Sunday the 16th of November
11:15 pm
The second wind is over. I had everything cleaned up. Now there are blankets and toys everywhere. Bubba had another coughing fit, and it sounded awful – really phlegm-y. But after the coughing stops, his tail wags and he looks fine. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it once it’s over, like he is with the reverse sneezing. But it still worries me.
All the dinner was eaten for the first time this trip. Most of the dry food, too. Time to head home for the night.
8 pm
I got up from the couch to go sit with Bubba. He was in the piano bed, and I was worried. His breathing sounded labored, wheezing with every breath. Every couple of minutes he would let out a little whimper. His cough has sounded unpleasant the last couple of days. It has been less-frequent, but more harsh lately.
I sat down next to him and put my hand on his head. He licked my wrist. He looked uncomfortable. I could hear the wheezing more clearly, and the little whimpers kept coming. I was really worried that he was in pain.
Buddy came over to force Bubba to share the attention. I sat with them both for a while. Buddy decided he was hungry and started working on dinner; both dishes were mostly untouched. He then went over to rub his back on the carpet by the front door.
And then suddenly, Bubba got up. He yawned and stretched, then went over to play with Buddy. He turned and barked at me. He stood staring, with his tail wagging. He moved closer to me. I tried to get his harness, and he thought it was a game. Very soon after we were playing chase and playfully harassing Buddy. He was fine. He just wanted me to worry.
Both guys went to work on dinner, and a few minutes later both bowls were empty.
5 pm
Bubba continues to not rush to the food at dinner time. Buddy stopped the boycott and dug in immediately, and took advantage of Bubba’s short hunger strike to gobble down all of the cheese.
4 pm
Out for the evening walk. We ran into Jolene walking Charlie, and two of Jolene’s friends with their two dogs. Buddy was obviously excited to see some old and new friends, but Bubba was surprisingly social, tail wagging, sniffing noses, no barking. It’s nice when he just gets along.
We only walked about 30 minutes. Both guys pooped.
2 pm
It’s a sleepy day. Buddy hasn’t wanted to go out, and has busied himself with chewing on Grey Raccoon. Bubba has spent the day in deep sleep. They were bothered by my presence until after midnight last night, because I continued working. This extra sleep isn’t a surprise.
9:30 am
I came prepared for their trickery, today. It was starting to rain. I had my kayaking shoes and my rain jacket. As soon as I got there, they were ready to go. We went on a short-ish walk across the street. Both guys pooped. They met a new dog, Moose. Moose’s friend John is a man I’ve known for a long while as a regular walker, who just adopted Moose, a very friendly pitbull puppy. Moose seems okay. He’s very timid but got along well with Buddy. John got him as a rescue, and showed me a scar on Moose’s hip from surgery. He previous owner threw him off the roof of a house, for fun.
Some people really really suck.