Heart Like a Dog

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

Day Seventy Nine – What to write about

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We took the dogs to obedience class tonight just to get them out of the house.  It seems like everyone had the same idea because there were at least 20 dogs there.  Besides the basic obedience, we had the “balance beam” and a couple of jumps.

I call it the balance beam, but I think Sampson calls it “walking the plank!”

Sampson does not like the balance beam; there are other dogs that don’t care for it either.  We usually try to get the dogs to try things, but we don’t like to force them.  Tonight Sampson did well, he got up on the balance beam.

 

"Walking the Plank"

Delilah however, walks the plank like a model on the catwalk, almost as if she can’t stay off it, so while I tried to get a picture of Sampson laying on the plank, up came Delilah.
 
Sampson and Delilah
Sampson and the ‘Model’.

Sorry about the eyes!

 
 
It is a fun time and good to help reinforce your basic commands with your pups!
 

Day Seventy Eight – The escape artist.

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The great escape

Remember the story about Delilah jumping the fence in the update section of this post?  Yesterday morning I let the dogs out and when I went to let them in Delilah was gone again!  Luckily she was next door in the neighbor’s yard, but I had to go out in the sub-zero weather to help lead her home.  The path she took to get there was down hill and trying to climb back up the ice hill was almost impossible.

Formulate a plan

Chet and I discussed the situation at lunch and decided until we can add some height to the fence, we will have to tie her out on a lead.  I really hate having to tie dogs up, but she must be safe.  I cannot take a chance that she can 1) hurt herself going over the fence 2) hurt herself fighting with one of the dogs in the neighborhood 3) run off 4) get hit by a car, well you get the picture.

Put the plan in action

When I got home last night, I walked the fence line; not an easy task with two feet of snow with a layer of ice on it.  I found a spot where I thought she was going over.  Then I took the 30 foot leash I bought to take on vacation and I attached it to the deck.

Foiled!

I let the dogs outside before dinner and after about 5 minutes, went outside to check on them.  Imagine my shock and horror when I saw the leash taut and draped over the fence.  I ran inside and shouted for Chet, threw my boots on and ran back out.  Yes, she went over the fence and was scrabbling about on the ice hill trying to get up or down.

Dad to the rescue

Chet jumped the fence and climbed down through the snow, luckily for him (or maybe not) he sank in the snow (hey, beats sliding on your butt) and quickly got to her.  I kept the leash tight and kept ‘reeling’ her in, finally we got her up to the top of the fence and Chet had to pick her up and lift her over the fence.  Of course we adjusted the area where the leash was tied out so she cannot possibly get over the fence again.  She hates going out on the lead, but she really has to be safe.

I don’t have any pictures of the event because I was too frantic about getting Delilah safe before she hung herself.  I figured you would forgive me. 🙂  Instead here is a picture of my two babies.

Delilah (aka Houdini) on the left; Sampson on the right.

Day Seventy Six – New Toys

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When I went to the Pet Writing Conference I took a seminar on blogging from a really awesome group of people from blogpaws and I learned a few things.

Headers and bullet points:

Use headers and bullet points to help different topics or paragraphs in your blog standout.  You do this in order for people to skim quickly through your blog and find the items or topics that are of importance to them.

Speaking of the conference:

We got some goodie bags at the conference and since Hartz was one of the sponsors my bag had two items from Hartz in it; a ball and a chew toy that helps keep the dog’s teeth clean.

Chew Toy, Football

The chew toy and the football

I gave the ball to Delilah, 

Delilah Loves the Ball

Delilah and her squeaky ball

 Lesson one; always give the first toy to Delilah, at least then Sampson has a chance! 🙂

The ball was a big hit; both dogs love the squeaky toys.  They take the ball and run through the house….squeak, squeak, squeak.

Then I gave the bone to Sampson…

Sampson and the chew bone

Sampson loved the chew bone…until Delilah took it away, now they are sharing it but I will go to the store tomorrow to see if I can find another one.

Both of the toys are very sturdy and durable, and I do recommend them if you are looking for some toys or chewing items for your dog.

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