Heart Like a Dog

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

Why Didn't I Think Of That?

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Thursday night is traditionally our obedience class at The Mellow Mutt.  This past Thursday Hubby was planning on working late, so we decided instead of rushing about trying to get ready, we would skip class and give the dogs a quick walk around the block.

Except the dogs didn’t know this, so when I got home Delilah was revved up and ready to go.  She brought me her toy and while I knew there were things I should be doing I felt bad, so I grabbed the toy and let her tug.  Once I’d won the toy from her I tossed it down the hall and she ran to fetch.

Sampson lay on the floor watching.  After the second toss, Delilah brought the toy back and we tugged again.  Then Sampson got up and as I won the toy and tossed it, Sampson ran down the hall and fetched it.  Then he and Delilah began their own tug of war which turned into some wrestling which resulted in about  15 minutes of play time.

Sitting on the floor watching them play brought a smile to my face and I thought, now why couldn’t they have figured this out on their own? 🙂

Book Update:  The book is the same.

Foster Opportunity In Connecticut

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This morning was a busy one, it was my pick-up dogfood day and I figured while I was out, I would get some of my weekend running done, in the hopes that tomorrow I can relax a bit.

My journeys today took me to the town I used to live in and past the town dump.  In this town (unless it’s changed) the dog pound is inside the landfill.  I know, gross.

As I was driving past the dump this thought popped into my head, “I just want to go inside and pull a dog.”  I’ve honestly never had that thought pop into my mind while driving past that area before.

Before you get too excited, no I did not stop.  I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what Hubby would say.

Then early this afternoon I got a facebook message from one of my friends asking if I was still interested in fostering.

Ummmmm, whatcha got?

She has a friend who is going to Ecuador for a year to teach.  She has a five-year old black lab named Nikko and she has someone who will stay at her apartment and care for the dog, but she’s not sure the dog will get everything he’s used to.  Hmmmm….

So I mentioned it to Hubby and he said, “No.  We have enough with the two we have.”

I walked away and under my breath I said, “You suck.”

I decided I needed some shopping therapy and so I headed out to Kohl’s.

On my way home I really thought about bringing another dog into the house.  For a year.

I thought about how Sampson is sometimes snarky with other males.

I thought about how difficult the adjustment was when Delilah joined our pack.

I thought about how my food bill for my dogs is already higher than the food bill for the humans.

I thought about how I struggle sometimes just walking two dogs.

I thought about how Sampson and Delilah go to daycare two days a week and what would Nikko do.

I thought about how small my bed seems with two humans and two dogs in it.

I thought about how we all would fall in love with Nikko and lose him after a year.

I thought about how Sampson and Delilah’s lives would change with the long-term addition of a third dog and decided long-term fostering isn’t the way to go for me.

When I got home Hubby said, “You know, we could probably do it.”

I said, “No.”

So if anyone’s interested in fostering a dog for about a year or you know someone who might be, leave me a message in the comments or shoot me an e-mail at auntiejodi@hotmail.com.  As my friend pointed out, Nikko does have someone to care for him, he may just miss some things for a while.

No progress on my book today.

 

Follow-Up Friday

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I’m deviating slightly in the format of my follow-up Friday post.  Normally I start with earlier posts and work my way forward, today I am starting with yesterday’s post, “Has The World Gone Crazy?” 

First I have to apologize to you, I saw the article on facebook and read a blog, which got me fired up and I wrote my blog post.  What I didn’t do was my research.  I should have looked to see if there was more to the story and unfortunately there was. 

My dear friend at 2 Brown Dawgs who lives in Michigan and apparently not too far from Royal Oaks, found the following two articles.  Feel free to read them yourself and make your own conclusions. 

Banish, euthanize or what?

City of Royal Oak, The People vs Spalding

Here is a quick summary. 

Apparently there were two dogs being walked by the girlfriend of the owner’s son.  While they were outside a store a man approached and asked if they were friendly and the girl responded they were.  As the man walked past the dogs (according to the police report) the dogs jumped on the man and bit his face.  The man was assisted by store employees and then went to the hospital.  He had bite marks on his nose and below his mouth.  His wounds required stitches and at least one surgery.

The owner was cited for the dog bite and for not having either of her dogs licensed.  The petition leads one to believe the dog will be euthanized on February 9th, which is not the case at all.  Heidi is currently at home with her owner and will reside there until a decision has been reached. The 9th is the date scheduled for the pre-trial hearing at which point a settlement could be reached.  

City attorney Dave Gillam “disputes claims that Royal Oak is out to destroy the dog. He said the city did present two options: euthanize the dog or move her outside of Royal Oak. However, the issue could be resolved by sending the dog to obedience school, muzzling her whenever she is outside the owner’s McLean Avenue home, or some other action.” 

The dog is not in danger of being euthanized next week as the petition suggests. 

First I’m mad at myself for not looking into the case.  Usually I am the first to research something I hear. 

Second I am really pissed off that the owner is manipulating the situation and making it seem like the city is out to destroy her dog.  She is preying on the emotion of dog owners everywhere,  IMO she needs to take responsibility for herself and her dog.  The dog bit someone, really bit someone, she should not be classifying it as “Heidi popped up at the same time that the stranger bent over to pet her.”  According to the reports the stranger wasn’t even trying to pet the dog.

I certainly don’t want the dog to be destroyed, but I’m thinking perhaps the dog needs to be re-homed.  IMO this is not a responsible dog owner.  She didn’t look out for her dog and she didn’t own her responsibility.

A visit to her website today has HUGE red letters across the top, “PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR EMAIL THE CITY OF ROYAL OAK.  THINGS ARE PROGRESSING WELL.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.”

I’m still thinking I may send the city an e-mail and let them know I felt deceived by Ms. Spalding and while I don’t believe Heidi should be destroyed, I think she may need re-homing. 

Please accept my sincerest apologies for misleading you in this cause, I promise to check facts next time I hear something that infuriates me and educate myself before going off half-cocked.

Death By Chocolate – Part 2 – Update

Delilah came away from her experience with a one time vomit, a tiny bit of diarrhea the next morning and a healthy fear of Mr. Honey Bear.  (A lot better than most celebrities who take a handful of pills.) 🙂

Since I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know why Mr. Honey Bear came out, I’m pretty sure she will still eat stuff she shouldn’t, which just means I have to be more conscientious of what I leave lying around.

Drew Barrymore’s Bump – Update

My euphoria that Drew Barrymore adopted a shelter dog turned to dismay the next day, when I read that Prince William and Princess Kate adopted a Cocker Spaniel from a breeder.  And don’t forget I am not against responsible breeders, just those crazy puppy mill people.  When they see a demand for Cocker Spaniels they’ll start churning them out.

That’s it for me, I think I’ve done enough damage this week.

Book Update: My book has 8,457 words.

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