Heart Like a Dog

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

The Dogs Got Out….I'm So Done

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Relax, it’s not my dogs.

I saw this on a friend’s facebook page.  In the comments she said she was thinking about adopting one of her dogs out.

Seems her two dogs are jumping the 6 foot fence to get to the Boxer next door, and this is ticking off the neighbors.

I went to her page and left a comment, oh and of course  I threw in a shameless promotion of this blog, by posting a link and asking her if she read it.

Later in the evening we had a facebook chat and I found out, the dogs don’t jump the fence when someone is outside with them.  Hmmm this means you would always have to be outside with your dogs, which in my opinion is counter-productive to having a fenced in yard.

She said she was the primary care-giver seeing she was home during the day, and she was frustrated.  It had been a bad day.  I told her I could relate to that and posted a link to my Defeated and Lost post.

I suggested tethering the dogs when she wasn’t able to be outside with them.  I also told her I would throw the problem out to my readers and see if any of you had any suggestions.

Last night when I signed on we chatted again.  She had spoken with her husband and they were going to invest in an electric fence.  Her husband has installed and used electric fences before.

I totally forgot about how we solved our problems last winter with Delilah going over our fence.

In the winter of 2010/2011 New England got smacked with gobs and gobs of snow.

We have a five-foot fence in our yard.  We got so much snow you could literally step over it in some spots.  We have a chocolate lab who did precisely that.

I tried tying her out, but stupidly gave her too much room and she went over the fence on her leash!

Hubby went out to Home Depot and bought some deer fencing and some sturdy sticks, then he used zip ties to secure the deer fencing along the top of our fence.  Basically he made our 5 foot fence about 7 1/2 feet high.

It looks like this:

Our ghetto fence.

Our ghetto fence.

I know it looks ghetto, but we are set far back from the road, it is only the back yard that is fenced in and it keeps my dogs safe.

I said I’d throw it out to you, so here it is.  Have you have an issue with your dogs going over your fence?  If so, how did you handle it?   How would you work with your dog to stop them from going over the fence?

All Is Revealed….

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I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I would explain why I’ve been sort of absent from blogville lately.

I was in Florida for a dear friend’s son’s wedding.  I know, I can’t really believe it myself, me with my terror of flying, but I actually got on a plane and left my babies behind with their dad.

I made sure to have my flight leave later in the day, so I had the morning to take Sampson and Delilah for a nice long walk. I left last Thursday.

But never fear, just because I was gone does not mean I wasn’t thinking of my puppies and all of you.

Of course I wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t have a story (or two) to share with you.

While I was in Florida I took the opportunity to visit with as many people as I possibly could and I had the opportunity to stop by our dear friends, Ron and Mary.

Hubby and I met Ron and Mary many years ago through my aunt and uncle.  Of course since we got Sampson and then Delilah we haven’t really traveled that much, so it has been almost 8 years since I’ve seen them.

When we first met Ron and Mary they had a Rottie named Jessie.   The first time I met Jessie I put my hand out to pet her head and she growled at me.  Which scared the bejesus out of me.   Jessie has since passed over to the rainbow bridge, so imagine my surprise today when I was greeted by Magnum.

Hey, I'm Magnum, what's your name?

Magnum actually liked me.  Once I sat down he came over and sat his head on my lap.

I got me some puppy fix. 🙂 And I also got Magnum’s story…..

Ron was on his way somewhere when he saw this Rottie on the side of the road.  Ron said to him, “I’m going to run my (insert errand here because I can’t remember it) and when I come back if you’re still here, I’ll take you home.”

Well as you know from the picture, Magnum was still there on Ron’s way home.

Ron and Mary took Magnum to the shelter/pound to see if anyone had lost a dog.  Apparently he had already escaped from the pound, but his story was he was found on a road with a collar that had “Knows German Commands” written on it.

Well you know how this story ended.  Magnum is now in a great home and loved very dearly.

There is another story of course, but it’s really long and I don’t have all the details yet….so it will have to wait for another post.

So what’s been happening in your world?  I’m going to do some blog reading in the next few days but if I’ve missed something really important, fill me in. 🙂

Shadow Dancer

By

I always thought it would be cool to have a skylight in my bedroom, until I actually had one.

On those days when Mr. Sun is up well before he should be, everyone else in the room is up as well.

While the sound of raining drumming on the glass doesn’t bother me, it keeps Hubby awake.

For the first three years we lived here, we talked about purchasing some kind of blind to cover the window.  But they’re very expensive and any time that kind of funding was available it seemed something more important came up.

Finally last year in desperation, I designed a type of skylight covering myself.   (No, I can’t show you because Hubby says I should patent it.)

Did I forget to mention there’s a skylight in the bathroom attached to our bedroom as well?

Ooops, yes there is.  But this skylight does not have a covering 1) because I wasn’t that ambitious and 2) the sun does not shine directly in our eyes when we are trying to sleep.   Besides, I usually try to shut the bathroom door at night.

But sometimes I forget, or Hubby goes in there after me and doesn’t close the door.  Yes, I’m going with that.  Hubby does not close the door.

This was the case this morning, somehow the bathroom door was left open.  The weatherman had predicted a ‘Wintery Mix’ for last night/this morning and lo and behold, for one magic moment in his life he guessed right.  So while Mr. Sun rose, he didn’t shine because he was blocked by clouds.

Still as night gave way to early morning and dawn crept over the horizon, a vibrant, always vigilant chocolate lab looked up sleepily and saw something move on the side of the bed.

Ever the protector, she stood up and growled, which is when I opened my eyes and caught her…

I don't know what you are, but I don't like you in our bedroom.

growling at her shadow.

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