Heart Like a Dog

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

Pet Blogger Showcase, May 6, 2017

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Before we get to this week’s edition of the Pet Blogger Showcase, I want to let you all know that the NEXT Linky Party will be the first Saturday in June. It seems three or your four hosts will be at Blog Paws for the next party, and in order to keep our sanity, we’ve decided to take that weekend off. 🙂

I also might add, I’m looking forward to meeting them!

Are any of you attending? If so, be sure to look me up. I’ll be the loud red-head with the wine glass in my hand. 😉

Now, on to this week’s showcase…

Barley and Rye, courtesy of Travels with Barley

Relax! (Or How I Trained My Dogs To Rest On a Mat) by Beth at Travels with Barley – Is your dog mat, trained?  Sampson definitely is, and Delilah is, but only when she wants to be. 🙂 In our house, we use the term, “place” and I’ve heard some people refer to it as “spot”, but whatever you choose, having your dog trained to go a certain spot, can come in right handy. In this post, Beth explains exactly how she taught both Barley and Rye to use their mat.  As you can see from the photo, they don’t seem to  mind it at all.

Cricket executes a thorough search. Photo courtesy of Wag ‘N Woof Pets.

A Dog’s Nose Never Forgets by Jan at Wag ‘N Woof Pets – Have you tried Nosework with your dog? Sometimes the weather just doesn’t cooperate for outdoor exercise. We all know, a tired dog is a good dog, but did you know that mental stimulation can tire a dog out just like physical exercise can? Jan has graduated her dogs to Birch smells, but you can play this game with food too. Check out Jan’s post and see how much Cricket and Luke enjoy this game.

Leo is in CT and looking for his forever home. Photo courtesy of Animal Shelter Volunteer.

Leo’s Sunday Selfies by Animal Shelter, Volunteer Life – Siriusly, look at THAT face! He’s absolutely adorable, and he’s in CT, and looking for his forever home. To find out more about Leo, check out Animal Shelter’s post.

Welcome to the Pet Blogger Showcase! This is the place for you to show off your favorite family friendly pet related posts, find other great posts to read, show some love to other bloggers and maybe be featured on one of the host blogs!

Meet the Hosts Behind the Showcase

Pet Faves- Living the pet lover lifestyle

Heart Like A Dog- The good, the bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs

Felines Opines– The world from a feline point of view

Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat– The humorous and touching tales of a formerly homeless, yet always extraordinary, feline and his Momma, who’s just along for the ride.

About the Pet Blogger Showcase

Twice a month, On the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, you have the chance to link up one of your blog posts to the linky party link-up. Then visit 3 other blogs that joined the party and leave a meaningful comment. Feel free to share with your followers on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. Then each week the hosts will feature their favorite 3 posts from the previous Linky Party on the new party post.

Pet Blogger Showcase Rules

Share a pet specific post, past or present, from your blog in the linky below (be sure to link to your post page and not your home page). Family friendly posts only. (We love reading about other topics and niches, but posts that are not pet related will be deleted this includes any posts that don’t mention pets even if they are on a pet blog or if the post could pertain to pets.)
Spread the Love! Leave a quality comment(more than just a few words) on at least 3 other posts from the linky party. Tell them why you love their post, encourage them, share on social media.
Check back for the next linky party to see if you are featured on one of the hosts’ blogs.

*Note: By adding your post to the linky party you are giving the hosts permission to use an image from your post if your post will be a featured post on their blog to help encourage people to click through to your post. The image may be used individually or as a collage.

That’s it! No need to RSVP. No need to bring a covered dish. No need to add the linky to your post. No need to include a button. Just come join the party and PAWTY ON!



No Dogs On the Bed – Throw Back Thursday

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It’s hard to believe, but when this little pumpkin first came home, Hubby said, “No dogs on the bed. He has a crate, he can sleep in there.”

From the minute I snuggled him, he and I set out to break that rule. What can I say? We like to dance to our own drum.

Sampson Stone, three weeks old.

Three-week-old Sampson Stone. Can you stand the cuteness?

While I think crate training is an amazing tool to help teach dogs the house rules, I hated having him in the crate at night. When he first came home and didn’t know where he was supposed to pee, he HAD to be in the crate when we weren’t there to supervise. I worked full-time, and was gone from the house 8 hours a day, and so it seemed cruel to put him in the crate for 6 or 7 hours at night.

Like a ball and a blank can replace a nice, warm Mama. What the actual woof?

I started staying up late. I’d fall asleep on the couch and then I’d wake up at 12:00 or 1:00 and put him in the crate.

Then I coaxed Hubby into letting him snuggle with me in the mornings after Hubby got up to get ready for work.

Thankfully, Hubby started work super early, so he left the house around 5:00 – 5:30. This meant he got up at 3:30.

Now I had Sampson’s overnight time in the crate down to about 3 1/2 hours.

This went on for about a year. Then, as it happened, our daughter was getting married in Florida, and of course, we all went.

When we drive long trips, we like to start late at night, early in the morning. As I recall, we left about 1:00 am.  Sampson was all cuddled up in the back seat snoozing and then the cutest thing happened.

3:30 rolled around, and just like clock work, my little puppy crept his way to the front and laid his head on my arm that was resting on the armrest. He knew it was cuddle time.

We had rented a house for our daughter’s wedding, because we were there for the week before and the week after, and had a lot of last minute items to attend to.

Since we weren’t in OUR bed, I convinced Hubby to let Sampson sleep in the bed WITH us.

Now it’s a lonely night for me, when Sampson chooses to sleep somewhere else.

I will take as much of this as I can get.

T

 

It’s All Fun and Games, Until Someone Loses Their Hearing

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Sampson is going to be thirteen in July, and I’m pretty sure he’s losing some of his hearing. It’s not at a horrible stage, just sometimes in the woods he’ll wander off trail, and I’ll call him, but he doesn’t respond, so I’ll have to go tap him on his shoulder to get his attention. It could also be he has SELECTIVE hearing, but I can’t tell one way or the other.

I’m trying really hard not to be sad about it, and instead find the humor in the silly things he does.

A lot of times when I head out the door for his morning walk, I walk out the door without his leash, and I have to go back inside to get it.

So on Thursday he stepped out the door, and I was right behind him. The birds were making the most beautiful music and I said, “Isn’t that beautiful” as I headed around the back of the house towards the gate.

I got to the gate, and turned to snap his leash on him, but he wasn’t there.

So I headed back towards the door only to find him standing in front of it, staring into the house.

Apparently he didn’t hear me head around the corner, and thought I’d gone back into the house. When I got close enough, I clapped my hands and called his name, and turned right towards me, all smiles and tail wags.

I just couldn’t help but smile as we headed out the gate for our walk.

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