Wednesday, October 7th
6:30 pm
Bubba finally decided it was time to get dressed and go for a walk. This is the second day in a row where I worked him down the stairs. I don’t like forcing him into something he’s afraid of, but I think it’s worse for him to be afraid of his own front stairs. I would pull him forward to the step, with my hand holding the leash only about a foot from the harness. He was afraid, but would put his feet down to the step in front of him. While he moved down, I kept a firm hold of the leash. If he slipped, I wanted it to be a short thing, and NOT have him slide down several steps again. It was almost unpleasant yesterday, but he was okay once he reached the first landing. Today, it only took one step, and he walked down normally the rest of the way. I still kept a firm “safety grip” on the leash, near the harness, just in case he slipped.
Once down, I called my mom to ask if she wanted to join us, and she practically came sprinting out to join us. It was good with her there, because the guys wanted to walk longer. We walked all the way to the center area of the park when Bubba froze up. It was really busy – a ton of people there for the sunset. It was uncomfortable even for me, so I didn’t blame him. We turned the guys around and headed home.
Both ways on the walk Buddy and I got separated from my mom and the Alpha, and we ran a little. Buddy looked like he was thrilled with “opening up the throttle” and it was good for me to actually get my heart rate up a bit. The two Barrel Boys, working off some of our barrels.
4:20 pm
Bubba tricked Buddy into thinking we were going out, and then didn’t want to go out. But Buddy had already decided on going, so the two of us went on a short walk. We went across the immediate parking area, and out by the fence by the path to PCH. He found a spot to poop and did, then moved 10 feet to another spot to poop immediately again. And then we went home. He looked like he was considering going on a real walk a couple of times, but then changed his mind each time.
3 pm
Jeremy came by and grabbed his mail.
11:50 am
Bubba has scored the trifecta. Pooped on the deck, the bathroom and in the kitchen, all before lunchtime.
After the kitchen, Buddy told me he wanted to go out. He must have figured out that waiting for Bubba was now a lost cause. We had a nice little stroll. We went over to the path where he pooped, and then a slow stroll back. Instead of turning up the first entrance home, we walked down to the mailboxes and re-entered the neighborhood there. I thought for a second that he was going to continue on, and we’d get in a real walk. But he just wanted to sniff his way around the block once.
We were gone about 10 minutes.
8:30 am
It’s now the standard that as soon as I show up, it’s time to play. I’m going to have to make sure I’m up early enough to be fully-caffeinated and if I have a headache, pain killers to temper that. It’s both guys, immediately wanting to play. I need to be 22 years old again.
Buddy met me at the door, and as soon as he saw who it was, ran and grabbed a bunny. He then ran into the bedroom, and right back out. It seems that this is a signal. Bubba seems to know that Buddy doesn’t run into the bedroom with a bunny, unless there’s a person outside the bedroom. I could hear Bubba get up to come investigate.
I had my Maglite with me. I asked Bubba if it was okay if I looked under the sink at the garbage disposal. Amazon has some on sale during Prime Days, and we badly need one. I wanted to get the model and the Horsepower. Bubba seemed to be okay with it. I wanted to clear it with him, in case there are hidden cameras in the house, and looking in cabinets with a flashlight might seem suspicious. The exact same model was on sale, so I bought it.
The guys didn’t want to walk. I wished that they would – it’s going to be hotter today, I think. AC got turned on, low fan, 72 degrees. If I can keep the house cool, it won’t be necessary to blast it later.
Buddy was hungry, and started putting a good bit of effort into the day food right away. Bubba had a couple of coughs, but it sounds better today than yesterday. I put him up on the bed, and found myself thinking how brave it is to have a white comforter when you share a bed with these guys. Bubba made himself comfortable, and I went back to doing the morning chores and playing with Buddy. I threw the bunny deep into the bedroom, and Buddy ran in to get it, turned and started to run back out, then stopped. He dropped the bunny. He looked to his left (towards the bed and Bubba – who I couldn’t see behind the wall), then to me, back to Bubba, to me again. He seemed confused that Bubba was up on the bed, as if he was wondering how he’d gotten up there.
After a moment of contemplation, he grabbed the bunny and dashed back to the living room.
The water dishes had been hit over night, and the pee pad inside needed changing. There were no accidents anywhere. Bubba went out on the deck for a poop after the 3rd time I tried unsuccessfully to get him dressed to walk.