Dawg Days

Our dear friends, the Kesslers, have been dawg sitting our pooch at their house for the past couple of days. Jessie is their female yellow lab - and Buckley's best girlfriend. Here is part of their update today . . .

Your dog is hilarious. We have realized that his mental health is as dependant on his routines as his master.

Buckley seemed to have a lot of fun frolicking with Jessie yesterday. Lots of doggie wrestling, running around the backyard, sniffing, and tail wagging. But somewhere between 8 & 8:30pm we heard one very large thud from one very large paw on the screen door. Buckley was ready to come inside. This time I let him.

The more I am aware of his anxieties the more I realize how much he needs his routine, and also that he may be scared of the dark.

So, much to the kids and the dogs delight, we brought Buckley (and his bed) inside. More happy frolicking, sniffing, and tail wagging, but all with good inside doggie manners. Then they both laid down on their beds to rest with us in the living room.

Somewhere between 9:30 and 10 Buckley got up and paced around the living room a couple of times and then walked from the living room to our bedroom a couple of times. (He is doing much better about braving our floors.) On about his third trip to our bedroom Ryan and I realized that Buckley was ready for bed, clearly it was long past the time when his daddy is typically out for the night. So I moved his bed into our bedroom. He happily followed me and then pounced on his bed. I said good-night to Buckley and then went back out to the living room to continue watching the Olympics with Ryan.

I had sat down on the couch for a couple of minutes before we notice Buckley’s head peaking around the corner from the hallway leading to our bedroom. Ryan and I laughed when we realized that Buckley didn’t want to go to bed by himself. I’m not sure if he was lonely or scared of the dark, or both. But he did that a couple more times before we decided to join him, so that he could settle down…but also because we were really tired. Buckley settled down for good as soon as I got in bed. What a funny dog!