A Day In The Life Of A Dog

Hello, wonderful people!  This is JackJack.  It has been almost a year since I took the blog reins from Susanna for a couple of posts.  I thought it was time to write a post again to tell you all about the absolutely wonderful day I had yesterday.


Susanna's family lives up in Snohomish.  Yesterday afternoon I went up there with her.  We got into the car and drove and drove.  I was so excited during the drive up there!   I couldn't keep from yapping happily.  I guess I have a very shrill yap and there is only so much of it that Susanna can take before she yells at me to be quiet.  I try my very best not to bark, but you have no idea how difficult it is for me.  The anticipation of the fun I was going to have was more than I could stand!  It was a long drive to Snohomish, 45 minutes during which Susanna had to endure my happy barking.  


When we arrived, I was put on a leash and walked up to the door of a very nice house.  Susanna rang the doorbell and the door was opened by two little boys.  "Hi," I said to them, "How's life treating you?  I'm here to play with you.  Actually I only know you, Nicholas.  Who's your friend?"  Susanna told me to hush because I was being really loud.  So I stopped talking, at least for the moment.  We walked to the back yard while Nicholas and his friend wore their shoes and then came to meet us there.  Nick was very excited to see me.  I'm not sure why, because I haven't always been very nice to him.  I'll tell you why.

Nick is about a year and a half older than I am.  When I first met him, he was 3.  He moved very fast, and he would grab my face and hug me hard.  That made me nervous.  He would also run his toy cars up and down my back and I didn't like that.  I know he loved me but he had a really strange way of showing it.  Then there was this other little thing.  Susanna seemed to love him very much, more than she likes other people.  If I absolutely have to admit it, I would say I was a little jealous.  That also made me worry that I would be loved less.  In my doggy mind I thought that Susanna had only so much love to give, and that some of the love from her limited capacity that should have been coming to me was going to Nicholas.  Anyway, for all of these reasons, I wasn't always nice to Nicholas.  I would snap at him quite suddenly every once in a while.  I believe he wrote a composition about me where he mentioned that I barked into his face and bit his finger.  Yes, he pretty much got that right.


Back to yesterday, Nick was so happy to see me.  I decided that I would at least attempt to be nice to him this time.  I gave him my favorite soccer ball to throw.  He threw it high and far.  I ran and fetched it and brought it back to him.  He threw the ball for me again and again.  I had such a good time playing fetch.  Then Nick's friend Elliott joined us.  He seemed to know how to handle me.  He even took the ball from my mouth a couple of times.  I was more than happy though, because it was so much fun playing with these two boys who were just a little older than me.  Then I overheard part of a conversation which made sense as to how Elliott knew how to handle me.  He had a dog of his own.  After he went home, Susanna and Nick took me for a walk.


We walked up to the play area near Nicholas' house.  Nick walked me most of the way.  I could have easily tugged and pulled in a different direction.  But since I had decided to be good, I let Nick lead and I followed.  Susanna mentioned over and over again how she wished she had her camera because we looked so cute.  I fail to understand how two boys walking to the park could be a photo opportunity, but what do I know? I'm just a dog.  There were no children around, so Nick walked me up and down the playground equipment.  He even put me on the teeter totter.  That made my stomach feel weird.  Then Nick came up with this game which actually turned out to be a lot of fun.  I had to keep my eyes closed while he hid my treats all over the park, and I had to find them.  Of course when I found them I got to eat them.  I kicked my doggy senses into high gear and sniffed close to the floor.  I found most of the hidden treats without any help.  For the ones I couldn't find, Susanna gave Nick some good directions to help me find the treats.  The more time I spent with Nicholas, the more I was realizing how much of a good time I was having with him.  I also began to realize that Susanna wasn't loving me any less.  She loved me in a different way than she loved Nicholas.  And at the end of the day, I would be going home with her and she would continue being my Mom.  I didn't need to feel insecure.  That thought made me feel all grown up.

We went back to the house and to the back yard.  I was so thirsty and must have had a gallon of water.  Then Susanna's brother Jonathan came out to see us.  I cannot tell you how much I like Jonathan.  I consider him the alpha male in our pack of two.  He is very nice to me.  He bends down to talk to me in this kind, gentle voice.  He plays with me, although not as much as I would like him to, and he ruffles the hair behind my ears.  I greeted Jonathan wholeheartedly and as always he didn't disappoint.  He did mention that I was getting fat, but he couldn't be more wrong.  All the swimming and running is making me develop some solid muscle.  Anyway, Jonathan then opened up the barbecue and began to grill.  I sat around in the grass and took a break.  I sat there chewing my soccer ball, which has a squeaker in it.  Susanna asked me over and over again not to squeak the ball.  I tried really hard but I couldn't resist.  Then the ball got confiscated from me and put into this big blue pot.   The ball was just beyond my reach.  It took me 15 minutes with no help at all, but I managed to get the ball out of there without knocking the pot over.  I had my ball back and I chewed on it happily, squeak and all.  When Jonathan had finished grilling, everyone went inside to have dinner, and I was left outside in the back yard.  Through the glass door, I sat and watched the family have dinner.  Nick finished his dinner before everyone else did.  He then came out and played with me even more.  We played fetch, and while I was playing I could hear everyone talking about how I was good company for Nick, what with him being an only child.  Hearing that made me feel like I had accomplished my mission to be nice to him.  The truth is, it's not difficult.  Nicholas is grown up now, he knows how to handle me.  I don't feel threatened by him anymore.  He still has a few things to learn, but I have also become more patient and caring.  


When it was time to go, I didn't want to.  I wanted to stay there and bask in the love and happiness just a little longer.  But it was time to leave.  I reluctantly said goodbye to Nick and Jonathan.  As I turned around and walked away I hoped I would be brought to this house again soon.  I think I heard Susanna mention that if the weather was good she would bring me back next week.  I am hoping it won't rain next Saturday so I cam go to Snohomish again.  I was so happy and so tired when I got home that I went to straight to bed.  I had had so many treats that I didn't even need any dinner.  


As I drifted off, I heard Nicks voice call out to me as he did all evening, "C'mon boy!"  I fell asleep with a smile on my face.  I had become Nick's boy.