Week Seventy-Nine

Grace Week Seventy-Nine

At 6:00, I walked by Grace and saw her awake on her perch. I didn’t bother her and returned to bed. At 6:50, I got up. I thought it was 5:50, but my smart phone told me a different story. The time had changed to daylight-saving Time. I studied for a half hour while Grace hung out on her perch.

Persistent Play
At 7:30, Grace went out. Hannah and Miley left Borador Park as we entered. A new tan mix the size of Grace named Freddie came in and Reggie followed close behind him. The three played for about ten minutes.

As Reggie discovered that Grace’s heat cycle is approaching, he became increasingly interested in mounting her. That interfered with her play. She seemed to learn to sit down more and seek refuge under the bench, but Reggie was pretty persistent. After ten minutes of that, I took Grace out to let the other two dogs play.

Home Alone and Out Exploring
At 8:40, Grace returned home and went to the balcony. When she came inside ten minutes later, Betsy gave her breakfast. When she finished, Grace went back out on the balcony. At 9:15, Grace came inside and went to her perch as we left her home alone.

When we returned home at 12:35, Grace greeted us with wags and kisses. Five minutes later, I took her out. On the way down the walk closest to Grace Beach, the lady with the twelve-year-old Labrador Retriever called to us from behind as we headed down. “Is that Grace?” “Yes,” I replied. Grace and her dog went up on the terrace above the meadow and walked together up there. Grace and her dog really did not play together though.

Grace explored up and down the hill and went to the meadow. At one point, she went to the lake shore. We saw a gray Heron standing still in the water. We speculated how long it would be before Grace spotted it and chased it away. After a few minutes the bird flew off.

Next came Otis. Grace and Otis chased sticks and balls as well as each other. They had some interaction, but a lot of their exercise was independent. After the other dogs left, I asked a boy where he found the large yellow golf-style ball. He said up on the crest of Grace Hill. I hadn’t looked there. He left the ball with me. Grace played with that ball and then found a soccer ball that she liked. She played with that for about a half hour.

Rest and Boredom
When we returned home at 2:45, Grace went straight to the balcony. After I finished my lunch forty-five minutes later, I took a piece of fish and fed it to her out on the balcony. She came inside and went up on the chair for a nap at 4:40. About a half hour later, she got down on carpet next to her bed. Grace’s genital swelling had increased to about 50% or so of the maximum.

Five minutes later, Grace went to the balcony. A few minutes later after seeing Chowder in the playground Grace came inside. I didn’t take her to the park. Instead, she played with me for ten minutes. Grace then went back out. Two minutes later she was back inside where she proceeded to shred some of her cardboard to help relieve some of her boredom. When she finished, she played tug and fetch with her rope toy.

Conditioned Response
At 5:50, Grace went out with Betsy to Borador Park. They stopped at home at 6:20 and went back out five minutes later. Grace swam in the lake by the Greenway entrance. At 7:05, Betsy called as Grace parked herself on the grass to the right of the entrance road. She was doing the classic “sack of potatoes” move. I whistled from the balcony about a half mile away. Grace immediately perked up, stood, and started running toward the whistle.

When she returned home at 7:10, I called Grace into the shower. I had previously set out her supper. When she finished with her shower, Grace ate her dinner. When she finished supper, I gave Grace her a doggie treat. After downing one treat she went to the kitchen and hit up Betsy for another.

Evening Routine
At 7:30, Grace did tricks for regular food because she was running out of duck food. Grace didn’t seem to mind. At 7:50, Grace went out on the balcony. When she came back inside ten minutes later, she chewed on her cow rib bone.

Grace then started coming up to me wanting something. I tried to reward her on her chomp-chomp or talk. She started to get the idea that chomp-chomp is followed by a treat. At 8:20, I told her we were all done. She understood and went out on the balcony. Grace came back inside as she saw me cleaning up in the kitchen. At 9:15, Grace went outside for her last walk of the day. Ten minutes later, she returned inside and curled up on her sofa despite the lights Betsy had on in the living room.

Monday
At 4:45, Grace was in her bed asleep. I didn’t disturb her as I walked by. When the alarm clock sounded at 6:35, I got up to find Grace lying next to her bed. We greeted with tummy rubs and kisses. The temperature was 36 degrees when we went out. As we headed for Borador Park, I was surprised to find the car windows covered with a thick layer of ice.

Frosty Morning
I told Grace we had to go back upstairs. As always, she was very understanding. I looped her leash on the fire water valve as usual, unlocked the door, grabbed my keys, and locked the door. Grace waited patiently as I took her leash and hurried downstairs.

Grace was surprised that I took her down the stairs that led out back since the car was parked back there. We went to the car. Grace stayed outside as I turned on the car and the defrosters. We then went up the stairs toward the pool and to the dog park from there.

Having a Ball
Grace played tug and fetch with AirDog. Then she played ball. One time she missed, and the ball flew through the fence. That particular ball bounces and rolls very well. Grace watched as it went into the grass and then proceeded to the road. By watching Grace, I could tell where the ball was headed. By the time I found it, the ball had rolled to the end of the far parking area to rest against the curb. That was the farthest I’ve had to go to retrieve a ball from the park.

After we played for about twenty minutes, Hutch and Finn showed up. Grace and Hutch got into dog play. While Hutch is almost twice the size of Grace, Grace held her own with him. The intensity became a bit more than Hutch’s owner could stand, so she called down Hutch. I noticed that Grace was showing her teeth more than usual and there was some foam forming in her mouth. After that, they settled down and played nice.

Finn had grown since the last time we had seen him. He looked better proportioned than his rather amusing appearance before. He was noticeably larger than Grace, but I believe Grace was still stronger and faster. After they left, Grace played ball a little while longer.

At 8:05, Grace went to the gate to let me know she was ready to go. She headed through the breezway in the main building and down the path nearest the meadow. The Greenway was still flooded but not nearly as much as the day before. Grace with soccer balls. She also sniffed and explored — paying particular attention to the weeded side of Grace Hill.

Back Home
When it was time to go, I headed toward home. Grace saw me and followed. She stopped at the lake for a brief dip and a drink, and continue to follow. As we reached the gate area near the walk to the apartments, Grace stopped, and I leashed her. I’m going to mark this as a milestone for her paying attention and following me back at the right time without being called. She has been doing that at Borador Pond Park for many months, but this is something new for the less-defined park at Lake Crabtree.

We returned home at 9:10. As usual, Grace went to the balcony. I cleaned her dish and filled it with her breakfast. Grace came in, ate her breakfast and returned to the balcony.

Third Heat Cycle Begun
By 9:50, despite trying to find some shade, Grace retreated from the strong morning sun and got up in the chair. There she tried to sleep and relax — getting into some fairly contorted positions. I noticed a couple of small blood stains on sheets covering her sofa and her perch. This marks the official start of Grace’s third heat cycle.

At 11:00, Grace got up, took a long drink of water. When she finished, Grace lay on the floor in the sun outside the balcony door. A few minutes later, she went back to the balcony, but at 11:20, she retreated to the foyer to cool off once more.

Unfortunate Accident and Chasing Fun
At noon, Grace went for a ride. We stopped first at Cameron Pond to compare bricks. I walked near a brick landscaping area with a brick sample board in one hand and Grace’s leash in the other. Suddenly, Grace jerked the leash as she wanted to sniff a particular spot. That violently pulled me down against a small brick wall, bruising my knee and scraping the back of my left hand. Blood dripped from my hand as I finished examining the bricks. I did my best to wipe it off.

The warm 73-degree and sunny weather was quite a change. Grace needed cool air as she traveled and tried to stay out of the sun. Our next stop was the construction site. There Grace behaved herself for a few minutes. Then she couldn’t resist chasing the neighbor’s cat and then the next neighbor’s Guinea hens. When I finally rounded her up, I grabbed her harness, walked her back to the car, leashed her, and finished checking the brick.

Provisions
On the way home, we stopped at a couple of grocery stores and the pet store to get her some more Blue Buffalo Duck-Flavored dog food. The heat was a bit of a challenge for Grace, but she made it okay. When we returned home at 3:00, Grace went to the balcony.

At 3:40, Grace enjoyed her favorite snack — duck food and scrambled eggs. When she finished, she went to her perch to watch and relax. At 5:00, I went in and opened the window to give her more contact with the outdoors.

Greet, Treat, and Play
Twenty minutes later, Grace whined softly and went to the foyer. The reason was evident shortly thereafter. Betsy came in and the two greeted each other happily.

At 5:30, Grace went to the park. While we were there, I freshened up the water bucket. I had an errand to run at the office. Grace went with me and picked up her treat. We then returned to the park and played ball.

Sensitive Puppy
At 6:10, Betsy called us home for supper. Hutch and Finn approached as we were leaving. The dogs greeted and moved on. When we returned, Grace had her supper followed by a small portion of mozzarella cheese. She parked herself under the table and had scraps from a pork chop. As tension rose in the room The sensitive puppy went to her perch and watched out the window.

At 7:20, Grace moved to the foyer. She fell asleep there and twenty minutes later drifted into sleep. In her sleep Grace let out the most dream barks ever. They lasted for a minute. I’ll mark this as a milestone.

Bath and Bed
By 8:15,  Grace was ready to go out for her last walk before bed. Fifteen minutes later when we returned, Betsy was vacuuming. Grace needed a bath, so she dutifully came to the bathroom and assisted me as I bathed her.

When we finished, Grace ate her doggie treat and went to the balcony. An hour later, when she barked, I brought her in and told her it was time for bed. Grace went to her bed and curled up for the night.

Tuesday
At 2:30, Grace was on the floor next to her bed as I passed by, but a minute later she was back in her bed. I greeted her briefly before returning to bed. At 6:30, the alarm clock sounded, and I got up. We did tummy rubs and kisses as Grace lay on the living room floor.

Let’s Play
Fifteen minutes later, we left for the park. After going about fifty feet, I remembered that I had forgotten the ball. I parked Grace’s leash on the water valve, retrieved the ball from inside, picked up the leash, and ran with Grace down the hall as she took the leash in her mouth to lead the way.

When we reached the park, it was empty. Grace wanted to sniff around a bit. The temperature was in the mid forties. I finally persuaded her to go for a walk to finish her business. Grace took me to the Lofts dog park and then to the gate to Grace Woods. She chased squirrels there before heading over the bridge and onto the Greenway.

Another dog was approaching from Grace Beach. I leashed Grace, but they turned around and went out of sight. I set Grace run free again. She went down by the river sniffing and exploring. Then she flushed out a Heron. She raced after it barking as it flew toward the lake, running up the steep earthen dam and toward the lake.

At the lake, she checked out the debris near the water flow regulator. She rolled in a dead fish and found a mini football. We played fetch with that as well as with the ball that I had brought. This football, was the soft type, so it was particularly nice for Grace to catch. I finally worked her over to the meadow. There we played with a soccer ball, the football, and the yellow, large golf ball.

Fill Up, Clean Up, Rest Up
When Grace returned home at 9:10, Grace went to the balcony. A few minutes later, I put out her breakfast. Grace came in and ate it. When she finished, I called her into the bathroom to wash the dead fish smell from her. It was a longer procedure, so when we finished, I gave her a doggie cookie and a doggie treat.

Grace then went out to the sunny balcony. At 9:50 Grace came in and curled up in the living room chair. At 10:10, the call of the wild was too strong. Grace went back out for twenty minutes. The sun heated her coat and she had to return to the chair. Five minutes later, I left for a meeting — leaving Grace home alone. She was noticeably sad to see me go, but she understood.

Happy Reunion and Doing Stuff Together
When I returned at 12:50, Grace greeted me at the door. She was happy to see me but also was upset that I had left her home alone. Twenty minutes later, I took Grace out for a run. We ran on the Greenway heading west. Grace ran along but stopped more than usual. Part of the issue may have been from the 75-degree heat.

When finally made it home at 2:05, Grace went to the balcony. At 2:30, Grace went back to the foyer and lay on her side. At 3:15, Grace and I went to the Town of Cary. Grace has her fans there now. She succeeded in charming them out of three treats. When we returned to the car, Grace found it too hot for her. She maneuvered into position on the floor closest to the air conditioner outlet and managed to beat the heat that way.

Happy Greeting and Good Eating
At 4:15, she returned home and went to the balcony. An hour later, Grace came inside and whined softly. She went to the foyer. I told her that Mommy was coming. Ten minutes later, she greeted Betsy at the door. After a happy greeting, she returned to the balcony.

At 6:30, we sat down to supper. Grace came in and parked herself next to us as we ate. She was a bit jealous as Betsy and I held hands and gave thanks for the food. She watched and waited as we ate pizza. We gave her some crusts with a bit of the good stuff attached. We held it tightly as she ate, so she would have to eat a piece at a time rather than wolf it down. When she finished, Betsy gave Grace her supper followed by a dental chew.

Twenty minutes later, Grace saw Betsy sitting on her sofa and eating O’s cereal. She propped her front feet on the sofa where Betsy sat and let her know that she had the munchies. Even Betsy couldn’t resist and gave her some. When she finished, Grace became agitated. Betsy took her out for a walk at 7:20. They watched the sunset over the lake and returned twenty minutes later.

Something Out There
Betsy gave Grace a doggie treat. When she finished, she went to the balcony to enjoy the pleasant night air. At 8:00, she burst into her nutso bark as if she had seen the hated white cat. I let her inside but saw nothing to prompt barking. She went back out and did it again. When she came in, she headed for the foyer expecting me to take her outside. When I didn’t take her she went back out on the balcony. After the third time, she came inside and went to her perch to watch from there.

Grace went out for her last walk in the pleasant night air at 8:45. When she returned fifteen minutes later, she went to the balcony. There she continued to want to bark but restrained herself enough to stay out there. At 9:30, Grace came in and got up in the chair for the night. At 11:50, Grace was still there.

Wednesday
By 3:30, Grace had made it to her bed. I went by and gently greeted her before returning to bed. At 6:30, the alarm clock sounded. Grace was still in her bed. I greeted her there. Betsy got up and gave her lots of attention as I dressed. Grace shared the affection with her. The temperature was pleasant in the mid-sixties. The sky was overcast, but the birds were singing.

Morning Romp
We finally left at 7:05. Grace went to the park. There she played mainly tug and fetch with AirDog. Reggie showed up and was very interested in mounting her. He stayed for about ten minutes. Grace left at 7:25. She headed down through the main breezeway and toward the walk down to the Greenway.

I redirected her as I was thinking about taking her first for a run to Wessex. Grace really wanted to go to the Greenway, so I let her take me to the gate leading to Grace Woods. There she chased squirrels, and ran down across the bridge ahead of me.

Once on the Greenway, Grace went to the lake by the water level control unit. As she got close to it, I whistled. Immediately, she turned her head to look at me. I told her “Danger.” She understood and backed off.

Grace went across the earthen dam to the river and checked it out at its source. Then she explored the weeded slope on Grace Hill. From there Grace went to the meadow. She looked up at me as if to say, “Come down and play.” I did, of course. We played with the soft small football, the large yellow golf ball, and the Frizbee. Grace enjoyed catching all three.

At 8:45, I took Grace running to get her some exercise. We went on the Greenway west. Although she did better this time than the previous day, Grace was basically on squirrel watch. We stopped a few times at the creek for her to wade in the running water and take a cool drink.

Breakfast, Home Alone, and Treat
When we returned home at 9:45, Grace went to the balcony. I put out her breakfast, she ate it, and returned to the balcony. I propped the balcony door open and told Grace good-bye as I left at 10:30 to go to a meeting.

At 2:30, when I returned home, I looked up from the parking lot to see Grace. When I came inside, Grace met me near the foyer. I gave her a doggie cookie and told her “Good bye-bye.” We then headed off to the apartment office to pick up a package and, of course, get a treat (in reverse order).

Fun Stuff
I had hoped to just go back home from there, but Grace had different ideas. She took me to Borador Park. There she played ball and just enjoyed being out in the fresh air and sunshine.

When she finally returned home at 3:30, Grace went to the balcony. As I cooked my food, Grace noticed and came inside. I gave her a doggie treat when she came to the kitchen. After she finished, she lay just outside the foyer and watched. At 4:00, her duck food and scrambled eggs snack had cooled sufficiently. I put it out, and Grace thoroughly enjoyed it.

She wanted more. I gave her a small loaded Kong. She then cleaned out a peanut butter jar. When she finished, Grace returned to the balcony to watch for friends. She saw Reggie and Zeke, came inside, and insisted that I take her out. I delayed a couple minutes to catch up on my writing. Grace did not like it.

At 4:55, Grace went out. She grabbed her leash and ran down to meet her friends. The two males noticed she was in heat and were particularly interested in mounting her. Reggie especially was consumed with the task. Grace took refuge below and upon the bench. Grace engaged with Zeke in spurts of aggressive puppy play.

Hush Puppies
At 5:30, we went home to meet Betsy who had brought home food from a barbecue place. Grace raced up the stairs to meet her (or followed the scent of the food). First, I gave Grace her supper. The fast food didn’t deter her. She ate her food heartily.

As we ate our dinner, Grace watched expectantly. Grace loves the hush puppies, but we gave her only about three. I also gave her only a tablespoon of barbecue because it was sort of spicy. She enjoyed the treats. We fed them to her slowly. When she finished, Grace went back out on the balcony.

Stormy Evening
At about 6:20, a violent rain blasted through. Grace moved against the outside wall and finally came inside and curled up in her bed. At 7:00, I tried to engage Betsy in a discussion, but as tensions rose, Grace had had enough and returned to the balcony.

By then the blast had subsided to make it more calm outside than inside. At 8:40, I took her outside for her last walk of the day. She came in five minutes later, got up on her sofa, and lay down for the night.

Thursday
At 4:45 when I walked by, Grace was still on her sofa. I briefly stroked her and went back to bed. When the alarm clock sounded at 6:30, I got up. Grace was lying on the floor next to her bed ready for tummy rubs and kisses. After a few minutes of sharing affection, I dressed. Grace went into the bedroom and briefly greeted Betsy before we left at 6:45.

Different Routine
I took down some things to take with me to the land, had Grace get into the car, and drove up to Borador Park. Grace played ball and sniffed around. When we went outside the park for a walk, Grace threw up. Little came up. This may be from hormones or perhaps from the barbecue and hush puppies the night before.

At 7:25, we headed out. Grace got into the car. Then Abby came. I brought Grace to the park for another ten minutes. The play was pretty limited. It amounted to Abby hogging the AirDog and Grace watching.

Cat Haters
We headed on for the lot to meet the brick mason and construction manager. We arrived first. I filled three gallons of water while Grace watched. I let Grace loose from the leash. She stayed on the lot for a while, but the call of cats was too strong. She made her way over to the neighbor’s house and chased the cat up the tree and barked at it.

I retrieved the leash and went after her. Grace tried to evade me while still tormenting the cat. Then she went up on the neighbor’s deck. There I trapped her at the entrance, leashed her and took her back. I fastened her leash to various fence posts along the silt fence. That worked for a while until Grace tired of being restrained and barked. She also often jumped the fence when on the leash.

Dealing with Heat
I took her off of the fence post so she could walk with me. We went to visit Snoopy, but he was mostly interested in mounting her. The last few minutes we were there, I put Grace in the car while I took pictures of the first blocks being set on the footer.

We returned home at 11:00. The sheet on her sofa had a more significant discharge spot on it — likely from the previous night. Her engorgement related to heat cycle also appeared to be full-blown. Grace continued to be very meticulous at dealing with the discharge.

Surprise Greeting and Good Eating
Grace had her breakfast and then went out on the balcony. Betsy came home from work for lunch. This was unusual, so Grace wasn’t looking for her. When she came in at 12:25, Grace didn’t notice. Betsy went out to greet her. Grace then came inside and lay in the foyer.

When Betsy left at 12:40, she let Grace back out on the balcony. She stayed there until I prepared some food. At 1:45, she came inside and lay outside the foyer to let me know she was ready for her duck food and scrambled egg. Fifteen minutes later, after it had cooled, Grace ate her favorite snack.

More Fresh Air
When she finished, she went to the foyer to cool off. At 2:40, Grace went to her perch. The 42-degree temperature was a bit cold, but I opened the window for her anyway.

At 3:20, Grace went out with me for a run. We went west on the Greenway on the leash. Grace’s prime interest for the run was marking her scent. This marking behavior actually started to increase back about four days earlier, but had become very evident. She still wanted to chase squirrels and birds, but they were less of a distraction than the previous day.

Waves of Sleep
When we returned home at 4:10, Grace went to the balcony. At 4:30, she came inside, curled up in the chair and drifted off into a deep sleep as the dishwasher made soothing rhythmic sounds in the background.

At 5:25, I looked at a video that showed a cat sliding off of a snowy roof. It included the sound of barking dogs. That got Grace’s attention. I muted it and told Grace to forget it. She went back to sleep. At 5:45, the dishwasher stopped and Grace stretched off of the chair and onto the floor at the foot of her sofa.

Working on Tricks
She made some sounds, so I worked on teaching talk and chomp-chomp.  Betsy came in with some French fries. Grace noticed and told me she had the munchies. I shared mine with her. Grace had her supper. She then watched us eat ours.

When I finished, Grace did tricks for duck food. She wanted to do more, but Betsy grabbed me to assist her with some plans. Grace gave up and went to her perch. At 8:45, Grace went out for the last time. She did lots of sniffing but not much else. After a half hour, we returned home. I told her it was time for bed. She got up on her sofa and settled in for the night.

Friday
At midnight, Grace was on the floor next to the balcony door. I greeted her there before returning to bed. At 5:30, she was lying in her bed. I didn’t disturb her. At 6:30, Betsy got up and opened both the balcony door and bedroom window. The outside temperature was 26 degrees. Grace came into the bedroom and whined softly.

Defrosting
I got up. Grace and I did our usual morning greetings. As I dressed, Grace retreated to the office to find a measure of warmth. As she lay at the foot of her perch, I opened the blinds for her. Grace got up on her perch and watched the morning activity in the darkness. I noticed she had cleaned up the discharge stain on the sofa sheet. Apparently, Grace did it during the night.

Although Grace was in no hurry, I dressed and we left to go to the park at 7:00. Again, I drove her to Borador Park because I planed to go straight to the lot after she finished at the park. The cars had frost on the windows, so I turned on my car after putting Grace into Betsy’s car. We rode up to the dog park and then proceeded to go for a walk to take care of business. After ten minutes, we walked down to my car. I turned it off and retrieved my keys. Then we returned to the park.

At that point, Abby came in. Grace and Abby actually played with each other for about fifteen minutes. I broke the ice layer in the water bucket. Abby greedily ate the ice as Grace waited patiently for a piece of two. The dogs left at 7:50.

Out of the Mud
When we arrived at the lot, we saw the foundation of the house nearly completed. The transition to brick was also in process. Some support piers still needed to be built. It was quite a transformation for just one day’s labor.

As I walked around to inspect and take pictures, Grace sniffed. I left her attached to a silt fence post. After a while, she barked to let me know she was not happy being confined. I went back to her and took the leash. She led me to some discarded Mexican food. She ate everything except the whole green chili peppers. This reminded me of the time she ate a complete Mexican dinner when she was a puppy back at the former apartment. That time she sniffed it out on top of a window air conditioner in a garage area.

Relaxing and Snacking
When we returned home at 9:00, Grace went to the balcony. Despite the continued cold air, the sunshine felt good to her out there. A few minutes later, I put out her breakfast. Grace saw me, came inside, ate it, and returned to the balcony. At 9:45, Grace came in and curled up in the chair for her morning nap.

At 10:20, Grace got down from the chair and took a long drink of water. She then curled up by the balcony door in the sun. By10:35, she had had enough sunshine and jumped up on her sofa.

At noon, I began preparing some food. Grace watched. I took her dish to the kitchen and put some duck food in it. Then I added some hot scrambled eggs. I told Grace it was “hot.” She understood. By 12:15, it had cooled enough for her to eat it. I gave it to her. Grace enjoyed her snack. I also had made some toast this time. When she finished, Grace came to my side at the dining room table. I gave her a piece. When she finished, she went to the foyer to relax. Thirty minutes later, Grace went back out on the balcony. At 1:20, Grace returned inside and lay on the foyer floor.

Friends!
At 3:00, Grace went to Borador Park. There she met Abby, Hutch, and Finn. Grace enjoyed playing with the flying disk. After thirty minutes, we left to go back to the lot. When we arrived, twenty minutes later, Grace played with Snoopy and a Snoopy look-alike, but she stayed on the leash. We looked at the construction progress and spoke with a contractor. Grace was a good sport as she stuck with us.

Tricks and Treats
When we returned home, Grace had her supper and went to the balcony. At 6:45, she came inside looking for action and food. We started working on
the chomp-chomp and talk tricks. At 7:00, Grace did tricks for duck food. When she finished, Grace had a doggie treat.

As we prepared supper, Grace had some mozzarella cheese. When she finished, Grace worked me over for treats with the chomp-chomp trick. At 7:20, we sat down for supper. Grace lay next to me and placed her head between the legs of my chair. She trusts me implicitly.

When I finished my supper at 7:40, I fed Grace some of my pork chop. She then went out to the balcony. An hour later, when she came in, I took her out for her last walk of the night. She again was highly focused on sniffing. At 9:00, Grace came inside and curled up for bed on her sofa. As I finally made it to bed at 10:30, Grace was lying in front of the balcony door.

Saturday
At 4:15, I noticed Grace lying motionless on the sofa. When I got up at 6:45, Grace was lying awake in her bed. We did tummy rubs and kisses. Twenty minutes later, I was dressed, Grace was leashed, and we went out for the morning.

Exploring
The 50-degree, clear morning felt comfortable and invigorating. Grace went first to the park. There were no friends there. I figured, I’d take Grace out for a walk and return. Grace was happy to leave but really wasn’t interested in returning.

She headed to Clump Grass Hill between the apartment complexes. She headed down past the small dog park and down toward the gate. On the way, she met a black miniature Poodle. They enjoyed sniffing each other. Grace then went through the gate to Grace Woods.

She raced down the hill to chase a squirrel or bird. I proceeded down toward the bridge. As usual, Grace beat me crossing. She took a little interest in a couple of paths on the right side, but quickly returned and headed for the entrance to the Greenway.

Grace ran freely in the field to the left. She found a deflated ball. We played with it as a tug toy and a flying disk. Grace moved on to chew on a couple of deer legs. When she finished with her snack, she went down to the water and found a ball.

Grace used her body language to prompt me to come down and play ball with her. We played for about twenty minutes. I used the ball to move her up to the top of the dam area and to Grace Hill. From there, Grace moved to Grace Beach. We played ball along the beach for about fifteen minutes.

Rude Awakening
As I motioned with the leash that I was ready to go, Grace turned into Grace Thicket. After a minute, she let out her nutso bark as she faced toward the water flow regulator platform. There in the woods were four teenage boys camping out. One was in a yellow and black body tent.

She startled the boys, awakened one, and scared them a bit. I told them that she was just spooked by people, the hammocks and especially the body tent being there. None of that was supposed to be there. I showed Grace that all was well. She calmed down, followed scents and allowed the boys to pet her. She found some discarded noodles and helped herself to that treat. After I talked with the boys for about fifteen minutes, we moved on to head home.

McDonald’s Treat, Home to Eat, Ready to Meet
Grace wanted to take the second walk back, and it was a good thing she did. As we climbed the steps to the second floor, halfway up she found a large serving of French fries lying on the step. Grace happily helped herself to clean up the mess.

When Grace returned home at 9:20, she went to the balcony, came in and ate her breakfast, and then curled up in the chair for a nap. After thirty minutes, she heard friends barking in the park. She got up, checked them out through the window, and headed for the foyer. It was time to go! We raced down to Borador Park to meet her friends Hutch and Finn.

Surprisingly, Grace looked intimidated by Hutch. That’s odd since the previous times they got together, Grace actually mixed it up with that much larger dog. Grace mainly focused on fetching, tugging, and retrieving the soft flying disk but remained subordinate to the much larger Hutch in any contests.

Sleeping Beauty
When Grace returned home at 10:20, she went to the balcony to relax and watch. After twenty-five minutes of soaking up the sunshine, Grace brought in her hot coat and relaxed in the chair. At 11:00, Grace got up, took a long drink of water, and played briefly with a little stuffed puppy toy before retreating to the sofa for another nap.

Betsy heated up some hush puppies at 12:15. That perked up this little sleeping beauty. I told her they were hot. Grace understood. After they cooled for a few minutes, I fed her one.

Ten minutes later, Grace went to the foyer floor, lay on her side there and went to sleep. This was particularly surprising since we were eating barbecue and hush puppies. At 1:20, Grace got up and went outside through the open balcony door.

Treat Radar
Five minutes later, Betsy sat down on the loveseat with a freshly cooked brownie. Immediately, Grace focused her radar on the food and went to Betsy. I went to the kitchen and pulled out a doggie cookie. Grace lay on the carpet with front legs extended in her usual place outside the kitchen and munched her treat.

When she finished, she went back to Betsy who was finishing up her snack. I called Grace off. After a minute, Grace gave up and went back to her spot by the open balcony door. Betsy had to shut the door at 1:40 to avoid laundry odor. Grace went out ten minutes later. She enjoyed sitting in the sun on the lounge chair and watching the activity below.

Afternoon Exercise
At 2:00, Grace came inside and lay at the foyer door to cool off. Twenty minutes later, Grace began grouching as Betsy said she was going to take her out an then delayed. Betsy finally took her at 2:35. When they returned at 5:00, Betsy said that she played with Otis and three other dogs in the field. At the end of the outing, Grace went to the lake to cool off and take a drink. When she finished, Grace waited for Betsy to leash her and take her home.

I took Grace out for a run. Grace did lots of stopping, sniffing, and marking along the way. She also kept delaying to allow a couple of Pit Bull dogs that we passed to keep catching up with us. When she started limping at the 1.25 mile point, I turned around and took her home. We stopped a few times to let her wet her paws in the cool creek and get a drink.

Clean Up, Fill Up, and Curl Up
When we returned home at 6:00, Grace had a full shower because Betsy said Grace went swimming. She then had a doggie treat before going out on the balcony to rest and recover. Grace came inside at 6:30, grouching that we hadn’t fed her supper.

After supper, she complained that she wanted more. I gave her a small loaded Kong. When she finished, Betsy gave her a large loaded Kong. While we ate, Grace stayed lying inside by the open balcony door. When I heated my turkey in the microwave, that got her attention. Grace came marching into the dining room and parked herself next to me.

When I finished, I slowly fed her a piece. Grace wanted more. At 7:00, Grace did tricks for treats. She still wanted more. I gave her a dental chew and turned out the lights in the kitchen. That did it.

When she finished, Grace went to the balcony to watch as daylight turned to darkness. At 8:30, Grace whined, came in, took a long drink of water and lay inside by the balcony door. At 8:40, Grace went out for the last time. Again she was very interested in sniffing. When she returned home at 8:55, she curled up in her bed to go to sleep.

Then at 9:30, Betsy made some popcorn. That perked up Miss Grace. She said she had the munchies. She joined me in her usual place in the chair and together, we ate our popcorn snack. When she finished with me, Grace worked on Betsy for a few pieces. Betsy put a diaper on her to catch discharge from Grace’s heat. At 9:45, Grace went back out on the balcony.

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