Heart Like a Dog

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

There's Something About Bob…Day One Hundred and Twenty Two

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A cat came to live in our house today. 

My daughter who is serving in the Army has two cats; they have been staying with a friend of hers.  This little kitty (Bob) got very ill with a urinary blockage, he has been at the vets for the last two days, and finally was allowed home today.  He needs to be on a special prescription only food for 4 weeks and he also needs to be closely supervised to insure he is urinating and not in any discomfort.  My daughter asked if he could stay with us. 

Remember that old wives tale that cats have nine lives?  Bob is on his fourth one.  Just before Cassie left for the Army, Bob ate some thread; it got wrapped around his tongue and all inside him and he needed surgery to put him right.   Then just a couple of months ago, he had a really bad infection inside his chest;  he was in the hospital then too.   By my calculations, that would make this his fourth life.

I haven’t had a cat since we had to put my Smokey kitty to sleep and truthfully as I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed allergies in my eyes, so I haven’t been in any hurry to get a cat.   Honestly, I would have kept him when she went in the Army, but she really wanted the two cats to stay together and I think two dogs and one cat is quite enough for two old folks.  But…kitty needs some TLC and our baby girl wants mom and dad to do it; so a cat came to live at our house today.

Surprisingly, Delilah is the one who is pretty good with the cats; Sampson is the one who likes to chase them.  Plus they both love the treats that kitty cat deposits in his litter box, which means the area where kitty cat poops, needs to be gated off from the dogs. 

So which chipmunk did you bet on Ollie?

Because I have allergies to cats, they love me.  Bob likes to sleep on the top of the sofa, right above my head.  When our daughter was home, her cats basically lived in her room; that room has since been converted to my office/scrapbook/chill space room, so I am hoping that Bob will be able to adjust to not spending all his time in his/my room. 🙂

Ok, if I’m being totally honest here, I have been begging Chet for a cat.  Ever since we had that mouse invasion last year, I have been saying we really need a cat;  I went out today and picked up  a few things to make life at Stone Manor a little more comfortable for Bob.

A collar, some toys, a mat for food and scratching.

I am hoping that once Bob feels better we can adjust him to life as an indoor/outdoor cat and he can help us with our mouse problem and maybe, just maybe he can help Delilah catch that chipmunk.  In the meantime, can someone come and help wipe these Cheshire cat grins off mine and Bob’s faces?

That's a happy cat.

Training, training, training…Day One Hundred and Twenty One

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Yesterday after I posted my blog, one of my friends left me a comment on my facebook page asking if I wanted to come and train her dogs.  Of course I would love to!  But at the moment finances prevent that.  The fact of the matter is that my dogs are fairly well-trained, but we are constantly, constantly training them.

This doesn’t mean that we do nothing but train our dogs; what it does mean is that when we are in the kitchen cooking something and the dogs are hanging around, we make them sit.  While we are preparing our plates, they are on their mats in the living room in a down position (at least Sampson is.)  When we are on the trail, we will call them to us and have them sit.  When someone comes to the door we (try) to have them sit at the top of the stairs to allow our guests inside.  Practicing your commands is also good if you are struggling with training your dog to do something in particular.

One of my friends has a dog that jumps on them, specifically when the dog wants to go out and they are trying to rise from their chairs.  I suggested she have the dog sit while she attempts to rise; if the dog jumps up, then my friend should sit back down and repeat her command.  Trust me; it won’t take long for the dog to realize “Hey…this isn’t working for me.”

Case in point, Delilah is a jumper, normally she doesn’t jump on people but when she gets excited (like when we are feeding her or coming to the door to let her inside) she jumps up and down like a Jack Russell Terrier!  Truthfully, we think its funny because she bounces backwards when we are bringing her food to her; but it really irritates me at the door, so I’ve started making her sit when I start to open the door.  If she starts jumping, I bring my hand back to my side and wait until she sits and then we try again.  I did this for about a week and this morning; she sat while I opened the door.

In my opinion, training is physically as well as mentally stimulating to your dog; and they should be stimulated both mentally and physically.  Besides…the more you train them the better they listen. Then in an emergency situation when you say, “Come” or “Sit” it will be automatic for your dog, and less stress on you.

That's right, I'm sitting; you got something to say about it?

Meet and Greet…(Day One Hundred and Twenty)

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What do you want your pet to do when you are walking or hiking and meet another person that does not have a dog?

What I want is for my dog to ignore that person unless they express an interest in meeting my dog.  The last thing I want (which happened to Chet on Sunday) is for my dog to go charging happily towards someone and jump at them.  Good thing Chet is a big guy, cause that chocolate lab could have really knocked him down and hurt him.

That being said, I would like to share two experiences that recently happened when we encountered “dogless” people.  The area we walk our dogs is owned by the town and has a small town garage on premises; as we were leaving the park we noticed that a man was at the garage removing some stored items.  Since we saw him well in advance, we called the dogs to us and leashed them.  Then we started to walk past;  Delilah got a little bit antsy, so Chet said walk on the other side of me, which we did.  I am here to tell you that if I could have picked my dog up and danced with her that is exactly what I would have done.  She was spot on perfect!  She walked slightly ahead of me, tail and head held high and never looked once at that man!  I wanted to buy her a filet mignon!   Exactly what I expect from her.

The other experience happened today; we met an older man on the trail, I saw him first so I called the dogs to me and made them sit as he approached.  I put one finger through each of their collars and told them to stay.  After the man had passed us, he stopped to inquire about the dogs, after a minute or so I let the dogs free and they ran on ahead completely ignoring him.  Of course, Sampson had to run back to the man and get a pat, but he did it very cautiously and respectfully; I couldn’t have asked for more.

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