October 6th. Tuesday
10:35 pm
Back to clean up. Both guys finished off some late night dinner about 10:15. They barely touched it, apparently the big appetites after the walk disappeared with the day food. But they wanted some before-bed food.
Bubba went back to the bedroom, and Buddy curled up on the back of the couch. Time to clean the last dish, take the trash out and head home.
9:50 pm
Started clean up. Bubba was in the bedroom asleep. I hate to bother him, but I went in just to get close enough to make sure I could see him breathing. Buddy followed me. Buddy got close enough that I thought he was going to poke Bubba awake, but then he went to get some water. He stopped to investigate Bubba again on the way out. Bubba was breathing, so we went out to the living room to do the evening shut down chores. This is the one good thing about Bubba’s hearing loss – we don’t bug him awake when checking on him, because he never hears us.
I started getting things in the kitchen gathered. I piled up my trash on the stove during the day (dry things) and take the trash to the dumpster each night. Nothing goes into the house trash, and no trash stays overnight. I start there, then use the bag for food and finally pee pads.
I barely got the first of the trash picked up and I heard little feet coming out of the bedroom. I always forget that his nose still works while he sleeps.
That pretty much ended clean up for the moment. Both guys were up and wanted to visit. We shared some treats (I gave, I didn’t eat). I used to mince up treats for Bubba with the knife, but now I take a True Chew and break off little pieces with my hands to give him. It’s more personal and connected. It’s relaxing, and it lets me spend some good time with The Alpha.
8:30 pm
Bubba had a coughing fit. The first batch sounded awful. Not as bad as some I’ve heard, when he’s had them start with a really sharp crack sound, but this was worse than the average. It lasted around 5 minutes, but he took it like he usually does. He coughs, then immediately he’s engaging and tail wagging like it never happened.
He hung out a while, curled up in the fireplace bed, but then retreated to the bedroom. He seems to like the much cooler AC of that room.
4:25
I started dinner a bit early. We got back and both guys flopped and ignored me telling them to drink some water. I topped up both bowls with fresh cold water, thinking that’d be nice. But instead, they were both hungry, and in just a few minutes the two of them ate everything in the day food bowl.
Two days ago, at home, we threw out a bag of Ore Ida steak fries, frozen and cooking in the air fryer. They smelled like cow manure. I thought it was my imagination. Then my mom asked if they smelled weird to me, not saying *how* they smelled weird. I answered, “yes, like cow manure” and she said, “EXACTLY!” She didn’t want to say it, in case it was HER imagination, and didn’t want to associate that thought with dinner. We threw them out, including the still-frozen ones.
Today, I was cutting hot dogs, and I could smell it again. I thought I smelled it outside. The gardeners have been putting down mulch, but it’s a wood-based stuff, not “organic fertilizer.” I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I picked up a hot dog to give it a good, close sniff. It smelled like a hot dog. I thought maybe it was me, and checked my shoes – but I hadn’t stepped in anything.
Then I saw it. On my shirt. Bubba pooped on me. Probably a dangler that got stuck when he’d pooped, that transferred to my shirt while I carried him. I can tell I’ve been doing this job a while. I didn’t freak out. I just finished making dinner, put the food out for the guys, then went home to deal with the shirt.
3:25 pm
Bubba had a coughing fit. It didn’t last very long, but it got him up from his perch on the couch, where he paced on the seats while he coughed. Once the coughing ended, he hopped off of the couch entirely, and Buddy did his thing where he reads Bubba’s body language and instantly knows we’re going for a walk. I thought he was wrong – it was still very warm out. But Buddy’s rarely wrong about Bubba’s walk signal. We got dressed and we went out.
Once we got around the side of the building, it was much cooler than inside and out front. There was a strong breeze blowing in off the ocean cooling things way down. We walked into the park through the memorial, and then the entire length of the park. Buddy kept signaling that he wanted to go home, and I’d turn with him expecting Bubba to want to head back, but he wanted to keep going. Down by the restrooms we took a long break. Buddy flopped in the shade, and Bubba sniffed around the little workout area with the chin up bars they put in last year. After we got a break in the shade a while, and some drinks of water, we headed home. Out the north side of the park and along Selva on the NBT side of the road. When we got into the complex, Buddy was pushing the pace. Bubba’s tongue looked like it would brush the grass when he was walking in the grass. I decided to carry him, even though he looked like he was still enjoying the walk. It was warm, we’d been out a long while, and he was running a lot in the morning gaming.
We walked a bit over 50 minutes (probably 15 minutes rest in the shade), both guys pooped. No accidents at home the entire days.
1:30 pm
Buddy is up and around, pacing around the house, and rolling around on his belly by the door. But he won’t let me come anywhere near him with the harness. Bubba has turned his body around, but otherwise has not moved from the perch on the back of the couch. He’s probably pretty tired after our morning playing around. They were both sleeping on the back of the couch when I ran home to do something on my computer at home that I cannot do on the laptop I have at Bubba’s house.
9:45 am
They’re asleep. Buddy is crashed out in the recliner. Bubba behind my left shoulder, sleeping on the couch. I have work to do, or I’d love to join them. That was more exercise than I’m used to, and 40 minutes solid for them was probably a lot of running. I had topped up both water bottles before I ran home to log and give everyone a break. I was only gone 5-10 minutes, and when I was back, half the water was gone from the living room water dish.
That’s all good. We all needed that exercise.
9:15 am
I am at home, logging, and cooling off. I’m also letting Bubba decompress and Buddy cool down.
The games started right when I arrived. Buddy greeted me at the door and was excited and animated. He grabbed a bunny from the toy basket, and I was barely 3 feet inside the house when we started playing games. I combined tug and fetch to work my way to the kitchen, paused to put out the day food to soak up the broth, and Bubba emerged from the bedroom.
For 40 minutes, we were getting in a whole day’s worth of exercise between the three of us. I paused once to change the pee pad, which needed changing before we started playing, but then Bubba stopped during one round of Chase to pee, so I changed the pad, and even tho he just went, he had to reclaim the new pad with his scent.
Both guys needed multiple stops for water. Bubba did stop for a bit for a coughing fit, and then I put him up on the bed. He LOVES jumping and leaping when he’s on the bed. He will also run right up to the edge of the bed nearest me to do his Alpha posturing. He feels a lot tougher when he’s 3 feet taller and can almost look me in the gut, instead of the ankles.
He started coughing against about 9:10, so we took a break. When I came out to head home, Christy was out walking Lola. I thought Christy was at work. I apologized for the ruckus, telling her I thought that she was working and nobody was home. She said it didn’t bother her and we were fine, but poor Lola can hear it and wants to play.
I got the leashes out of the basket once, when we had our first pause in the gaming – which was still only about 8:35 or :40, but both guys ran to beds when I did. They want to play, but not to go out.