9/16/2010
Lab sitting begins on Saturday as I have mentioned before. What I didn’t
realize is that I now am also an official taxi for my daughters as well
as their dogs. It just never stops. Pickup daughter #1 at 4:45 am and
take to the airport. Right! Come back and pickup Kinnick and bring him
to the GBSD&CC (Grandpa Bailey’s Spoiled Dog & Canasta Club).
The treat jar has been stocked. It should be nap time for both of us by
then.
9/18/2010
You know decision making can be a lonely business. I had to put my foot
down this week. There was some retaliation at this week’s Etavirp
canasta league event after last week’s melee. I have reluctantly been
forced to suspend the league until further notice. The ladies weren’t
happy to say the least. I expect them to teepee my house or something.
I’m ready. Kinnick will be on the prowl for a few days which will help.
He does have an intimidating “Woof”.
9/20/2010
Into the third day of Kinnick sitting here at Grandpa Bailey’s
Spoiled Dog and Canasta Club. Most of the hair that remains is still in
tack. Actually, this dog is rather amazing. Almost human in some
respects or maybe I’m a dog in some respects. Whichever, we get along
pretty well.
Day 1 was rather uneventful since we both were up
real early. We just veg’ed out most of the day. We stayed up to watch
the Iowa Hawkeye game which began at 9:30 pm central daylight time. By
10:15, it was obvious to me that this game did not require my attention
any longer, so I went to bed. I hadn’t realized it but Kinnick had gone
to bed earlier and was waiting for me. How about that for a dog! He
knows it is his bedtime and just goes off to bed. No fuss, no muss and
he even remembered which corner of the bed was his. Pretty darn
impressive.
Sleeping in on Day 2 was not an option. Baby,
Kinnick’s nickname, decided 5:00 am was an excellent time to get up. He
doesn’t just jump out of bed. Oh no, he has a fixed 20 minute wake up
routine. It involves laying next to me with his head on a pillow and on
this back. Legs stuck up in the air. He gently stretches various parts
of his body and intersperses and occasional lick to the side of my head.
That is just so I pay attention, I think. Once the stretches are done,
his nose grabs my arm for an all body message and belly rub. While
performing this task, his eyes kind of glaze over and he goes to another
world or something. When HE is ready, we can get out of bed – not
before. Being a pack leader is really hard.
Day 2 was just a
yucky day. We stayed in most of the time but did take a short walk in
the afternoon. I watched football and Kinnick slept. Grandma (my current
wife) was gone most of the day so it was nice and quiet. Kinnick
expressed a desire for popcorn so I popped some up and we shared. He is
just the kind of guy.
I will have to see how Day 3 goes. It is a
nicer day and I am certain he is getting bored. I will have to come up
with a game or two to play with him. Until next time, have a cup for me.
TA!
9/22/2010
This is Kinnick’s last night here. It really has been an enjoyable
experience – this time for the most part. He is so well trained that he
goes to bed by himself when he gets tired. Doesn’t even wait for me.
Last night he hit the sack at 9:20 pm. Cool Dog. Today he was at Puppy
Day Care. He likes that because there are a lot of friends there and
they play. Not sure what they play but I have been told that they do
play a lot. He is always wiped out at night after day care so no
parties for us this time. Maybe popcorn and watch some season premieres
on the TV.
We had visitors on Monday for the evening – yep Barney
& Max came by. I had asked Kinnick if it would be okay and he
thought it would be fun. Should have known better. So the little black
Pugs fly into the house around 6:00 pm. Mass chaos erupts immediately.
The three of them have a 30 second meet and greet then it is off to
terrorize the occupants of this abode. It was bedlam here with tug of
war, tag in the back yard and racing through the house. They came up
with a new game but I’m not certain what the name of it is. You see they
get the master of the house, me, to sit in his recliner under the
pretense of settling in for their a naps. Usually, Max is on the right
arm, Barney on the left. Kinnick pretends to be a lap dog and comes
straight up the middle. Once pinned down, they direct their laser
accurate tongues onto my face in unison. It is impossible to get away
from. They don’t listen to commands, you can’t breathe and thankfully my
eyeglasses protected my eyes. That game has to be banned from now on.
Wasn’t fun. Promptly at 7:30 pm, they all crashed and slept for over an
hour without a stir. How peaceful!
Fortunately, Debby (Barney
& Max’s mother) arrived around 9:00 just as I was getting my breath
back. All in all, it hasn’t been too bad with just Kinnick here. He
wants us to go and pick-up his mom at the airport tomorrow and he, of
course, wants to go also. He will be happy. We do have safety glass in
the van and will withstand the flogging from a Labrador tail.
9/28/2010
Spoiled Dogs Sitting and Limo Service -
The recently completed 3 day
stay is over. The pugnacious pugs were in fine form. During their waking
moments, they were either barking (Max barked primarily to get the
attention of his girlfriend next door), growling during tug of war and
tag, or sitting on my lap intent upon insuring my glasses were opaque
from their licks. During their sleeping moments, they were glued to my
body like Velcro. A sleeping 18 pound pug has a weight factor of 5 or
equal to about 90 lbs. Impossible to move them or myself. Barney the
elder, got an upset stomach and vomited a few times. Poor baby! He had
drool hanging from his lip. This pug would not pause long enough for me
to wipe his face. Urgh!
