Ferris officially turned five years old yesterday, believe it or not. We celebrated by giving him a bone and a new crab chew toy. He was initially torn which he was more excited about, but ultimately decided the bone was the object that deserved the bulk of his attention. He saved the crab toy to bring up and chew during movie time to maximize the amount of noise and disturbance he could make. (Really, it’s surprising just how dedicated he is to trying to make sure we notice him when we’re watching movies. It was hotter than Hades up there yesterday, but he still reported for duty, fur coat and all.
Having a dog as an adult continues to be a very different experience than having a dog as a kid. And this is coming from me, who probably has the least amount of duties when it comes to taking care of Ferris. Denisa and the kids walk him, play with him, feed him, etc. I pet his head now and then and remind him he’s a good dog, albeit not a very bright one.
What does a typical day for Ferris look like now?
He rises at whatever time Denisa gets up, for the most part, as he’s become convinced that’s when his bladder will explode. It doesn’t really matter if that’s 6am or 9am. He’s good, so long as Denisa isn’t up. If she is, Code Red! Once that’s taken care of, he gets a two cups of dog food in his bowl. Not that he’ll eat it. He’ll just have it there, in case he needs an extra pick me up during the day. (He usually will eat his food if we ask him to do something particularly challenging, like find his ball or one of his toys.)
He goes on a mile and a half walk once a day. This is definitely the highlight of his doggie existence. If it’s hot out, this happens early on. Otherwise, it’s an afternoon event. Sometimes he gets to go and sit in the front yard on a leash. When this happens, he does his best to dig holes when no one is watching, probably on the assumption that if one of us finally breaks a leg by stepping in one of those holes, he’ll get that many more pets. Denisa spends her free time filling in holes. Maybe Ferris thinks he’s just helping her with her hobby. Additional studies need to be done to get to the bottom of it.
When he’s not outside, he’s usually in full blown Carpet Mode. He’ll lie in the middle of the floor, ideally right in the way of wherever you’re trying to go. He will then go completely limp, other than his tail, which will wag whenever someone comes in his general vicinity. He’s found this is the ideal ratio of effort : pets.
He gets a bath whenever he smells too bad for Daniela to stand it anymore. He sleeps in her room most nights, though if possible, he prefers sleeping in the room next to ours, probably because he feels his bladder is safer that way. (He can get Denisa up at the drop of a hat.)
As previously mentioned, he’s convinced that whenever we’re watching television, what we’d really rather be doing is playing with him. (Or taking him out to pee. Sometimes both.)
All of that said, he’s becoming a much more obedient dog than he was (though that’s a low bar). He’ll lie down if I yell at him loud enough, and he’ll usually stay lying down for at least five minutes. Improvement!
He really is a good dog. Kind. Enthusiastic for literally anything. Happy to see anyone. Continually hopeful someone will throw a ball for him. He’s been perfect for what we were looking for. A great companion for all the kids. And we wish him the happiest of years ahead.