July 7th 2011 3:27 pm
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Wow, doggies, it's been a long time since my lady posted here. So much has happened in the past two years that it's hard to think what's important enough to tell.
First, we moved back to Boston. We only lived in Virginia for a few months. My lady said things didn't "work out" with her bf (I didn't really warm to him anyway) so she called it quits. We moved home in October, 2009. We stayed with a friend of hers when we came back, since she didn't have an apartment anymore, and that friend also had a dog (in fact, it was a friend from the dog park). So I got to live with another dog for the first time. We get along pretty well, now - Bandido is my pack. My lady says he's a Puerto Rican SATO, whatever that means. He's a mutt like me, but he's a bit smaller and all black. People sometimes mistake him for my smaller brother, but we're not related.
But yeah. Two years later, almost, we're still here. Turns out my lady realized she had romantic feelings toward the friend who let us stay, and their friendship turned into a relationship a bit over a year ago. So we're all a pack now. I really like this guy - sometimes he walks us without my lady and I'm pretty obedient. Mostly.
The only downside about this guy is that he got my lady into riding motorcycles. She bought her first one last year, crashed it, rebuilt it and then upgraded later in the year. I actually don't mind the motorcycles so much; they spend a fair amount of time out front working on the bikes and we dogs get to hang out outdoors with them while they're doing mysterious things. But what I don't like about the motorcycle riding is that it takes them away sometimes. They do weekend trips occasionally, but at the end of last year they took a big trip and were gone for FOUR WHOLE MONTHS!
Well, doggies, you can imagine I didn't like that. They apparently rode their motorcycles from here in Boston all the way down all the land to the bottom, to a place called Argentina. And then they came home. While they were gone, they got some ladies to stay with us in our own house, so we wouldn't be too upset. One of the ladies even had her own dog, so there were THREE of us for a while! It was great.
I really loved the new dog, Ella, who was something like a Labradoodle. But my packmate, Bandido, didn't like one of the ladies who stayed with us, and he started getting snarly and snapping at the people. I, on the other hand, was quite polite, so the people always wanted to spend time with me. They spoiled me a little bit, and they were always yelling at Bandido and sending him away because he was snarly, so our pack order shifted a bit and now I'm top dog in the house. Bandido, though, didn't really like that and he hasn't gotten over it.
Now that our people are back and the temporary ladies are gone (our people came back at the beginning of April) Bandido is still snarly sometimes to people at the park. It's sad for all of us because Bandido used to be such a lover; he was always asking for pets from people at the park and he's convinced me to be a lot more sociable with the people. But now he's not trustworthy and has to wear a muzzle sometimes. I'm glad that's not me! He doesn't like it; he's always trying to rub his head to get it off.
The people still leave sometimes for short trips, but now they leave us with a friend who has another dog I like (Dandelion! He's an English Shepherd - we herding dogs have fun together.) His people really understand how to handle dogs, and they spoil us roten in a good way. But lately I've heard the people talking about bringing us along in sidecars! I don't really know what that means, but I like car rides and I like being with my people, so hopefully it's a good thing.
So yeah. I'm clearly way behind on giving out updates and a lot has happened in the past couple of years. Hope all of my Dogster friends are well and enjoying the summer!
July 10th 2009 1:27 pm
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Hey doggies! We've moved and I've survived! I'm now living in sunny (and HOT) northern Virginia, or NoVA as the people call it for short. What are my thoughts on moving?
1. Moving day was very stressful.
My lady had spent days packing things up, and continued to do so on moving day. And then her bf showed up, who I hadn't smelled in months, and I wanted to eat him. And then one of her lady friends showed up, who's been helping her pack for the trip, and I wanted to eat her. And then some people finally came to take my couch away, and I wanted to eat them, but my lady put me in the bedroom. When I came out, the couch was gone, and my lady put me in my crate shortly thereafter because more guys came and moved all our stuff out of my apartment.
It was not good. And then my lady dropped me off at a friend's house and left me there while she and said friends went out to dinner.
2. 10 hours in a moving truck is something I could live without.
After dinner, we all piled in a truck - me and the lady and her bf - and drove for a long time. All night long. They stopped for an hour to sleep at around 5AM, and I was stress panting. I panted the whole time they slept - when my lady went to sleep, I was panting, and when the alarm woke them up again, I was still panting. When we arrived at our destination, the lady and her bf left me in the truck for a few minutes while they ran in to buy some stuff for the apt. And then we drove to the apt for the first time.
3. Moving into the apt was stressful.
My lady knew I'd be anxious, so after she showed me around the new apartment, she tied my leash to the stairs where I could watch her and keep an eye on the proceedings. She gave me some water. I watched her and the bf and two guys carry all our stuff up into the apartment. I sat out there for two hours, panting, while they carried everything upstairs. And then I went up there with them, and I felt a little better that I could smell all the stuff from our old home, but it was all in boxes and I was still worried.
4. I didn't like it at first when they left me alone.
The lady and her bf still had to move his stuff in after we got all our stuff. They left me alone in the apt while they packed his stuff, and they left me alone again when they went to run errands and pick things up that they needed for the apt. I did not like being left alone in a new place, doggies. I barked. And barked. And barked. The entire time they were gone, I barked my head off, wondering where she was and if she'd come home again. Now that I can reach my couch again (it was hidden by boxes the first couple of days) I'm much calmer and I don't mind being left alone here. I get the idea that she's not abandoning me. But at first, it was bad, doggies.
5. The dog park in our complex is a joke.
There is a fenced-in dog park in our apartment complex that apparently really appealed to my lady. She thought it was a big selling point. Unfortunately, it turns out that very few people in our complex actually use it, and when they do, they don't bother to pick up after their dogs. I've only met one other dog in the dog park in the week and a half since we've been here, but there's lots of poo that people aren't picking up. It's hot and small and boring, and I don't particularly like it.
6. I LOVE the loft in our new apartment.
The new apartment is kinda small downstairs, doggies - a living space, a kitchen and a bedroom. But there's a staircase next to the kitchen, and it goes upstairs to a loft. And from the loft, you can look over the rest of the apartment, plus there's this nice spot in the back where I can curl up kinda like a den. I claimed the loft when we first moved in, and I love it up there. Now, whenever the people leave me home alone, I go hang out in the loft until they get back. It's great. I love hanging out up there when my lady works up there. And it's fun to watch over the apartment from up there.
7. My people found a new awesome dog park for me.
It's a bit of a drive, but my people have located a new super-cool dog park for me in a place called Shirlington. It's not quite like Fresh Pond was in Cambridge, but it's a long, wide fenced in area (like a half-mile long, maybe? My people haven't actually measured it). AND! Outside the fence, down a little hill, is a little river! And dogs are allowed to play in it! We went there once and my lady didn't let me go in the water, but we were there yesterday and she let me go down to the river to socialize with the other dogs. I LOVED it, doggies! I laid in the water and splashed around, and then ran around with the other doggies. It was great. I wish they'd take me there every day!
8. The new guy isn't so bad.
I wasn't sure about my lady's bf at first. He's a guy, and I tend to not like guys. But I did remember him from when I saw him last in April, and he's always been nice to me. He's now walked me a few times, and walked with me and the lady a few times, and taken us to dog parks, so I'm starting to take a liking to him. I actually played with him at the dog park in our complex the other day. And I may have snuggled with him on the couch the other night - I'd never actually admit it, but it may have happened. Possibly. So I think, if I had to relocate and live with some strange man, he's not so bad.
On the whole? The moving thing was stressful, doggies, but I'm adjusting. I like my new apartment itself, and I'm happy now that a lot of my stuff from the old apartment is accessible. And I like that the people are trying so hard to find dog parks for me. I miss my old pals in Cambridge, but I'm ready to make new friends here. Moving isn't so bad, after all!
June 22nd 2009 10:12 pm
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Doggies, my house is in total upheaval. My lady has been trying to sell my favorite couch in the study in preparation for the move. (I keep telling her I've left my mark all over it - no-one will want it at this point except me.) She's been selling other stuff, too. And she has so many boxes full of stuff sitting around the apartment! I'm getting anxious about the move. I know it's coming soon, and I don't know how I'll react.
Every time she leaves the apartment these days, I'm dying to go with her because I'm anxious about what's going on... and every time she comes home, I act like I haven't seen her in a month because I'm so grateful she came back. My nerves can barely take it, doggies!
But she just told me about something even WORSE this evening! Apparently, somehow, she's booked tickets to go not just out of town, but out of the COUNTRY in late July. How long will she be gone, doggies? TWO WEEKS! My lady is leaving me alone for half a month!!!! The longest I've ever been away from her is the 3 or 4 days when she went down to DC in March (and now we're moving there, so we all see how THAT went) and now she's leaving me alone for TWO WHOLE WEEKS?!
It's not fair, doggies! This is going to happen less than a month after moving me to a new place. Just as I start to get settled into a new routine, and having a new pack member, she's going to go away for two weeks and leave me with some stranger! She's apparently already looking into potential dog-sitters, even though she's not even living there yet - apparently that long of a stay is going to set her back financially, and she wants to make sure I get good, personalized care.
I say I don't care, doggies. She can just suck it up and pay. Or better yet - decide she can't afford to find me a dog-sitter for two weeks and stay home.
Hmph.
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