Buggy and Duke

Buggy and Duke (and cats Junior and Isabella and Lilly)

Plus ants, and a skunk  

R 8/29- W 9/4 (2019)

Buggy is a sweet mostly black female pitbull, Duke is a male doberman, Junior is a grey male cat (who comes inside at night), and everybody else is outdoor wildlife.   Isabella has a tuxedo.  Lilly is calico.  I walked the 2 dogs 3x a day (on one leash).   Buggy has a shock collar, but I don’t know how to use it, and didn’t.  There are also mousetraps to scare the dogs away from damaging the furniture or climbing on the kitchen counters.  Anyway, the walks: In the morning, before breakfast (waking up between 5a-6a); in the afternoon; and after sunset (usually around 9p).   Duke (named after the Doonesbury character, I’m told) is gigantic.  He’s a rescue dog.  He doesn’t poop in the back yard, I’m told (which is weird).  He didn’t poop until my 5th walk.   He only pooped twice, the 7 days I was there.  Buggy likes to climb on my lap.  Duke needs a shot, every other day, from the veterinarian, Barbara Fitzgerald, who comes to the house.  Duke is allergic to dust mites.  He eats a handful of ground beef with each of his two meals.  A turmeric capsule, a fish oil capsule, some water, half a can of wet dog food, and (the blue cup of) crunches, from the side.   Buggy gets a slightly smaller amount (the green cup) of crunches, a fish oil capsule, and the other half of the wet can of dogfood, twice a day.  The cats (5? I only saw 3) get 2 cans (one ff, one friskies), split between 3 bowls.   Juniors bowl is on the ledge outside the kitchen window.  2 other bowls are on the ground, which quickly become swarmed by ungodly numbers of ants.   The window is opened for Junior before the evening walk, so he can come in without being harassed by the dogs, but this never actually happened, for some reason.  I started my walks before 9p, usually - might be why.  Junior has food waiting for him in one of the upstairs bedrooms, where I decided to bed.  A nice white comforter, and a good bed - I was usually dog tired, as they say.  I think I was eating less than the dogs, truth told.  Anyway, there were two adventures!  A humongous white Great Dane, with spots (male? female?) was off-leash, no owner in sight, and came up to the 3 of us, interested in Duke, on Mandana, about a block away from home.  He sniffed twice, mounted Duke, and got barked at by Buggy, who lunge-snapped at him.  I made eye contact, pointed back behind us, and said No! Go!, which worked a little.  Buggy scared him more than I did, though.  So he followed us home, and even came halfway up the steps.  I didn’t take a picture of him.  I can’t say how grateful I am there wasn’t a fight.  That would have been insane.  Ron and Susan’s neighbor, Sarah Evert, came by to check up on us.  We talked through the front door.  I saw her and her dog, Winkle, on one of our walks, also, and we talked a little.  A man wrang the doorbell, and asked if this was 602, no, who do you want to see? Coco, sorry wrong house.  Kinda weird.  Susan told me somebody kicked open their door once.  I didn’t get the story (but I’d like to!).  I think this was before Duke, or before the gate, or something.  The gardener didn’t come, while I was there.  Neither did the housekeeper.  I picked up 3 poops from the back yard, and lots of stuffing from all the dog toys that got chewed up, on an ongoing basis.  They tracked some dirt in, so I started wiping their paws before entry from the back yard.  Buggy brought a stick in, too, and I cleaned up all the bits of wood off the carpet.  Duke didn’t poop in the house, thank goodness.  But I was prepared for that, with a cleaning spray-bottle with mysterious ingredients labelled ‘Dog’, along with paper towels, and rags.  I hung the two dirty towels I used outside, on the ladder.  It’s a lovely home.  I like the geode, and the book of birds, the spotless mirrors and windows, the buddha statues, the amazon echo, the shower with hot water, the lush garden, the cherry tomatoes in the front, the weight room, the 60’s era posters for the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, etc., lots of artwork,  and the many funky plants, including a weird vine that has sacs of water next to it’s leaves, and big heart-shaped leaves with black stems.  A skunk almost came in the house, but got chased away.  I’ve never seen an animal move that fast!  There’s a dog (german shepherd) next door, and the 3 dogs get into it, once in awhile.  The dogs traipse through the jungle, and bark deep and loud.  They get the NY TImes, which is a paper I appreciate.  There were 6 issues that I enjoyed, both outdoors in the back yard, and inside, on one of the easy chairs.  I brought two books, but didn’t touch them.  I listened to QMS, Frank Zappa, and a few radio stations.  The dogs are excellent watchdogs, erupting into deep loud barks at any disturbance.  I texted Barbara a few times, and she wished me a happy birthday.  Facebook friends did the same, and Sara and Pierre, too.  The owners are in NY, at a wedding, I’m told.  Anyway, their home is lovely, and I like all of it, not just the bits I mentioned.  I think Ron is a philatelist, and I want to show him my stamp collection, that my grandparents gave me.  Maybe there’s something valuable!  It took some getting used to, but I figured out their security system.  I used their gym a couple times.  I went to Trader Joe’s and Noah’s bagels and Colonial Donuts and Merritt bakery and Chipotle.   I enjoyed a quiet birthday, alone (aside from the animals).  I learned what Bully Sticks are (dried bull dicks), and fed B n D all of them (1 each, per night).  The bag says they’re made from “pizzle”.   I solved the pizzle puzzle.  Duke is a little overweight, but he LOVES his food, and gobbles it down greedily (they both do!).  I didn’t know there was such thing as freeze-dried chicken, but Junior loves it.    I put the garbage out, and brought the bins back in, and watered plants by the front door and in the master bathroom, and picked up poop, and cleaned the carpet a couple times, and fed and watered and medicated and walked everybody.   Brought mail and newspapers and packages in.  Warded off mortal danger.  Figured out the alarm.  I got the system down.  I learned the neighborhood, too, walking different routes on all the walks.  Don’t press 2.  Don’t put Buggy in the crate with a collar on.  Don’t let them traipse through wet dirt without wiping their paws before entry.  And don’t open the door for a strange man asking for Coco, lol.    I was going to order a pizza, but Papa John’s isn’t in range, doesn’t deliver there.  Oh well.  There are some homeless people nearby, and Lakeshore gets pretty busy, all kinds of people.  Nobody tried to kick in a door, steal the black Mercedes parked in the driveway, or yell at me for letting the dogs walk or pee on their yard.  It was all good, actually.   Duke finally pooped.  I eventually spotted Isabella.  I walked Kaleb, nearby.  I didn’t get killed by a dog that was possibly as big as me.  I didn’t get sprayed by a skunk.  I got to immerse in another world.  I ate a delicious peach.  I relaxed in meditative contemplation on a nice leather easy chair.  And I got some cash.  A great way to ring in my 48th year on earth.  I met Susan and Ron and Grace and Barbara and Sarah and Buggy and Duke and Junior.   Thanks, Julie!