All of a sudden Delilah jumped straight up and backed away from where she was sniffing. I called her to me my side and stroked her head in an effort to comfort her.

Since I know we have garter snakes in the woods, I stopped and listened but I didn’t hear the distinct rustle of a snake through brush.  None-the-less I cautiously approached the area and looked around (without poking,) but couldn’t see anything.

I called Delilah indicating it was alright to follow me.  I know she was still spooked because as she approached that particular area she jumped over that portion of the trail.

The rest of our walk continued without incident.

Yesterday while we were walking Delilah jumped and twisted her head around to look at her back.  I noticed a fly on her and I swatted it away but I’m pretty sure it was a deer fly and I’m pretty sure it bit her.  I say that because as we were readying for our walk this morning, she kept turning around again and looking at her back.

I had no idea there were such a thing as deer flies until last year when I got bit by one.  At the time I thought it was a horse fly but the deer fly is actually much smaller, oh and did I mention they bite.

After the attack of the bugs last year I went out and bought one of those electric rackets, you know the one I mean.

Photo courtesy of Gottahaveitforless.com

I’m siriusly thinking of bringing it with me on my walk tomorrow.  I will swing that racket and I will smote those bugs like Lord Voldemort smote the Death Eaters and Goblins after the Huffle Puff Horcrux was stolen from Gringotts.

So if you happen to be in my area tomorrow and hear someone screaming “Avada Kedavra,” make sure you maintain a safe distance.

We had agreed to a two-week foster-to-adopt contract, just to make sure you were the right fit for our family.

That first day was horrific, you were wild, crazy and out of control.  I cried on and off the entire day, and was fairly certain you weren’t the right dog for us.

What we wanted was a companion for Sampson, someone to keep him company and play with him while we were at work.  But most of that first day Sampson wanted nothing to do with you, which made me cry harder.  Of course when you two finally started to play, you guessed it.  I cried some more.

That first day I don’t think I really liked you.  In fact, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to keep you.  But after dinner you sat in the kitchen and your eyes would close, but you wouldn’t give in to sleep.  It was almost as if you felt like if you fell asleep you would wake up and it would all be a dream.   It was at that moment my heart melted.

I felt so bad for you.  I looked at the harsh scars on your feet and wondered how many humans had failed you already in your short life and vowed then and there that I wouldn’t be another one.  I called you to me and coaxed you to lie down and finally you slept.

You’ve given me a run for my money these past five years,  but along the way I’ve learned a lot from you.

I’ve learned that giving up is not an option.

There is more than one way to get what you want.

Embrace life, live it to the fullest and do it with enthusiasm and joy.

Meet your challenges head on, no shying away.

If you have a bad day it’s OK, tomorrow is a new day, you can start it with a clean slate.

I’ve learned that even if you are afraid, come out fighting.  If you look and act like the biggest and baddest most everyone believes you are.

Almost every problem can be solved with a piece of dried liver.

We’ve been through a lot these past five years, sometimes when I think about how far you’ve come, I’m overwhelmed with your progress.  You really are pretty amazing and I wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world.

Happy Gotcha Day Delilah, I’m sure glad we did.

You and me on your first day. Notice my red rimmed eyes.

You know sometimes you post about something and you need an update but it doesn’t warrant a whole blog.  Or sometimes someone made a comment that really resonated with you.  Yup, Follow-Up Friday baby!

What Happens On Sunday – Author’s Thought

There are times when like Sampson, I’d like to lie in my drink.  I’m thinking a gigantic Margarita.  I imagine it this way: rimming the pool with salt and just sitting or floating around with a gigantic straw in my mouth, licking the sides of the pool. LOL

Now that’s a cool and refreshing beverage!

Aliens Took My Dog – Author’s Note:

Since that day whenever Delilah is in the bathroom I put her in a down stay on the rug.  Some days she does better than others, but that’s ok.  She and I are both trying.

WTF Wednesday (A Day Late) - Author’s Note

Sorry for the snafu with this post.  Like I said, I wrote it, I tweaked it, I published it and then something didn’t feel right.  So I took it down, and I used the Whoo Hoo piece and made it the post.

After I took it down and read your comments I realized you all are right, it is my blog and I need to publish what I want, if you don’t want to read it that is your choice.  Besides we all know, “Well behaved women rarely make history.”

When I tried to repost it, it ended up posting behind Whoo Hoo Wednesday, so I trashed it yet again and apparently I trashed it correctly this time because I lost the one comment I had, which was from Frankie and Ernie verifying that yes, that is a Robin’s egg.

So on to the post itself, first I want to say, I was incorrect in saying the puppy died after 17 days.  The article did not specify the time frame, it said the puppy died days later.  I’m not sure where I got that 17 from.

If I’m being truthful here (which I strive to always be) I think the puppy story really did me in.  It’s so horrific and disgusting and 2 Brown Dawgs is right, the puppy shouldn’t have needed to suffer.

There are times even in the work of rescue where we have to realize we cannot save every single one.  It’s sad and it sucks, but it’s the truth.

I’ve been really sad the last couple of days and can’t quite put my finger on it.

More than likely it’s probably the damn menopause. Honest to God, I’ve been through a divorce, lost my father in an accident at 13, lost all of my grandparents by the time I was 25, raised three girls on a one income salary, went to college while raising three girls and I can’t handle menopause.

I hate being emotional and that puppy story made me emotional.  I’m not a person prone to violence, but I want to hurt that man.  My one thought is that when he gets to prison, which I’m pretty certain he will at some point, that he gets what he deserves because God knows the legal system in this country isn’t going to give it to him.

Whew, I’m done and climbing down from the soap box now.

I hope you had a great week.  Stay safe and have an enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend.

Truthfully some of this stories are so disturbing I hate to even bring attention to them.  But I threw it out there to you and I felt like you all really supported me with the WTF Wednesday series, so I decided to put it up tonight.

The only thing that changed is it was WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday, but since the Whoo Hoo replaced WTF last night, you’re only getting WTF today.

Make sense?

So without further ado, here is WTF Wednesday (a day late.)

During our walk this past weekend I almost stepped on a beautiful bright blue Robin’s egg.  (At least I’ve always been told those were Robin eggs.)

I stood in the middle of the woods looking around for a nest and saw none.  I wondered, how did this little egg fall from a nest?  I thought, where is the little mama bird?

And then my evil little mind started wandering a dark and scary path.  What if the mama bird knew it was a bad egg and pushed it out herself?

It reminded me of a conversation I’d had with the movers who came to pack up my daughter’s possessions and ship them to her in California.  The conversation (as usual with me) had turned to dogs and somehow we started talking about how people can be so cruel to animals, then one of the men said it was too bad we didn’t have a bad person detector.

You know like Charlie and the Chocolate factory when Veruca Salt jumps up on the bad egg detector and she gets dropped down the chute?

I figure we can call this a human dick-tector.

We made a little joke about a baby being born, put on the human dick-tector and the meter saying, “Nope, this one’s bad, get rid of this mutherf*cker.”

What would people do if they had the option of knowing their child was going turn out to be a horrible human being?  Would they make the choice (like an animal might in the wild) to abandon the child?

Which brings me to the next question.

WTF is going on in Texas?

I just happened to be on a Texas news site recently and found this disturbing story.

Bond reduced for Dallas man accused of setting puppy on fire.

Honestly, sometimes I have trouble reading these stories because they sicken me to the very core of my being.  If you’re like me and don’t like reading such things, I will spare you.  After 17 agonizing days the puppy died.

This man has been accused of violating his probation for four years, beginning at the age of fourteen years old.

That right there tells me something.  It tells me this is not your typical teenager getting into minor spats with the law. From what I can gather, he is prone to violence and has been accused of being in a gang.

Let’s put this guy on the dick-tector…….yup, this muther is no good, throw his ass down the chute and into the fiery furnace.

I bet if he was an egg in a nest, he would have been pushed out.

Baby allegedly in feces-filled room, 58 dogs seized.

Gross right?  A baby in a crib surrounded by filth.  Fifty Eight dogs, in crates containing vomit, feces and urine,  with no food or water.

Apparently a shelter in a nearby Texas county was allowing this woman to adopt animals without doing a background check.

W.T.F?

What does the dick-tector say about Teresa Weldon?

Put her in a crate with no food or water.

Barking Mad.

An unnamed man and his female accomplice were taken into custody Tuesday, after stealing an English Bull dog puppy from a local pet store.  After some quick work by the Houston police, the puppy was found unharmed and returned to the pet store.

When apprehended the female suspect laughed and said, “I don’t know why he didn’t want to buy it. He could have, but he didn’t.”

The suspect in question barked at the cameras.

Let’s put this guy on the dick-tector.

Put a bark collar on this guy, he’s apparently already been shocked a number of times.

How about you?  Was there anything that came your way that left you shaking your head saying WTF?

Truthfully, I think the people who commit these crimes are disgusting and while I’m poking fun at the people, inside in my heart it just doesn’t seem right to make someone laugh over something so vile.  Even if the laugh is aimed at the person committing the crime.

If I’m wrong about this I’m sure you all will let me know and I can start it up again.

So here is a Whoo Hoo Wednesday!

Over Crowded Shelter.

A shelter in Fort Worth with a capacity for 400 animals, had 560 as of yesterday.  For the first time in over two years the shelter is looking at having to euthanize healthy animals.

An emergency cry to the public and a reduction in adoption fees has resulted in the adoption of 87 animals!  Of course, there is still over-crowding in the shelter, so if you could share the above link on your social media outlets, perhaps we can help some special pets find their forever homes.  The reduced adoption rates will remain in effect until the end of May.

After I posted the original WTF on my facebook page one of my friends in Texas let me know that the shelter is swarming with potential adopters so the euthanasias have put on hold.

I think that’s amazing and worth a Whoo Hoo!  How bout’ you, what Whoo Hoo’d your world this week?

While I was in the bathroom getting ready for work Delilah came in.  I pulled out my rug and threw it on the floor and said, “Down.”

Down she went.

I told her to stay, so she got herself all comfy and stayed.

Granted it wasn’t good enough for a show stay, but she did stay.  Even when I left the bathroom and went to check to see if my eggs were boiling.

Once I released her we went to the kitchen to get breakfast.  Even though she was dancing and jumping until we got there, she sat at the edge of the kitchen and waited while I got her breakfast.

She didn’t move once.

After breakfast the eggs were ready to be peeled. This can take me about 10 minutes because 1) I peel them while they are hot and 2) I make all my breakfast eggs at the beginning of the week, I also make a few for Hubby which means I made 14 eggs yesterday morning.

I peel the eggs directly over the garbage can.  Sometimes Delilah’s right there with me, trying to reach into the garbage and take out what I’m putting in there.

Not yesterday morning.

While I was peeling eggs Delilah sat in the doorway watching me.   At one point a piece of shell flew off and landed on the floor, I watched her from the corner of my eye.  She looked at it and then made the decision to leave it.

A minute or two later she looked at it again and I saw her head move as if she was going to get up and I said, “ACK,” and she left it alone.

I had no other options than to 1) reward her for such excellent behavior and 2) come to the conclusion that aliens had taken my dog.

Never fear, they brought her back late in the afternoon.

Just in time to help me make dinner.

How did your Monday go?

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a big pet blogging social media conference taking place next month.  I had really hoped to go, but finances just wouldn’t allow, so I will have to read all about it from all you awesome bloggers who do attend.

I read on the Blogpaws website this morning that at the conference there will be a Nose-to-Nose Pet Blogging and Social Media Awards event on the red carpet Saturday evening, June 23rd.

I was so excited to find out that three of the bloggers I follow, were nominated!

Kristine from Rescued Insanity is up for Best Blog Writing.  How awesome is that?  Seriously the girl puts out good quality blog content (with a little help from the tornado on a leash,  Shiva,) raises money for animals, runs in marathons and all without breaking a sweat.

Up for Best Blog Photo, is Jen at My Brown Newfies.  (Go ahead check out the photo, I’ll wait.) Isn’t it absolutely adorable?

I only recently started following My Brown Newfies and I have to say, her Leroy reminds me of Delilah, only way bigger.  I’d go so far as to say cuter, but sorry Jen I gotta stick with my chocolate girl.  I sure do hope you win though!

Last, but certainly not least, up for Best Cause is BTC 4 Animals.  If you’ve been around the blogosphere for a while you know that every three months on the 15th, is Blog the Change, a day when pet bloggers unite and blog about a way to help animals.

This dedicated group of ladies don’t just blog about change once a quarter, they all have their passions and work tirelessly to educate and inform and really BE the change.  Just pop over and check out the website to see what their cause is today.

I really wish I was going to be in Salt Lake City cheering my friends on, but since I can’t you can bet I’ll be cheering from home.

Congratulations to all of the nominees and best of luck to my blogging friends!! I can’t wait to hear all about it.

I can’t wait to read Kristine’s post about the race and hope the weather was nice for the race.

For the last four or five days we’ve had some amazing weather here, nice and cool at night and warm during the day.

When I can’t walk Sampson and Delilah during the cool parts of the day, I try to keep their walks to about 20 or 25 minutes, we’ve also got a little pool set up outside for them.

Delilah will step in and drink a little water, but Sampson likes to lie down in it while he drinks the water.

How do you exercise your dogs in the warmer weather?

Yesterday there was no LaCrosse so after a quick trip on one of the trails I thought it might be nice to walk around the field a couple of times.

Since we started walking every day I do try to spice of their walks just a bit.  I decided yesterday to run a little bit in preparation for K-9 Kamp.  I thought it might be interesting to shoot a video of the dogs running.

I was so busy paying attention to the camera and trying to make sure the dogs stayed in the frame that I failed to notice one of the friendly people we’ve met on our walks was crossing our path.  Sampson of course saw him and once he started running, well Delilah did to.

Thankfully I didn’t fall on my bum, but once I watched it I thought it might give you a chuckle as well. “-)  Enjoy.

You know sometimes you post about something and you need an update but it doesn’t warrant a whole blog.  Or sometimes someone made a comment that really resonated with you.  Yup, Follow-Up Friday baby!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie – Author’s Note

I forgot to mention.

Sampson snores.

In fact, I think he may have sleep apnea.  Do you think it’s even possible?  Sometimes he will take a really deep breath, exhale and I swear he doesn’t take another breath for about 10 to 15 seconds!  It scares the bejesus out of me.

But sometimes between Sampson and Hubby snoring, it’s a wonder I get any sleep at all.

TTouch – Author’s Note

After reading the comments, it seems like some of you are already using this TTouch.  I say good for you.  I feel it’s important to know your dog and what works for them.

Negative Punishment – Author’s Note

I think I might have been a little too descriptive in this post.  I heard Clorox had a run on bleach.

Hope you had a great week!