Tick Tick BOOM

Thursday night Delilah and I popped into the drop-in agility class at The Mellow Mutt.

We were a few minutes early so I started my treat shopping, with Delilah’s help of course.

I was checking out the grain-free treats while Delilah tried to steal checked out a pig’s ear.  Sara’s dog, Chuck came over, whether it was to say hello to me or to tell Delilah to back off the treats, I’m not sure.  But before I knew it, they were snapping at each other.

What the BEEP?

I mean it’s Chuck, our buddy, the guy we play with ALL the time.

Chuckers went to sulk in the other room, Delilah and I finished our shopping and then we walked into the agility room.  I looked around and only saw one dog I knew, Brisco a really high-energy little guy.

I walked to the farthest corner of the room.

Dude.  I won’t lie.  That altercation with Chuck really threw me.

So there we are in our corner, Brisco is in one corner, there is a German Shepherd mix in one corner, an Akita named Boots against the wall and this couple walks into the last remaining corner with two Labs, one yellow and one black.

I thought Brisco had a lot of energy, but these two labs had way more and their mom said they’d been swimming and running earlier.  I thanked God right then and there that neither one of my dogs are that energetic.

We were up first and I wish I’d had a video, it was a great run.   All our future runs were mediocre as Delilah was now on the hunt for the treats left behind by the Labs.  In fact, when Sara took the chute up, Delilah spent a bit of time in there cleaning it up.

You can see the little brown treat between her legs, she could smell it but had the hardest time finding it.

During her first attempt at a run the black lab decided to rush headlong into our corner.

That didn’t work well.  She got a face full of chocolate lab.

Thankfully I remembered to scream LOOK, at which point Delilah’s head whipped around and the mom moved her dog out of the line of fire.

After the fiasco with the black lab I tried to keep Delilah distracted with treats.

The A-Frame was set up so when the dogs came over in one direction they could in fact run straight into our corner.

Unfortunately the GSD did not get the memo telling him to avoid the chocolate lab eating treats in the corner.

Yup, he was the next dog that got a face full of chocolate.

By the time we got to our fourth run, Delilah was exhausted and had more interest in cleaning up the leftover treats than she had in running the course again, and I was totally on edge, so we declined a fifth go.

I didn’t get a video of our run, however I did manage to record Brisco’s with his dad.

Up until a few months ago his parent’s were working agility with treats, but he loves the squeaker ball,  so Sara suggested using that instead which works a little better for him.

He doesn’t have the best form but his enthusiasm and energy makes him a joy to watch.  (Mental note to self, don’t hit the stop button quite so soon.)

The Tick Tick BOOM has absolutely nothing to do with this post, it’s a saying I heard on a show and I thought it sounded cool. 😉

Follow-Up Friday

For those new to the blog, my follow-up Friday provides me with an opportunity to update or revise a post from the previous week.

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!

Clueless – Author’s Note:

Most of you commented that you wouldn’t have a problem walking with me, that made me feel better.  The reason you’d walk with me is because you all understand the importance of having a well-behaved dog.

I like my dogs to be ambassador’s of the dog world and not a reason for people to ban them.  I believe you all feel the same way about your dogs.  Unfortunately most of the dog people I’ve encountered in my little corner of the world apparently think they are entitled to let their dogs run willy-nilly.

Besides you are my friends, at least until you meet me in person. 🙂

Would You Pay? – Author’s Note

Oh my dog ya’ll, did you think I was trying to raise funds for a dog park?

I don’t have the time or energy for that!

I was thinking of what my idea of a perfect dog park would be, and I thought I’d pay to have something that I wanted.  I just thought I’d throw it out to you.

Although I did take Julie’s advice and submitted the idea to the Beneful Dream park.  What the heck, I didn’t have anything to lose. 🙂

WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday – Author’s Note

In my WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday post, Al commented on the picture of Sampson and Delilah.

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If ever a picture depicted the two different personalities of Delilah and Sampson, that one does.”

I’ve said it before, these dogs are polar opposites, they are literally like night and day in every way, except for two.

They are both very loving and both very, very easy to love.

That about wraps up my week, how was yours?  Anything exciting planned for the weekend?

This ‘N That Thursday

Many thanks to our friends at 2 Brown Dawgs blog for creating This ‘N That Thursday.

Courtesy of 2 Brown Dawgs Blog

SAMPSON

I wanted to share an example of just HOW good my boy Sampson is.

Last night Hubby went outside to ‘button up the jeep.’  In good weather he likes to take the top and doors off, but has to make sure everything goes back on at night.  Sampson loves to be outside with his daddy, he sits or lies in the driveway and basically watches the world go by.

Sometimes friendly people and dogs walk by and Sampson and Daddy will step out for a visit.  Most nights Daddy ends this ritual with a quick walk up and down the street.

As soon as they stepped outside, I realized that Sampson did not have his ID collar on.  (We all know how I feel about that.)  I left Delilah in the kitchen after I’d made sure there was nothing edible within her reach.

As I opened the door, Sampson looked up at me from his spot down the driveway and I said, “Hey Big Boy, you need to have your collar on.”

I held up the collar as I spoke and he ran right up to me and waited while I secured it around his neck.

That’s how damn good and damn smart Sampson is.

I’m afraid he has ruined me for any future dogs.

DELILAH

Remember that post from a couple of weeks back, the one where Delilah’s head went through the screen after a cat?

In yesterday’s post I mentioned how Sampson and Delilah were outside on Tuesday when I got home from work.   You may recall that Delilah was on the balcony.  Hubby, Sampson and I went inside the house and were greeted by Delilah.

She came in through the ripped screen. 🙂  The kicker was that Hubby had stopped at Home Depot on his way home, but forgot to get the screen material.

The other thing I wanted to share about Delilah is this.  Last night I was sitting on my bed working on today’s post.

I was eating one of my (and the dogs) favorite snacks  – string cheese, while Sampson laid on the bed and Delilah sat on the floor both staring intently at me.

After I finished my snack, I stood up and slid my flip-flops (which had been on the floor next to the bed) on and almost hurled.  The left one was covered in drool. 😦

Do your dogs have any funny quirks you’d like to share?  Sound off in the comments.

WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday

Please note this post is not meant to make light of the deeds described here, only to make fun of, ridicule, bully and just plain beat the shit out of the idiots who commit these stupid acts.

W. T. F.

Well believe it or not, there were two WTF’s at Stone Manor this week and they both happened yesterday!

Hubby was outside when I got home.

I looked up as I pulled in and saw Sampson run across the lawn to greet me.  Sampson loves to be out when his Dad is working outside, Delilah who can’t be trusted to stay in the yard, greeted me from the balcony.

I love when Hubby is home when I get home because it means he can prepare the dog’s food and start supper while I get an early walk in.

I asked Hubby to prepare their food,  while I went and changed into my walking clothes.

The dogs were intently watching Dad chunk the roast.

A big WTF goes out to the canines at Stone Manor.

I jingled their collars and was ignored.

WTF?

I’m the one who takes you for a walk every, single day and you ignore me for a hunk of beef?

Where’s the love man?

Hubby’s the brunt of the second WTF.

I reached down to put Sampson’s collar on and realized he didn’t have his ID collar on while he was outside!

WTF?  I said to Hubby, he was outside without a collar?

Guess what that a-hole said?

Unlike you, I have faith in him.

News flash: I have faith in him too muther f*cker, you know why I have faith?

Because I’m the one out there walking and working those  dogs every day of my life.

Don’t ever imply I don’t have faith in my dogs.  That just might earn you a night or two on the couch.

What kind of idiot lets their dog outside without a collar?

The idiot who lives with me. 😦

WTF/Whoo Hoo

Injured Dog Rescued From Mountain.

In last week’s WTF post Missy the German Shepherd’s story made the WTF portion of the post.  Technically while it was horrible, the fact that a group of strangers came together to save her should have been a big WHOO HOO!!

I’m still on the fence about this one, only because after abandoning his dog, this jack wagon now wants his dog back.

I have a saying and it goes like this, “You can blame your parents for the first eighteen years of your life, after that you need to own your own shit.”  Yes you can quote me.

I’ll give him credit, the guy owned his shit.

And I’ll own mine, I still haven’t read all the threads on the hiking forum, but I have read this article.  Apparently the guy says he did try and get the dog down the mountain and did call 911 but was told that rescue teams only went out for humans.

I believe that.  But I also believe that there were other options available to him and that he didn’t put forth the effort that one of us would have put forth.

I get that not everyone knows about the great dog resources and support available by social media, but you have to be living under a rock if you haven’t heard ABOUT social media!

Come on!  Women have been reunited with their lost children on Facebook!!

He messed up, he messed up bad.  He admitted it.  He wants his dog back.

Sorry Charlie, only the best tasting tuna gets to be Starfish.

Whoo Hoo

Whew!  My really bad WTF for this week turned out to be a Whoo Hoo!

My dear friend Donna, from Donna and the dogs posted this on my facebook page.

Three Dogs Tied to Ohio Railroad Tracks, One Survives.

I read the post with a sick feeling in my stomach and then tried to get it out of my mind until it was time to write the post.

Quite honestly, even though I read about this kind of stuff all the time, it still just boggles my mind how cruel some people can be.

If you really don’t want a dog, then please just bring it to the pound.  Even if they end up putting it to sleep (it sucks, but it’s reality) at least it’s humane.

When I sat down to write the post I did a little googling to see if maybe they caught the ass-clown who did this and I found this article.

Cleveland police say story of 3 dogs tied to Tremont railroad tracks wasn’t true.

What a freakin relief!

Although I worry now that someone has put the idea out there that some other a-hole won’t attempt to do the same thing. 😦

Thankfully this week’s WTF/Whoo Hoo didn’t leave me feeling to down in the dumps.  How was your week?  Anything you’d like to share?

Would You Pay?

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but much of my thinking about what to blog about is done on our walks.

Not only do I depend upon the dogs to provide me entertainment and material, I often times am thinking of something one of you wrote about, whether it be in a post or a comment.  If I’m not doing that, I’m daydreaming.

Here is my latest daydream, it’s for a dog park that is completely fenced in, so all dogs can be off-leash.

There would be a nice field, for fetching or playing games and a great big pond for swimming.  There would also be wooded trails and picnic tables so a person or family could go and make a day of it.

There would always be someone on duty during hours of operation and you would check in at a little gate and get a wrist band for yourself and your dog would get a matching band that would attach to the collar.  This would be designed along the lines of the bracelets used on maternity wards to prevent someone other than you leaving with your dog.

The park would offer classes, such as rally, agility, nosework, obedience, etc.

It would look something like this:

The blue circle indicates the pond, while the dark green circle is the playing/training field.  The smaller squares of green are trees, while the brown squares would be the walking trails.  The two gray lines in the front indicate the path in to the park and the large gray building to the right of the path is the guard shack.  The red lines are picnic tables.

Of course this is just a quick sketch meant to give you a general idea.  I forgot to add a large indoor ring that could be used to hold matches or indoor training when the weather is poor.

The park would definitely be a member’s only park.  There would be specific rules and regulations and all dogs would need to be friendly and you would need to sign something saying you agreed to the rules.

Here’s the question, if something like this were available in your area would you pay to belong?  How much would something like this be worth to a dog owner?

Would a park like this generate enough money to pay for the taxes and any upkeep as well as the security and trainers, or would it need to supplement by offering classes to the general public and reduced classes to members?

Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments.

Here Has Many Meanings

We’ve had a humid streak in the northeast for the last few months.  It’s actually been so bad that I’ve had to keep the dog’s walks to about 30 minutes.  Much more than that and we are all just about ready to drop.  Even on those mornings when we’ve been able to get out early, the humidity really does us in.

Friday night we got some big thunder storms which thankfully drove the humidity away.

Hubby and I take turns sleeping in on the weekends.  Unless Hubby has to work on Saturdays, that is his day to sleep in, while mine is Sunday.  I love sleeping in on Sundays.

Yesterday was no exception.  I’m not sure if it was the cooler, fresh air pouring in through the open windows or the Xanax I took just before bed, but I slept pretty darn good; only pulling my lazy butt out of bed just before nine.

It was so nice yesterday morning I couldn’t wait to get out with the dogs in the cool morning air.

As I’ve noted before, I’m calling the dogs back to me quite frequently.

What I found out yesterday is the Here command can be used for more than one purpose.

Delilah loves to roll in things, especially when she’s in the soccer field.

Usually it’s a clump of fresh-cut grass, but you never know with Delilah.  I’ve caught her rolling in worse.

I can tell she’s on the scent of something and I try to distract her, but some days it’s just inevitable that Delilah will roll in something.

Yesterday was one of those days.

She was just too quick for me.  Maybe it was the after effects of the Xanax but before I knew it there Delilah was rolling around on the ground.

Here, I said reaching into my treat bag.

She immediately stopped what she was doing, jumped up and ran over to me. 🙂

Focusing on just one command has been beneficial to the dogs but it has also been really good for me.  It is far easier to remember one command rather than here, come, leave-it, wait, sit, down.

Well you get the point. 🙂

Traveling In The Wrong Pack

Most of the people who follow this blog and train dogs, work with the positive reinforcement method.  I train this way because I want my dogs and I to have a bond and I believe that is achievable through positive reinforcement training.

A couple of years ago I stopped at a tag sale a couple of streets away. I was very impressed with a woman and her dogs, they stayed calmly in the yard and followed her around.  I told her how I was struggling with Delilah.

The woman went in the house and brought out a postcard stating she was a dog trainer along with all of her contact information.  She asked if I would like to walk with her sometime.  I told her I would love that.

I waited a day or so (I didn’t want to seem TOO eager) and contacted her via facebook.  She asked if I wanted to walk and I said yes.  I then gave her my schedule for the week.

I never heard from her again.

In retrospect, this was a blessing in disguise.

This is the same woman I mentioned in my Passive-Aggressive post.

The same woman who deliberately left her dogs for seven to ten anxious, panicked filled moments, while she taught them a lesson about traveling with the wrong pack.

The same woman who thinks dogs have the capability of being passive-aggressive.

The same woman who lets her dogs roam all over the woods with no regard for anyone else or their dogs.

The same woman who has no identification of any kind on her dog.

As I stood there in the woods last Saturday listening to these two women talk about the archaic methods they use to train their dogs, I took a moment to say a prayer of thanks that I don’t travel in her pack.

Clueless

The park at the top of the street isn’t an off-leash dog park.  Heck it isn’t even a dog park if you want to be technical.  It’s a soccer field surrounded by trails.

Most people who walk on the trails either have a dog, or have had a dog in the past.  Most of these people walk(ed) their dogs at the park off-leash.

There are a lot of people who use this park, but most of them don’t care to walk their dogs with me.  When I mentioned that in a post a couple of days ago, a few of you asked why.

This is the way I see it.

I’m a conscientious dog owner.  I want to make sure that my dogs are well-behaved and respectful.  I do not want to be the reason that animal control says you can’t walk your dogs up here anymore.

Okay, I do admit I fall into that…..what did Kristine call it?

Oh yes…..MDIF (my dog is friendly) category but for the most part I’m very consciousness when I walk my dogs.

I keep my dogs close by and do not like them to be out of my sight for a number of reasons.

Poop

I always pick up after my dogs when they poop.

Okay you got me… if Sampson goes off the trail and poops, no I do not go in after that, and yes  I might sometimes push some poop off the trail if Delilah decides to squat where she’s walking.

But I never, ever leave my dog’s poop anywhere that someone could step in it.  When they poop in the field, I pick it up.

Besides, I need to make sure their having normal poops. 🙂

People

Most of the people walk with dogs, but there are some who walk alone.

Let’s face it, not all people are dog people and those people do not want to come across an unaccompanied dog that they have no idea whether the dog is friendly or not.

This person could call animal control or worse, scare or hurt your dog.

Or your dog could hurt someone else.

“S’s” dog Brady is a jumper.  Not too long ago he jumped on a mentally disabled person causing them to lose their balance.  The person went down a number of stairs, somehow (amazingly) managing to remain on his feet.  Imagine the trouble ‘S’ and Brady would have been in if he hadn’t.

Property

Delilah loves to run off the trail and scope out other people’s property.  She will scrounge around looking for food.  Maybe this doesn’t bother some people, but what if she damaged something?  Remember the time she got caught on the air conditioning unit?  It’s a good thing (for me) that she didn’t do any damage, I would have been responsible for that.

Other dogs

The few people who do walk their dogs on leash do so for a reason.  Perhaps their dogs are fearful, maybe they are runners like Delilah.  They do not want unleashed dogs rushing up to their dog.

One would hope that no-one would let an unpredictable dog off-leash but we all know that not every dog owner is responsible.  I like to supervise any meetings my dogs have.

Injury

We are walking on hiking trails.  This means there are rocks, cliffs and fallen trees.  How can I help my dog if (s)he becomes injured if I do not know where they are?

Not to mention animals.  There are wild animals that could really hurt my dogs up there.  Granted they should not be out during the day, but I’m pretty sure if they’re rabid they don’t worry about what time of day it is.

Illness

I have big dogs, I worry about bloat.  I’m very cautious about making sure we wait two hours after eating.

Sometimes I walk before breakfast, but I still make sure to wait an hour before I feed them their meal.

But there are kids who like to go into the park at night and have bonfires.  They sit around the fire drinking alcohol and baking potatoes.  Not that a potato should hurt my dogs, but you never know what else those kids are doing.

And it’s not just food items that can be dangerous, there are bugs, small animals and plants that can be dangerous to your dogs.  If you don’t know where your dog is you cannot monitor what your dog is eating.  And if you don’t know what your dog ate, you can’t tell the vet and get the proper treatment.

You get the point, right?

Most people who walk their dogs where I walk don’t think like this.  Walking with me doesn’t jive with their way of thinking.

I sometimes feel like I’m the only one who walks up there that even has a clue about what could happen with/to their dog.

Are you like me, surrounded by people who don’t train the same way you do?

Follow-Up Friday

For those new to the blog, my follow-up Friday provides me with an opportunity to update or revise a post from the previous week.

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!

Please feel free to grab the badge and join me in recapping or wrapping up your week.   It doesn’t matter if you do it every week or just once in  a while.

This week’s posts have been largely focused on training.  If you have a dog you understand some part of your life will always include training.

I’d like anyone who’s struggling with a challenging dog to know that there is hope.

Don’t give up, check out new trainers, new sports, new groups.  Find something that works for both you and your dog.

Practice Makes Perfect –  Update:

On yesterday’s walk I took Delilah off-leash again.  As soon as I took her off, I called her back.  Anytime she got too far ahead of me, I called her back.  Most of the time she kept coming back to me on her own, or kept looking back at me, as if she wanted my approval.

I gave it to her, along with lots of treats.

Again I kept her off-leash time to a limit, then back on leash she went.

It is the small successes that add up.

Passive Aggressive – Author’s Note

I think I could write another full post on this particular topic.  There is so much I want to say, about the way people around me train and take care of their dogs.  Look for me to come back to this topic at a future date.

WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday – Update

Pamela was kind enough to point out that I missed a great big Whoo Hoo.  And that would be to the eight strangers who banded together to get the GDS, Misty down from the mountain.

That was my bad.  I was trying to shorten my post and get it published in a timely fashion.  And truthfully, sometimes the WTF really brings me down.

My friend at 2 Brown Dawgs blog mentioned in the comments that she read the entire thread regarding Misty’s rescue.

I didn’t.

Apparently the dog’s plight was posted on the message board and a group of people got together and went in and rescued Misty.

Then her owner came forward.

Which once again is a topic for an entire post, but only after I read the entire thread. 🙂

That’s it for me, hope you have a great weekend!

Most Improved

Well hello, most improved the instructor said in a high-pitched meant-to-praise-and-reward-your-dog tone of voice.

It worked.

Delilah lifted her head up as Jackie our instructor reached down and took Delilah’s face in both hands, bringing her own face down to deliver a kiss on the end of Delilah’s nose.

We had just completed the last class of our Intermediate Dog and Handler class put on by Pet Education and Therapy.

Jackie looked up at me and we shook hands.

Thank you, I said.

Thank you very much.

It was my pleasure, really.  You know you could title her in Rally with no problems, Jackie said.

Really? I may have sounded slightly incredulous, I mean this is Delilah we were talking about after-all.

Oh yes, no problem.  She’d pass first time in the ring.

If she did as well in the ring as she did in Tuesday night’s class, yes she could pass in a Rally ring.

Our class was held outside.  We started with a quick recap of sits, downs, looks and stays.

Then we went advanced.

We did Figure-Eights.

Using two cones and starting in the middle, work your figure-eight with your dog in a heel position.

We worked on recalls.

Jackie had us line up and then she walked up to the first dog, took the leash from the handler and the handler crossed the field and recalled their dog.  She did this super quick, so we were running.  On the second pass she didn’t tell us, but she was holding a handful of treats.

I had to call Delilah twice, the first time she didn’t even look at me. 😦

Using a jump, we practiced our wait command.

This is Mopar, he is nine months old; waiting was hard for him.

We then worked our stay commands.

Delilah was the one of only two dogs who did a three-minute down WITHOUT breaking.

Three minutes, that’s nothin! What else ya got?

She was the ONLY ONE who did a one minute sit.

Jackie says the sit stays are really hard, because some dogs want to just lie down.

Lastly we walked past another dog, making sure we had a loose leash.

I think this class was really good for Delilah and me.  I really do feel like we have formed a bond.

And I’m really grateful that Sara has no problem with me checking out another trainer.  Sometimes I think it’s good to hear the same thing from someone different.

I know there are things that Delilah and I learned in this class that Sara has tried to teach us.  Maybe it’s because I’m so comfortable with Sara that I don’t pay attention enough. :-0

Surprised, eh?

Me too.

What surprised you the most, that Delilah and I were most improved or that I don’t pay attention? 😉