Manor, than in Lynn’s hands and made a break for it.  He put his little paws together and with perfect form, dived out of Lynn’s hands.  Sampson being ever the opportunist and very good at catching things mid-air snagged the mouse.  There stood Sampson, mouse tail hanging out of his mouth, jaws clamped shut.

Lynn grabbed a hold of Sampson and tried to open his mouth, but Sampson wouldn’t give up his prize.  Lynn had her arms wrapped around Sampson’s neck begging and pleading with him to give her the mouse.  Nope, not happening.  Finally mother remembered the command and shouted “Drop it!”

Sampson dropped the mouse and Mike made a run for the safe haven under the couch.

Lynn was in a panic!  Ollie was on the hunt for the mouse and Sampson was prepared to eat the mouse, then Delilah decided she wanted a piece of the action.  So now Lynn had a cat, two dogs and a mouse all congregated in the same area.  Throw my mother into the mix and you have the closest idea of chaos you can possibly imagine.

Leaving mother to keep an eye on the mouse under the couch, Lynn took Ollie and locked him in her bedroom; then she let Sampson and Delilah outside and finally (don’t ask me how) caught the mouse and removed him to the great outdoors.

Regretfully, despite all Lynn’s attempts to save Mike; it wasn’t meant to be, apparently his injuries,  whether from Ollie or Sampson were too severe and he died on the side of the driveway.

R.I.P. Mike.

Have you seen a mouse?

Turning the Corner…Day One Hundred Eighty Three

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I am happy to report that today I have turned the corner and am now over halfway thru my year of writing a daily blog.  I have to admit that I did miss one day (when my granddaughter was born) but with that exception, I have been writing EVERY single day since December 1, 2010.

It has been a very challenging, hectic and at times stressful six months, but I am still happy that I undertook the blog challenge.

I am not the only one who has faced and conquered challenges in our household.  As some of you may know Miss Delilah has had some health incidents which has required the dogs to have lifestyle as well as dietary changes. (I am still working on that page!)

As of April 2010 the dogs went partially on the raw diet; kibble in the morning, raw food at night.  They were going to daycare twice a week.  In the fall we started walking them at night but when winter arrived, the ice challenge was too much to walk on the streets.

It was around January that I really explored the park at the top of the street and began taking the dogs up there for exercise.  We began walking,  a LOT!  We also transitioned to ALL raw food.  Delilah particularly began to look very svelte.  Sampson was losing weight too, but not as quickly as Delilah.

On May 26th we celebrated the fourth anniversary of Delilah’s entrance into our lives.  You know what that means…yup time to visit the vet for our annual check up and see if our hard work and dedication has paid off.  Of course we all pile into the car because we can’t take one dog to the Vet and leave the other dog home.

You may not know this about me or my husband, but we don’t wait well.  So as soon as we walked into the Vet’s office, we popped the big boy on the scale.

Chet gasped, “NO WAY!”

Drum Roll please………..92.1 pounds!  ( That’s 41.8 kg for my Canadian friends.) This is the first time the big guy has been under 100 pounds (50 kg) in about 4 or 5 years!  His total weight loss…..15.9 pounds!  (7.2 kg) Our Vet would like to see him drop about another 10 pounds (4.5 kg,) but I’m not really sure that is feasible for him, he does have a really big frame.

Next up…..Delilah.  Dare I say Drum Roll again?  Oh, I just did.  Drum Roll…………73.1 OMG!  (33.2 kg) That is three pounds (1.4 kg) less than when we got her!   Total weight loss 33.4 pounds (15.2 kg).

Delilah looks so slim and trim I even asked the Vet, “Do you think she is too thin?”

“No” she is perfect!

I concur.

In this corner, looking svelte and slim and weighing in at 73.1 pounds......Delilah Stone

In this corner, weighing 92.1 pounds.....Sampson Stone

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