Heart Like a Dog

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

The Post Where the Mama Learns a New Trick

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K-9 Kamp Kounselor Delilah here letting you know this is the last week of this session of K-9 Kamp and that makes me sad.  I’ve had a lot of fun, writing these posts.

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K-9 Kamp is designed to help folks get fit with their pups.  Hosted by our friends Koly and Felix at Kol’s Notes, Kelly and Ike at Peggy’s Pet Place and Gretel and Chester at You Did What With Your Weiner, it’s a blog hop that pulls us together to share ideas in how to get fit and healthy.

The Mama has tried super hard to make sure we’ve been doing a little bit extra this session.  Ever since June we’ve been losing a tiny bit of daylight every day.  As it stands now, we are still getting about 40 minutes of walking a day, but it’s definitely getting dark and I know the Mama, despite her bravado, is a little spooked in the woods at dusk.  In fact, the last couple of nights we’ve been spending more time in the field and less time in the woods.

I’m really quite okay with that, you see there are lots of dry leaves on the trails, which make it a bit slippery sometimes for the Mama to walk.  A couple of times I’ve felt her slip (you remember I can’t let her off her leash, because she cannot keep up) Sirius knows I don’t need her slipping and slamming her full weight into me, that could be quite dangerous.

Sampson and I do a little wrestling in the house, but I wanted to share with you a new indoor trick that we taught the Mama.

The key to teaching humans ANYTHING is to let them think they are in charge.  The Mama actually thinks she taught us this trick, but Sampson and I know better.

The trick is Stair Climbers and it works like this.  We stand at the top of the stairs and then we send the Mama down. When the Mama gets to the bottom, she calls us and we dash down the stairs and let the Mama give us a treat.

Then we send the Mama back up the stairs, she calls us and we dash back up the stairs.

As you can see in the video, the Mama still struggles rushing up or down the stairs, it’s probably due to her large, Hobbit feet, or her poor creaky knees.

It’s okay though, as long as she’s putting forth her best effort.  As you can see Sampson isn’t quite as adept at the stairs as I am, but he is a little bit older and not as enthusiastic about food as I am. You may notice my athleticism  as I jump the last step.

To recap the things we’ve done this month in our efforts to help the Mama get into shape and keep us fit and trim.

  • We’ve played Frisbee (although the Mama’s attempts at throwing were feeble at best, we’re still saying she ‘threw’ it.)
  • We chased tree rats, pulled the Mama up and down hills and climbed over and under obstacles on our walks.
  • We taught the Mama how to jump the leash.
  • The Mama learned how to fetch.
  • And last but not least, we gave the Mama a run for her money on the stairs.

I hope you’ve found a few things here that will help you and yours (whether it be canine or human) do a little bit more than you are doing.  As you can see, there are so many ways to exercise, you are only limited by your mind.

This is the K-9 Kamp blog hop, and there are some great prizes for participants, you can find the rafflecopter here.

I’m keeping my paws crossed that the Mama will continue to let me do blog posts every now and again, this was fun!!

Until then, take care and stay fit!

Delilah

Fetch Mama

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K-9 Kamp Kounselor Delilah here again, updating you on all the things we are doing to get fit and keep K-9 Kamp

F.U.N.

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K-9 Kamp is a fun way to help get yourself and your humans in shape, hosted by our friends Koly and Felix at Kol’s Notes, Kelly and Ike at Peggy’s Pet Place and Gretel and Chester at You Did What With Your Weiner.

Whether you’re looking to lose a few pounds, tone some jiggly spots or just out to have fun with your canine/human counter part, K-9 Kamp is the place to do it.

There are lots of awesome Kampers participating and lots of awesome prizes, so make sure you stop by the host’s blogs and check it out.

With winter on the way, we need to take advantage of the outdoors as much as we can.  Sampson and I have a goal and that’s to help The Mama get into shape and lose some of her unwanted pounds.

Shhh Mama, I’m not going to tell them how out of shape and overweight you really are.  All they have to do is look at your photos.

Photos don’t lie Mama.

A couple of years ago Sampson and I were very overweight.  We went on a strict raw diet and daily walks and we both lost about 30 pounds.  Now we look and feel great!

But what do you think happened to The Mama during that time?  Did she get lean and mean like us?

Sadly the answer is no.  The Mama has gained weight in the last couple of years and despite our daily walks she hasn’t been able to drop those unwanted pounds.

With the help of K-9 Kamp, Sampson and I set out to change that.

One of the fun things we like to do is play fetch with The Mama.

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Traditionally humans play fetch by tossing an object such as a Frisbee and encouraging the dog to go and retrieve it and bring it back.

That’s not how we roll.

We put our own spin on fetch and make The Mama work.  You can see what I mean in this video.

We let The Mama throw the disc, and pretend like we are going to bring it back, except we don’t.  Sampson holds onto it, while I run back to get The Mama and encourage her to finish her retrieve.

We’re working on getting her to run back for her retrieve instead of walking.  What can I say, she’s a work in progress.

Put the effort in Mama, it will pay off.

As for Sampson and I, well sometimes we just like to play a little tug of war with that Frisbee.

It’s that little something extra, that helps keep us fit and trim.

The Mama is saying that she lost some weight this past week, but I haven’t seen the numbers on the scale, so I can’t verify that.

Rest assured Mama, Sampson and I are here to help you.  We’ll get that weight off you, I promise.

Put the donut down Mama, it’s not helping your cause.

So how are the rest of you doing?  Do you need any tips or suggestions?

Jump Mama

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K-9 Kamp Kounselor Delilah here again, updating you on all the things we are doing to get fit and keep K-9 Kamp F.U.N.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, this month is our 2nd installment of K-9 Kamp.  A great challenge hosted by our friends Koly and Felix at Kol’s Notes, Kelly and Ike at Peggy’s Pet Place and Gretel and Chester at You Did What With Your Weiner.

k9kampbadge-300x300 Right now we are still taking advantage of walks in the woods after The Mama gets home from work.  If she gets right to it and doesn’t diddle around, we have just enough time for a 30 to 40 minute walk.

Even so, we’ve been working on some fun things to do with The Mama to help her get into shape, as well as keeping Sampson and me, healthy and active as well.

One of my new favorite games to play with The Mama is a little game I developed called, jump the leash.

It works like this.  The Mama is always holding the leash in her left hand, so I with my Ninja like Lab skills, will dart around behind her back, and then cut across her path so she has to jump the leash.

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When I do this I say, “Jump Mama”

And The Mama says, “How high, Delilah?”

The Mama: Excuse me?  I do not say that!

Um, I’m pretty sure you do Mama. 

Um, I’m pretty sure I don’t Delilah.  And the reason I know this, is I am too busy trying to draw air into my lungs and keep from falling on my ass.  

You say Toe-may-toe and I say Toe-ma-toe Mama.  I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.  And Mama?

Yes Delilah.

Remember all those times you said, “Give me five minutes Delilah, I’m trying to finish a blog post?

Um…..yes?

In case you weren’t aware, I’m busy working on my latest K-9 Kamp post.  People and dogs are relying on me to help them get into shape and stay motivated.  Give me five minutes please Mama.

Excuse the interruption, The Mama struggles with not being in control.  Anyhoo the leaves are falling fast and furious in our little neck of the woods and we have to be super careful when we are walking because the leaves make the trails slippery, especially when we are going downhill.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA So whenever possible we try and stick to the flatter areas, although against my better judgement I have let The Mama off-leash a couple of times.  Just to get down the steepest part of the hills mind you.

Wherever we are, you can be sure we work The Mama hard, to make sure she’s going over, under or around various obstacles.

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The harder part is getting her to move along at a good pace, she’s still a little on the S.L.O.W side.

So how are you all doing with your K-9 Kamp?  Are you helping your humans get in shape or are you just keeping score at home?

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