February 8th. Homecoming Day
3 pm
The deck cleaning is finished. After it was dry, I sat out on the deck chair, watching YouTube videos on building electric circuits – parallel vs in-series circuits. The guys each came out individually to inspect the work, and I could tell they were thinking “this doesn’t smell right…I should fix it.” Then they’d look at me, while I looked back, sending the message “do not pee on that floor” telepathically. They stood, staring long, questioning – thinking – ultimately deciding I might go Clocktower Crazy if they did…deciding it wasn’t worth the risk, and then walked back inside.
Now that I’m home, updating the log, I expect that Bubba will have reclaimed it by the time I return.
Noon
We had a short, weird walk. Bubba initiated, but I think he wasn’t comfortable with the weather. We went down the stairs, and got just to the turn towards the mailboxes, and Bubba froze. He looked like he wanted to go home, so we headed back that way. Buddy continued past home, to the path towards the memorial, but Bubba froze again, just past the cars parked out front. So I took him home. I had Buddy tethered downstairs, and he didn’t try to follow us up – he still wanted to walk.
When we continued on, he moved quickly as if he needed to get to “the bathroom” quickly. We went across the street and he acted like he needed to go, but didn’t. He moved us away from the memorial and we took the main park walking entrance, but we only walked as far as the other side of the memorial, and then he froze. So we turned and went home.
Very short walk, maybe 15 or 20 minutes, almost all of it just standing frozen. Nobody pooped.
11:15 pm
Another great video opportunity missed, because I was without a phone or a camera.
I moved the dog things into the dryer, and Buddy follwed me into the bathroom. He pushed his way in, and the door closed behind him. After I moved the washed things into the dryer, I just stood and watched. Buddy studied the door intently. Bubba was on the other side of the door. He would have to push his way in to see what he was missing, before long. Eventually he did, just he just got his snout in, before Buddy pushed his nose into Bubba’s, causing Bubba to back out, while Buddy moved back at the same time. The door closed itself.
Bubba next pushed through and got enough of his face through so we could see his eyes, and he could see us. Buddy was still right there, and Bubba backed out. Buddy, rather than use a paw to pull the door open (he’s done this with the front door) tried to pry the door open with his snout. But his face pushed the door closed instead.
Bubba tried peeking in a couple more times. It’s possible that he learned from the “trap” this first time around, not to push his way all the way into the bathroom. Whatever the reason, he never tried to get in. Buddy stook at the door, watching the door, looking and sniffing under the door at Bubba’s visible shadow.
I could have filmed this game all day, watching their minds at work, solving their individual problems: Bubba wanting to know what’s going on (and not get trapped) and Buddy trying to get out. But I had work to do and didn’t want to stand in the bathroom all day for no reason.
9 pm
It looked like we were going to hit the snooze again. I patted Bubba on the head, then Buddy. Neither guy moved from their beds. Buddy pulled his head up when I came to look at me, and yawn, but then returned to his chin-down on his paw position. I stirred breakfast and set it out. Bubba got up and started doing his morning stretches.
I cycled out the dirty harnesses and put the old ones in the laundry, along with a bunny that Bubba had taken offense to and soiled. I heard little feet behind me while I was loading the dishwasher, and knew Bubba had joined me. One of the guys always pushes the bathroom door open if I’m in there (laundry or getting paper towels). When I turned around, it was both guys. They had pushed their way in, and the door shut behind them trapping them inside. It’s like I was wait for a cage trap to catch dogs.
After I started the washer, we got dressed and went for a walk. We went through the neighborhood, out to Selva on the last path before the north entrance, then out to PCH. We walked PCH all the way back to the gate closest home. There were good periods of brisk walking, which is good. I’ve gotten some comments lately about “I see you’re feeding them well.” It’s bad enough that I’m fat – I don’t need the guys turning into my shape. It was good for us to get some real exercise.
We walked an hour. Buddy pooped, Bubba did not.
8:30 am
I was looked at, and yawned at, but nobody moved. I put the day food out to marinade, did a quick check for accidents and dry water dishes – finding nothing that needed attention. The guys needed more rest for the Superbowl party, it seemed, so I left to give them another half hour.