Heart Like a Dog

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

My Vet's In A Sling!

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If you’re a long time reader of this blog you may remember that last year poor Sampson had an allergic reaction to something in our yard.  If you didn’t know about it, but want to check it out you can read about it here.

This past weekend I noticed Sampson had a couple of scabs on his head. 🙁

Seeing as I haven’t gotten my vet’s cell phone number yet….I text my friend Jen (My Brown Newfies) first thing Sunday morning and asked her the proper dose of Benadryl for a dog Sampson’s size.   She may yet regret giving me that number…:-)

I started Sampson on the Benadryl immediately and called the vet first thing yesterday morning.  Unfortunately they were all booked up and couldn’t fit me in until NEXT Tuesday!

I took the appointment and asked to leave a message for my vet.

A few minutes later the office called back saying they had a cancellation and could I come in for an 11:00 am appointment. It was 10:30 am.  There was no way I could make it home to get Sampson and down to their office in that amount of time.

They said they’d keep trying.

I relayed the story to Hubby when he called at lunch time, we decided to keep Sampson on the Benadryl unless the vet told us differently.

Around 3:00 pm the vet’s office called to tell me after speaking with our vet, arrangements had been made to see Sampson this morning at 10:00.

I let Hubby know this when he came home from work, as I said it I looked over at him and said, What are you smirking about?

He said, I like how you had them bend to your will.

I laughed.  It might seem that way, but that’s not what happened.

This morning I left poor broken-hearted Delilah with Grandma, while Sampson and I took a trip to the vet.

Someone is going to come in and pet me, right Mom?

I was taking Sampson’s picture when our vet came in.  Her vet tech said,  oh I forgot to tell you about Dr. Soutter’s condition.

I whipped my head around.

My vet’s in a sling!

Dr. Soutter is suffering from a shoulder injury, which is how it happened we got an appointment today.  She was scheduled to be in surgery today.

After examining my sweet boy Dr. Soutter determined he is having another allergic reaction.  Luckily for us we caught it before it became infected.  Thankfully they didn’t have to shave his head this year.

Tonight he started a short-term dose of steroids and Dr. Soutter wants him to remain on the Benadryl for a bit.

When I went back looking for last year’s blog post I noticed I had mentioned I needed to find a hat for him to wear in the spring/summer so as not to expose his head to whatever it is that he is allergic too.

I still haven’t done that.

I also noticed how horrible my writing was at that point!

My goal for writing a daily blog was to improve my writing skills.

Based upon what I looked at today, I think I’ve succeeded.

Have you ever gone back and looked at earlier posts to critique yourself?

Test The Waters

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When our daughter got married in 2005 she was living in Florida.  To make it easier on us, we rented a house on a canal for two weeks.  The house was lovely with a master suite and bath and it also had an in ground pool.  I made sure dogs were allowed in the pool before I rented it.

The drive down took less time than we expected so we arrived mid-afternoon on Saturday.  The first thing I did after dropping my luggage in the bedroom was to open the slider and jump in the pool.

Sampson was about 15 months old at the time and had never been in a pool.  He had only been exposed to ponds and streams.

Poor baby, he stepped into the pool expecting that there would be earth underneath him and there wasn’t.   He was panicked but luckily we were both there and helped him to the stairs.

It took more than a few days to coax him back in, which my brother-in-law eventually did.  At first he only wanted to be in the pool when one of us was with him.

You won’t let anything bad happen to me, right Dad?

But by the end of the two weeks, he would go in the pool by himself, swim around and climb back out.

The only pool Delilah has been exposed to is my sister’s above ground pool.  It is accessed by a deck attached to the back of their house.  We were there for the 4th of July a few years back and the dogs had a fine time swimming for toys.

Our walking buddy has an in ground pool that the dogs can swim in.  She recently had a major landscaping overhaul done to her back yard and invited us up to see it during one of our walks.

Sampson jumped right in the pool and swam around.

I love a refreshing dip after a nice walk.

I was quite surprised that Delilah refused to go in.  She stood on the edge of the pool but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Come on in Delilah, the water’s great!

I tried to show her where the steps were but I was in full hiking gear and couldn’t get in the pool.  She ran around and around the edge of the pool but couldn’t bring herself to jump in.

Have you seen the video of the dog pawing the water for the toy, because it wants the toy but is afraid to jump in?

She was doing the same thing.

It made me feel sad, because Delilah is the bravest dog I know and I’ve never seen fear hold her back.

I want to, I’m just afraid.

But at the same time, I think a little fear can be a good thing.  It might stop you from jumping in feet first and finding out there is no earth under your feet.

Don’t let your fear hold you back, stick your toe in and test the waters, BEFORE you jump in. 🙂

Just Be The Dog.

What's Right For Your Dog?

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Today’s post was inspired by my friend Donna over at Donna and the Dogs.

I opened my google reader this morning and was greeted by this, When Did We All Become BAD Dog Owners?

It seems Donna’s been noticing a trend of people (including yours truly) who feel guilty about the amount of exercise their dogs have been (or not been) getting.

I feel like it’s important to know your dog and know what your dog requires for exercise AND to try different things to find the perfect fit.  Not every dog needs the same kind or amount of exercise.

When we got Sampson at eight weeks old, he didn’t get  a lot of exercise.  I started taking him for walks after work but as he got bigger he became more and more of a punk, so I stopped walking him.

We tried to play fetch with him, but it wasn’t his thing.  He would chase the ball once or twice and then lay on it as if to say, I’m done.

He did like puppy play group which took place one day per week, and of course we did the standard obedience training.  That was it.   We had a really laid back, low-key lifestyle and Sampson adjusted to it.

When he was a bit older we started hiking on the weekends and quickly realized this was something he loved.  The hiking stopped for a while when Delilah joined our pack but I’ve recently taken it up again.

What I’ve discovered from Delilah’s addition to our pack is that in terms of quality and quantity of exercise, I have two vastly different dogs.

Sampson really, really loves his walk.  If he never got another lick of exercise in his life as long as he had an off-leash walk he’s quite content.

Delilah LOVES to play fetch in the water and can do it for hours, Sampson hates it.

Delilah is also very happy to take a walk, but she has a different level of energy and she also needs some mental stimulation, which is why I started taking her to agility class.

Sampson HATES agility.

Delilah, I’m not so sure, but I’m working on finding different things to try with her.

I’m always amazed at the dogs participating in our Thursday night agility class.  Last week we had an Alaskan Malamute, an Akita, two Labs, an Australian Shepard, a Pittie mix and two other breeds I’m unsure of.

Two weeks ago, I watched the Pittie’s mom struggle through the course using bits of food for motivation,  it seems Brisco only wanted to play with the squeaky ball.  Sara suggested instead of treats that the mom use the ball as a reward.  Brisco had a much better run.

This past week I happened to be next to her in class and I observed the two of them together, she was still struggling.  This guy has a LOT of energy, he’s actually quite a hoot to watch.   I wondered as I stood there, if maybe agility just wasn’t his thing.

But how do you say that to someone?

When we had each completed our runs I asked her if she had considered fly ball for Brisco or Treibball.  She had never heard of either so I quickly pulled up a Treibball video on youtube and let her check it out and explained as best I could what flyball was.

I don’t ever want to discourage anyone from interacting with their dogs, but I also believe that not all dogs are cut out for all things.  If you find something that your dog loves to do, then you should do it.

It shouldn’t matter if your neighbor next door takes their dog running every morning, it might not be YOUR dog’s thing.

Find something you and your dog both like and do it, don’t worry what anyone else is doing, the important thing is that you are BOTH enjoying it.

Just Be The Dog.

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