Grace got up at about 6:00 and went to the sofa. I got up at 6:30. The sheets were stained with her discharge from her heat, so I worked on them and put them in the wash. At 7:00, I took Grace to Borador Park. Abby’s owner bought three Kong squeaky tennis balls. They were the new toys on the block and the center of attraction. Abby showed up followed by Olivia and Rascal. Since Rascal is not neutered, I watched him closely and kept him off of Grace.
Fun with Toys
Grace enjoyed playing fetch with the new balls. At 8:15, Grace returned home and had her breakfast. I put her protective pants on her. She got up on her sofa for her morning nap. We left for church at 9:15. When we returned at 12:30, she was on the sofa, but out of her pants.
After lunch, Grace wanted to go out for a walk. At 1:30, Grace took me to Grace Beach and even pulled out the tennis ball from behind the log. I kept her on the leash and put the ball back. We’re continuing to use the harness now too because with the collar she can too easily slip away. When Grace understood she could not play off of the leash at the beach, she headed on.
We took the northern root toward Umstead Park and up Winstead Drive. Actually, a few days before we saw the tell-tale signs of heat, Grace had started marking slightly and whining. The marking behavior continued to increase and she changed her preferred spots to include landscaped areas with bushes rather than just the lawn. We stopped by the dog park at about 2:45 and played fetch there off of the leash for about thirty minutes before returning home.
Exploring at the Lot
Grace went to the balcony until we left to go to the land. At 4:30, we arrived. Grace found a sock and a tennis ball. Betsy was concerned that Grace would run out into the road, but she stayed in the land area. After fifteen minutes, Snoopy came out. Grace and Snoopy played chase and wrestled. Grace was very energetic. As usual, Snoopy jumped up on her many times, but he’s not threat because he has been neutered.
Some Guinea hens appeared in the adjacent yard. Grace took off after them. Grace found a bucket of water (perhaps left for Snoopy) and drank for about a minute. She drinks much more water now that she’s in heat and drinks for longer periods of time. Grace also found a two-foot circular kite-like toy in Snoopy’s yard. She picked it up, ran with it, and started trying to tear it apart. Betsy took it away from her, but Grace still went back to it repeatedly.
Grace seems to be getting the idea of the boundaries of the property. When some older children were playing at the edge of our woods, she barked repeatedly at them. Once we explain the boundaries of the 2.4 acre parcel to her, she will make a very good guard dog. I think I’ll start walking her on the boundaries when I take her there to make her more familiar with it.
Trip to Storage and Home
At 5:30, we moved on to the storage facility. There, Betsy tied Grace to the door of one of our units. Grace stretched to the end of her leash, lay down on the pavement, watched us and waited patiently. I remembered that we had another leash in the glove compartment, so after fifteen minutes, I redid the thing to extend the line. Again, Grace went to the end of the rope and lay down. I commented “Grace was at the end of her rope.”
At 6:15, we returned home. Grace still exhibited the strange behavior of being frozen in the seat of the car when we return home. This was not a trance or seizure but more like just wanting stay there. After about thirty seconds of gentle coaxing, she jumped down, and we returned to the apartment. Grace had her dinner and went out on the balcony to watch for friends.
Fun with Friends
At 7:30, Grace spotted them. We went over to the park where Grace played with Abby, Olivia, Rascal, and Reggie. Reggie was very interested in hanging around Grace. His owner said that he was neutered. After about five minutes, Reggie snapped and became aggressive toward Abby. Abby keep her composure. Reggie left. My job then was reduced to watching out for Rascal, who was not neutered.
Grace and the other dogs played fetch with the multiple squeaky balls. At 8:15, the dogs left. A toddler boy stopped by before the other dogs left. He played fetch with Grace. Grace was quite impressive in her interaction with the little boy. She brought the ball to him, dropped it at his feet and watched intently for him to throw it. She understood he could not throw very far, but played with him anyway.
Preparing for Bed
At 8:30, Grace returned home. Grace went out on the balcony. At 9:15, she came in looking for a treat. I had saved a piece of beef for her from my supper. Grace did tricks for treats to enjoy her snack.
At 9:45, I took Grace out for the last time. She returned home after ten minutes. She wanted to go to the bedroom, but I told her to wait because the sheets were not on the bed yet. She went to her sofa instead. I put her pants on her, and she seemed to help by turning her hips at the proper time. When I went to bed, at 10:15, she remained on the sofa.
Monday
At 6:50, I got up. Grace was lying on the sofa with her pants by her head and the pants liner in her mouth. The liner pad was clean. Either she had pulled it off early or she had cleaned it. We did tummy rubs and kisses.
Park Social Director
At 7:05, we went to the park. Grace arrived first. Ten minutes later, Abby followed. The interaction was mainly fetching and vying for squeaky balls. Sadie came next. Sadie and Abby wrestled and chased, but Grace did do a round with Sadie also. Grace watched intently during the contest between Sadie and Abby, barking in response to the action and squeaking her ball to try to divert the combatants.
Then came Olivia and Rascal. I kept a close eye on Rascal, who continued to be attracted to Grace. They left after about five minutes. Finally Beckham came. He and Grace actually got into chasing and roughhousing for about a minute. After Beckham left, Grace came home.
Morning Sleep
She went straight to the living room chair. The shades were turned to let the sun in on her sofa. I adjusted the shades and then gave Grace her breakfast. After breakfast, Grace got up on her sofa and went to sleep.
Grace drifts between sleep and awake cycles every fifteen to thirty minutes. Sometimes she dreams and moves her paws and legs. Usually after a dream, she awakens within a few minutes. When she awakens, she will open her eyes, shift position, and head back off to sleep.
At 9:45, there was the noise in the hallway of a couple people leaving their apartment. Grace perked up. The people left. Grace stretched out for another sleep cycle.
Coping with Heat
At 10:00, Grace got off of the sofa. I prepared her pants with a clean pad. Then I told Grace “Tummy.” She obliged. The pants were a bit small, so when I fastened the Velcro, I connected with the minimum area that still held. When she moved, one side came loose. I repositioned the pants and tried again. After ten minutes though, she returned to the sofa, and I removed them. The pad contained a couple of small bright red spots.
At 11:20, I went running and told Grace to stay on the sofa while I went “Bye-bye.” When I returned, Grace lay on the sofa with her sheet moved away — attending to her discharge that had made it to the leather sofa surface. I rearranged the sheet. Betsy mentioned needing some disposable bed pads (chucks). Grace also needed a new bag of dog food.
Lunch and Shopping
At noon, Grace had her lunch and proceeded out on the balcony. At 12:30, she had her ration of my scrambled eggs. She followed that with the end of an ice cream container and finally a dental chew. After a whine and a minute trip to the balcony, Grace went to the foyer to cool off.
At 1:30, we headed out to go shopping. I picked up some chucks at Wal-Mart, got some Pro Plan Savor Shredded Beef at Pet Smart, and made a quick stop at the grocery store. When we returned home at 2:30, Grace went out on the balcony to watch for friends.
Fun at the Park
At 3:30, she spotted Sadie in the park. We raced there, but by the time we arrived, she was gone. We played shortstop and just relaxed together until Zeke arrived at 4:30. Then came Abby followed by Olivia and Rascal.
The play centered around fetching squeaky balls. They all filed out at about 5:45. Bones walked by, but we kept our distance since he is ready, willing, and able to help Grace in the puppy department. At 6:00, we returned home.
Eating
I mixed the last half cup of Grace’s chicken dog food with the a half cup of the beef version. Grace came in at 6:20 and cleaned up her food. After going out again to the balcony, Grace saw Beckham and came in expectantly. I told Grace I was not taking her back out. She went to the kitchen where Betsy gave her a treat. She wanted more, so I filled her Kong toy with her new dog food and topped it off with peanut butter.
At 6:35, she finished her Kong, took a long drink of water and went back out on the balcony. While we ate our supper, Grace brought her stuffed puppy. I told her to wait. At 7:00, Grace did tricks for scraps. After that, she did tricks for treats. At 7:15, she went out on the balcony. She barked at some dogs. I went out and quieted her.
Evening Play Before Bed
At 7:30, Grace spotted Loki and Sadie in the park. We raced down to meet them. Grace focused on the balls. Loki is neutered, but he had lots of interest in Grace. After a few minutes, his owner took him home. Abby came in next. Sadie and Abby wrestled while Grace watched, cheered, and squeaked a ball. After twenty minutes, Sadie and Abby left. Grace played fetch and shortstop for five more minutes before we went home.
Grace is definitely marking more now and uses a half squat when she does it. When Grace came in she got up on her sofa and went to bed. I followed her at 9:00. Shortly after I went to bed, Grace joined me there. I put chucks under her sheets to protect mine and put protective pants on her.
Tuesday
Grace stayed in bed until I sneezed at around 5:30. After the alarm clock sounded at 6:45, we got up. At 7:00, we left for the park. Sadie came by shortly after we made it there.
Restrained Play
They really didn’t mix it up as much as usual, focusing on the squeaky balls instead. Eventually though they did a shortened version of chasing and roughhousing. Abby came next, followed by Olivia and Rascal. When Abby came, Sadie wrestled with her while Grace watched the action and squeaked her ball.
Sadie left first, followed by Olivia and Rascal and finally Abby. Grace and Abby did little together other than a bit of vying for a ball. The hormone rush that Grace is experiencing likely explains her reduced energy. We played shortstop and fetch for about ten minutes before going home.
Risk Decisions
At 8:15, Grace had her breakfast and went outside on the balcony lounge chair. The weather was cool and Grace was calm. At 8:30, I went running leaving the door open to allow Grace to return back inside. The risk was that Grace might get into a barking fit. When I returned at 9:00, she was as I left her.
At 9:15, I left for meetings out at the land and with our builder. I called Grace inside and told Grace “Bye-bye.” At the land, Snoopy was there looking for his friend. I felt bad that I couldn’t take Grace, but in her fertile condition, I couldn’t risk it. At noon, when I returned home, Grace was on the sofa.
Lunch and Afternoon Walk
She went out on the balcony. Grace came in to eat her lunch followed by a doggie treat. At 12:45, Grace had some of my scrambled eggs and returned to the balcony. At about 1:30, Grace started complaining about needing to go outside. At 2:00, she parked herself in the foyer.
At 2:30, we headed out. Grace made a beeline to Grace Beach. After she realized I wasn’t going to let her off of the leash, she headed on. Grace took me down the bike path on the north (I-40) side of the lake and around across from our apartments. It was as if she knew where she needed to go and ran to get there. I had already done my run in the morning. Now Grace had me doing a second one. She pulled a fair distance. My guess is that it took its toll on her front paw pads.
More than one time, Grace pulled me hard on the leash as she tried to chase a bird or squirrel. The worst one, Grace again wrapped the back of my hand around a tree and injured the skin but not nearly as badly as the previous injury in Wilmington the weekend before last.
Clean-Up for Park Play
When we made it home at 4:00, Grace had a shower. She waded in the water on both sides of the lake, so she needed to be rinsed off. Monday, I noticed the house had a doggie smell one time when I came in. I lathered her down with a mild shampoo to remove the smell from her.
At 4:45, Grace whined about going to the dog park. I took her. There she met Zeke. At 5:00, Abby came in followed by Sadie, Olivia and Rascal. The activity was pretty tame there — limited mainly to fetching balls. Abby and Sadie wrestled for a few minutes. After the other dogs left, Grace and Sadie mixed it up for a few minutes. At 5:30, we went home. On the way back, Grace met a 16-month old toddler and licked his face. He laughed.
Eating, Snacking, and Watching
When we returned home, Grace had her supper. After I ate, I gave her turkey for tricks. Betsy brought home a Frosty, and Grace spotted it. I gave her the last few spoonsful. After that she had a dental chew and went back out on the balcony.
It looks like today she transitioned from red discharge to clear. I believe that means she has progressed to the fertile stage. Grace did her typical sundowning routine wanting me to play with her. She brought her fox toy. I had things to do, so I refused. Grace found an oatmeal box in her toy box and shredded it. Then Betsy came in with some corn chips. Grace stepped up with her “munchies” routine. We gave her some as we shared the little snack.
I went into the kitchen for oatmeal and Grace followed. I gave her more dog food. She went back out on the balcony and kept complaining about friends being in the dog park. At 8:15, she finally came in and gave up — stretching out on the sofa.
At 9:00, I put lotion on her paws since she pulled me so much on our afternoon run. At 9:05, we left for our last time out. When we returned at 9:15, Grace went out on the balcony. At 9:30, Grace came inside and curled up in the living room chair.
Wednesday
Grace came into the bedroom a few hours after we went to bed. At 5:30, she was lying peacefully in her bed on the floor. She was not wearing her pants. They were on the living room floor with the protective pad removed. I’m guessing that as the temperature drops, Grace will be spending increasing time in her bed.
Park Play
When I got up Grace was lying on her sofa with her new fox toy tucked under her front legs. After tummy rubs and kisses, Grace got down and headed for the door. We went out at 7:00 and arrived at the park five minutes later. I started walking Grace nearby rather than going in, but at that point Sadie emerged.
Grace headed for Borador Park with quickened pace. She and Sadie went right to work wrestling. Sadie started biting hard enough to force a soft squeal from Grace three times. Sadie’s owner quickly called Sadie off each time. They played for about ten minutes. Sadie left shortly after that.
Next came Olivia and Rascal. Rascal was still very interested in Grace. My best guess is that she has now transitioned into her fertile stage. I kept a close eye on him and used ball-throwing to move Grace away from the very slow-moving Rascal.
Grace had the most-prized ball first. She brought it to me to throw. I threw it a few times, but eventually Olivia got it and hung on to it. The whole process is a little unfair from Grace’s point of view. She’s happy to play fetch and return the ball for another round, but other dogs like Abby and now Olivia, take the ball and hog it or steal it as Grace puts it down for someone to throw it. This forces Grace to be a ball hog too unless she judges she gets a fair shot at fetching it.
After Olivia and Rascal left, Grace went out to finish her short walk. When she returned, Abby was in the park. Grace tried to wrestle with her but was very tentative. She did no biting. Abby had a ball in her mouth. Without more aggressive play, Grace has a very hard time mixing it up with Abby. I believe the incidents she had with Abby a few weeks ago have made Grace very cautious with Abby. After Abby left, Grace played fetch and shortstop before heading home.
Recharging, Health Update
At 8:15, Grace returned home and went to the balcony. At 9:00, I prepared Grace’s breakfast. She came in a few minutes later, ate it, and curled up on the living room chair for a nap. At 9:30, Grace moved over to her sofa to continue her nap.
There are a couple of updates that need to be reported here. Grace had spots on either side of her left rear foot/leg area. It’s actually the bone that attaches to the joint of her paw. They were swollen and lost their fur. The size was about a half inch by a quarter inch. They seemed to have fluid in them like blisters. After about a month or two, they vanished. We gave Grace no treatment for them. They just went away on their own.
The second item is a milestone of sorts. From the time she was a puppy, Grace would happily scavenge and eat not only real food, but also dog and even horse feces. The transition was slow, but it seems like (thankfully) she has finally no interest in this delicacy any more.
Now, it looks like Grace has a wart-like growth just below the heel of her right leg. I was able to spot it because it has lost its fur. Otherwise, Grace’s coat is clear and beautiful.
Grace napped until noon when she had lunch. After lunch, she came to the kitchen. At 12:30, she had a doggie treat. At 12:45, she had some scrambled eggs before going back out on the balcony. At 2:00, she came in. At 2:30, Grace grouched to go outside. She came to the foyer. I put on her collar, but then she seemed to lose interest. I let her take a short nap.
Time to Play
At 3:15, she started to whine softly. I tried again to take her without her responding. Finally, at 3:30, I took her out to the park. After about thirty minutes, Beckham came by. Shortly thereafter, Abby came in. Abby’s caregiver played fetch with the dogs. Beckham seemed to win most fair contests. Abby hogged the ball when she got it. Olivia and Rascal, Sadie, and Miley and Hanna followed in.
We had to keep a close eye on Rascal since he was the only male that was not neutered. At 5:45, we left. One of the balls went out through the fence. As we went home, Grace went right to it as usual.
Active Evening
When we came home, Grace went straight to the balcony. At 6:00, I put out Grace’s supper. She came in at 6:15 and ate it. As we ate our supper at 6:30, Grace shredded some empty cardboard boxes left in her toy box. After supper, Grace did tricks for scraps. She went out on the balcony, but when she heard me open the ice cream carton, almost as if on queue, she marched back to the kitchen. I gave her a chewable supplement and a dental chew.
At 7:00, she went back out on the balcony. The trick there was to contain the barking triggered by the sight or sound of other dogs. When I go out, she’s pretty good about stopping though. Grace came inside at 7:40 and got up on the sofa for her last nap before bed.
At 9:00, Betsy took Grace out for the last time. When they returned five minutes later, Grace jumped up on her sofa for the night. That’s where she was when I went to bed at 9:30.
Thursday
At 1:30 AM, Grace lay awake on the living room chair. At 5:30, she was walking in the living room. When I got up at 6:50, she was lying on the living room floor in front of her sofa. At 7:00, we left for Borador Park. There were no dogs there when we arrived, so we did our short walk.
Playing with Friends
A few minutes after we returned, Abby joined the party. Sadie and Abby wrestled as Grace watched with Abby’s new tug rope in her mouth. Occasionally, Grace would bark as she cheered on the action. After Abby got the rope, Grace and Sadie wrestled and chased for about five minutes. Olivia and Rascal came and went after about ten minutes.
The new rope tug toy belonged to Abby. She brought it in. But Grace took it over. When Grace had it, Abby did not try to get it from her. When encouraged to tug with Grace by her owner, Abby and Grace did a few short standoffs, but in each case, Abby gave in. I don’t know if it was the Border Collie stare or something else, but Grace easily and consistently won that war.
More Morning Fun
After the other dogs left, Grace played fetch and shortstop with me for about ten minutes. When she came home, she had her breakfast. After breakfast she got up on the sofa for a rest. I waxed her front paws and at 10:20, took her to Borador Pond Park.
On the way, we stopped at the bank and Grace stayed in the car. When I returned, Grace was not visible through the windshield. It’s always a little risky feeling to leave her in the car. I looked for her and she was nestled in the passenger floorboard area to stay out of the sun. Next we stopped at Public Storage to do an address change. That time I brought her in. Grace happily lay down on the cool tiled floor as I filled out the form.
Grace ran with me fairly well. I won’t log this yet as a milestone, but she’s improving. I stopped once to let her take an on-the-leash dip in the pond. She stopped two other times for good reason and once just to roll in the grass. A few other times, she wanted to stop, but I urged her on.
Home to Recharge
When we made it home at 11:50, Grace had a very short shower. After her shower, she had her lunch, followed by a doggie treat, followed by a loaded Kong toy, followed by some scrambled eggs. Grace then went into the office to lie on the ottoman. At 1:35, I left Grace home alone for a dental appointment. I left the balcony door open when I left.
When I returned at 3:20, Grace was sitting in on the balcony in the doorway looking pretty as a picture. As I fixed something to eat, Grace grouched that she was hungry. She brought me her Kong toy. I gave her a refill. At 4:00, she started complaining about needing to go to the park, despite the fact there were no dogs there.
Late Afternoon at Borador Park
At 4:45, the dogs started showing up. Grace raced down to meet Abby and Zeke. Grace just played fetch, but she enjoyed being in her playground. Sadie came in next. She and Abby wrestled while Grace watched. Olivia and Rascal came in followed by Beckham. Grace looked like the fetch superstar, doing acrobatic catches and besting even Beckham at almost every turn. I said, “Sign her up.”
Finally, Ellie Mae joined the fun. When they met, Beckham snapped and attacked Ellie Mae. After Zeke’s owner pealed him away, Beckham’s owner told him to calm down, and he did. The dogs ushered out at around 5:45. Grace went with me to the office to pick up packages and get a dog treat. Beckham left the park at 6:00, and Grace left at 6:15 — leaving Ellie Mae as the last dog standing.
New Tricks
When we came home at 6:15, Grace went straight to the balcony. She ate her supper at 6:30 and returned outside. She came inside as I ate my supper at 7:00. After supper, we worked on new commands push and tug to start her to learn to enter and exit a door. Push was almost an automatic extension of the stay and come sequence. She learned the command in about two minutes. The tug command was definitely harder. It will take more work. I found the fox toy is the best that I have. An old sock might work better, but I’ll have to find it.
At 7:15, Grace went out on the balcony. She came into the kitchen and had a doggie treat at 8:30. She then jumped up on her sofa for a pre-bed nap. At 9:00 she was sleeping hard. At 9:10, she stirred, and we went out. Grace returned at 9:20 and parked herself under the dining room table. I went to bed at 9:45.
Friday
At 5:30, I spotted Grace awake on the living room chair. At 6:25, Grace was on the living room floor in front of her sofa. The early rising had her a bit confused. We greeted and Grace gave a few morning kisses. Betsy came out and lavished affection on her not-so-little puppy.
Early to the Park
At 6:45, Betsy took Grace to the park. Sadie was there early. Betsy played ball with them. At 7:00, I took over for Betsy. Grace and Sadie wrestled and chased for about ten minutes. Then Sadie had to leave. Grace did a short walk while waiting for more friends. Abby came next, followed by Olivia and Rascal. At 8:00, Beckham came for about ten minutes before leaving. Grace played a little more aggressively with Abby but still was very careful not to provoke her.
They both jumped up to pull the new tug rope off of a tree branch. Grace played fetch as well as tug with the rope. At 8:30, Abby and Grace left.
Home Alone, Afternoon Exercise
When she returned home, Grace had her breakfast, followed by a short snooze in the living room chair. Grace was sleeping hard. At 9:15, I decided to go for a run after doing my errands rather than running first. At 9:30, I left her home alone as Grace remained in the chair.
When I returned at 2:20, Grace was miffed. She greeted me at the door with a few short kisses. After giving her belated lunch, I took her out for the afternoon. She stayed on the leash and ran with me. We circled back to the dog park to wait for and play with friends. At 5:30, when Betsy drove home, Grace and Zeke left the park. Betsy was supposed to bring us hamburgers and fries, but she changed her mind and made me leftovers.
Smart Doggie
At 6:00, I had my supper. After supper Grace did new trick for chicken. The new trick is push. The purpose of the trick is to teach her to push the door open. She did it like a pro! I tried some more with tug, but she still didn’t get it. This time, I tied the old socks that we use for tug and fetch to a rope and fastened the rope to the doorknob.
At 6:30, on her own Grace tugged the door open. When I saw it, I said, “Good tug!” I then reinforced the trick for ten minutes. I tried to increase the difficulty by standing on the other side of the door, but she wasn’t ready to use the tug to open the door to come. At 6:45, Grace went back out on the balcony to look for friends.
Coolie
At 7:15, Grace spotted a dog in the dog park. As usual, we raced down to play. It was Coolie (a Golden Retriever) who is the same age as Grace. They hit it off immediately. Grace and she wrestled and chased, although Coolie was harder to take down than Sadie.
At one point, Grace started “humping” Coolie. I called her off, and she stopped immediately. She did not know that this move was inappropriate. I doubt she will do it again. This is a negative milestone. Grace had never done that, which is sort of amazing given the relentless and repeated humping she has received from Zeke, Snoopy, Abby, and Hannah.
Abby joined the pair after about fifteen minutes. Abby and Coolie wrestled, but Grace joined in more than when Abby and Sadie go at it. After Coolie left, Grace wrestled a little more freely with Abby but still pretty cautiously.
Call It a Night
At 8:00, Grace came home and went back out on the balcony to watch for friends. At 9:10, Grace went out for the last time. When she returned at 9:20, Se went straight to her sofa and shut down for the night — despite my encouragement for her to go to bed.
Her discharge from her heat cycle seems to have abated, but she still seems reluctant to come back to our bed. When I went to bed at 10:00, Grace had moved back to the living room chair.
Saturday
At 3:00 AM, Grace was lying on the office carpet next to the printer stand. I went in and gave her a short tummy rub. When I got up a 7:10, Grace was on the carpet in front of the living room chair. We exchanged our usual greetings before going outside to start our day.
Social Director
Grace arrived at Borador Park first. We walked by to do a short walk and take care of business. Shortly after we returned, Abby joined Grace. They played fetch with the girl taking care of Abby. Grace likes to fetch the ball and lay it at the thrower’s feet. With Abby around, Grace has to be wary because one of Abby’s favorite tricks is to quickly dart in and steal the ball before the thrower can pick it up.
Grace placed the ball at the thrower’s feet and looked up at her. Then, Abby shot in from nowhere and took the ball. After that, Grace had a harder time giving the ball up to play fetch. After a while, Abby started to want to wrestle with Grace. Grace rolled over on her back to indicate she was not interested in responding aggressively.
A few minutes later as Abby persisted, Grace responded with playful running and wrestling. It looks like Grace had decided that Abby was now able to “play nice” and not try to harm her. They played for about twenty minutes. Olivia and Rascal showed up during that time. Abby occasionally switched to mix it up with Olivia also. Rascal continued his relentless pursuit of Grace in heat. He can’t move very fast, but he’s pretty determined so we have to keep an eye on him.
Then Abby’s owner spotted light blood stains on Abby’s coat around her throat and ears. Apparently Abby had a lip cut from yesterday, but I had a different theory. Often, when playing fetch, Grace will bite her tongue. As I learned from when Grace was losing her puppy teeth and playing with Dakota, it doesn’t take much blood to make a white dog look bad.
Abby’s caregiver took Abby out of the park. I checked Grace’s tongue. As I suspected, it had a very small spot on it that was bleeding. I couldn’t imagine that Grace hurt Abby with aggressive play as I know she is very careful and gentle with her bite. After playing a little more fetch, Grace left the park.
Relaxing at Home
Grace came home, and got up on the living room sofa for her morning nap. She got down to eat her breakfast at 8:50 and returned to the chair to resume her nap when she finished eating. At 9:30, Grace stretched off of the sofa, walked a few steps across the room and got up on the sofa. I removed the protective “chucks” that were under the sheet we have on the seat of the sofa. It seemed like the discharge phase of Grace’s cycle had finished, and her engorgement is receded.
At 10:15, I went to the car for a minute. Grace whined when I was gone. Betsy took her out to the balcony to see I just went down to the car. She moved over to the living room chair to pick up on my scent. When I returned, Grace went back to her sofa, to resume her nap. Betsy said she wanted to go out with us.
Fresh Air, Sunshine, and Gentle Breezes
At 12:00, I put out Grace’s lunch, but she didn’t eat it. At 12:30, we finally made it outside. Grace and I tried to run, but Betsy couldn’t keep up. We went up to Weston Parkway, down Winstead to the Greenway, along the bike path by the lake to the other side, back to the Greenway, to Grace Beach, and finally back home on the far path up to our apartment. We let her walk in the water a few times along the way while still restrained by the leash.
When we returned home at 1:15, Grace headed for the bathroom instinctively. Betsy washed her using some soap on the heal of her right leg. When she finished, Grace went out on the balcony. The sunny, 70-degree weather felt good to Grace as she watched the activity from her perch in the sky.
Friends Watch
At 2:30, Grace spotted Beckham in the park playing fetch with family. Grace whined and looked intently at me. Betsy didn’t want Grace to go because she just had a bath. The boy was just visiting and having a birthday party, so it likely was not a bad idea to back off and not intrude. After heading for the foyer, Grace returned to her perch on the balcony five minutes. later. By 2:40, Beckham was done and the park was again empty.
At 5:15, I finally relented and took Grace to the dog park. Shortly after, Zeke arrived, followed by Abby. Zeke actually got into high-energy play for about five minutes. Grace played a lot of fetch.
Before the session was done, Abby bit her tongue. It was bleeding. Zeke’s owner and Abby played tug with the rope toy. Grace got up on the bench and under the bench to go to a safe place and defend her prized ball from Abby. Zeke left at about 6:00. Abby and Grace left at 6:15.
Tricks and More
When we returned home Grace had another shower and again went to the balcony. While Betsy and I ate supper at 7:00, Grace came in and brought her Kong into the kitchen. I stopped eating and loaded it up for her.
After dinner, she did tricks for treats. She reached another milestone. I called her with a shut door, and she used the tug rope to open the door and come to me. A few minutes later, she reached around the door, grabbed the pull rope and pulled the door shut! Grace is one very intelligent dog.
At 7:15 she went out on the balcony, but fifteen minutes later she returned with a vengeance. She pulled the tug sock from the tug rope. I played tug with her for fifteen minutes, but that was not enough. Grace was relentless. She kept persisting. I finally retreated to the bedroom at 8:10 to get a break.
At 8:30, Grace found me and whimpered softly. I invited her into bed with me. She came up and all was well. At 9:15, while I was in the kitchen, I could hear Grace dream-barking. As usual, it’s very cute. At 9:50, we went out for the last time and returned at 10:00. Grace got up on her sofa as I prepared for bed. That’s where she was when I retired at 10:10.