WAITING...HOPING...

3 August 2022

Bouncer is 15 years old and is a whiner.  She has always been a whiner.  She is attached to Ned and if Ned leaves her, she will whine and whine and whine...and eventually lie down near the last door he went out of and stay there until he returns.

Her devotion to him is really nice.

Now we have Bubbles (I really would like to change his name) and Bubbles has instantly adopted Marta as his goddess.

What's funny is that Ned says they got Bouncer 14 years ago for Marta, but Bouncer had other ideas and while she obviously loves Marta and is happy around her, Ned is her god. 

After Polly died, we got Bubbles sort of for me, and he, too, has other ideas.  Oh he likes me and even in 2 days we have settled into a routine where when it gets to be 9 p.m., whatever he has done during the day, he knows it's bedtime (whether I'm ready for bed or not) and he settles himself on my chest in the recliner and goes to sleep.  He sleeps all night long unless I get up to go to the bathroom, then he stands in the hall, the way Polly used to, waiting for me to come out, then jumps back in my lap and goes back to sleep again.

But Marta is the goddess. 

Last night around 5 a.m., I let him out to pee and he wandered off in the yard in the dark.  I have zero fear of his trying to get out, but he was gone long enough that I was a little nervous.  I called "Bubbles!" and he raced in the house, tail wagging a mile a minute, and ran directly to the gate, looking for Marta.  When she didn't appear, he eventually came back into the family room

I love this picture I got yesterday.  It's a little difficult to make out, but Bubbles is sitting in my lap, as he does most of the day, at attention, looking for Marta to come downstairs. At the other end of the hall, which is gated off so neither dog can get upstairs, is Bouncer, in her typical position, lying with her nose close to the gate, waiting for Ned to appear.  They will stay like that for hours, if they aren't disturbed.

Fortunately they don't whine constantly, but they do occasionally whine.

The dogs have some issues to work out before they can co-exist, the way Bouncer eventually did with Polly ("friendship" at their ages is asking too much) but Ned and Marta are working at it.  They start the morning taking both dogs for a walk together, then they keep the dogs separated most of the day, so each gets to feel he/she has all the attention. Sometimes Ned and Bouncer are downstairs, with Marta and Bubbles upstairs. At 5, Ned feeds Bouncer (Bubbles is used to "free feeding" which means the food is out all the time, but out of range only when Bouncer around).  They are both downstairs while Ned cooks dinner and while we eat dinner.  There are occasional territorial squabbles, but those are quickly settled by the ever-alert Ned and Marta.

So today is day #3 and things are going well and I think we are all happy with the new member of our family.  Best of all, he only pees outside!