Heart Like a Dog

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

Holy Pinata Batman!

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Many many moons ago, I wrote a post about exposing your dog to new experiences.  If you missed it you can read about it here.

The bottom line is if your dog is experiencing something for the very first time you can never be truly sure how he/she will react.

Case in point.

Last night I wrote about my niece’s eighteenth birthday party which was held at our house.  In this post there was an adorable picture of Sampson looking at my niece as she readied herself to pummel her Pinata.

What are you doing with that stick, T?

What I didn’t write was what happened after she took her first whack.

Sampson barked and got up and came to stand with me, my sister and my nephew.  He actually placed himself between my nephew’s legs.

Taylor whacked the Pinata again and Sampson barked again and that’s when I brought him into the den to join Delilah.

As I explained to Hubby, I’m not going to ruin an eight-year-old dog by having him scared by a Pinata stick.

Normally Sampson is not afraid of loud noises.  Last year I laughed when a particularly loud clap of thunder shook the house and Sampson jumped up and tore outside to lift his head and bark at the sky.

I’ve only ever seen Sampson afraid of one thing and that was an old rail road bridge we encountered on one of our hikes.  As we approached the bridge we noticed the walk way beside the tracks looked like a grate.   Sampson approached it, put one foot on it and trembled like a leaf.

We tried encouraging him and praising him but he was afraid so we turned around and headed back.  We did not force him to confront his fears, we just let it be and made a note to be careful around grates.

I will tell you, he was none the worse for wear with the Pinata episode, once the candy had been divided up, the dogs came out of the bedroom and Sampson was once again comfortable.

Cuddled up with his new friend, Hannah.

Can you stay with me? No-one pays any attention to me here.

Book update:  My book has 21,227 words.

P.S. I am struggling mightily trying to comment on some blogs.  I have left comments on DogDaz, Pawfect Friends, Paws Abilities, Rescued Insanity and Laurie Bartolo Photography to name a few.  Would you please check your spam folder and see if they managed to make it in there?

Happy Birthday To My Sweet Niece

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Eighteen years ago today my life was changed by the addition of one sweet little blond-haired, blue-eyed baby girl.

Since we lived side-by-side in a duplex and I was her daycare provider we spent a lot of time together and had a lot of fun.

My schedule was to take the kids to the bus stop, then come home and a short time later her mom would leave for work.  One Monday when Taylor was about two years old, her mother’s work schedule changed and she had to leave earlier than normal.

I was sitting at the bus stop when I realized, “Shit, I forgot Taylor!”  I threw the kids out of the car and rushed home to find her sitting on the couch throughly engrossed in a Winnie The Poo video.

She had just turned four when I left daycare and headed back to the work force, it broke both of our hearts and shortly after that she moved to another town.

It was a lot harder maintaining a relationship with me working full-time and us living in different towns.  We’d still do a school shopping trip, Christmas and birthday shopping for her mom, and the occasional movie or special event, but I didn’t see her nearly as much as I would have liked to.

Seven and a half years ago Taylor’s life changed when she fell in love with her dog Sampson.  Yes, she tells her friends that he is her dog.  See she spent summers at my mom’s which was right next door to us so she got to spend lots of time with Sampson.  Naturally they fell madly, deeply in love.

This is Taylor at her 18th birthday party last Friday.  Notice who is paying close attention to her.

What are you doing, T?

You may have also noticed, who isn’t there.  Yes, Delilah had to go in the den with Hubby because I knew once that Pinata broke, she’d give those kids a run for their money to get that candy.

Eighteen years.  Where does the time go?

That little blue-eyed, blond-haired baby is now a brown-eyed, blond-haired young woman, poised on the brink of adulthood, ready to dart off to college.

I hope while she’s out there reaching for the stars, she remembers where her dog is.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

All my love,

Hauntie

Simple

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How is it that sometimes the simplest things are what brings the most pleasure?

After a nice walk yesterday morning, Sampson spent the afternoon just enjoying a spring afternoon.

Our neighbor was outside working in his yard and apparently Sampson felt Kevin needed company.

I have to tell you, some of my favorite pictures of Sampson are of him outside, just enjoying life as we all should.

Enjoy what’s left of your weekend and make the best of your week!

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