Day Twenty-Two

Morning all… OK, It’s 2200, but, how else could I start a post?!?

Ben and Alley and I started out our Friday morning by going to the dog park with our friend Dawg and his Olde English Buldogge, Molly. We went to a park to the south of us and let the dogs run around like goof balls, like they know anything else!

Alley, Ben and Molly get along very well and they look like quite the troupe of Mush Faces running around. Ben really loves going to the park. He runs around and you just cant take your eyes off him, one part fear that he is going to stumble and hurt himself, three parts amazed at how he can really get going! He and Alley and Molly were all running and then someone stumbled and dogs went down in a heap and then all hopped back up and started running again.

Alley’s favorite game is “keep away”. She has the tennis ball and no one else can even look at it. This keeps them entertained for ages! She also periodically runs into the water, which must be about 35 degrees now, but she doesn’t seem to care. Ben and Molly wade in after her. It’s really Ben’s time to shine since Al is still swimming when he’s not even up to his chest. If he ever had a chance of getting the ball from her, it’s then.

Dawg and I were sitting on one of the park benches talking watching the goofs. Alley is the point dog. She goes out and checks everything out, while Ben and Molly stay back on executive protection detail. Ben leans against our knees, and he can hit 3 of 4 knees this way, and Molly sits with her back to him and us, keeping an eye out. It was hilarious when she backed up so that she was literally sitting under Ben, ever watching.

Later Ben and Alley were trying to wrestle each other. Al loves to try and kill her dog friends. It’s the truth. She does everything she ever could to take Topper down at the throat, and since she has accepted Ben as her new bosom buddy, he now gets the same treatment. Funny thing is, he is NEVER going down! First off he has this huge neck of rolls and rolls of fur. Al can’t get a grip on anything. Secondly, her entire head can fit in his big maw of a mouth. Alley of course has had to perfect her “Boxing” skills, getting up on her hind feet just to meet him eye to eye. They are a joy to watch! Especially when Ben gets the “zoomies” and Al gets the look of “Oh no! What have I done!?”

Yesterday Ben was also extremely adorable when he went to meet a pair of Labradoodles for the second time. The first time he greeted them and the owner normally. The second time he saw them coming towards him down a path, so he literally laid at the head of the trail… and waited. Big old noggin resting between his paws, just waiting for them to get there. Both “doodles” had no idea what to think, and Ben only got up when the guy reached down to pet him. When he gets tired, he hits HARD! Nothing short of a crane can move him!

After a few hours at the park I took my kids home to rest. They were sleeping before we made it out of the driveway. When we got home Ben lumbered into the house and plopped down 3 feet in. I went about some “house chores” and he just laid there and slept. Al hung out with him, tired, but not as tired as he was. After about an hour I decided to take a nap too. I wanted to be plenty rested for fish fry later on.

I woke up about 1630 but was still waiting on plans to develop and see who I was going to go catch a meal with. I watched TV. Yes, I am extremely ambitious. I wanted to watch Chef Ramsey on Kitchen Nightmares. I LOVE that show! As I was watching one of my friends called to see what the dinner plans were. We made plans to go eat, but I wanted to check my messages and told him I would call him back. I checked my messages but it was nothing important and called him back, but he didn’t answer. I tried a few times, with it going directly to voice mail and then decided to go check on my laundry. While I was in the laundry room I heard the phone ring but didnt worry too much as I was going to be back upstairs in a second and I’d call back then.

When I call my friend back, he answers like I had come back from the dead. The relief was VERY evident! “OK.. Tell me the story!”, I say.

He says that he had called me back after he hadn’t heard back from me, and a man answered the phone.

He said, “Hello?”

The other guy said, “Hello?”

My buddy says “Hello?” again and the male answerer hangs up. He is a little puzzled, but then when I still don’t call, his brain starts working and before you know it, he’s sure I’m being assaulted… Thank God I didn’t take too long in the laundry room or I would have had the Local PD busting my door down!!! There’s nothing like knowing someone is driving over to your house to save your life by force to know that someone cares!!! LOL! I think its a great story and I write it here only so that I never forget it.

So finally, we get out to eat some fish. Thirty minutes after we are seated and have ordered, the server comes back to tell us that they’re out of fish. Are you kidding me??? We decided to eat elsewhere.

The second place was such a much better choice. The Clam Chowder was absolutely unbelievable!!!!! The fish and loaded baked potato were also to die for. Even when I had them again for breakfast this morning!

I ended up not going to the Shinedown concert. I just wasn’t feeling it. Plus, I didn’t want to pay the $30+ for the concert tickets. My buddy tried to win tickets for me… yes, a collective… awwwwwwww….. The tickets included a backstage pass before the concert. Damn it! I would have loved to win that one! Brent Smith is just sooo damn awesome. BUT, I had a great night regardless and I got to sleep hours before I would have had I gone to the concert and that made today alot easier!

I’ve got 30 minutes left in my 16 hour shift. My last report was that the pups were fine. I can’t wait to get home to them….

Day Three – Part Two

We had a great time at the dog park, but, I was too busy to get pictures. Sorry. Watching Alley, Benjamin and my friend’s dog, Molly, all interact, plus the other dog park visitors today kept me jumping.

Alley was in rare form today, friendly towards other dogs and running around like she was happy beyond belief. Ben immediately joined forces with a big Shepard mix named Whisper and ran around and around and around. He sure is something when he’s running. It’s like you expect the ground to shake.

No one really wanted to swim today however. It was a bit cool, 50 degrees, and very windy. Al was not swimming well when she tried. I have no idea why, maybe the waves were hitting her in the face. They did however all want to at least get into the water, splashing and getting just wet enough that they needed to dry out again.

Ben was extremely kind to every person and dog he met. He was most scared of a Cocker Spaniel mix we met that was a fifth of his size. he’d turn tail and run whenever she wandered over to say “Hi”. It was laughable. Ben also leaned on everyone he met that would rub his big noggin.

He also is such a “protector”! This morning he and Alley showed that they were getting along better and better. This afternoon Ben showed how far they’d come as companions.

Alley was watching two men play football. One of the men bent to pet her, but she does not let strangers touch her, and she scooted away. She often looks like she is “playing” and so the guy was gearing her up more. Ben watched for a second and then decided he didn’t like how that guy was behaving so he started barking at the man. Once Al returned to me, Ben stopped and we went on our way. It was the only time Ben was not a perfect gentleman all day and as far as I was concerned, he was a gentleman then, protecting his new friend.

He is an amazing dog!

We’ve been all sleeping since our return from the park… whew….