It didn’t take Grace long to get off of the bed. In the very early morning she was in her bed. At 6:25, she let out a whimper from the bedroom hallway. She was ready to start her day. We went out at 6:45 and headed to Borador Park. Things were mighty quiet. We had come to expect a visit from Lucy and Boggie at that time, but today they were out of town. Grace did a quick walk in the grass while we waited for Grace’s friends to arrive.
Spectator Sport
At 8:00, the action began. Abby came in, followed by Olivia and Rascal, with Sadie close behind. Grace first played with Abby, but when Sadie came in she switched to focus her attention on her. They went at it with high energy for about ten minutes. At one point, even Olivia joined in and all four big dogs raced around the park.
Then Grace took the big ball between her front paws and settled in to watch the wrestling match between Sadie and Abby. At times, Grace would move the get a better view of the action and once the action came to her. Grace even made a few noises to cheer her favorite on. At 8:20, we had to go and the party broke up as quickly as it had assembled.
Sunday Routine
We raced home. Grace had her breakfast, and I hastily prepared for church. We left Grace home alone on her sofa at 9:15. When we returned at 12:15, she was still stretched out there. We exchanged greetings, told her, “Good bye-bye,” and gave her a treat.
Grace then had her lunch followed by a couple of treats. At 12:45, she went out on the sunny balcony. At 1:00, she returned and retreated to the cool foyer floor. She tried the balcony lounge chair at 1:30 but at 1:45 had to again return the cool foyer floor.
At 1:50, Grace started whimpering. She really wanted to go the the beach, but I held her off until 2:30.
Note: I regret that detailed content was lost from this point until Friday afternoon.
Sunday afternoon through Friday afternoon
The daily routine consisted of:
- Getting up at 6:45
- Going to the dog park to play from 7:00 to 8:15
- Eating breakfast
- Waxing paws
- Going running at Borador Pond Park at 9:30
- Going to the land and playing fetch or chasing and wrestling with Snoopy when he came out
- Returning home at about 11:30
- Taking a shower
- Eating lunch at noon followed by a doggie treat
- Taking a nap on the sofa
- Going on the balcony for five minutes at 2:00
- Waiting in the foyer
- Going to Grace Beach at 2:30
- Returning back through the field, to Winstead Dr.
- Doing “sack of potatoes” near our building
- Being carried to the building entrance at 4:15
- Taking a shower
- Going on the balcony to watch for friends
- Going back out to Borador Park at 5:00
- Returning home at 6:00
- Eating supper
- Going back out on the balcony
- Coming inside at 8:15 and curling up on her sofa
- Going out at 9:00
- Returning at 9:10
- Jumping up in bed for the night
Aggressive Attacks
The big event this week other than the trip to the beach were the two attacks from Abby. Both happened in the dog park in the afternoon with the owner’s daughter accompanying Abby. The first one was Wednesday. Abby was not happy that Grace had the ball. Abby snapped and took out her aggression on Grace. Grace tried the defensive position and dove under the bench, but Abby continued the attack. We broke it up and left the park.
Thursday afternoon, Grace spotted Abby in the park and again ran to play with her, but when Grace saw Abby’s demeanor, she wouldn’t enter. Abby came out and started biting Grace. The dogs went inside and continued very rough play until we had to break them up again and take them home. This second attack wasn’t as violent as the first but was still way beyond safe play.
Friday morning Abby came with her owner. Abby toned it down but still bit Grace’s ear hard enough to make her squeal. I took her out shortly after that. Abby knew what she was doing.
Car Behavior
Another milestone logged this week was Grace’s automatic habit of following me on my run at the park and from as well as to the car and into her seat. This has been going on for a while now, but I don’t recall logging it.
A similar interesting behavior that I noticed with Grace in the car was her fixation once we parked at home. Unlike at the park, she would remain in her seat and stare straight ahead. Perhaps she wanted to stay in the cool, comfort of the car, or she was focused on something. Whatever it was, it took some coaxing to snap her out of it.
Suitcase Sadness
Also, I remember Thursday in particular, as we pulled out our suitcases and prepared for another trip, Grace seemed a bit despondent. Perhaps it was the change of routine, the upheaval in the house, the days away from friends, or the thought of a long car ride. She did seem to know something was up though, and it saddened her.
One More Thing
Another day that week I recall as we arrived at Borador Pond Park, Grace tore off toward the back end of the path around the ponds. There was something standing at least four feet tall on the path. It was the big gray crane that lives in the area and frequents the park. Of course, as Grace approached, the crane flew to safety. It did furnish Grace a fun object to chase though.
Friday evening and Saturday were recreated to the best of my recollection.
Friday Evening
At 5:45 PM, we left for a trip down to Wilmington, NC. We stopped at the Raleigh Farmer’s market for supper. Grace enjoyed huh puppies, fish, and French Fries. We arrived around 8:30 at a bed and breakfast. Grace was used to hotels and apartments, but not bed and breakfasts. She did well considering the change.
We stayed on the first floor right near the entrance. When Grace heard noises inside the house, she alerted us with a bark. Since the house was quiet at night, Grace did fine, sleeping on the bed with us most of the night.
Saturday
At 6:45, I got up and took Grace out. Grace met a 12-week-old Boxer-mix puppy and didn’t know exactly how to treat it. After a while though they played a tame form of chase and Grace let the puppy climb up on her. At one point, Grace wound the leash around a tree and pulled my hand across it. I ended up with fairly deep abrasions on four knuckles.
Good Morning Wilmington
We walked around the neighborhood and returned to the place we were staying at 8:15. Grace had her breakfast, but left about one third of it in her dish. That was very unusual.
We tried to go to breakfast. Grace whined softly from the room as she heard us talking. The owner said it would be okay to let Grace join us. She behaved fairly well considering the new environment and her active nature. After breakfast, we returned to the room and prepared to go to Fort Fisher.
Fort Fisher Beach
We arrived at the beach at about 10:30 and set up behind the lifeguard stand because that was the only place where there was any shade on the beach. We took Grace to a spot away from people and let her run. Grace played fetch of a handball along the shore and in the shallow water.
After about thirty minutes, a Golden Retriever / Chow mix joined us. It had a stick in its mouth. Grace went up to it and broke the stick in half. Both dogs played fetch off of the leash. We threw the stick into the ocean. Usually, Grace got it first. It was low tide. Grace swam sometimes in order to reach the stick and bring it back. The waves gave her and extra obstacle, but she swam through them. Swimming in the ocean was a milestone for her.
When the other dog left, we continued to play fetch and shortstop along the shore with the handball. When we returned, Betsy went to the indoor area to get information. The lifeguard told me we would have to move when Betsy returned. Grace and I went back to the car at noon. Grace had her lunch there, I got some more water, and grabbed the beach umbrella for some shade.
When Betsy returned, we moved and set up the umbrella. The wind was brisk, but the umbrella held. Grace spent a lot of time at the beach making sure she greeted every dog she saw with a series of barks. Grace enjoyed lying in the sand and shade as the afternoon drifted on.
Food in Wilmington
At 3:30, we headed back. We stopped at Wendy’s to get a few things to hold us over until dinner. I shared some hamburger and French fries with Grace. After we returned to the bed and breakfast at Wilmington and cleaned up, we decided to walk down to the waterfront at eat at a dog-friendly restaurant. We did a lot of walking and checking around.
We finally settled on Fat Tony’s. It was an Italian place with outdoor seating and dog-friendly policy. They even brought a water bowl for Grace. We did run into a few snags. For some reason, the menu they gave us was missing a lot of their Italian entrées. Grace was a bit of a problem as she would respond with barking to any barks she heard elsewhere.
Good Night Grace
It took quite a while to receive our order. I had a hamburger and shared the meat with Grace. After we finished, we walked back to the the inn where we were staying. The challenge was to keep Grace from barking in response to strange sounds in the house. She did pretty well, settling down on the carpet at the floor of the bed.
At 9:30. we went to bed. Grace followed, jumping up and settling at the foot of the bed.