June 16, 2005
Hi Sue,
Well it has been almost 4 months since I have been adopted a second time. This time it is for real. Mom &Dad bought me a dog bed to go in the dog crate which I sleep in at night.
Mom & Pop are early risers so I get up about 4:00 am. When I am let out of my crate I run to the water dish & get a good drink. Then I run in to see Papa and get a good massage from my head to my tail. It feels sooo good after being the crate all night. I have just recently allowed Papa to get down on his knees & give me a big hug. I am beginning to like them. Before I would get rowdy with him & jump up n his face & paw at him. I used to leave bruises on him but not anymore.
By 6:00 am Mom is out the door to go to work & Papa & I are on our way to the park for our first walk of the day. I practice heeling, waiting, sitting, & watching while I am at the park. I started obedience class last week so we now have some new things to practice, like doing figure eights. Since Papa already taught me to go left & right the figures are really easy for me. I can’t wait for my next class. Oh, Papa never wears his shoes in the house & when he puts them on I know we are going walking. I get real excited & when Papa bends over to put his shoes on I like to walk on his feet, stick my nose on his glasses, then paint brush his face with my tail. Papa calls me Mr. Excitement.
While we are walking, we meet other people who stop to talk with Papa & tell him what a beautiful dog I am. That makes my chest swell & feel good. I can tell Papa is proud of me. I have also learned to leave squirrels alone.
Everyday about 4:30 pm I meet Mama at the back door. All three of us go walking & it is my third walk of the day. I like Mama, I think she is funny. She likes to take my ball away from me & either hide it or play catch with Papa. I chase after the ball when they are playing catch. I usually get the ball. One day I tricked Mama & hid the ball under her pillow on her chair. When Mama sat down I pretended to look for my ball & accuse her of taking it. I finally stuck my nose under the pillow that she had her arm resting on & took my ball. She also threatens to tie my tail in a knot if I don’t behave. That sounds like it would hurt so I am good most of the time.
As Always
Spike
Good Morning Sue,
Spike is adjusting quite well & there is no problem. He is settling into our schedule & now thinks he rules the household. We walk a total of 8-10 miles per day & by the end of the day we are both tuckered out. What is really surprising is that he is very gentle with my wife. He will obey her commands faster than he will obey my commands. This is great as I will be going in the hospital to have my pacemaker changed & I will have limited use of my left arm for awhile. I don't think it will be a problem.
During some of our walks, Spike has been walking with Reggie (a 5 yr. old malamute) and learning the art of socialization. He does quite well. I believe that he has had more training than one thinks as I have been trying different words (like "wait" instead of "stop") and he obeys the command. I can command him "left" or "right" & about 75% of the time he follows the command. He is really a pleasure to walk on the leash. He is very entertaining when he gets to feeling like a puppy again. He has to learn how to run on hardwood floors. When he finally gets started, he finds out he can't stop.
Time for my first walk. Have a great day.
Ben