Playing Hookie

By Fred
Thursday
Bingo stayed home from school today with some diarrhea. We feel bad for him, but today like all other days was, for him, another series of fun things to do, fun things to learn, with a big appetite and a positive outlook, free from the self-pity that we humans tend to indulge in when we are under the weather. He has learned to go to the door now when he needs to go out, and he sleeps through the night, except when he has diarrhea, and even then he only gently whimpered to wake us up (it doesn't take much to wake up Cheryl). What a good boy!

I've given him some rice and boiled hamburger today, and he gave me a look afterward, probably wondering why he doesn't get this every day and wondering what else I'm holding back from him. The diarrhea has stopped, so hopefully he will be back to normal by tomorrow.

Raising a puppy is not all fun and games. Fortunately, Chuck, Debbie and Donna at SEGD are a good resource. Though Cheryl and I have raised several puppies of our own, it's nice to have a staff of professional puppy people on call. And when it comes to attitude and personality, we all can learn something from a 3-month-old puppy.

Friday
We had a big walk this morning and Bingo had a normal BM, so things are looking up already. He's playing hookie again from school and is helping me work. Now if we can just convince him not to pick up everything with his mouth on his walks...