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Raising Freya: A Day in the Life of a Pharaoh Hound Parent

 

 

Life with Freya is never boring. As a high-energy Pharaoh Hound, she’s on the go pretty much from the time she wakes up until the moment she finally crashes for the night. Somewhere in between, she takes a quick snooze before she’s back to her adventures. Her “sister,” Mocha, is content to nap half of the day away, exercise a bit, then snuggle on the couch. I joke that she’s so chill, she’s an iced Mocha latte. Freya’s nickname, on the other hand, is Crazy Freyzie, and trust me, it fits. She’s a presence, her personality fills every inch of the house. I’d be lying if I said she didn’t sometimes drive me a little batty (like when I’m trying to work and she wants to play dot), but I wouldn’t trade her for all of the calm dogs in the world. If you’re thinking about adopting a Pharaoh Hound, or just want a peek into life with  highly active dog, read on for a glimpse at a day in the life of Freya!

A Day in the Life of Freya: My Journey with my Pharaoh Hound

Raising Freya: A Day in the Life of a Pharaoh Hound Parent

Our journey begins on most days around 9AM. Mercifully, Freya is not a morning dog and is quite content to sleep in a bit with my mom. Mocha and I usually get up around 7:30, so we have an hour of quiet to wake up before the fun begins. First thing in the morning, Freya runs out the back door into our fenced-in yard to look for something to bark at. She LOVES to hear herself talk. Most sight hounds are fairly quiet dogs. Pharaoh Hounds are not. At all.  I usually have to bribe her to come back inside. True Chews® Dog Treats treats are definitely one of her favorite bribes!

 

Over the next few hours while I’m trying to work, it’s not uncommon to hear me say (sometimes frantically) these things:

  • Freya, don’t eat your sister’s head.
  • Freya, don’t eat the cat’s head (she doesn’t hurt him, he thinks he’s a dog and tries to wrestle with her and she likes to stick his whole head in her mouth).
  • Freya! What are you eating? What is she eating? What does she have? Get that from her mouth! Freya, don’t swallow that!! (Pharaoh Hounds are pretty well-known for eating things like socks, hair ties, and other things they definitely shouldn’t ingest, so we have to be ever vigilant.)

Finally, it’s nap time! Yes, she truly does sleep like this:

Life as a Pharaoh Hound parent is never boring! Follow along on my journey with Freya with this behind the scenes glance a day in her life!

My son started it. He tucked her in one day and she liked it. Now she expects to be tucked in at least once a day. Did I mention that my dogs are utterly spoiled?

Life as a Pharaoh Hound parent is never boring! Follow along on my journey with Freya with this behind the scenes glance a day in her life!

Sometimes during the day the girls get to “go to work” with me. They know before I do when a package coming up the driveway is for them. They also know that as “blog dogs” they have to wait for me to take pictures. I started using that tree stump because I liked the way it looked. I keep using it because they both know to go over to it when I come outside with treats and a camera. Freya is super sneaky, though! She’ll let me take pictures for a minute, then when I least expect it she’ll run off with the bag! Jokes on her, though: the last time she did it, she grabbed the open True Chews bag by the bottom. All of the treats came spilling out on the ground. I snatched them up and she ran around with an empty bag!

After I get done working for the day, I spend a lot of time with Freya and Mocha. My dogs aren’t just like family, they ARE family. Right now, they’re in the “toddler” years and need a lot of extra attention, which we’re happy to give them. Freya isn’t just a high-energy dog, she’s also crazy smart. Our games together need to engage her on both a physical and mental level. I’ve said this before but it bears repeating: Pharaoh Hounds are very much “what’s in it for me?” dogs. We play training games nearly every day and they always include one of her favorite treats. Right now, her #1 favorite is True Chews Premium Jerky Cuts.

Life as a Pharaoh Hound parent is never boring! Follow along on my journey with Freya with this behind the scenes glance a day in her life!

Her favorite game is the “Wait” game. Basically, it’s just like it sounds. She sits, I ask her to wait, and she gets a treat when I say “go.” You’ll rarely see Freya sit still, but during the wait game she can go totally motionless for up to two minutes before she says “enough, already, give me my True Chews treat!”

Life as a Pharaoh Hound parent is never boring! Follow along on my journey with Freya with this behind the scenes glance a day in her life!

After the wait game, it’s time for a little treat fetch! Freya LOVES playing fetch, especially when I’m throwing pieces of True Chews Premium Jerky Cuts made with real duck!

Don’t worry, Mocha got plenty, too. We’re still working on her fetch skills, so I hand the treats right to her. That way, sissy can’t snag them before Mocha gets to them. Freya is a bit faster than Mocha.

Life as a Pharaoh Hound parent is never boring! Follow along on my journey with Freya with this behind the scenes glance a day in her life!

Although Freya has a massive fenced-in yard, I try to take her for walks every few days. I’ll be honest, she’s not exactly leash-trained the way she should be yet. She’s also incredibly strong. Don’t let her lithe body fool you, she is ALL muscle. Walking her is a full-body workout. She’s in total sight hound mode when we’re on a stroll and the moment she spots something, she’s off. It takes all of my strength to hold her. It’s definitely a part of our journey that needs a little extra attention. With practice, she will learn to walk nice on a leash, but she’ll still have those moments where she tries to dart after something. Pharaoh Hounds (and other sight hounds) are more driven by the chase instinct than most other breeds. It’s incredibly hard for them NOT to give chase when they see movement.

Back at home, it’s time to start winding down: a process that takes a few hours! Freya’s favorite game in the whole wide world is “dot.” We have a drawer full of laser pointers, and I buy more every week. As soon as it’s dark enough, my mom takes her outside for her “dot run.” Mocha gets crazy excited too because HER favorite game is chasing Freya during a dot run! The dot serves two functions. First, it helps Freya work off some of her extra energy. Second, it gets her to come inside because we finish up the game in the living room. I apologize for the grainy video here, but it needed to be somewhat dark so she could see the dot.

Notice Mocha hiding off to the side? She doesn’t like it when Freya plays this game in the house, mostly because Freyzie is so focused on the laser pointer that she runs Mocha over. You would think after all of that activity, Freya would be ready to crash. Almost, but not quite yet! First she has to “fix” the couch! She doesn’t just sit down and go to sleep. You know how some dogs do circles before laying down? Well, Freya rearranges the furniture!

Finally, it’s bed time! Freya goes from 60 to 0 in like a second flat. One minute she’s like lightning, the next she’s completely zonked out.

Life as a Pharaoh Hound parent is never boring! Follow along on my journey with Freya with this behind the scenes glance a day in her life!

Like I said, life with Freya is never boring. It’s also rarely quiet! Both her and Mocha have brought us so much joy that I can’t begin to imagine life without them. The last year with her has definitely been an adventure and a learning experience, and I can’t wait to see what comes next. One thing I’ve learned: the key to holding Freya’s attention and teaching her something new is to reward her with treats that she loves. I feel good about giving her True Chews because they’re made in the USA with 100% natural ingredients. Their protein sources are raised without antibiotics, and they never use artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

Raising Freya: A Day in the Life of a Pharaoh Hound Parent

Visit the True Chews website to learn more about these tasty & natural dog treats, then use the store locator to find them in a specialty pet store near you! Follow True Chews on Facebook to keep up with all of their news. Keep coming back to learn more about my journey as a Pharaoh Hound parent!

 

Raising Freya: A Day in the Life of a Pharaoh Hound Parent

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of True Chews. The opinions and text are all mine.