Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Laugh – October 26, 2014

Jan said, “It is in the Poodle genetic code that they aren’t allowed to drool and panting is only allowed at temperatures over 100. ”

Do you think they can breed that in? LOL

It’s NOT Okay

Von said, “I had an unsocialised and reactive dog; I understand the frustrations of trying to give one a nice outing. But you need to calm down. All your neighbours are not going to stay inside while you walk your dogs, so try to relax and enjoy your walk. Yes, that’s easily said, but damn, the whole world is not trying to annoy you.”

Oh my!  I’m sorry if I gave the impression that the whole world is trying to annoy me, or that I think my neighbors should stay inside.  Since you’ve had a reactive dog I’m sure you understand how months of hard work can be shot to hell from one encounter.  I wish my neighbors would walk their dogs (there are too many of them that never leave their yards) I just wish they’d realize they aren’t the only ones out walking their dogs and that not all dogs are friendly.  

As for the calming down part, I do agree there are times when I can over react.  The incident in the park was not one of them.  1) We have leash laws in our state and 2) it is not a dog park.  I had never seen the dog before and the owner was yards and yards away.  

Emma said, “We don’t get it when Mom says we might not be friendly and they keep letting their dog approach us. What is there to not understand???”

I wish I knew Emma. They are really taking a risk of hurting themselves or their dog.

2 Brown Dawgs said, “I do not understand clueless people. But I do blame the newer methods of dog training which basically teach people that all dogs are friendly and all dogs should be friends. I think of this as the dog park mentality.”

What gets me is the people that look at you like, what do you mean the dog might not like a dog?  Like dogs can’t have personalities just like people!

Blueberry’s Human said, “Yikes. Apparently, dog ownership comes with dealing with moron dog owners we will meet along the way. ”

Um, yeah, apparently so. 🙁

Cappie said, “No argument with any of this. I have a scar on my wrist that says every friendly dog off its leash has the capacity to become not-friendly without a lot of advance warning.”

I’m sorry to hear that.  Sadly not all dog people are responsible.

Kimberly Gauthier said, “I’’ve finally reached a point where I have to bury my head in the sand most days, because I know that because of my blog and obsession with our dogs, I’m never going to be satisfied with the average dog owner and how they raise their dog.”

It’s hard not to feel that way.  There are so many clueless people.

Leah Erb said, “You are so brave to drop your leash when a dog runs up to you. How did you get the guts to do it the very first time?? ”

I don’t think it was about me being brave, it was about making Delilah feel safe, like she had options.  I actually started it in obedience class where there wasn’t much opportunity for escape.  Now when I do it, I just keep my fingers crossed and figure if I have to, I’ll track her down.

Mom Kim from Team BeagleBratz said, ” It reminds me about what I say about other drivers – you can be as defensive and safe a driver as possible – it is the OTHERS who will cause problems and when they do – they will wonder what happened – it was someone else needing to be more careful.”

Sadly you are very right.

Jen said, “I’ve been lucky, every time a dog has tried to get in Elka’s face, I’ve been able to body block and keep that dog away with my body language. But clueless owners…I could bitch endlessly about that…”

If It’s Not One Thing…

First the blood work.  Delilah’s little raisin ingestion had no adverse effects on her kidneys.  Her liver levels went up again but she’s really only 3 weeks post surgery and they did give her antibiotics.  I’m staying the course for the moment and will re-evaluate in the beginning of December.

2 Brown Dawgs said, “I wonder if Delilah’s nail may be split or maybe she did what Freighter did and shoved the nail up into her toe? Those can be really difficult to spot and are very painful. We couldn’t even see it first. I am guessing it hurts her so you may want to keep an eye on it.”

I’ve been thinking about it since this comment.  I think the nails might just have been short.  They did trim them when she had her dental which was only a few weeks ago, but I will keep an eye on her.

Beth said, “When Theo eats something he shouldn’t,,, like 60 grapes in no time at all, I give him a small piece of bread soaked in the amount of hydrogen peroxide appropriate for his weight. I am reluctant to force anything down his throat and he happily eats the soggy bread.”

THAT is brilliant.  Thank you for sharing.  It’s a lot better than the way I did it. 🙁

Blueberry’s Human said, “Delilah is in a class all by herself – she cracks me up! Have you gotten a sign yet that they often have in warehouses – you know, “_____ Days Without Incident”. Then you fill in the number! You could customize it “12 Days Since I Had to Induce Vomiting in Delilah!””

BWA HA HA I love it!!

Kirsten said, “You can’t reinforce an emotion, and dogs don’t fake being afraid–they react because they actually are afraid.”

I’m more worried that it hurt her. 🙁

Dog Walking, Not for the Faint of Heart

Lauranne said, “that first picture you have published. After looking at it a couple of times I genuinely thought you had taken it and that you were some amazingly talented photographer (which you are) and then I noticed the tree and thought, wow that’s an amazingly neat tree.”

It’s true.  I really took that picture!!  Here’s what it looked like before I modified it on PicMonkey.

 

Molly the Wally said, “Those darn crows on our park have been known to attack dogs during the breeding season so we keep way from where there nests might be”

Holy smokes!!  I don’t know what I’d do!

Jan K said, “I was out in the yard at dusk the other night and heard those birds cackling away. My hubby was on the deck and I kept asking him if he heard them, but he didn’t. I swear at one point they sounded exactly like a human (or witch) laughing! It was really kind of freaky.”

Oh that would freak me out!  

Don’t forget to enter the give-away!  Even if you can’t use the products yourself, you can always donate them to a shelter!

That’s it for me.  Have a safe and Happy Halloween from all of us at Heart Like a Dog!