The dogs have settled into their Summer routines here in Mesquite, Nevada.
Booger, who is going on 13 years old, keeps a low profile. She begs a little, naps a lot, plays a few minutes a day with the other dogs, and generally spends most of the night sleeping on a couch in the living room. Our bed has become too crowded for her; she likes to stretch out and snore and doesn’t like to be disturbed.
Booger can’t see things so well and her back legs are beginning to fail her, particularly when she tries to fetch a ball or jump up onto a couch. However she’s still interested in life and will haul ass to the front door if a deliveryman or neighbor rings the bell.
About half the time she will not eat all of her food. We don’t push her; she’s earned the right to live the way she wants to. She will, however, eat any and all human food scraps presented to her. She is not, and has never been, stupid.
She’s the Alpha dog, the Leader of the Pack.
Baby will be 3 years old in a few months. She is super-energetic, will play ball or tug-a-rope whenever the opportunity presents itself, is an attention hog, and has assumed JayJay’s duties as a Sous Chef in the kitchen. She follows me everywhere, particularly when she sniffs food in the air.
Although Baby started out slow, she has become an avid car rider. We can’t do much of it right now because of the heat. As a matter of fact, we also can’t do much walking in the neighborhood, which is one of her favorite things. Absent walks, she spends a bunch of her day going in and out of the doogie door, looking for things to do in the backyard.
There could be intruders…
We are so proud of the way that Baby has become a surrogate mother to our new puppy BonBon. She’s quite gentle with her and plays with her constantly.
Baby loves Charlie and insists on cuddling with her at night and in the morning in our bed. She will not start her day until Charlie gets up. So, often, I am up at 5:30 a.m. to give Bonnie a potty break and feed her, while Baby stays in bed and gets another hour or so of shut eye.
Baby has turned out to be a cool dog with a great disposition.
Our little BonBon (i.e. Bonnie) is growing. She weighed 4.2 pounds at nine weeks when we got her and she now tallies just under 7 pounds at 14 weeks of age. She’s still small enough that she can simply walk through our wrought iron fence in the backyard, so we must be with her at all times. Thank goodness that she hasn’t yet been able to manage the doggie door!
Bonnie and Baby play together most of the day when they aren’t napping. They are BFFs, for sure, and its very touching to watch Bonnie munching on Baby’s ears and muzzle while they wrestle on the carpet or couch.
Although she is tiny right now, Bonnie is no pushover or wallflower: she dives right into any fray between Booger and Baby, holds her own, and will go after one of them if she feels that she’s been dissed. She’s got spunk in spades.
Bonnie sleeps with us on our bed at night. Most of the time she’s right up against my shoulder. Sometimes she curls up with Baby for a nap on the couch.
During the daytime Bonnie pees about every hour and poos about every two hours. However, she sleeps typically from 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. without a bathroom break! We love it.
House-training is spotty at this point. Bonnie knows where she is supposed to pee and poo (i.e. outside, preferably on the grass) but she can’t use the doggie door and has several “accidents” a day. We walk around the house with eyes to the floor so that we don’t slip on pee or trip over something.
Unless I catch her in the act I don’t punish the little dog. I am usually alerted to accidents by the other two dogs who will make themselves scarce, or their ears will be pinned to their skulls, or they will come up to me and start licking my legs. Then I know that someone named BonBon has done the deed somewhere.
Speaking of training, my wife is training Bonnie to beg like Booger and Baby.
The scorching Summer climate in Mesquite is rough on Boston Terriers because they’re short muzzled which causes them to naturally breathe poorly. Then, the air is super hot and dry. And, to top it off, the streets, sidewalks, pavers, and even the artificial grass is so scorching hot that the poor doggies get burnt foot pads real quick.
So, with temperatures exceeding 85 degrees from sunup to sundown, there’s no opportunity for walks to the park or doing much playing outside. We have a wading pool in the backyard, but right now it’s too hot out there to enjoy it. All of us can hardly wait until the Fall when normal life can resume.
When daytime high temperatures drop into the 90’s we will resume outdoor patio life. That will include wading pool time and water hose splashdowns with the dogs. Booger and JayJay used to be big into this, but Baby got spooked early on in her youth and tries to avoid getting wet if she can manage it. Bonnie seems willing to give it a go: we’ve had her in the wading pool and she seems to like it. Maybe she will talk Baby into giving it another try?
This Summer has been a very healthy one for the dogs. Other than for BonBon’s puppy shots and wellness checks, the local vet has seen little of our pack (knock on wood!). Bonnie is still getting her puppy shots, will do a fecal sample this week just for drill, and we will soon be scheduling her spay procedure and i.d. chipping.
I’m thinking that our healthy pack may have something to do with the fact that we’ve been avoiding the neighborhood park, where all the dogs go to play, pee, and poop. It’s probably loaded with communicable diseases and all of that stuff gets splashed all over tossed balls, etc. Yuck…just like Chuckie Cheese.
And, so, we and our pack of Boston Terriers soldier on, bored as Hell in our coronavirus-induced quarantine, loving each other a lot but longing for fresh air and long walks in the neighborhood.
Gee, we sure miss that summertime RV life on the cool Pacific coast.
