April 16. Thursday.
4:40 pm
We went out for our pre-dinner walk. Bubba had stored up a ton of energy and was bouncing off the walls. I could tell it was going to be an energetic walk; and I was not wrong. By the time we got home, their tongues were hanging out, and I was sweating. We walked almost an hour, all the way across the park. We stopped for water twice, but only Buddy drank, and only one time.
On our way back, we made it to the center of the park, and Bubba was starting to look pretty worn down, so I picked him up to carry him. We turned to cross the parking lot instead of finishing the path along the park, since both guys were looking a little beat down and I wanted to get them home to water and fans. After I picked up Bubba, Buddy started running, as if he just knew that if Bubba didn’t have to walk we were free to open up the throttle. We got the back (or front?) of the parking lot, closest to Selva and I put Bubba down. He ran to catch up with Buddy as soon as his feet hit the ground, and I had to jog to keep up with the guys. I could see my shadow, and it was pretty pathetic looking, me uncomfortably bumbling along to try to keep up with a 15 year old Chihuahua. I really need to get in shape.
We walked about an hour. Both guys pooped.
2:10 pm
Buddy and I went for a walk with our neighbor Colleen. It was a very casual stroll, starting at the dog park and wandering through the neighborhood at a leisurely pace. Bubba was sleeping in the piano bed, and glanced up at us leaving, with his tongue hanging out.
We were out 40 minutes, Buddy did not poop.
Noon
The guys are extra sleepy today. They don’t even take interest when I run next door for a coffee refill. Buddy flopped on the back of the couch, and barely reacts when I reach over to pat his ribs. It’s hard to study statistics with everyone around you sleeping peacefully, showing you how nice a nap looks.
8:40 am
Buddy met me at the door, but his eyes were showing that he just woke up. He didn’t quite make it to the door before I was in. Once I came in, there was no reason to finish the journey, so he stopped for a big yawn-n-stretch combo. Bubba was sleeping in the fireplace bed, curled up with his back towards me. I went into the kitchen to get breakfast ready, and almost immediately heard two sets of four feet clickity-clacking their way across the living room towards the kitchen.
Bubba came into view, looking wide-awake, as if he’d been up quite a while, and he wasn’t really sleeping. I crouched down so he’d come over to say hi. He let me cup both sides of his face and rub the ears without any issues. It wasn’t that long ago he would panic if I just held his head in that fashion, and now he’s okay with that *and* he’s not flinching at me touching the ears. He’s definitely better.
We went right out for a walk. Bubba tried to make a game of getting the harness on, but rather than chase him I just pretending Buddy and I were leaving without him, and he came scrambling over to shoulder his way past Buddy to get to the door first.
We went up the path to PCH this morning. It was long and slow, and we got passed by a lot of people. Buddy pooped twice, first at the bottom of the path and then again near the middle. Bubba did not poop. I know what time we left, but forgot to take note of when we got back.