This post goes to the dog

The events of the last year have had the hardest impact on our Japanese Shiba, Dobie. He’s gone from being treated like the King of Shibas to canis non grata in less than six months time. When we ate at Grandma Barb’s house for dinner, she always prepared a special side dish for her granddog. She or Pappy would come over to my house almost every day and give him a walk or take him with them. He had it made.

This is a dog that’s used to being the absolute center of attention. Now Cooper dominates our world. The most attention Dobie gets is when he’s being bad. So of course, being the doggy genius that he is, he’s been bad more often because he wants attention. I completely understand. It's a natural reaction.

Dobie was my first baby boy. I feel bad in how I've neglected him. He's adjusted fairly well though I can tell he's not fully happy with the current state of affairs.

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I've tried to get him on a routine where he gets a walk in the evening, but he's used to much more activity.

The script for a normal weekday routine goes something like this:

(Me entering stage door left after a long day at work)

Dobie: (Jumping up and down) “Woof Woof Woof Woof!”
Me: “What’s that boy? Timmy fell down the well?”
Dobie: (Chasing his tail) “Woof Woof Woof Woof!” (translation: “That Lassie joke was funny the first 300 hundred times you used it, so come on. I want to WALK!”)
Me: “Okay, okay. Be quiet! Just give me a minute!”
Dobie: (Sniffing his butt) “Woof Woof Woof Woof!” (translation: "Hurry up!")

(Exit stage door left, return in 15 minutes with a stinky bag of dog poo.)

That's the level of attention that he's been getting around the house.

Lately, he's been fighting allergies and he's not his normal self. On Saturday, I asked him if he wanted to go walk and he didn't even move. This is a dog that if you spell W-A-L-K, he knows what it means. I eventually got him to go with me, but it took some prodding.

So here's where I feel really guilty. It was about 11:45 last night. I was lying in bed and then I realized that I hadn't walked him. He hadn't even bothered to come ask me. I shouldn't have let it come to that.

I got out of bed. I didn't even put my shoes on and walked him down the street. I promised myself I would be more mindful of his needs. Today we played with the soccer ball at Pappy's house. He ran after the ball like a bullet. I haven't seen him run like that in awhile. It's all my fault that he hasn't.

It won't be too much longer before Cooper will be playing with him. Cooper loves to watch Dobie.

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Cooper's been fighting a fever and another ear infection. I remember when the only thing they would give him was Tylenol. Now it seems to be some mix of antibiotics, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Yagermeister, and Benadryl. At least that's what it seems like.

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Yes, he's doing much better today.

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