Silly Goose

My sister was on vacation last week, so it was just Goose and me at the apartment.  I've had dogs my entire life..but taking care of a very energetic, crate-trained dog in a 2-bedroom apartment in the middle of town along a busy highway is much different than taking care of dogs on a farm out in the middle of the country where they're free to roam wherever they please.  I did not know what I was getting myself into..

I worked from home on Tuesday, so Goose was able to run around the apartment all day.  Instead of being stuck in his crate, he sat out in the living room with me & entertained himself by playing with his toys or staring out the window watching traffic go by:

He also took a pretty long nap on the couch that afternoon, so I thought he'd be full of enough energy that night to go on a nice long walk with me.  I guess it got too hot for him, though, because he decided to plop down in some random person's yard and take a little rest:

So we cut our walk short that night.  The next night, he did a lot better, so we managed to go on a pretty long walk.  But first, we cleaned up the kitchen a bit.  My sister usually goes out of town on the weekends & takes Goose with her, so I normally save all my cleaning till then when I have the apartment to myself.  But this time, Goose was there with me, & I discovered that he is not a fan of brooms:

Thursday, I got to work from home again.  But that night, I met up with some of my co-workers for a happy hour. (Our hours got cut at work, so we decided to go out for a few drinks to protest celebrate uhhh..hang out a bit outside of work.)  I stayed out a little too late that night, & Goose was stuck in his crate the whole time I was gone.  I always feel so guilty when he's locked up for hours at a time, so I made sure to spend a little extra time with him the next morning before I had to leave to get new tires put on my car.  I took him outside to do his business & then played fetch with him for a while.  He loves playing fetch..but that morning, he decided he'd rather play fetch with some stranger walking by on the sidewalk.  He kept bringing his ball to a lady that was out on a morning stroll..& when she finally disappeared behind the bridge that crosses the creek next to our apartment, Goose wasn't sure what to think.  So he took off across the bridge after her, & I had to go chase him down.  Gotta love him....

That night, since he had been locked up in his crate so much, I decided to treat him with a surprise trip to the dog park:

He had lots of fun running around and making new friends.  By the time we left, he was so worn out that he couldn't even walk.  I had to carry him to the car, & then he passed out the entire ride home..

He sure is cute when he's asleep.  But of course, it was short-lived.  By the time we got home, he got his second wind & was ready to play again.  Luckily, I was able to get him to calm down & snuggle on the couch with me so I could watch a movie that I had rented on the way home.  I love when he wants to snuggle :-)

On Saturday, I did some more cleaning around the apartment & discovered that Goose doesn't like the vacuum either:

After terrorizing him a bit, we went on another walk.  But it was pretty hot again, so Goose decided to cool off by laying in the gutter along the side of the street that was full of dirty water & grass clippings.  So when we got back home, I had to give him a bath.

Needless to say, I was ready for his mama to come home by Sunday.  It didn't help that I was hormonal (sorry to any guy that may have just read that) & getting irritated with cookbook editing that I was trying to complete.  I took a break in the afternoon & tried to take Goose on a walk, but he decided he'd rather lay in the grass as soon as we got outside.  Once I finally got him back up, he kept tugging me in the opposite direction so he could sniff around the bushes & try to eat some grass.  He didn't seem to want to go on a walk; he just wanted to be outside.  But I didn't have time to play outside, so I felt bad.  Luckily, my sister came home that night..& then all was right in the world again ;-)

I really do love that little rugrat, but he sure is a handful sometimes.  He's a good dog, though.  He knows how to do lots of tricks, including playing dead (my personal favorite - if we point a finger at him & say "bang," he flops over on his side like we shot him).  But sometimes..he just seems to know how to push my buttons.

Sorry to my sister if this seemed like one big rant.....I didn't mean for it to be, but I kinda feel like I got a glimpse of what it's like to be a single parent this week.  I'm not sure if I want to have a lot of kids in the future anymore if I can barely handle a dog.

I may just become one of those crazy cat ladies instead.