May I Join You Please?
At 1:30 AM, Grace came into the bedroom and whined softly. She wanted to join us but apparently wanted to be invited. Grace is very considerate. She happily joined us went we called her up. Betsy gave her some tummy rubs. Before long, Grace was asleep. At 7:30, Grace slid herself off of the bed, went to the office, and watched for friends. At 8:00, she let us know it was getting time to start the day.
Morning Adventure
I took her out at 8:15. She headed first for the grille areas to see what she could scavenge. There wasn’t much there other than perhaps a grease spill or two on the ground. She worked her way to the south pond and found more remnants of the goose carcass. It was just some wing bone attached to the breast. Grace tossed it and rolled around with it much like a cat would play with a catnip toy. Later, Betsy mentioned Grace had a strange odor. I suppose anyone would smell a bit if they rolled around with a two-month-old goose carcass.
From there, we traveled through the south woods to the east woods. Grace followed her nose again almost frantically. At 9:30, we returned home, and Grace had her breakfast. After breakfast she went out on the balcony for a nap. At 10:10, I called her in. Grace obediently jumped up on the chair and rolled up for a nap. I told her “Bye-bye” as we left. At 12:45, we returned and Grace greeted us with her tail wagging at the door. I told her “Good bye-bye,” and gave her a treat as usual.
Hot Dog
Grace seemed agitated. Betsy gave her a doggie treat, but after Grace finished it, she remained agitated. Betsy took her outside to see for herself that the air conditioning is much more comfortable. She settled down on the foyer floor to cool it and take a nap, and I went to the balcony. At 2:00, I went inside. Grace lay there on the loveseat. Her lunch remained untouched. I invited her to eat and she finished off her lunch.
At 4:00, I left to go shopping. Betsy took Grace for a walk, to stop by Sunrise, and then come home at 5:00. When I returned home at 6:00, Grace greeted me in her usual way. Betsy said Grace hadn’t eaten. At 7:00, she fed Grace supper. Grace ate it all. Betsy took her outside because Grace was getting antsy. They returned fifteen minutes later. Grace joined me on the balcony outside. A storm popped up at 8:15.
Unwinding
At 9:00, Grace came inside. As I opened a wrapper, Grace came marching in. I gave her a doggie treat. She came back to the living room and jumped up on the loveseat to nap. Betsy sat down to eat some soda crackers. Grace perked up and stared Betsy down letting her know she had the “munchies.” Betsy relented a bit and gave her a few crackers. Afterwards, Grace came up on the sofa and sat next to me. She proceeded to lick my hand and arm. At 10:00, Grace went outside for the last time. She returned home ten minutes later and jumped back on the sofa for the night.
Monday
Grace joined us in bed at about 3:00 AM. She got up at about 6:30. At 7:10, we left to go running. On the path I saw a small harmless snake. I tried to teach Grace to leave it, but she did not seem interested. The snake didn’t move, so perhaps she thought it was a stick. On the last lap, I noticed that she had dragged out of the pond a log that looked the size of a baseball bat except it was nearly six feet long. She grabbed it in the middle and carried it around proudly.
Morning Play
When we were driving in the parking lot at our apartment complex, we spotted Olive. I parked the car there, and we got out to play. After ten minutes, we moved to a grassy area next to Olive’s apartment. Olives owner brought a ball. We played fetch with it. Grace understood the game much better than Olive did.
At 8:45, we returned home, and Grace ate her breakfast. We had scheduled a meeting out at the land at 9:30, so we left for that at 9:15. Grace and Snoopy enjoyed chasing and wrestling with each other. Grace loved the country so much that she wanted to widen her horizons, but she was heading for a busy four-lane road. Betsy tried to call her back but was unsuccessful, so I recalled her. She came immediately.
Lazy Afternoon
When we returned home at 11:00, Betsy tried to call Grace in for a bath. She hesitated and looked at me. I called her in and stayed with her as Betsy bathed her. Grace then went to the office and took a nap. At 4:00, Grace came into the living room and whined. Betsy took Grace outside for fifteen minutes and returned. Grace then lay on the floor by the balcony doors to continue her nap.
Evening Adventures
At 6:30, Grace had her supper. She wasn’t particularly interested in it, but a few minutes after I put it out, I checked again and she had eaten it all. Betsy and I left for dinner out at 6:50. Grace went to the office to watch us leave. When we returned at 8:00, Grace greeted us with her usual wags and kisses.
At 8:15, Grace went outside. She followed her nose through the complex. At one point she saw Tucker or Isabella in their window. Grace let out her big-girl bark. The dogs inside went crazy until the owner corralled them. Grace then left. Her work was done there. She saw something else and repeated her bark. This time it was a sheet of plastic cover over a pump to take away water from an area with bad drainage. It was both something that didn’t belong there and something that moved in the wind. Grace lets us know when she sees things like that.
At 9:00, we returned home. Grace went to bed. She came out into the kitchen as I grabbed a snack. I gave her a doggie treat. At 10:15, I went to bed and invited Grace to join us.
Tuesday
At 5:30, Grace went to the office to watch for friends. She came back to the bedroom at 6:00. We invited her back into bed. She jumped up and, we gave her tummy rubs. At 6:30, she was ready to go again. At 7:00, we left for our run. Grace again enjoyed her time running across the meadow to catch up with a lady who came for a walk. Grace didn’t bother her but just ran near and acted friendly toward the lady. Grace’s speed and energy level continues to improve.
At 7:40, we stopped at storage. Grace was less interested in playing fetch. Instead, she chased after the ball and lay down and started chewing on it. We stopped at the store for a couple minutes. Grace waited patiently. When we returned home at 8:10, Grace went out on the balcony. I prepared her food. Betsy added a tablespoon of olive oil to the food. We both noticed that she would rather drink dirty water outside than water from her dish. Her water dish was full. I cleaned out both dishes and moved them out of her cage to see if the location was the problem .
At 11:45, Grace came inside, sniffed her food and water but left them untouched, curled up in the living room chair, and went back to sleep. At 3:00, Betsy took Grace outside for a walk. Grace did okay on the walk but was a bit slow and the heat started to get to her. At 3:45, they returned and Grace lay on the floor by the balcony door.
False Pregnancy
At 4:30, I returned home. I went to Grace, she gave me a few kisses, and I returned the affection with tummy rubs, but her enthusiasm was gone. Betsy then gave her a raw egg. Grace ate all of it but ate slowly. At 5:45, we took Grace to the vet. Grace weighed in at 52.3 pounds. The vet said that Grace is two months after heat. If she had puppies, it would be about now.
The vet said that “false pregnancy” can explain the increased whining, licking, eating change, and drinking change. When Grace’s hormones stop raging, she will be back to normal. Her mammary glands will also shrink. At that point (a few weeks to a couple months down the road), we could consider having her spayed. We’re not interested in that though. We’re hopeful we can swing finding a suitable Borador sire for her next heat and be close enough to being into our house to care for them there. As mentioned previously, we would also need qualified homes for the puppies, before we commit to this.
At 7:00, we returned home. Grace went to her food dish and ate it all. Of course, this was her breakfast, but at least she did eat it. When she finished, she went back to her spot by the balcony doors and went to sleep. At 7:30, Grace acted hungry. I gave her supper. Grace picked at it — eating about a third. I included a fish oil pill which she avoided. She played gently with her giraffe toy for about five minutes. A few minutes later, Grace drank about half a bowl of water. That was good to see. She then grabbed an oatmeal box and shredded it enthusiastically.
Play Puppies
At 8:00, I left to go shopping to get groceries and some play puppies. I returned home at 9:00. For eleven dollars I got four toy puppies for her. We arranged them in the office under the window where she likely would have kept a real litter. We left them there, and she stayed with them. She came out when I got a bedtime snack. She got her doggie treat and went back to the office. Grace went to the ottoman in the office and her toy puppies were on the floor beside her. At 10:00, she lay on the floor with her puppies as we went to bed.
Tuesday
Grace slept with us the whole night. Betsy said the small white toy puppy was at the foot of the bed. At 6:00, Grace awoke. We stroked her for a while. She returned the love with enthusiastic face licking. She was so persistent, I wondered whether she would wear out my face skin. As Grace became inpatient waiting, we left at 6:45. Before we made it to the car, we spotted Ada. Her sore on the shoulder was dramatically smaller and healing nicely. I asked the lady walking Ada what they did. She said they considered an Elizabethan collar, but opted for a toddler-size T-shirt.
Morning Outing
While Ada was interested in playing, Grace was not. After about five minutes, we gave up and boarded the car for our trip to the park. As I finished my first lap, Grace decided to do her morning bowel movement. Normally, I mark her position relative to a tree or pole in the background. When she finishes, I walk straight toward the marker, which take me in line with the pile. This time I could not walk a straight line because we had a wet low area separating me from Grace.
I walked around and tried to utilize a marker, but because I could not walk straight to it, the process was imprecise. The next time, I’ll find a marker behind me or where I’m standing to give me a solid reference. I searched for about five minutes and finally I smelled something like my objective. Unfortunately, I had stepped in it. After searching another five minutes, I found it. I really hadn’t picked up much on my shoe in comparison to the full load. Grace enjoyed her run and continued to look faster and freer than the day before.
We stopped again at storage for just a few minutes. Grace fetched the ball a couple times but was content to just go to the ball and chew on it where she found it. We then went to the grocery store for a few things. Grace waited patiently as I was gone for about ten minutes. When we returned home at 9:00, I gave Grace breakfast. She ate some but did not finish it.
Home Alone
At 9:30, Betsy and I went to look at houses and left Grace home alone in the living room chair. When we returned at 1:00, Grace met us, coming from the office, with the small, white toy puppy in her mouth. By then, Grace had eaten her breakfast. She wanted to go outside, so we went.
Big Find
There was a crew of men working on the drainage of the apartments along the main road. They left their lunch bags up on a hill from where they were working. Grace scavenged a few morsels of food next to the lunch bags. Then Grace persistently tugged the leash as she moved around a tree. On the other side of the tree discarded on the ground was a serving of macaroni and a serving of white rice. Grace polished off the macaroni and ate most of the rice before moving on.
Grace decided to lie in the shade on the tile floor by the pool and cool it. Eventually, Jack showed up. Grace did her normal face licking of Jack, but he wasn’t too interested other than trying to mount her. At 2:00, we went back to the apartment, and Grace retired to the office. As I raided the freezer to grab a spoonful of ice cream, Grace came marching in from the office. I gave her a doggie treat. After eating it, she drank a half bowl of water and then returned to the office.
Puppy Love
At 3:30, Grace emerged with one larger toy puppies on loveseat. She cutely nestled the toy between her front legs. About ten minutes later, I went to kitchen to make a sandwich and opened the peanut butter. Grace jumped up to join me when she heard me sawing the peanut butter jar in half to give her full access to it for licking. After working on it for fifteen minutes and cleaning it out completely, she retired again to the office. At 4:00, as Betsy came in and again left, Grace emerged with no puppy and jumped up on the loveseat. When she whined, I went to the office and retrieved for her one of the larger puppy toys.
At 6:15, I left Grace in the office. At 7:30, Betsy came home and took Grace out for an hour. She and Olive played for twenty minutes. When I returned home, Grace greeted me enthusiastically with wags and kisses. Grace hug out with us and her toy puppies in the living room until we went to bed at 10:45.
Thursday
Grace slept in bed with us the whole night. At 6:00, she got down. At 6:30, Betsy took her out. Grace met Ada and they played for fifteen minutes before I got there. While I was there, they did little, but when Betsy came back, Grace and Ada tore into the courtyard as we were trying to untangle their leashes. That’s not normal for her. I’m thinking it had something to do with running to Betsy.
Morning Fraggle
At 7:00, Fraggle came out. Grace and she wrestled by Fraggle’s place, but the new dogs above them were out on the balcony and causing a barkfest. Grace and Fraggle went to the lower area next to the fence to get away from that issue. They played in the now thick woods, disappearing and reappearing on a regular basis. Eventually, Grace found a beer can. That became the keep-away toy. Then Grace lost interest in it and Fraggle took it on. Whenever Grace approached it, Fraggle let out a snarly growl.The dogs greeted the maintenance man and a passing car.
At 8:00, we finally left for the lake. On the first trip around, Grace met a poorly socialized dog. The owner was not particularly anxious for interaction, so I called Grace off. Since it was later in the morning than usual and a really hot day, shade became a particularly welcome commodity. After we finished up, we returned home. Grace parked herself on the passenger floor to maximize her cooling. Once we made it home, Grace had a bath, drank some water, and ate her breakfast.
Splashing Fun
At about 10:45, we headed out to the new apartment. Again, Grace parked herself low in the car. Despite the heat, Grace wanted to go exploring. We went down to the little beach area of the lake. Someone had left a pink tennis ball there. We played fetch with it for about forty-five minutes. At noon, we returned to the apartment, and at 12:15, we drove to the hardware store. When we arrived, we moved Grace to the shade while we returned a carpet cleaner..
Once we returned home, Grace went straight for the balcony. At 1:45 though, the 93-degree heat was more than she could stand. Grace came inside and collapsed on the floor by the balcony doors. At 4:30, my brother stopped by to sign some papers. Grace gave him an enthusiastic greeting. She then sat across from us on the sofa, next to Betsy. After we left, Grace jumped up on my chair and was there when I returned at 5:30.
Grace had her supper at 6:30. She wanted more. Betsy gave her a dental chew. She wanted more. I gave her a doggie treat. She wanted more. I gave her another half cup of food. After eating that, she wanted to play with her puppies. She really would have liked doing tug and fetch with them, but I told her those were her puppies and we cannot play that way with them. She took one of the larger ones up on the living room ottoman with her and played with it.
At 7:00, Grace wanted to go outside. She hadn’t been out since noon. When I took her out, it was clear she had a fairly full bladder. We returned at about 7:30 after making the rounds within the complex. At 8:45, I spotted Olive in courtyard. Grace was asleep in the living room chair. I really didn’t have the energy to take her out again, but after about ten minutes, somehow she sensed that Olive was down there.
I took her down. At the time, Olive and a group of three large dogs (all with the same lady) were mixing it up a bit. Of course, Miss Social joined in too. After ten minutes, the three dogs left, allowing Grace and Olive to play chase.
Big-Girl Bark
At one point, a neighbor young man walked by with a white towel around his shoulders. The towel was for polishing his motorcycle, but Grace saw it as something strange, barked, and ran up to him. Earlier in the day, Grace had seem the same young man bent over as if he was tying his his shoe and wearing a knapsack on his back. That too was strange to Grace and she barked at him that time as well. He politely asked if he could pet Grace and of course we said, “Yes.”
At 10:00, we went to bed. Grace jumped up in her usual place at the foot of the bed where we have a special sheet for her to lie upon.
Friday
At 6:00, Grace stirred. We petted her and she responded with her kisses. At 6:20, Grace went to the office ottoman to survey the morning activity. At 6:45, Grace was ready to go. We went downstairs and a few minutes later drove off to the park.
New Friend
At 7:10, we began our run. Grace spotted a lady walking and in her usual fashion, raced to greet her. The lady was a bit startled, but happy nonetheless to see a cheerful, furry little friend. She sat down at the picnic table. On the next trip around, Grace jumped up to see her. On another trip, we approached again, and the lady asked to take a picture of Grace. Grace obliged her. On her final walk, as Grace ran up to her, the lady clapped and reached out to encourage Grace to come to her.
After our run, I went to the car and brought back the bouncy ball. Grace played fetch for about twenty minutes. We drove back and arrived home at 8:15. After her shower, it was breakfast time, but Grace’s food bag needed refilling. Grace watched as I scooped food from the big bag to the smaller one. As a few morsels would drop, Grace picked them up and ate them. When I finished, I put some extra food in the dish that I used for scooping and fed it to her.
New Toy
After breakfast, Grace went back into the office and perched on the ottoman to watch for friends. At 10:50, I left to do some shopping. I went to the Gander Mountain store and bought Grace some Chuckit! balls named medium Fetch Medley. I gave her the orange ball from it that was like the one that Olive had. She was napping on the office floor at the time. Grace played with it for about an hour before moving on to other tasks.
Getting Hungry
At 12:30, as I cleaned up in the kitchen, Grace came in and looked at me intently. That look means that she wants some food. I gave her a doggie treat, but she wanted more. Grace then had some lunch. That satisfied her. After I ate my food, I placed some of my scrambled eggs in her dish. When she came into the living room, I pointed it out to her, and she happily ate it. She then lay in her usual spot against the wall by the balcony doors.
At 5:00, we left to go out to eat at a place where Grace could come along. The Farmer’s Market Fish Restaurant has picnic tables outside. Grace enjoyed hush-puppies fried shrimp and fried flounder. After we ate, Grace went to the Carolina Pines dog park. It was a large area with lots of trees and surrounded by a fence. Grace was a bit intimidated by the dogs that came to the entrance. Many of the dogs there were aggressive. Grace did her best to be non-threatening, but the aggressive dogs wanted to gang up on her. One-on-one she held her own well though, but we really did not want to teach her that level of play. We will not return to that park.
When we came home, Betsy and Grace went to the mailbox and then around the complex for a walk. Grace played with Buddy. At 8:30, Betsy had trouble getting her to come in. She asked for my help. I was on the balcony and whistled. Grace came running and went out on the balcony.
At 9:00, Grace came inside and jumped up on the living room chair. Betsy made some popcorn. Grace had the munchies. She and I sat together on the chair as we shared some popcorn. When we finished, Grace moved to get what she could from Betsy. At 9:30, Grace went to sleep on the sofa. By 10:45, I finally turned out the lights and went to bed too — leaving Grace there.
Saturday
Around 1:00 AM, Grace joined us in bed. At around 5:00 AM, Grace began sustained, rhythmic biting of her coat. I suspected that perhaps she was pursuing a flea. At 6:00, we began the tummy rub and kiss routine. At 6:15, Grace got up to watch outside from the office ottoman. At 6:30, we headed outside for our morning activities. After a short walk around the complex here, we headed off to the park.
At 7:00 we arrived. Grace was particularly anxious to get going. After our half-hour run, we played fetch until 8:10. At 8:20, we returned home. Grace’s water dish was empty, but her supper was still there. Of course, after enjoying fish, shrimp, and hush puppies, it’s understandable that she might not be interested in eating dog food for a while.
She went straight to the balcony. I joined her there and after a few minutes she came up with me on the lounge chair. At 10:00, she started that rapid biting the middle of her back near her bottom. I got out the flea comb and combed in that area. I found a small flea this time. Betsy then used the FURminator on her and followed that with a shower.
Lazy Afternoon
Grace then lay on her spot by the balcony doors against the wall. At 1:00, I went to the kitchen to make some brunch. Grace came in. I gave her a doggie treat. She wanted more. I gave her a lunch serving of dog food. She wasn’t particularly thrilled with it, but I noticed a few hours later her bowl was empty.
At 3:00, Betsy took Grace to Bond Park. Grace had a good time swimming. One time though, she gulped some water and triggered a vomiting incident. When they returned home at 4:40, Grace went straight to the balcony to watch the considerable activity in the courtyard and at the pool. At 6:30, we left to go to a concert. Grace came in and lay on the living room chair.
When we returned home at 9:15, Grace greeted us happily. I took her outside for fifteen minutes. When we returned, I went to bed, and Grace went to the office to be with Betsy.