April 10th. Friday.
10:15 pm
Weirdly, the afternoon posts vanished. Or I’m going crazy, and I never wrote them.
The guys and I went out for a walk between 3 and 4, not sure exactly what time anymore. Bubba was wound up from all of the sleeping, and he ran most of the walk. It wasn’t a steady sprint the entire time, but he would run, stop to sniff something, leave his mark, then run forward to catch up with Buddy – rinse, repeat.
We went across the street to walk. Both guys pooped. We went out on the island in the parking lot today. We used to go over there to run, quite often, but the guys haven’t steered us that way, or I haven’t steered us that way. One of the other. Today we ended up there. Buddy loves to rub his back on the grass to absorb the smells of stuff deposited by other dogs. I forgot that was such a common thing on the island. It’s not my favorite thing that he does.
By the end of the evening, the guys cleaned out one bowl of dinner, and left almost everything except the cheese in the other bowl. They also ate most of the day food. We had no accidents. A lot of sleeping went on. I think they were both happy that my back was better and I could play games today. The games are good for all of us.
12:10 pm
It’s hot. I turned on the A/C.
Buddy and I went for a walk. It was a walk we’ve never done alone before. We went out the gate to PCH, around and down the path to Selva, back in the neighborhood by the mailboxes, where we stopped to get the mail. There was nothing for Jeremy.
Bubba had gone back to bed and didn’t want to join us.
It was our second walk, and Buddy did not poop again. There have been no accidents.
10:30 am
I got stuck. I forgot the key for the UPS box, so I had to go back over to get it. Naturally, Buddy wanted to walk. Bubba was still in the fireplace bed, awake, but his head hanging languidly over the edge, staring at me, obviously not ready to get up yet. Buddy and I went for a slow walk. Not very far, but we examined everything. We went across the street, and half way up the hill. Then we came back down, and we went up the path to PCH a bit.
I’m not sure how long we walked. He did not poop.
When we got back, Bubba was up – alert and playful. He bumped my leg while I put away the leash. He was taunting me. It was time to play chase. That, of course, spurned Buddy into wanting to play.
It was a long stop to grab a key, but we finally got there.
The UPS store visit yielded one small package, and a magazine. I picked up 3 chickens at Costco.
9:15 am
Still no walk. Bubba moved from the throne room out to the living room to curl up in the fireplace bed. I asked Buddy if he wanted to walk, and he jumped into the front door bed – no hesitation, no glance at Bubba. It was a firm ‘No’. It was too early to make the Costco run, so quick Ralph’s run, [a day early] UPS store run then Costco.
8:10 am
A flatbed tow truck was setting up a neighbor’s car to tow. It was a loud-ish affair, similar to the trash pick ups, but a much longer affair. After 10 or 15 minutes, I could hear the sound of a dog whining. It sounded like it might be coming from Bubba’s estate. I went to check, and it wasn’t the guys. The Alpha was curled up in one of the thrones in the bedroom – the first time I’ve ever seen one being used – and Buddy was up in the living room. He wasn’t ready to walk, and I didn’t disturb the Alpha.
I set breakfast out to marinade, and checked for accidents. Then left the guys alone to finish their rest.