I don’t very often get asked to do a full Buddy watch. Kim and I have an unwritten rule that I’m OK spending the evening with Buddy or several hours in the day with Buddy while Kim goes off to do whatever she has to do, but I very rarely am here at home all alone with him, being his one and only caregiver. There is nothing so very hard about it all, but its just not something he or I are completely used to. I’m is off this weekend to Kansas City for the surprise 60th birthday of our dear family friend Kate Jones (aka Frederick) and she very much wanted to participate in that event. That’s especially so since Kate’s parents, Suzy and Pete are unable to travel there from Wabash for health reasons. Kim has precious few connections remaining with Wabash and she was there this summer for her 50th high school reunion, but like me and Ithaca, the connecting fabric with the old home town has worn pretty thin at this point. What that means is that we both make use of whatever opportunities we get to celebrate those connections whenever possible because we know there are only so many opportunities left to do so. A lot of life in this later stages is about seizing these moments and not letting them pass by unnoticed or unappreciated. So Kim is off to KC as of last night and Buddy and I are batching it together for a few days (actually, really only today and tomorrow since we will go to the airport on Sunday morning to pick Kim up). We’ve now made it through one night alone and while not the calmest of night’s sleep either of us has ever gotten, we made it through.
There are fundamentally three challenges for me with Buddy duty of this sort. I am already in the habit of walking Buddy once or twice a day, so that’s no big deal. I’ve certainly prepared Buddy’s dinner enough times to know how to do that, but one-off meals is slightly different than being responsible for his full-time menu. Naturally, Kim has pre-prepared all his food and gone so far as to leave me written instructions, so I’m not anticipating an issue, but also trying to pay attention so as not to deprive the little 7-pounder of any of his nutritional needs. If anything, I am generally inclined to over-feed him while on duty since I probably overuse the treat bag out of sheer desire to curry favor with the little guy. He gets a treat for a walk, a treat for any time we go out and he does his business or at least makes an effort in that direction, and he gets a treat when I’m getting something to eat because I always feel guilty.
Then there’s the Buddy clean up. I am slightly embarrassed to say that Buddy is not completely house trained. Being such a little guy and the product of his physiology being some small, we have over-relied on pee-pee pads to do the job that a well-trained dog would do on his own outside. It’s not an every time thing with him. He does use his walks and outdoor visits to reasonably productive use, but he is also completely comfortable leaving us some surprises whenever the spirit moves his bowels or bladder. It’s not a particular problem on the pads in the bedroom or on the pads in the living room, but when he decides to make a statement and leave an unpleasant surprise on the living room rug, there is a bit of hell to pay. The toughest part of the process is that I see how diligently Kim uses the cleaning fluids and disinfectants and I am a little cowed by having to meet than standard of sanitation should such an event occur. I’m counting on a degree of vigilance on my part to keep that from happening, but there is no guarantee. If all I have to do is scoop up a few pee-pee pads and replace them, no big deal, but hands and knees and spray bottles scare me a bit.
The biggest issue is the need to be present at all times with him. I can run outside for a moment, but I am uncomfortable leaving him inside for too long on his own. For instance, in a few minutes my trainer Albert will get here for my workout in the garage. I plan on saddling Buddy up in his harness and leash and taking him out there with me to sit in his garage bed while I do my workout. I will also take Buddy with me to Stretch-U this morning. He’s been there before, so I feel like that won’t be a problem. As for the rest of the day and whatever else I want to get done that doesn’t involve sitting in the house, I’ll just have to play it by ear.
Buddy handled the day in all its aspects just fine. The exception, strangely enough, was his walk. For some reason, perhaps the temperature, which was sneaking up into the 80s, he was simply not having it, so after wandering around the play area unproductively, we picked up the mail and headed back into the house. It’s late enough in the afternoon now that we are effectively in for the night. We will figure out the dinner menu in a few hours and then we will have one day down and one day to go of me & Buddy.