Heart Like a Dog

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

Super Snow Sunday

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We had some decent snow predicted for Super Bowl Sunday.  I hope the game is better than this storm was.

The three to six inches of snow turned out to be a dusting, it sort of looks like the confectioner’s sugar I put on my french toast.

Field Okay, in reality I DO put more confectioner’s sugar than this on my french toast, the sun had already melted much of the snow in the field.

Footprints There was  just enough snow in some spots to let me know someone had already been at the park and they had a dog.

Sniff 2 The dogs seemed to know if too, because as soon as we hit the trail, their noses went down.

Sniff They sniffed

IMG_3949 IMG_3958 and searched.

And while we didn’t come across the person with their dog.

1-Rock We did enjoy the beauty that Mother Nature provides.

Enjoy your Sunday and remember, to have a heart like a dog, you must be able to enjoy the beauty in front of you.

 

I Heel My Dog With a Chick Pea

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The first time I took out the clicker and paired it with food, Delilah just about lost her mind.  She was so excited by the food in my hand that she couldn’t focus on what I wanted from her.

I reached out to a reward based trainer and asked, what do you do with a dog that is over excited.  She said, “Try using a food with a lesser value to her.”

I didn’t have the heart to write back and tell her I was using a green bean.

Times change.

Just as people grow and develop, so do dogs.  Delilah has become accustomed to learning with food rewards. And it’s great to have a dog that’s willing to work for whatever you have in your pocket.

When Delilah and I took a trick’s class in November my fellow dog lovers were surprised to learn that I was using banana chips for training.  I was surprised by their limited imaginations and their willingness to buy into the “since your dog loves it, it can’t be bad for them” theory.

Ooops, my bad.  That’s a post for another day. 🙂

When Pamela over at Something Wagging This Way Comes, threw down the training gauntlet I didn’t pick it up immediately.  In fact, I mulled it over a bit in my head.  What could I work with Delilah on?

When it comes to trick training my imagination is as limited as the imagination of what people in my training class use for treats.  We are definitely NOT Team Shiva here.

Full Disclosure

Our Rally class started this month.

Yes I am taking part in the train your dog challenge, but I had professional help.  But not a professional videographer as you’ll note in the video.  Hubby was a great sport about it though, even when I made him take the video over and over again.

I discovered something during our last Rally class, Delilah has what is called a “Show Heel.”  You’ll notice it immediately when you see it, it’s when the dog is looking at the handler while they’re heeling.  At first I thought it was bad, but Ariane explained and said it’s perfectly fine.

You’ll also see that awesome About Turn that took me five years to figure out.

Yes, it’s true.

I heeled my dog with a chick pea.

Hubby wanted me to practice heeling her off leash, but I wanted to look like I knew what I was doing, so I kept the leash.

Sampson on the other hand heels very well off-leash.  At least in the house. All bets are off when I take him outside and he has all the distractions of people, other dogs, squirrels and chipmunks.

As I mentioned we had to do this a number of times.  One time a light was shining in the wrong spot, another time Hubby made some jerky movements with the camera and one time….well I’ll let the blooper explain it.

You can really notice Delilah’s show heel in this last video.  You’ll also notice the horrific light shining at the camera, hear the TV in the background and see the extra that wasn’t paid to be there.

So how did we do?  Do you think Delilah has a show heel?  Did you participate in the train your dog challenge?  Do you have an unusual treat that you train your dog with?  Did you know Train Your Dog Month is a robust blog hop hosted by Something Wagging This Way Comes?

 

Co-Hosted Follow-Up Friday

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Welcome to this week’s edition of the Co-Hosted Follow Up Friday Blog hop, the blog hop that let’s you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.

Follow-Up Friday Blog Hop

My co-hostess this week is a repeat offender. :-)  She’s dog savvy, smart and owner of three handsome pups.

Need another hint?  Her Dawgs are brown and go by the names, Thunder, Storm and Freighter.

Ah you got it!  It’s the 2 Brown Dawgs blog!  Thank you so much for co-hosting 2 Brown Dawgs, we’re happy to have you back!

Does Anybody Rally Know What Time It Is?, What’s Your Rally Cry? – Author’s Note:

Dawn made an excellent point that I forgot to mention.  The real difference between a Rally match and an Obedience match is you can talk to your dog.

In Obedience you are only allowed to give your dog commands, in Rally you can talk to your dog the entire time you are in the ring.  Which can make a huge different if you had a dog that has a mind of their own.

When I signed us up for this Rally class, I received a packet containing the Rally signs we were learning. Ariane suggests we practice the harder signs without our dogs first.  Then once we have an idea of what we’re doing, add our dogs.

I was super excited this past Tuesday, I actually did a Left About turn and I did it right!  I can’t tell you how long Sara has been trying to instruct me in this command, but it finally paid off.  I intend on including it in the video I submit for Train your dog month.

How I Write – A Guest Post by Erin Shanendoah – Author’s Note:

This was the very first guest post on this blog and I was super excited to have Erin.  I’ve been following two of Erin’s blogs for a while now, The Dog Ate My Wallet and Life by Pets and I knew of her goals to write a certain amount of guest posts this year.

I love how she approached this.  She sent me an e-mail and said here’s a post I did that might be a possible guest post for Heart Like a Dog and she attached the post.

That’s the way to do a guest post, folks!

I hope you enjoyed her post as much as I did.

Thanks again Erin!!  it was a pleasure.

Wordless Wednesday – Author’s Note:

Oh my dog!  You all had such great captions!  I can honestly say I got many giggles from them.

For the record, this is an old photo.  I took it close to two years ago and I can’t remember why they were looking in there but I can assure you 1) the water was as clean as it could be in a toilet 2) they did NOT drink any of the water and 3) Delilah would be the one who would be the instigator, not Sampson.

I did run the photo back in 2011, but considering the time that has passed, I thought it safe to run again.  So here it is, the original picture with the caption I gave it.

It really is magic. I never see them fill it, but it ALWAYS has fresh water in it!

It really is magic. I never see them fill it, but it ALWAYS has fresh water in it!

 

This ‘N That Thursday – Author’s Note:

We won a contest – Update

IMG_3932 Sampson got his turn with Mr. Sheep last night.  Within minutes he had torn a hole in his head (the sheep’s, not Sampsons.)

Unfortunately the noisemaker inside the head was a small plastic rattle.  My dogs are fine with squeakers, but I couldn’t take the chance with the rattle and I had to take it away.

IMG_3933 Poor Punkin, he looks like he lost his last friend.

Have you seen my Mojo? – Author’s Note

Yeah, I have no idea what’s up with this, but I thank you for your awesome comments, you always find a way to bolster my spirits.

I sat down yesterday and set out a few days worth of posts, and we should also be out walking this weekend which hopefully will help clear the cobwebs from my brain.

FUF

If you’re interested in co-hosting a Follow-Up Friday, please leave me a message in the comment or shoot me an e-mail, it’s a nice opportunity to met some new friends and get some exposure for your blog.

This is the Follow-Up Friday Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog.

Follow-up Friday



 

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