Looking like the stud that I am

 
 

I'm a loaner dog now

My mom, bless her soul, left me this last weekend with Grandpa and my Uncle so she and her mom could escape on a road trip. Then she returns on Sunday, takes me for a walk and we eventually return to the comforts of our home.

But today, mom has some grand idea (or maybe it was her neighbor's grand idea), and loaned my services as the guard dog in charge of keeping the raccoons out of our neighbor's backyard. Mom gave me a couple treats and spent time chatting with our neighbor before leaving me to romp and roll around in their wonderful grassy lawn. It's like being at the dog park but better. There are no DOGS to share my space with. This is absolute heaven for me. I think I should tell mom that I prefer to sleep in the neighbor's backyard from now on.

Our late night stroll

It is late in the evening now. Actually, it's close to midnight as I sit here and update my journal. Mom is doing laundry at this hour because she is in a good mood. She made another sale and her side business is picking up again. I'm happy for her but at the same time, I'm tired of playing the guard dog role. I should be getting a commission for my work.

Mom's recent sale was scheduled at 11pm tonight in front of a bookstore downtown. Why she scheduled this so late at night, I'm not sure. So, she took me for my usual walk before driving off to meet this person. We were 15 minutes early and mom took me for a stroll around the block. Basically, we were casing the area for escape routes and mom made several phone calls to her friends to let them know where we were and who we were meeting. I'm glad mom knows to err on the side of caution. But then, I'm with her and I can protect us both if necessary.

We parked ourselves on a bench across from the bookstore and mom, who has a good eye for spotting people looking for her, saw the guy and observed him for a minute before intercepting him. Good thing I was there. He looked a bit frightened of me and I bounded toward him to sniff his crotch as a warning to not mess with my mom. This was a quick transaction. Mom sold her item, collected her earnings, and rambled off platitudes for a few minutes before parting. And now, we are back home and I'm going to go to sleep and I hope mom does too.

Busy, busy weekend...for mom

Mom had my whole weekend planned. I've been shuttled around all over the bay area but that's a good thing for me. I'd rather hang out with mom than stay at home all day.

Last Sat, mom woke up at 7am and took me along with her to have her car's oil changed before we headed off to Home Depot. I love Home Depot. There's so many things to mark and so many different smells. Mom wouldn't let me pee anywhere in the store though. She moved me along the aisles, bought what she needed and left before anyone had an opportunity to pet my head and say wonderful things about me. Then we stopped off at the post office and the bank before heading back home to pack hers and my stuff for our trip to SF.

We took a side trip to Oakland and mom was gone for nearly two hours while I sulked in the back seat of the car and waited for her. She told me to guard the vehicle and that she wouldn't be long but I know better.

Finally, mom returned and off we went, through the tunnel and across the bridge, speeding down the freeway and making good time. When we reached my grandparents, mom hustled me out of the car, put me in the garage while she did whatever she needed to do. Then she left me! I couldn't believe it.

Mom did return to give me my usual walk that night and the following morning but then she left me again and didn't come back until noon smelling sweaty and looking tired. We finally headed back home but got stuck in traffic. While I whined the whole way, Mom repeated to me over and over that "in three months, we will never cross this damn bridge again".

Restless

I upset my mom yesterday. When she arrived home from work, she regularly lets me out of the house so I could join her for a walk down the driveway to retrieve the mail. But I spotted the neighbor's cat, darted across the street, and cornered the cat against the neighbor's side fence. There was a scuffle, and chasing ensued. Mom, in heels and not too happy about it, ran across the street and chased after me. She was flailing her arms about and yelling "No" and "Solan" repeatedly. My hearing was impaired so I didn't hear her when I chased the cat up a tree. I knew mom was angry. She managed to catch me by the collar and dragged me back across the street in a choke hold. Mom made me sit and stay while she walked back across the street to talk to the neighbor and apologize for my unruly behavior. When she returned, mom immediately barked out commands and I promptly obeyed.

It was not my fault that I chased the cat. I was restless all day from waiting around for mom to come home. I was bored and had nothing to do but sleep, stare at the walls, have an occasional drink from my water bowl and munch on cardboard tasting dog food.

Another road trip adventure

My mom and I just got back from a very long car ride to Oregon this past weekend to visit some of mom's college friends. I was restless and miserable during the 7.5 hour ride up to Eugene. Mom was kind enough to make a number of rest stops for my benefit but once we got back in the car, she made it a point to pick up the pace to make up for lost time. I think I threw the road trip schedule off a bit with my whining and insistence to stop every 100 miles.

When we arrived in Eugene, I could tell mom was estatic. This was her college town after all and she obviously had some good times here. We parked in front of her old apartment complex and I made it a point to leave my mark in front of the mailboxes. Then we headed to the campus and spent the time walking around while mom took photos and I pee'd on every bush and tree stump.

After an hour of this, we walked through town and I had an urge to leave more than just a urine mark. I stopped in front of a store and proceeded to get into my usual stance. Mom was shocked. She started pulling my leash and tried to tug me down the street while apologizing to those around us who were watching. How did she expect me to walk in that position? I guess mom didn't have a poop bag with her because she kept saying "oh, no. oh, no. Not here. Damnit".

Later in the evening, we met mom's friends who built their home from the ground up and they have three cats for me to play with. Of course, I wasn't allowed to play with them at all. But after dinner, mom shoved me into the guest bedroom so she can talk with her friends without interruption and I whined at the door for her. But then, I caught a whiff in the air. I smelled cat. I turned around and saw the black one named Alphina crouched in the corner of the room.

Jackpot! I thought. The chase was on! Unfortunately, the fun didn't last long. I vaguely heard my Mom and her friend running up the stairs while Alphina hissed and swung her claws at my face while I barked wildly at her. Mom stormed into the room and tackled me to the ground so Alphina could escape. Oh, well. Win some, lose some.

On Sat, we drove to the coast and met up with mom's other friend and her GSD, Foster. I've met Foster before. He's grown since then and at 10 months, he's heavier and larger in girth than I. But I'm older and wiser.

We went to the beach and I got a lot of exercise in. Between chasing and being chased by Foster and digging a sand trench around my mom and her friend in an attempt to outdo Foster's trench digging, I was exhausted by Sunday.

The next day, mom woke me up at 7am and we packed up our stuff in the car and said our goodbyes before starting our 8+hr drive home. I slept through most of the ride back and mom was happy about that since she made good time and got us home by 3. Sometimes, I think mom was a race car driver in her former life.

Satin is no longer with us

Yes, it's true. Mom found a loving family who adopted Satin yesterday evening and all is well at our home now. I have reclaimed my territory and Mom can rest easy for a bit and not have to mop the floor of urine or spend half the night sleeping on the sofa until Satin dozes off.

It's bliss, really. Yet, I'm alone again during the weekdays yet forced to rely on mom for attention. Basically, this means she'll have more time to invest in my obedience training since I have been slacking the last several months. This was due to the fact that Mom was busy training her foster dogs and neglecting me. Of course, I didn't mind all that much. Life's little pleasures are so short-lived.

I've had my first bully stick

Mom was especially nice to me and the new foster pup, Satin, she brought home a week ago. I guess she wanted to placate us after driving her up the wall this week. Between Satin's tendency to pee in the house and her incessant barking at all hours of the night and my bout of diarrhea when I was left at home, Mom's not been too keen on showing a little love for us.

But yesterday, she returned home with a large bag of treats. I could not believe it! Here was Mom, looking haggard from a long day at work and lack of sleep, with goodies to give us.

She had a bag of chicken flavored rawhide, reserved for Satin, and a bully stick for me. I never had a bully stick before but I heard from my friends that they are like cavier for dogs. A real treat. So, Mom is waving this bully stick in front of my nose so I can get a whiff. Smells good so far, I'm thinking. She makes me do a set of exercises before I'm handed my treat.

And what a treat it was! I spent an hour chewing my stick until I ate the whole thing. Then I came over to Mom to show her that the stick was all gone and she gave me a pet on the head.