Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Saturday with Spike

After a good nights sleep was had by all, we got up the next day and tinkered around the house some trying to ignore the pooches to see if they would befriend one another. A well rested Spike was in need of a walk to burn some energy. So we took him for a quick mile walk around our neighborhood. We came home and added Henry and went for another (MUCH SHORTER) walk. Hoping that this would tire out both boys and leave them in a state of calm, this was our real opportunity to give them some alone time. It wasn't "too alone" though. We left the boys inside and went to do some yard work. Henry was mostly passed out on the kitchen floor most of this time and Spike was more curious about our whereabouts. It was hard to check on the boys here and there since Spike has all his faculties. Unlike Henry, Spike could see us when we peeked in the front door and could hear us coming from the back yard to look inside through the sliding glass doors. So we had to default to using our spy cams. And after the yard work was done we realized that we had to go more away than just our own yard. So, we took a nice walk (sans dogs) around the neighborhood and gave them about another hour to see what would transpire. In that time Spike settled and Henry unsettled. At first Spike did not seem to care but then he got in on the action and then we had 2 unsettled dogs. They were not off the charts unsettled but the point of being together was to be together in calm and not in angst. So, we hustled back home and suited the boys up for more action (we know tired dogs have a harder time being anxious since they've burned all that energy up).

So, it was Doris Leeper time! (Side note: we Googled Doris Leeper and she was a local person known for her artistic and community impact. So added bonus in our book. ) The boys did great in the car and once we were there it was game on and both boys were bundles of energy (as energetic as they each get for their capacity). Both boys did the whole walk. And this is where Spike actually seemed to do the "job" we "rented" him for. He could have marched way ahead of Henry but instead, he went a few steps forward, came a few steps back. He could explore around the area where our slow walker was because the space allowed for a lot of investigation. And maybe this was really the only time that Henry even seemed to notice that Spike was there. Spike would sometimes bump in to Henry in his explorations. And the fact that Henry knew that there was a pace setter there perhaps influenced his efforts to try a little harder to keep up. We tried to get some photos of them sitting still together but there's something about a rescue dog we have found...they are wiggly in front of the camera! Luna was the same way. I guess because we started so young with the boys that they just got the hang of photo shoots. But there are a few good photos.

By the time we got back home, everyone was pooped and it was time for dinner for everyone in the house. After a nice meal it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It's crazy but since Henry and Spike are both "good breathers" they didn't even snore! They were just 2 quiet little boys. But they still were not hugging up or even sleeping near one another. It was getting more clear that even though Henry was tolerating Spike, he was not embracing him. And I can tell you who really was not embracing Spike was Cupid! Holy Heck! She was hissing at him all weekend and literally only came in the house from her special chair on the lanai once we were asleep. Spike never chased her or even paid her any attention. But he did break the cardinal rule (and this was our fault for turning our back on him for even a second)---he jumped up on Cupid's little table and ate her food! Oh! We are out of practice with having such mobile animals! Shame on us! But really, if we put the food up higher, Cupid can't get it to it. She's an old lady herself. It was kind of turning out like we thought originally...it was like giving a nursing home a toddler and telling them to have fun! Not really the ideal scenario from either side. Although the old folks are sweet and the baby is adorable is wasn't a match made in heaven.

We knew our time was running out and we did not have much longer to try to make this work. We knew that Ann would be there the next day to pick up Spike or be ready with adoption papers. Our hours were ticking away. We had considered seeing if we could keep Spike through the next week and weekend to see how the routine days would go but we knew that our Monday and Tuesday back to work were not going to be the usual and we also knew that if we kept Spike THAT long that we would have overridden Henry's vote and preferences if he had still continued to say no to Spike. We knew that it was getting away from us and that our focus had to remain back on Hank. Ugh. It was a back and forth over and over again.

So with swirling thoughts, it was off to bed for the 2 tired pups and 2 worn out peeps in OBPland. We hoped Sunday would bring clarity and friendship. More tomorrow.....