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 – September 6, 2015

Fiddle dee dee, someone come and pet me.

It was a hung jury on this one. Half of you have dogs that don’t mind the vet, while the other half have dogs that hate it. Here are some of your comments.

Lauren Miller (ZoePhee) said, “They hate it! It’s so sad! I used to work there so they know something bad will happen if we go to the “room”.”

Sheena said, “Moey poops and tries to climb me like a monkey in a tree! (me being the tree) He hates going to the vet as much as he hates going to the groomer!”

Cupcake said, “I do the same thing, S. And when they finally come bearing sticks to put in my butt, needles to stick me with, and lights to shine in my ears and eyes, I don’t hold it against them. ”

Jan said, “My guys are obnoxious from the time the car stops until we leave the parking lot. They need Sampson lessons.”

Rebekah said, “Neeko and Faolan are excellent. Bruce draws a crowd, because he’s such an ass. He always wears his party hat (muzzle) to the vet.”

Taryn said, “I’ve never had a dog that was happy to be at the vet’s office. Mine have to be dragged in! It is pure torture for them!”

Blueberry’s Human said, “Blueberry likes some parts of it – not all. Usually, when they call her to go back, they weigh her first. After she is done getting weighed – she ALWAYS tries to make her exit”

Rub a Dub Dub, Two Dogs in a Tub (Sort of)

If I run fast enough, she will only see a silver streak.

Cupcake said, “No carpet, but not to worry. I get the water off me and onto the couch.”

That’s using your ingenuity Cupcake! Sometimes Sampson uses the couch too!

2 Brown Dawgs said, “We never bath brown dawgs unless they run into something stinky…say a skunk. ;-)”

Poor Storm. Your dawgs are in the water a LOT. I think they probably don’t need a bath. LOL

Taryn said, “For two dogs who love to swim, mine despise baths! And, OY!, the shedding that happens after a corgi gets a bath, let alone TWO corgis!”

Yah know! Delilah loves to swim too, but hates the bath. And trying to get two LABS outside to potty in the rain…LOL 

Elaine said, “Aren’t they funny how they try to avoid things sometimes by slowly walking off like they hope we don’t notice what they’re doing?”

LOL Oh yes.  One second she’s standing there and the next second she’s gone.

Emma said, ” Bailie also knows when she is all lathered up, it is the perfect time to escape since she is as slippery as a greased pig. Mom really enjoys trying to hang onto her when she is all soaped up.”

I’m sure it’s the highlight of your Mom’s day Emma. LOL

Jan K gave Luke and Cricket baths too, this is what she had to say, “I let them outside after a few minutes, and first thing Cricket did was roll in the grass (at least not the dirt), and Luke did zoomies just like Delilah!”

The first thing Sampson did was try to roll around on the deck. It was covered with dead leaves, acorns, twigs and God knows what else. You can guess that I stopped that right quick!

Jan said, “We mostly just sat under the air conditioner register and read to each other.”

Damn, I knew poodles were smart, but how did you teach them to read?

All Things Collie said, “We just discovered a new pet supply store that has three “do it yourself ” dog washing stations. For $10 you can give your dog a bath using their shampoo, water and raised bathtubs. Much easier on our backs!”

I’ve heard of those! I’m not sure if there are any near me, I’ll have to check it out. I think $10 is a really good price too!

Nose to the Grindstone – Barks and Bytes

A wee little mousey.

Vicki Stringfellow Cook said, “Last night, I let Zora out before bed. I could tell there was something out in the yard, so I got the flashlight. Two deer were standing underneath the crabapple tree. They froze when I shined the light on them, but luckily Zora just stood there looking at them.”

Thankfully our yard is fenced it. Although we did have a deer jump the fence once. But even so, the dogs run the fence line when they see a deer on the outside. Good thing Zora didn’t want to chase them!

Ann Cluck said, “We have a family of deer that have lived here for years and they are kept safe by the neighborhood. One dusky night, sure enough, there was a doe and her tiny fawn standing in my backyard!!! Of course, Lady Girl went bat shit (I used that word because you did, BOL) and I had to fight to stop her from going full run at them.

OMG I’m glad you were able to contain her, and please feel free to use bat shit or whatever you like here. I like keeping it real.

We Live in a Flat said, “The town councils sometimes cull bird populations by spreading poisoned food around, so no food off the ground is any uptight pet parents’ policy around here.”

UGH that’s awful! I’d never be able to walk Delilah, she’d be dead before we went a block!

Lauren Miller said, “Zoe is the same way as Delilah. A lot of the time I will use the “give Phoenix treats” method to get her attention.”

Sometimes it’s the only thing that gets her attention!

Elaine said, “Delilah is a treasure hunter! She finds all kinds of goodies with her nose to the ground method. She’s like a canine metal detector!”

I only wish she could find MY KIND of treasure. LOL

Flea said, “Send Delilah to my house, will ya? I have a mouse problem and my own dogs aren’t taking care of it. Maybe I’m giving them too many treats …”

Maybe you should see if Jones can make mouse flavored treats and then your dogs would have a taste for it.

Jenna, Mark “HuskyCrazed” Drady said, “LOL oh boy! I know all too well what you mean about pulling weird stuff out of the dogs mouth!”

OMG Isn’t it the worst? So it’s not just a Lab thing?

Jan K said, “Delilah’s walking style reminds me a lot of Luke’s. I just got back from a walk with him when he jumped in the air (for no apparent reason…) and I jumped too because he startled me! LOL He’s pretty good about his “leave it” when he finds stuff, but when he gets fixated on something, I sometimes have to literally haul him off of it.”

LOL Jan, I jump when she jumps too! It’s easy to do, especially when you live in the areas that we do where you can be encountering any manner of wildlife.  And yes, I’ve had to grab her by the harness a time or two myself. 

Jan said, “My Poodle Misty actually killed a mouse on our walk several years ago. I almost had it stuffed and mounted to prove that Poodles are indeed still hunters.”

BWA HA HA, I would have loved to see the look on that taxidermist’s face when you brought him that mouse. Honestly, I’m a bit afraid with Delilah, I’m not sure if she would just kill it or if she’d try and eat it too.

Monika said, “Ah, yes…mousies…the ‘other’ white meat. We had one in the garden yesterday and Sam did the Wiley Coyote/Roadruner cartoon double take. Had I not nearly fallen over from laughter at his reaction, I’m sure he’d have had that little critter by the short hairs. ”

The OTHER white meat! LOL I love it. So are you saying he like looked at it, looked away and then looked back at it? I think I would have wet myself.

2 Brown Dawgs asked, “You rewarded her for not coming? At least she did not eat the mouse.”

I think I did. (Hangs head in shame.) I know it was wrong and typically I do not reward either of them if they don’t respond immediately, but I was so relieved, I lost my head.

Well friends, that is it for me. Thanks for joining me and have an awesome 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 – August 30, 2015

You were distracted by my cuteness.

Well foolish me, the date on this post says August 20th instead of the 30th, note to self – proof read your titles too. LOL

Cupcake said, “Sometimes, Mom lets me decide which way we’re going. Most often, SHE gets to choose. She is under the false impression that she is in charge around here. Ha! If I were as big as Sampson, I would ALWAYS decide. ”

Sometimes I have to dig my heels in Cupcake, especially when I can see that there might be challenges in that particular direction.

Taryn said, “Mine don’t so much change direction as plant their feet and refuse to go in the direction I want to go! Especially when it is hot, and they think I am headed in a direction that will keep them off the a/c vent too long!”

Ah, they like the AC? See my guys do too, but give them the opportunity to for a walk, and they are all in.

Jan K said, “That Sampson is such a social guy! Our beagle Kobi was like that, he would drag me to see anyone and everyone, whether he knew them or not. We don’t have any real woods trails that we go to from the house, so I’m usually always dressed the same. But I’ve been overdressed plenty of times this summer when I didn’t think it was as hot as it got out there!”

Oh yes, he is Mr. Social!! And I’m not sure which is worse, having too many clothes on, or not enough.

All Things Collie said, “He’s very sweet, how old is he now?  I’ll share a story that should make you laugh. It wasn’t that I was inappropriately dressed for a walk…

I was inappropriately dressed to be outside! I was dog sitting my sisters collies, at her house. I was there alone with my own collies, and hers. It was early in the morning, and I went downstairs to let everyone out in the huge fenced backyard. I noticed as I was doing a head count as they passed by me that I was one collie short! I knew immediately who it was – Penny, aka “Badness.” I called her name, and she ran out if the laundry room, zoomed by me, and ran out the door…carrying a box of dryer sheets.

I had been warned, Penny liked to eat dryer sheets. So what could I do? I ran outside after her…barefoot in my tshirt and underware. (Remember it was early in the morning). Penny ran all over the yard, dropping dryer sheets as she went. So I stopped every few feet to pick them up. Penny’s tail never stopped wagging, she thought it was the best game ever! I can only hope my sisters neighbors weren’t watching.”

Oh yes, that made me laugh! But when you think about it, you probably were covered more than you are when you wear a bathing suit, it’s just this stigma in our mind that says we are not appropriately dressed.

I Know Things Without Knowing, You Know?

I love you Mama, but not enough to stay with you when I could chase deer instead.

JoAnn Stancer said, “Oh I’m so glad she stopped, how scary. I have esp too I was driving down my road thinking I haven’t seen a deer in a while and bam right into the ghetto car totaling it out!”

OMG the things you went through with that car! Are you glad it’s gone? 

Emma said, “My mom has a lot of that ESP stuff happen to her. She thinks, oh, I wonder why Sally hasn’t called recently and bam, the phone rings and it is Sally, she thinks like you do about cops and suddenly she sees them everywhere. Weird stuff that kind of creeps her out.”

 It can be kind of weird and sometimes scary too, because sometimes I say things and then I get scared thinking I may have jinxed myself!

Vicki Cook said, “It would be nice if you could put your ESP on speed dial, wouldn’t it? Luckily they both stopped – one sooner than the other. I’m not sure what Zora would do. We have deer, turkeys, bunnies, squirrels and other critters in the backyard. I’m not sure I could get her to stop if she got on to one, so I always keep her on a leash.

Delilah is on leash most of the time, it’s only been lately that I’ve been trying her for bits of time off-leash. And yes, I would love to speed dial that ESP.

Lauranne said, “That reminds me of the time Mity took off after a rabbit. I tried all the usual commands then finally yelled “no” as he was about to disappear down a rabbit hole.”

I’m glad you got his attention before he pulled an Alice.   No works with my guys too…sometimes.

 Elaine said, “I have ESP too sometimes and it’s kind of strange when those things happen. It doesn’t happen as much as it used to, probably because I’m pretty busy these days and I think we pick up on things more when the mind is quiet.”

I think you’re right on that, we are definitely more open and in tune when our minds are clear.

A Picture’s Worth…Barks and Bytes

Thank you all for your kind words. I have other pictures I’ve taken and will get around to sharing those as well.

To make things a bit easier, I broke the comments out by picture.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “The fog almost seems to be beckoning you to enter a parallel time warp.”

Thank you Sue! That is exactly what I was trying to say, I just couldn’t find the words!

Emma said, “The second fog photo has some creepiness to it…maybe do something with it for Halloween?”

That’s an idea…you’ve got my brain thinking Emma!

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. I apologize in advance as this post is a wee bit long.

You Make Me Smile – August 23, 2015

So close and yet so far.

Earl Lover said, “We only have dogs. My dogs couldn’t get on with cats; they’ve never been socialised with them.”

My dogs are weird. They are typically fine with the cats in the house, although they do sometimes chase them, but let them see a cat outside and it’s on!

Hailey and Zaphod said, “When we had both (which was like for 15 years), we always had a baby gate to keep the dogs and cat food/litter apart. We would keep it high enough so the cats could go under but low enough so the dogs couldn’t. It worked 99% of the time.”

If the cat was staying with me we would have done that, but Grandma does not have the room to do that and knowing her, would more than likely fall trying to get over the gate.

Jan K said, “We have a pantry downstairs with a hole in the door that only the cats can fit through, and that’s where the kitty litter is.
Samantha gets fed on the kitchen counter, and she usually has an audience. Dogs just love cat food! They usually get to lick her bowl after canned food, and occasionally get a couple pieces of her kibble!”

I just don’t get the fascination with the cat’s food and litter box.  If the food tastes so damn good, why don’t they make dog food taste the same way?

Blueberry’s Human said, “I wonder though…if you were to use the litter box yourself if that would deter D & S from wanting what’s in there? You never hear about dogs eating human poop (or maybe I am not in the right social circles)”

Dear God, thank you for not letting my friend run in the social circles where it’s ok for human’s to use a litter box. Amen.

Faithfully Yours…The Trailer

Genevieve said, “I preordered the book, and I would have preordered the song if it was available. I love it!…Gah! Siri told me it IS available. …so I bought that too.”

Thank you for pre-ordering the book. I did as well. I hope you enjoy both the book and the song!

Pamela said, “I sometimes wonder if we form the strongest bonds with the animals who need us the most.”

I think we are drawn to certain animals more than others, just the same was we are drawn to people.

2 Brown Dawgs asked, “Best of luck to Peggy with the book. I am a bit confused though. Is it a picture book?”

I haven’t read it yet, but from what I understand it is not a picture book. It is a book highlighting the human-animal bond via stories. There may be some pictures in it, but I think the trailer was designed to “show” you the bond to entice you to read the book.

Don’t Count Us Out

Emma said, “Sometimes I think you humans just start to see our naughtiness as normal and don’t even think of posting about it. That has happened a bit with Bailie but she has possibly started to mature, so some of the naughtiness may disappear!”

You may be right. Now when I see something torn up on the floor, I usually just pick it up.

Sue said, “BOL Can’t help but be happy Delilah is still Delilah. :-)”

OH, she is definitely still Delilah. She makes me laugh every single day.

Jan K said, “Luke stole a stick of butter right out of the butter dish last week. My hubby thought it was far enough back on the counter when he left it unattended….I think my favorite Delilah story that I have never forgotten was when she stole all that chicken out of the kitchen sink.”

Oh I feel for you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought something was ‘safe.’

And I like that story about the chicken necks myself. It’s quite enjoyable telling to. I get quite animated. LOL

Jan gave us her approval, “Oh yeah, the girl still has it and so does Jodi.”

Thank you Jan.   I can’t wait to tell you what she did yesterday.

Blueberry’s Human said, “Bahahahahaha! I love Delilah. It’s like a battle of wits with her. You think you’ve gotten everything cleaned up and she finds the one thing just close enough to reach to prove you wrong.”

It is like a battle of wits, I think I’m the witless one. LOL

Jen Gabbard’s comment was priceless, “OK the knife would have given me a heart attack – doesn’t it make you wonder how she got it onto the floor? I love all of your misadventures, they really remind me of how silly life really is. Things happen, but being able to find the humor in it makes it so much easier to handle. We had our own little adventure today in the yard. On the way back from getting the mail Laika spotted some turkeys before I did – they were so close I didn’t have a chance to tell her to come here before she’d pinned one down. I heard a bunch of hissing (yeah turkeys hiss apparently, who knew?) and some feathers flying, and as I approached Laika was still pinning the poor bird down. Fearing the worst I picked it up to see if she’d hurt him – to my surprise he looked unharmed. So of course Laika is flipping the frak out because I’ve got her lovely prize in my arms – she’s jumping up at me and whining.. I didn’t want to give it back and since it was young I knew it wasn’t going to be able to fly (or roost) away so I carried the thing all the way back home (our driveway is really long). It took me 5 minutes to trick Laika to get her ass into the garage so I could let the bird go. Anyways the bird was fine, ran off hissing into the sunset. But yeah I got to hold a turkey for the first time.”

It does make me wonder about the knife, and I did check her mouth for cuts. As for Laika and the turkey. OMG I don’t know what I would have done! And while I didn’t know that turkeys hissed, I did know that birds did. For an amusing story, read about the Hissing Tree.

Stop Means Stop

There, that ought to cover it.

Lauren Miller said, “Our stop walking cue is “WAIT!” I try really hard to not make cues mean more than one thing. It’s tough sometimes and I’m not very creative. LOL”

I see the value in that. I think it’s whatever works (or is the word that comes quickest to your mind.)

Jen Gabbard said, “If I saw her kicking as you were picking it up I’m sure I would have been rolling on the ground.”

I know if I saw it, I would probably have wet myself laughing so hard.

Emma said, “Maybe you need a go pro strapped to your head on your walks so we can actually see that dirt heading right at the camera on you head???”

Then Jan K replied to Emma, “I think we should all chip in and get a Go Pro for Jodi. I’m thinking there would be no end to the entertainment value of that. LOL”

You know, I do have a Go Pro, I need to talk to Hubby about getting it set up for me. Can you imagine the money I could make on YouTube? LOL

2 Brown Dawgs said, “We use “sit” a lot. It means stop and sit until released. You can use it in a variety of situations so we stick with that one.”

I think that’s a good solid command. If it works for your dogs and it’s a word you remember (key in my book) then it’s a win-win.

Meagan and Merlin said, “I also use different commands for the same thing, for example when he sits to be fed i use the words “go, ok and hammer time” and he eats his food after waiting. Also saying “food and hungry” to him, makes him run to the kitchen. Labs and their food obsessions lol.”

Bwa Ha Ha, I’m always amused at the words I use and the words my dogs understand. I love hammer time!

Jan K said, “This will sound weird, but for the first time ever today, Luke pooped when we were on a walk! I was excited, because to me that means he’s a little more relaxed, not holding it until we get back home.”

Oh Jan, I get, I truly do. Sampson was always such a private pooper. He would spend 9 hours at daycare, come home and run into the backyard to take his dump. Every time. It was only after he tore his ACL when he couldn’t do a lot of walking, that he started pooping on the leash, because he basically had no choice.

Did I ever tell you, that for the longest time Sampson squatted when he peed? Our trainer said, if they don’t lift their leg by the time they are one or two (I can’t remember which it was) then they won’t do it. He was well past the age she mentioned when he first lifted his leg. I swear to you, I was so proud of him for doing that. LOL

Jenna, Mark, “Husky-Crazed” Drady said, “Omg I am so sorry but I had to laugh at that cloud of dirt hitting your face! hahaha!!!! Oh i’m so so so sorry!!!!!”

PLEASE don’t apologize! I WANT you to laugh.

Well that’s it for me, thanks for hanging in there with me and have a wonderful weekend!