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 Smile – November 29, 2015

 

Meagan and Merlin said, “So cute. Merlin is really excitable so when kids approach him, he sits down for them. We never taught him that, he does it himself.”

That’s great! Sampson doesn’t typically sit to be pet, but after a short time he usually lays down. He just can’t stand like he used to.

Off to the Mountains

Anonymous (which I actually think is my sister) said, “They have toe grips?! You mean I could get rid of all theses crazy mismatched runners!? ”

Yes they do! They are called Dr. Busby’s toe grips and they come in four sizes. You should check them out.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “I’m not sure I’d have allowed my girls off leash if I knew there had been a mountain lion in the driveway! Maybe on an extra-long leash, but not completely off leash. ”

I did bring the long leash with me and I did have her on it for a bit. The mountain lion was seen at 7:00 pm so I made sure we did our walking well before then!

Jan said, “If I had a view like that I would get nothing done all day.”

Right? It’s so easy to do, just sit on the deck and stare out. It’s so beautiful.

Emma said,”That sounds super fun. It is always fun to visit places in the middle of nowhere, but we couldn’t live that far out. Mom likes modern convenience too much. Glad no one was eaten by a lion…I could see you running into one. What a post that would make and I bet the photo of the kitty would be blurry too as you would be running!”

OR I might have tried to stand still and get a picture. LOL One time we were checking out some property and my sister screamed, “Bear, there’s a bear! Get in the car!!” Her, my husband and my brother-in-law all made tracks for the car and I said, “Where? Where is it? I want to see it!” And then someone grabbed me and made me get in the car. 🙂

Julie said, “I always loved letting Daisy off leash to run and walk with me but I can’t do it with Cocoa yet. That looks like a beautiful place to explore and it’s good the dogs all got along. 5 is lots of pups!!”

I love letting Delilah run, but I have to be SO careful, because she will run off. So lots of callbacks and lots of treats for her. Yes, five dogs is a lot, but for the most part they basically ignore each other.

Jan K said, “I love Littleton, it’s such a pretty town.”

It really is! Here’s a photo I took a couple of years back.

Taryn said, “Really didn’t do too much, but amazing as it seems, lunch on Friday was eaten OUTDOORS at a restaurant.”

Wow! That’s awesome. It was a pretty mild day for us also.

What’s Left to Say? – Barks and Bytes

Thank you all for the great comments.

We’ll touch on the SEO comments first…

Lauren Miller says, “Hopefully I figure out SEO one day.. Haha!”

Jan K said, “I still barely know what SEO is and still don’t use it all the time. It took me at least 2 years to figure out a lot of this stuff…and there are new bloggers out there that know so much more and do so much better than I do…. I often feel the way you do…like stopping because I just can’t keep up with it all and feel like I’ll never be good as the others. But wouldn’t the followers we do have, even if they’re not in the numbers others do, miss us so much? Also, like you, the thought of NOT having the blog just leaves me feeling kind of bereft – if that word is not too dramatic to describe it?

Julie says, “I have no idea about SEO and I need to do Pinterest and Instagram and yikes…. I would love to make some money from doing it to help me keep doing it but we’ll see. I would have to devote lots more time and learn SO much more.”

Well I know what SEO stands for, does that count? LOL But how it works and what I should be doing with it, I still have not. one. clue. And Jan, no, bereft is not too dramatic.  Julie, I can’t do them all, so what I do is focus on one thing. I am usually more active with Facebook and I use Triberr for tweeting (are you on Triberr?) I’ve been trying to get better at Instagram and post a photo once every couple of days. To be able to do EVERYTHING really feels like it’s a full-time job to me.

Steven said, “I’ll drink to your next 5 years with a beer tonight – I’m thirsty after licking the photo of the Apple-Pecan pie.”

Well I thank you kindly sir. But have to advise against licking the screen. You know how contagious those computer viruses can be. 😉

Dawn said, “Sometimes I think about how nice it would be to live like a normal nonblogging person.”

I agree. I had a taste of it this past weekend. I scheduled my Friday and Sunday posts on Thursday, and truthfully, I didn’t look at a blog until Sunday night. It was actually kind of nice, but I’m still freaked about not blogging at all.

Thanks to Hawk for letting me know that the damn linky tool wasn’t working. Honestly it got worse as the day went on. At one point, the list wasn’t even showing up on the blog and Linda told me she had taken the code of out hers and I did the same. I hope it gets straightened out soon.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “I totally get the “what’s left to say?” as this is my fifth year of blogging, too.”

Well congratulations Sue! Job well-done my friend.

Sue said, ” What’s left to say? You’re kidding, right? With Sampson and Delilah as “fodder” and your own creative mind, I’m thinking you’ll have plenty to say for a long time to come.”

Tell that to Delilah! She’s not producing much content lately, she’s starting to freak me out. 😉

Monika said, “You’re kidding, right? With your two sweet pups and sense of humor, there’ll always be something to say! Big time congrats on the blogiversary. That’s more than pretty impressive. I can’t imagine not hearing about your adventures so please file that notion with the gluten and “fur-getaboutit” ok? We love you, Jodi! Here’s looking forward to the next 5 where you could teach some of us how to do it right and laugh along the way. I mean, what’s a SEO anyway? ”

Thank you, that’s very sweet. As for teaching you something though, I’m pretty sure I’m not qualified.  Like I said above…I KNOW what SEO STANDS for. LOL

Emma said, “When we are down on the blog, we always look at those first posts to remind us of how far we have come, but we still have a long, long, long way to go! ”

It is good to look back at that. I remember when I first started I kept asking my two readers, “how do you get more readers?”

Blueberry’s Human said, “I guess I am a big loser because I basically use my blog to chronicle my life with Blueberry. Before I started her blog, I thought that was the goal of all bloggers – just to have a public diary of sorts. Seems like it’s changed though and there are more bloggers like yourself that strive for something more and actually get paid to do this! I think it’s great – but I am not sure I could take the pressure. I kind of prefer the fact that I have just a handful of faithful commenters on my blog – they feel like friends to me (you are included, of course). ”

SHUT UP. You are NOT a loser. People get into blogging for SO many reasons, if you are happy with journaling your life with Blueberry THAT is what is important. And I agree, I really feel like you all are my friends.

Mary said, “I’m right there with you sister. Five years for me in January, and no being big and famous over here either. I decided that I’ll blog if I want to, even if no one is reading.”

It’s a great attitude Mary! But remember, you are famous to me. I’ll never forget the first time you tweeted at me. I thought “Holy shit, I made the big time, Roxy the Traveling Dog just tweeted at me.”

DZ Dogs said, “I’ve hit a winter doldrums right now, I have all these ideas to blog about but haven’t had the energy to actually write them so instead I have a long list of drafts…
I finally got one up today about being thankful – as a reminder to myself that my life isn’t as bad or as hard as I sometimes feel it is….You keep writing though and we’ll keep reading! 🙂 Sometimes a photo is the perfect post for a day where you don’t feel like posting. And WOW does that look good, any chance of a recipe? Or maybe you could just deliver one to my house. LoL”

Good advice, I always forget about posting photos. You know I thought of a couple of posts today, I have to start using my editorial calendar again!  And wow, if this is the winter doldrums, what the hell will February look like? LOL We’ve only just begun!

As for the recipe, you can find it on THIS POST. I’d have added it, but this post is REALLY long.

Elaine said, “I say, keep blogging as long as you enjoy it and remember that for every person that leaves a comment there are many, many more that visit your blog and smile or laugh at your stories. It makes their day a little brighter and that’s pretty good motivation to keep writing and entertaining all of us.”

Thank you Elaine, sometimes I lose focus and need to be reminded of that.

Hailey and Zaphod said, “Congrats on 5 years! We just celebrated that too.”

Wow that’s so awesome, I didn’t realize how many of us started blogging around the same time!

Jackie Bouchard said, “Huh. You made me curious so I looked and I missed my 5 yr blogoversary, which would have been Oct. 28 this year.”

Well congratulations!! 

Alexa88 said, “I’m a nonblogger who came across your blog by way of another blog.
I’m a newcomer to your blog. having a large furry bed hog myself ( her name is lily and she is a Hovawart). i enjoy reading about your dogs, enjoy the photos of them but i continue to read your blog because you pull your life into your blog as well. your way of writing your voice if you will engages the reader. I’m not saying this very well but your blog is like getting a phone call from friend that you really enjoy hearing from. the old days type of calls where just calling to say hello ends up being a long chat.”

Wow Alexa, that’s such a nice thing to say. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that and I’m glad my writing can touch someone in that way. Welcome to Heart Like a Dog, I hope you’ll stick around. And maybe some day you’ll share a picture of Lily with me. 🙂

That’s it for me! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

 

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 – November 22, 2015

Emma said, “Katie and I don’t do anything but sleep on our beds, but my little monster sister Bailie rips my beds to shreds. She ruined my very favorite bed the other morning, and Mom was even home at the time! She was in the kitchen working while Bailie shredded my bed. Our office was covered in stuffing. Not good. I guess if you pups do it to their own beds it isn’t so bad. Maybe make a new cover for it?”

I think it’s time for a new bed. I’ve fixed the cover once and now the stuffing is so destroyed, that taking the cover off leaves a wicked mess. Anyone have any good recommendations for Orthopedic dog beds?

Jan K said, “Cricket scratches at the beds all the time, but luckily no holes yet. I’m sure Sheba and Luke would have a field day if there were. Cricket is often seen lying around different toys in the beds though!”

That’s so cute, I love photo of her curled up with her ball next to her. 🙂 My guys don’t typically take toys to bed.

Jan said, “That is adorable. He must have his own concept of comfort.”

He MUST because it doesn’t look comfy to me. LOL Maybe it’s the dog version of a body pillow?

Perhaps the best advice came from Lily & Edward (Two French Bulldogs) “You were suppose to hide the evidence.”

Goodness, please don’t give them ideas!

Treating Canine Arthritis with PEMF

Before we get to the questions, Sampson had his second PEMF treatment on Tuesday. It lasted about 1/2 an hour, the next day Sampson was full of himself. He and Delilah rough housed in the morning after he ran around with his Kong, which was AFTER we took our 25 minute walk. It seems to be a good therapy for him and apparently he feels better.

Emma said, “The chiro has really helped Katie a lot. She is a bit sore for a day or two and tired too after the adjustment, but then she feels really good. Because of her condition, she gets an adjustment about once a month, but for the first two months or so it was every two weeks.”

I put in a call to our holistic vet and he’ll be coming down to give Sampson an adjustment and possibly some acupuncture, but the appointment isn’t until Christmas Eve. One of the owners at my Vet’s practice can do the acupuncture, in the meantime, and I can always ask my vet to recommend someone for chiro if he really needs it sooner.  They do have someone that does it at the place where he gets the PEMF, but for what they wanted to charge, I’d prefer the holistic vet to do it.

Sue said, “If Jeffie had had cal surgery, we’d planned to do this treatment. He did have chiropractic care and I highly recommend it!”

I appreciate that Sue, it really does seem to be helping. 

Julie said, ”  I always gave Daisy massages to try and help her and do the same for Cocoa even though she is a pup still.”

I give Sampson some massage too, especially when those back legs start trembling. Poor little love. I think it’s beneficial to get those muscles stimulated and the blood flowing to those areas.

Jan K asked, “Why does it seem like when you find something promising, you always hear something bad about it? I’m glad you did further research and talked to your vet for reassurance.”

I think it’s the same with most things. There are always going to be people who have a negative experience with a product/company/treatment. In general I feel like when we get good service we rarely mention it, but when we get poor service or have a poor experience we tend to really let loose.

Happy Thanksgiving – Barks and Bytes

I’m glad so many of you liked the photo, it is hard for me to find a photo where both my dogs are looking at the camera. I found that photo from three years ago, originally I was trying to come up with something about Plymouth Rock, but came up with that one instead.

I’m sorry I haven’t gotten around to a lot of blogs lately, I’ve been focusing on working on that book. 🙂 This weekend I’ll be spending some time with my sister, so I’ll try and get around to them next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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 Smile – November 15 2015

Meagan and Merlin said, “My fave pic of Merlin is of him sleeping with his back end on the couch and his front end on the floor.”

Hahaha I call that the Jabba the Hutt pose. For some reason when Sampson does that it reminds me of Jabba the Hutt, only I call it Jabba the Mutt. 😉

Cupcake said, “Mom usually smiles at me in my sleep because I’m on my back, shaped like an S, with one leg sticking straight up, my lip is caught on my teeth, my ear is inside out, and I’m snoring the word, “Woof. Woof.””

I’m sure mom laughs quite a bit at you Cupcake. 😉

Emma asked, “Did she used to fear the vacuum?”

No, she has never been afraid of it, in fact she sits there while you vacuum, almost like she’s playing chicken with the vacuum. LOL

Jan K said, “She looks completely and totally relaxed and content and that would make me smile too… I often do the same…just seeing them happy makes me happy!”

I’m with you on that one sister! I love seeing them happy.

Jan said, “When you think of the awful sounds dogs hear from the vacuum that we don’t, this is even more remarkable.”

Neither one of them ‘hate’ the noise, but Sampson doesn’t care for it getting to close to him.

Jackie Bouchard said, “I love when a dog sleeps in a position that shows they’re totally secure. :-)As for Rita, it makes me smile when she falls asleep on the couch with her head hanging off the edge. How can that be comfortable? Doesn’t the blood run to a dog’s head like it would with a human??”

Yes, that is what this picture said to me. She feels safe and secure. It’s been a long road. I’m with you on that head hanging over the edge thing, I can’t see how it doesn’t make them light headed, but maybe it doesn’t bother them?

Blueberry’s Human said, “I wonder if our dogs ever stare at us when we are sleeping and if they do, what are they thinking? I doubt we look all that cute with our mouths hanging open and drool dripping onto the pillow, hair smooshed in an unattractive manner.”

Believe it or not, I’ve actually woken up to find Sampson staring at me, I’m not sure he’s thinking about the drool or the hair, but maybe “Hey biotch, I have to pee, wake your ass up.”

Rebekah said, “That would make me smile too. After 4.5 years, my Bruce still sleeps with his back to the wall.”

It takes a LONG time Rebekah, Delilah has been with us 8 years and I’ve only really noticed her relaxing more (not all the time though) in the past 1 1/2 to 2 years.

Natural Stride Joint Supplement

Jan K said, “We used Natural Stride for quite a while with Sheba too, and she did very well on it. But she started to be fussy about the powder on her food, so we decided to try something different.
I think it’s great that there are so many quality options to choose from out there. I don’t think it hurts to switch around every so often anyway. Each seems to have at least one unique ingredient and I think that’s a good thing. Certain ingredients might work better with some dogs than others too, or sometimes just a change can get something working better.”

I agree, I think it’s good to switch things up once in a while and I really like the convenience of these as chews. Especially if you’re traveling.

Blueberry’s Human said, ” He really got the short end of the stick as far as that surgery working, didn’t he?”

He sure did. I think part of it might be my fault, I was so strict and so careful with him, I think too much so. But I feel like there wasn’t much of a choice with a fully torn cruciate, still, I feel awful about how it turned out.

Emma said, “We are all on the supplement you told us about last winter and it has been a miracle for Katie.”

It’s been amazing for Sampson too, I just think it never hurts to try something new. 🙂

Jan said, “I’ve been taking glucosamine for many years and I think it helped to start early. I wonder if the same is true of dogs, taking it before it is really needed.”

I think it probably does. I wish I’d started Sampson on it sooner, I think it might have helped.

2 Brown Dawgs asked, “So do you change out supplements? I have always been hesitant to do that once we found one that worked well for the dogs.”

Typically, no. But after speaking with the rep, I was told there was one ingredient in this supplement that had helped mice with arthritis. The rep was upfront in saying that it typically works when the arthritis is caught early and it might not help Sampson. It certainly didn’t hurt him though.

The State of the Dog – Barks and Bytes

Honestly you guys are so amazing and have so many wonderful ideas. I just couldn’t add them all to this post, or you’d all still be reading on Monday. 🙂

I will respond to those comments directly, so if you left a comment or asked a question, please go back and check it out. 

BUT before I go, I wanted to tell you that that crazy woman who calls herself Blueberry’s Human took the challenge I threw out to her in last Friday’s post and is attempting to teach Blueberry to use her human’s back as a stepping stool. If you want to read something funny, head over and check out her progress. 🙂

Well that’s it for me folks, thank you all so much for the love, support and suggestions, I know we’ll find a way to help my poor guy feel better.